4 down, 1 to go...

Awright. Let's talk...

Let's talk about stress.

Ohmygod brain, please, let's not.

No. Stop it. We've got to.

Okay.

SO, as all of you know right now, the exam period has come thick and fast.
Literally fast.
Thick in the sense that most exams are meaty, 2 hour long nerve-filled tension-fests where you write and write like you've never written before.

The handwriting in these essays is slack, my friends. Slack.

But the stress? You can literally smell it. It smells like fear. And invigilator perfume.
Nice.

Oh, and did I mention the hand cramp? 

Me: Must... keep... writing... about... Frankenstein...

Hand Muscles: ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY. Drop the pen. Drop it.

My talking hands don't help my stress levels.

Did I seriously just start talking to you about talking hands?

Yeah... um can we gloss over that? Together? That would be fabulous.

As you can tell. Stress gets to me a number of different ways. And sometimes kind of seriously.

1) I get headaches

2) I cry

3) I eat

4) I cry some more

5) my stomach goes into a crazy spasm thing.. (overshare? Okay. Sorry. We're just such good friends.)

I know it's stupid. But hand cramps haunt me. 

So, how do I combat this terrifying beast? Well, I tackle number 3 off my list.

I feed myself. Feed my soul.

Cinnamon and chocolate flapjack? Check and check.

If I can give any of you a teeny bit of advice this exam season. Don't you dare starve yo'self.
Whatever you do.

2 reasons :

1) Your stomach will rumble. And in a silent exam room where everyone's trying to secure their futures? Kinda embarrassing.

2) Life's too flapjackin' short. You'll work it off later. Did you know thinking burns calories? Looks like I'm going to have 2.

Chocolate Flapjack with a splash o'Cinnamon
Makes about 30 pieces (depends how famished you are.)

Ingredients
85g granulated sugar
175g unsalted butter
3tbsp golden syrup
340g porridge oats
100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
Cinnamon

Method
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and line a 20x30cm baking tin
Gently melt the sugar, butter and syrup together, stir until combined
Once melted, remove from heat, add the oats and stir well until the oats are completely coated
Stir in the chocolate (it'll melt. total yumville)
Stir in generous amounts of cinnamon to your taste
Tip the mixture into the prepared tin, and press in evenly and firmly with the back of a spoon
Bake for about 18 minutes until is smells divine and has turned golden brown
Leave in the tin, to cool

P.S.
My brother was also having a nerve-wrecking time doing his final clarinet recital to end his course at The Royal Academy of Music yesterday.
Joe, these are for you. I bet you were amazeballs. Enjoy! xx

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Garibaldi Biscuits : My Granfy's favourite. :)

Merry Christmas Everyone! I can't believe it's Christmas eve already! It always comes around so quickly and here in the Shiner household the festivities have certainly begun!!!
I hope this all finds you all well and jolly my little Christmas Puddings and although the weather here is possibly the most un-Christmassy I've ever seen it, that wont stop me bopping around the kitchen to Ella Fitzgerald with a shortbread biscuit in hand. :)
In fact, Christmas has been pretty relaxed this year, so relaxed that I wrapped my last present THIS MORNING! I know, crazy.
However, there is a reason as to why I've left it so late. You see, whenever I bake it's almost always for my friends and it's heartbreaking watching the forlorn faces of my parents and brother as tins of treats get carted through the front door and out of sight. They never get a look in.
Bless.
So this year I've decided to bake a whole lot more! And this specific recipe goes out to my Granfy. He is the sweetest, loveliest, kindest, gentlest man I know and the best Grandfather ever! However at Christmas, he's awfully hard to buy for... but then I suppose, most men are. ;)
So this year I decided to make his favourite things. Garibaldi biscuits and I used a recipe from BBC Food. He eats them by the packet and can't get enough! So this year I made a large batch, scooped them up and popped them in a box, complete with ribbon and a bow. :)
These biscuits are so yummy! And smell gorgeous too. :D
Merry Christmas Granfy! These are for you. x

Ingredients
110g caster sugar
110g butter, softened
1 free-range egg, separated
225g flour, sifted
pinch of mixed spice
55g currants
30g candied peel
3tbsp milk

Method
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees/Gas mark 3.
Line 2-3 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg yolk.
Fold the flour into the mixture.
Stir in the mixed spice, currants and candied peel.
Stir in enough milk to form a stiff dough.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut the biscuits into your desired shape.
Place on a baking tray and bake for 10mins until golden brown.

