"I WISH I'D DONE EVERYTHING ON EARTH WITH YOU"

Have you been to see Gatsby yet? Just a little note before you do. Coupled with the fact that I could happily spread Leo on a cracker, I loved this film. I also feel the need to give the venue that we watched it at a bit of a shout out here too. Neil and I went to see it at the new Everyman Cinema Leeds last week, and were greeted on arrival by 1920s cocktails, yummy canapes and a jazz band. I think there are a few of these cinemas dotted around the country, so if you get the chance to you should definitely pay one a visit, they have comfy sofas, cushions, side tables, loads of leg room, freshly-made pizzas and a bar. I'm a little obsessed.

Before going to see it I'd read more than a few mixed reviews, which I'm putting down to the fact that some cinema-goers and critics perhaps assumed they were off to see an exact movie-replica of the book. Now I'm a long time fan of the book, but for those of you who've had the pleasure of reading it, it should be pretty obvious from the offset that Fitzgerald's first person narrative and prose wouldn't translate easily on screen. One of the reasons that the novel is so famous and beloved is that the story and characters can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. So with that in mind, and if you push any literary snobbery you may be feeling aside, what you're greeted with by this film is Luhrmann's own vibrant, kaleidoscopic, extravagant and frenetic interpretation of an American classic. I think the soundtrack is genius (I've been this-is-my-jamming-it 'til the cows come home this week), the sets are beautiful, the costumes (by Prada) are incredible and the casting is brilliant. Leonardo is the perfect Gatsby, but I could merrily wang on about that all day. In fact, I'm considering whether or not it would be weird to ask my boyfriend to permanently dress in a beige suit and carry a 1920s cane........ok it probably would.

Go see it!

E

(images from theweek.com, digitalspy.co.uk, hollywoodreporter.com)

CAKE O' CLOCK: Chocolate Buttercream Marble Surprise*

 *I added the word surprise on at the end, there isn't really anything surprising about it, but it sounds good.

Anyway, woo hoo, a recipe post that doesn't involve pasta for once.

I made a chocolate and vanilla marble cake a few weeks ago that for a distinctly below average baker like myself went down an absolute storm with my nearest and dearest, so I thought I'd share it on here. I found the recipe in a magazine, so I've listed everything you need to know below...

All you need is:
For the cake: 
200g soft unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
200g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder - mix in a small bowl with 3 tablespoons of boiling water to make a smooth paste
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

For the chocolate buttercream icing and cake topping:
100g soft unsalted butter
100g icing sugar
100g of plain cooking chocolate 
50g of your chosen topping (I used mini eggs but any kind of chocolate/sweet would be lovely)
25g of white chocolate (for drizzling at the end)

All you do is:
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (gas mark 4).
To create the marble effect in the sponge, you need to make 2 cake mixtures in 2 separate bowls.
In each bowl, place half of the butter, caster sugar, eggs, self raising flour and baking powder and whisk both bowls until the mixtures are light and fluffy.
Add your vanilla essence to one of the mixtures.
Add your cocoa powder paste to the other mixture and stir well.
Grease and line 2 cake tins (I used 2 x 20cm ones).
Spoon your mixtures into the 2 tins alternately to create the marble effect.
Level each tin off with a knife and then place both tins in the oven.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the sponge springs back when you press it, then remove them from the oven and leave them to cool on a wire rack or grill tray.


For the icing and topping:
Once your cakes have cooled down:
Break up your plain chocolate and melt it in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
While the chocolate is melting, mix your icing sugar and butter in a bowl.
Add your melted chocolate to the bowl and mix this in well.
Spread a little of the icing onto one cake and place the other cake on top.
Cover the top and sides of the full cake with the rest of your icing.
I then topped my cake with mini eggs and melted white chocolate (which I drizzled on top with a cocktail stick), but you can use anything you want to top the cake off, I think it would be really nice with chocolate buttons or maltesers....

E

CENTRE PARCS, CYCLING AND RON BURGUNDY

Last weekend, a group of us went to Centre Parcs in Wiltshire to celebrate my friend Laura's birthday. Luckily, the weather took a dramatic turn for the better just as we arrived, and it was lovely and sunny the whole time we were there. We spent the majority of the daytimes cycling around the forest (I brought my granny bike down for her first trip out), eating lots and lounging in the pool. I don't know if any of you have been to Centre Parcs before, but there's something about whizzing down rapids, grazing your behind and flying feet first into complete strangers wearing only a bathing suit that makes you feel 10 years old again.

The cast of ET were looking a bit long-in-the-tooth

A gorgeous foresty-view from our bedroom window

We made a new friend whilst basking in the sunshine by the lake

The evenings weren't quite as civilised. On one of the nights we had a fancy-dress barbecue, as you do. Despite not having done fancy dress for a good 8 years, Neil and I embraced the idea and got dressed up as Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone from Anchorman. Also in attendance were Keith Lemon, a mime artist, Danny and Sandy, a bunch of grapes (really), a banana, a flamenco dancer, a clown, some Smurfs and Spiderman. Just your average evening in the woods then. The next day we blew the cobwebs well and truly away with a spot of raft building on the lake beach. For those of you that know me, you'll know that this activity is about as far removed from how I'd usually spend an afternoon as possible. The lake was beyond freezing, the wetsuits were slimy and far too tight and to cap it all I had to wear a filthy, sand-covered helmet so that nobody knocked my head off with an oar. This all added to the hilarity of the weekend though, and it was so nice to have a much-needed break from Leeds.

 E

"AND I LIKE LARGE PARTIES. THEY'RE SO INTIMATE. AT SMALL PARTIES THERE ISN'T ANY PRIVACY."

I'm posting this trailer under the assumption that everyone else is as excited as I am about this film coming out?...

 

E

(trailer from youtube.com/user/warnerbrosuktrailers)

I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE...

Last weekend, on a complete whim, I bought myself a bicycle on eBay (for an absolute steal). It's a full-on granny bike, with a little wicker basket and a bell on the front. I am so excited about this, I can't even tell you. Maybe it was the first glimpses of Spring after the most depressingly freezing start to the year ever, or maybe I've just seen too many films where impossibly cool people ride around on bikes looking impossibly cool, but either way, I'm dusting off my cycling proficiency skills of 1994 ready to roll around the park in a floaty dress with streamers on my handlebars all summer long, emulating these lovely people whist toning my thighs...

The Beatles / a 1940s Sienna Miller / Farrah Fawcett / Sophia Loren / Zooey Deschanel / Willy Wonka

Humphrey and Hepburn / Summer and Seth

Blake and Leo / Zooey Deschanel (again) / Sean Connery / Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly / My Girl's Vada and Thomas (before the horrific beehive incident) / SMG

Elizabeth Olsen / Bardot / erm, Zooey again / Alicia Silverstone

I'm picking my new wheels up this weekend ready to take it on a trip away to Centreparcs next week, and as soon as we're back from there I'll be spending a bit of time giving it a much needed makeover (I'm thinking a nice sky blue). Before and after pics to follow...

E

(images from ridesabike.tumblr.com, bikepedia.com, beautiesonbicycles.blogspot.com,
treehugger.com)