Hen party

Last weekend I went to my first ever Hen do!! It was for a good friend from University and in her home town of Guildford. The weekend consisted of drinks and nibbles at the Maid of Honour's house, we then slowly got ready and played cards against matrimony before heading out. Our first stop was All-Bar-One for a cocktail master class. Making cocktails is a lot harder then it looks. We then headed to Bills for more Prosseco and dinner. The Bridemaids did a beautiful job of decorating the table at the restaurants and made a goody bag for all the Hen's. After stuffing our faces we headed to a local bar (Five and Lime) for a few G&T's..then headed to bed for a well deserved rest.

My attempt at an Amaretto Sours

A deflated looking French Martini

Having way too much fun with the Face Mats

On Sunday we woke up to an amazing cooked breakfast made by the Maid of Honour we then got our bikins on ready to head for afternoon tea and then onto the spa for treatments and relaxation at The Harbour hotel.

The afternoon tea was just divine, I had the most delicious jam tart pastry and who doesn't love cucumber sandwiches. After again stuffing our faces with scones, pastries and sandwiches we headed to the spa. As we had finished eating earlier than expected the spa generously let us in early so we could all relax by the pool and make the most of the sauna and steam room. After an hour of relaxing I headed in for my beauty treatment I chose and ESPA facial. The beauty consultant sat my down in the room before starting my treatment to get a better idea of what my skin needs were. She then started my facial and rubbed all sorts of lotions into my face which smelt gorgeous and it was all so relaxing. After the treatment was over she explained what she had used on my skin and gave some very good advice and recommend some products, to help treat my dry eczema prone skin. I have now even purchased one of the products so I will be posting a review when it does arrive. I loved the whole day and I felt so relaxed and my face is still glowing 4 days later!!!

The Spa at the Hotel (picture from taken from the hotel's website)

Simple fudge recipe

Today I had a go at making my own fudge which turned out surprisingly well...it was just the right amount of crumbly and melt in your mouth. So I thought I would share the recipe. 

Ingredients:

680g of caster sugar 

1 can of evaporated milk

225g of unsalted butter

170g of white chocolate 

1 dash of vanilla extract 

Vegetable oil 

Method:

To start this simple recipe grease a 18-20 square baking tray with a very light layer of vegetable oil. 

Place the milk, sugar and butter in a saucepan and warm slowly on a low heat  until the sugar and butter dissolves. It is important to stir constantly during this process to ensure the mix does not stick to the pan and to avoid crystallisation on the sugar. (Is also a great arm workout) 

Once the mix has dissolved, add the vanilla extract, then bring the mix to the boil. Continue to cook whilst constantly stirring until the mixture looks similar to thick bubbly lava. 

You will then need to break the chocolate into small pieces and add to the mixture. Continue stirring I until the chocolate has melted and mixture starts to cool, thicken and goes from shiny to matte in colour. 

Pour the fudge onto the greased baking tray and leave to coolly at room temperature. Once the fudge has set, cut into small cubes and store in an air tight container.

I will be having a go at Jamie Oliver's tasty fish tacos later so will do a small post on the outcome. 

Sunday funday

I rounded this weekend off with a day at work supporting runners competing in a mud run. I spent the day looking after some local press. It was nice to meet some new people and familiarize myself with the local press. Seeing everyone covered in mud was worth the early start and I was slightly jealous I didnt get the chance to take part. 

The run was held at Elveden estate which has such a cute cafe and farm shop. I couldn't resist going into have a peek. Amongst all of the cute jars and amazing looking cakes I found a fudge counter. I do have a slight weakness for fudge and couldn't resist trying some. (The Eton mess one was my favourite).