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The Perfect Gift : Sugary Christmas Biscuits and Snowflake Decoration!

Mum was being sneaky with the camera..
Moi, in my element.

And so, little sugar lumps, for my second act tonight I bring to you a gift idea! My first, actually. And I'm so proud of these little beauties. :D
As a close group of people, my friends and I absolutely love Christmas! We buy gifts, bake cake and generally have a really good time! Anything to make school less of a drag. :)
But as we've got older, buying a gift for every single person in the group became difficult and money became pretty tight for a lot of us... *sigh*.
So this year, we decided to bite the bullet and try secret Santa. Buying only one gift?! It seemed ridiculous!
But actually, it worked so well! And my secret Santa (who actually turned out to be my good friend Sophie) got me the most beautiful bracelets, nail varnish and chocolate! She knows me so well. :)
In fact, this Secret Santa was such a success that I found the time to bake for everyone instead!
Using a really great biscuit recipe from The Primrose Bakery book, my new snowflake icing plunger from The Happy Cupcake Company, some Thorntons chocolates, lots of cellophane and metres of gold ribbon I managed to make gifts for everyone! Reeeeeeeeeesult!
Not being the most creative person ever, I was sooooooooo unbelievably proud of these and I hope it's not too late to inspire some of you lot either! :D

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..

The Result!

Makes approx. 30 biscuits depending on size of cutter.

Ingredients
85g unsalted butter
100g golden caster sugar
1 large egg
200g plain flour, sifted, plus more for rolling
1/2tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/Gas mark 4. Line 1 or 2 baking trays with baking paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl.
Add the egg and mix well.
Gradually add the flour, salt, baking powder and mix.
Flour a work surface, roll the dough to a thickness of 5mm.
Cut out biscuits in your desired shape and place them well spaced out on your baking tray(s).
 Bake for 10-12 mins or until they turn a light golden brown.
N.B. Remember to keep a really close eye on the time, these cook really quickly and actually do continue to cook once out of the oven!
Leave to cool on a wired rack.
Decorate as desired! If you can, these plungers are a must have baking purchase!

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Christmas Bake : Peanut Butter Fudge Style.

Bonsoir everyone! Are you all feeling festive my lovely candy canes!? I hope you all are, seeing as it's only 2 SLEEPS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! In fact, I think I can feel the elves getting frantic. It's in the air...
And so, with not long now until the big day, it's been pretty crazy and hectic in the Shiner household, hence my silence. :)
However, baking has been one of my main priorities over the past weeks. I've been commandeering the kitchen for hours crafting gifts to hopefully make people as excited as I am about Christmas this year!
This evening I'm going to post my past activity, so stay tuned for a couple of posts winging your way!
My first post for this evening is a Peanut Butter Fudge recipe from this years Christmas ASDA Magazine. It's a small, modest recipe that's a complete piece of cake but tastes absolutely delicious!
I stumbled across it when I needed to whip up something quick and easy for a charity fair at school, and I have to say, I thought ASDA were trying to deceive me. So many of my friends have tried and failed to make the perfect fudgey pieces, but ooooooohhhh nooo, not me! This recipe is foolproof, and when placed in a pretty jam jar with ribbon, it makes the perfect tasty gift!
Go on, give it a try. Next time, I might substitute the peanut butter for Nutella... now there's an idea. ;)

Ingredients
125g butter
500g soft brown sugar
120ml milk
250g crunchy peanut butter
1/2tsp vanilla extract
300g icing sugar

Method
Grease a 20cm x 20cm shallow cake tin and line it with baking paper.
Melt the butter in a large pan.
Add the brown sugar and milk and stir over a really low heat until the sugar dissolves - do not let it boil.
Scrape down any mixture that has splashed up onto the sides an boil for 2-3 minutes - do not stir.
Remove this from the heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla.
Put the icing sugar in a large bowl and pour the hot mixture on top - beat until smooth.
Spoon the mixture into a tin and leave to cool.
Cut into squares, these yummy bites can be stored in the fridge for up to a week!

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