Hi there readers, I hope you’ve had a nice weekend (and have enjoyed the Jubilee if you’re in the UK). Before I go on to talk about baked goods I’ve made, I’d first like to take the opportunity to thank A New Thing Every Day for nominating me for the Readers Appreciation Award! Please show some love by checking out her blog, it’s a very entertaining read. Thanks for the nomination! 
As a fairly new blogger, I’m so flattered that someone would choose my blog for this award. The rules of the award state that I have to nominate six other blogs that I am currently enjoying, as well as list something I’ve been up to lately. So here are my six nominations!
I love pin up fashion, so I enjoy reading this blogger’s reviews of pin up clothing, although I do get a bit jealous of her many beautiful dresses! This blog is a must read for pin up fans who are looking for stylish yet affordable purchases to add to their wardrobe.
This is a blog that is designed to make you feel good, so it consists of posts on topics that the author associates with well being. You will find lots of beautiful photos and healthy recipes, and overall it’s a very inspiring blog. Check it out!
The author describes this blog as ‘a blog of colour, texture and photography’, and that’s precisely what it is! I love looking at her amazing photos and I particularly enjoy her DIY craft posts, as they encourage me to get creative. If you’re an arty person, you will love this blog.
A vegetarian food blog that tries to dispel the common misconception that vegetarian food is ‘rabbit food’. As such it contains lots of yummy looking recipes, that even non-veggies like me can enjoy, as well as reviews of vegetarian products. Worth checking out whether or not you’re a vegetarian.
This is one of the first blogs that I followed, and I still enjoy reading it. It chronicles The Mouse’s experiments with food, both cooking at home and eating out. He has a great writing style and the posts are always greatly entertaining. Read this if you love food like me!
This is another arty blog, that has some of the most pretty photos I’ve ever seen. The author is a very skilled artist and I love her leaf patterns that she occasionally posts, hence the name of the blog. As a previous student of Graphic Design, this blog inspires me to keep doodling!
And now for something I’ve been up to recently…
I’m currently training for the Race for Life in July, where I’ll be running 5k. I’ve only recently started running, and I’m not a very fit person (I eat too much cake!) so I’m finding it to be a bit of a challenge. I chose to run the Race for Life because my former boss passed away from cancer last year; he was an incredible person and a massive inspiration to me, so I wanted to honour his memory by running this race, and raising some money for Cancer Research along the way! I’m aiming to finish the 5k in under 45 minutes, but I’ll be happy just to finish without passing out!
Now, onto the baked goods! Last week, I made some raspberry brownies. I again got the recipe from the Daily Mail recipe of the day; I now scour that paper every time my Dad brings it home so I can cut out the recipes! I don’t particularly enjoy the rest of that paper. I thought these brownies looked like a perfect naughty but nice kind of treat for my family, and I hadn’t made brownies in a while. They turned out pretty well, but were VERY gooey inside (I kind of like this though). I think I could have left them in the oven a bit longer to firm them up a bit more. It was really hot last week too, and they started to melt in the tupperware I put them in… oh well, still tasty! Here’s the recipe for raspberry brownies.
Ingredients
- 200g dark chocolate
- 100g milk chocolate
- 250g salted butter
- 400g light soft brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 140g plain flour
- 50g cocoa powder
- 200g raspberries
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180C/169C (fan)/gas mark 4. Line a 20 x 30cm baking tin with baking parchment.
- Put the chocolate, butter and sugar in a pan and gently melt, stirring occasionally. remove from the heat once melted.
- Stir the eggs, one by one, into the chocolate mixture. Sieve over the flour and cocoa, and stir in. Stir in half the raspberries, then scrape into the tin and scatter over the remaining raspberries.
- Bake on the middle shelf for 30 minutes, or for 5 minutes more if you want a firmer texture. Cool before slicing into squares.
I definitely prefer these brownies to the white chocolate ones I made, I found those to be overly sweet. I’m still going to try making peanut butter ones soon though; I’m a bit addicted to peanut butter flavoured things at the moment, such as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, mmmmm. I’m going away for a few days this week to see my boyfriend, so I may not get much chance to update my blog while I’m there. Stay tuned though!
Thanks again to A New Thing Every Day for the award nomination! 
Thank you so very much, Laura! Such flattering words!
anne