October 2014 ~ According to Ellie

Thursday 30 October 2014

A spooky treat!

To those of you who follow my blog will know on festive occasions such as Easter and in this case Halloween, I like to get my baking hat on! So just in time for the big day tomorrow you can still have fun making these scarily good treats (I apologies for that awful pun) with the kids, or like me alone with your 20 year old self! So what am I making you ask? Well having browsed the internet to get some inspiration I found a fab recipe which i have adapted to make the below, frozen banana ghosts! I decided to make them on the slightly less scary side as they turned out to be the cutest little bananas ever. So if I tempted you enough to make these yourself heres how...

You will need:

3 chunky bananas (or if you can find them in the supermarket a bunch of mini bananas will work well too)

150 grams of melted white chocolate

100-200g of dried coconut shavings

And a handful of milk chocolate chips
Lolly sticks or blunt ended skewers

To start making your banana ghosts you will need to melt the white chocolate in a bowl over or pan, or the microwave. TIP: If you are using a microwave heat at a high heat but in short bursts to ensure it hasn't burnt! Once melted put aside to cool whilst you prep the fruit.

Next, peel your bananas and cut in half so you have 6 portions but if you are using mini bananas leave whole. Gently push a lolly stick or skewer half way up the banana, try not to do what I did and poke a whole through your banana on the first go!

You then need to prep a large baking tray, lay a sheet of grease proof paper on it so your bananas dont stick. Make sure your tray can fit in your freezer.

Return to your melted chocolate and using a pasty brush begin to coat the flat side with a layer of the white chocolate, do this for all 6 halves.

Now to start with the coconut coating, this was my favourite part! Sprinkle your coconut onto a plate big enough to dip the banana in. You will fin you might not use all the coconut however I found it easier to coat the bananas with more coconut to play with! Once you have coated the chocolate covered half, just repeat the process again coating the other half in chocolate and covering with the coconut. NOTE: If you have any melted white chocolate remaining, lick off spoon now.
Your bananas are now ready to be tunred into proper ghosts as it is decorating time, use your milk chocolate chips to create whatever faces you like! Once you feel you have finished decorating, line your bananas on the tray and place them in the freezer.

If you are patient enough to wait 4 hours for your banana ghosts this is the recomemnded time to freeze them for, and not that mine would last that long you can freeze them for up to a week. For your bananaas to be as fangtastic as they can possibly be, try leave them in the freezer for the allocated time, wait and enjoy!

HOW CUTE IS MY MUNCHKIN PUMPKIN (this is just for show by the way!)

I hope you have been inspired to make some treats of your own, I look forward to sharing with you my next festive creation!

Happy Halloween!

Ellie

Monday 13 October 2014

OOTD: When In Florence...

I couldn't of asked for a more lovely way to start the autumnal month of October than in the north of Italy in the beautiful city of Florence. Although we arrived to worse weather than England, the days following we couldn't of asked for better as temperatures reached 28 and the sun was shining over the Florentine skyline. As I have recently been taking a night class in Italian i was very excited to practice the language. I have visited Italy a few times but no where like Florence, the city itself felt very chic, yet traditional, and full of culture and beautiful people. To those of you who aren't familiar with Florence might like to know that Florence is also a great city to visit for fashion as it is home to many famous Italian fashion designers, including Gucci who has in recent years opened a museum there, a great place to see an archive of the designers greatest designs. Not forgetting, if you are a fan of leather pieces, Florence is THE place to go for a genuine leather article, with almost every other shop and or market selling the most gorgeous selection of leather bags and goods. So as I was in fashionable surroundings I thought it only right to an outfit of the day post. My most recent shopping spree involved me hitting the H&M sales and grabbing a bargain or two. This including the new love in my love at the moment, my black duster coat (similar to one in my wish list post below); which I was surprised was in the sale as I have noticed this style of coats just becoming a popular trend. I teamed this lightweight with more H&M both old and new, along with some H&M sunglasses that I bought especially for the trip. In fact, I think the only thing I was wearing that WASN'T H&M was my sandals, a Topshop purchase a couple of years that I absolutely worn to death i am pleasantly surprised with how long they have lasted! See below for some similar options of the older items.

The beautiful Florence itself...

Duster jacket H&M was £29.99 sale £15

Top H&M full price £14.99

Shorts (old) for similar click here

Sunglasses H&M full price £6.99

Sandals Topshop (old ) for similar click here

I think it is safe to say that this OOTD post is the last one where I will be seen wearing shorts for a while as on my return from Italy i decided the season of coats has finally arrived!

Have you got your winter wardrobes ready?

Keep in touch!

Ellie

Wednesday 8 October 2014

LFW: Zoe Jordan SS15

Another September passed and another fashion week been and gone, and in my case, also the end of a 5 month internship at womenswear brand Zoe Jordan. My time with the London based brand was a valuable experience, to any fashion students reading I was really interested in hearing about other peoples experiences in the industry before starting mine, so to those interested here's a little inside info on mine! After a bit of a steady start working within the business, branding and admin side, I was soon in my element working closely with the design team getting some real hands on experience including designing, pattern cutting and my biggest achievement during my time there, sewing actual show garments! When looking for placements, although a well known brand would stand out on my cv, from the start I wanted to go to a small studio with the hope I would get given more responsibilities, and I am pleased to say that the further I got into the duration of my internship, the more I was trusted with. This enabled me to gain some great skills for the reminder of my degree!

As part of my Zoe Jordan experience I had to opportunity to accompany the lovely team to London fashion week to showcase the collection, the atmosphere at Sommerset House was incredible, with fellow bloggers and designers surrounding the area it was a very fashionable affair. But as you can imagine, in the build up to fashion week things are slightly less glamour behind the scenes with last minute changes, alterations, and finishing touches. However the thing I love most about studying fashion is that all the hard graft is worth it in the end to see the finishing result. With some gorgeous prints, tailoring, quality fabrics, and colour palettes, Zoe Jordans spring summer 15 collection 'Tour' is completely wearable and luxurious. Here are a few of my snaps from the designer show room at London fashion week.

LFW Sommerset house