Tuesday 26 June 2012

AA Sheer Nail Polish

Dear American Apparel

I just wanted to tell you that you make lovely nail varnishes. Your new fandangled sheer range and the images along side them are delightful. So delightful in fact that you are making me want to ignore my spending ban and quite frankly buy them all. YOU ARE NAUGHTY.

Here


For now I will have to simply ignore you. Sorry about that.

Love 
Madame Squirrel.

P.S You will never ever get me into those bloody disco pants. So stop trying. My hips don't lie and they know they won't fit. The trussed up sausage look is not a good look on anyone!

Monday 11 June 2012

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies With Sea Salt

Ages ago I made the best chocolate chip cookies that I have literally ever made and eaten (possibly blowing my own trumpet a bit here). I have been craving them ever since and I may have to just give in and make more this week. In fact I don't know why I don't make cookies more often/everyday, they are just so easy to make and always ever so satisfying. Much, much easier than that cake making lark.

I found the recipe for these perfect cookies (that is what they're called I'm not just blowing my own trumpet again) from one of my favourite foodie blogs The Baker Chick. And after just visiting her blog again to find this recipe, I now have my sights on so many more cookie recipes. Coconut thumbprint cookies with salted caramel anyone? Wowza.

Now I did alter the recipe a little bit by mixing some sea salt into the dough and cutting up my own dark chocolate chips (opposed to using milk chocolate chips). Yeah thats right, I cut up my own chocolate chips. I am a baking mastermind. If you don't like dark chocolate or find it a bit too rich; use milk chocolate or just add less chips, simple as that.

dark chocolate chips
I'll be honest with you. Not all of this chocolate made it into the mix.

So without further ado here is the recipe for:

Dark Chocolate and Sea-Salt Cookies.

Makes around 24: unless you do what I did and make 6 huge cookies (I may have placed too much cookie dough on the baking sheet but it doesn't matter because I had giant cookies) and 8 normal sized ones.

dark chocolate chip cookie with sea salt
Evidence that giant cookies exist.

Ingredients:

2 cups plus 2 tbsp. of plain flour
Half tsp. baking powder
Half tsp. normal salt
Half tsp. sea salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm.
1 cup brown sugar
Half cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 and half cups dark chocolate chips
Sea salt for sprinkling.

Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C, Gas Mark 3). Line two baking sheets with non-stick parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside. With an electric mixer or by hand, mix the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at a slow speed until just combined (don't over mix!!) Stir in the chocolate chips and eat masses of cookie dough (if you're salmonella proof or just a bit of a daredevil that is).

mixing bowl with cookie dough

Bake for approx. 11-14 minutes. Turn baking sheets round halfway through baking. I always get this bit wrong with cookies; when the cookies are light golden brown and the edges are crispy they are ready to come out of the oven. DON'T wait for the whole cookie to be crispy; the middle should still be soft and puffy when they're ready.

Once the cookies are out of the oven leave them to cool for a little while on the baking trays - if you try to move them to the cooling rack straight away, they will break and you will cry.

I sprinkled the cookies with a little more sea salt at this point as I like my cookies salty. All that's left to do after that is EAT THEM ALL (or share them with others if you're that way inclined.)


small dark chocolate chip cookie with sea salt



Love 

Madame Squirrel

Sunday 10 June 2012

The Cat's Whiskers

Hi! Remember me? 

I know, I know, sorry I disappeared again for a wee bit but life put blogging on the back burner.

But here I am again, this time with a post about cats. Yes cats. The other night I found myself searching all my favourite websites for cat print/cat items (as you do). I think I have the gumption to become a crazy cat lady; I just need more cats.

Anyway if you don't like cats look away now, because here is the cat's meow of what I found!

ASOS turned out to be a bit of a cat lady's dream:




Well I didn't say that being a cat lady was going to be cheap.




How could you ever bear to use it? It has a top hat for Pete's sake!

I am also a huge fan of the illustrator Gemma Correll because she also loves cats. Ok, that's not the main reason she's also an amazing artist:

(20% off at the mo!)
15% goes to the Pablove Foundation for fighting childhood cancer.


Now onto Etsy. Etsy has so many wonderful cat inspired things it was difficult to know just what to select. 

I completely endorse this statement. 




And finally the ultimate cat lady attire so everyone knows just what you are:


I have become so obsessed by cat related stuffs that I have even dedicated a Pinterest board to the cause.

Will you be showing your love for cats for all the world to see anytime soon?

Love 
Madame Squirrel

P.S I'm selling some stuffs on Ebay (click the link to see them) as my phone decided to jump from my arms and smash its little face in. So why not have a look; I must warn you though none of the items have a cat in any shape or form on them.