Carrot Cake Recipe

I love carrot cake, and with this simple recipe so will you.

Ingredients 
250g self-raising flour
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
400g caster sugar
350ml vegetable oil
350g grated carrot
optional
120g chopped walnuts

Icing 
140g soft margarine (I use dairy free)
350g icing sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract/flavouring

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180C/ gas mark 4 and grease 2, 20cm cake tins.
• In a big bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients (self-raising flour, cinnamon and sugar)
• In a separate bowl beat the oil and eggs together, until combined.
• Slowly mix the eggs and oil into the flour, sugar and cinnamon until smooth and combined fully. 
• Then add the grated carrot to the mixture, and mix until smooth and fully combined. 
• Once the mixture is combined, divide equally into the 2 cake tins. 
• Bake for 25-30 mins in the preheated oven. Test the cake with a skewer and if it comes out clean it is baked
• Once the cake is baked, leave to cool in the tins, once fully cooled removes from tins.
• Whilst cake is cooling, make the icing.
• simply mix the margarine, icing sugar and vanilla extract together until smooth and creamy. 
• Once the cakes are cool, layer the cakes, with a layer of icing in-between each layer.
• Top with a thin layer of icing and serve.... with a cup of tea is advised
• Enjoy

 

The finished product

little discalmer... this is my finished cake it is a lovely picture courtesy of Google Images... I have lost the picture of the cake I have made! Silly me. Sorry... Nevertheless the cake was amazing and didn't last long in my house as it was eaten so quickly.

I hope you try this very simple recipe.

Love yah
IsThataRedHerring

I'm finally doing it!

For ages now I have thought about writing a book. I have had many ideas but none of them developed into anything I wanted to actually pursue. I kept coming up with excuse after excuse why I couldn't write my book. But then something clicked. I love writing and this idea came to me just before I went to bed. I wrote a note to myself on my phone then went to sleep. I forgot I had written myself this note until 2/3 weeks after; and I still really liked the idea for a book. So, I got researching and writing bits and developing my characters.

Researching is the hardest part. I found that I got distracted way to easily when I was at home so would often venture to the library, where I was restricted by 2 hour computer slots which meant I got more done in the time. But when researching for a book you end up searching and googling the most randomist and weirdest things. For instance today I was in my local library which is small as I live in a small town. Away I was printing 10 pages worth of research on breast cancer then followed by asking if they had any baby name books (which they didn't). The librarian gave me such a weird look as she handed me my printing and unsure what to say. I laughed and said I'm doing research for a book I am hoping to write and we got talking about it and how she has written a children's book for her children which they love. It went from an awkward interactions to something quite rewarding and interesting to hear about.

I haven't been working on my book for long, an hour here and there. However I am able to concentrate on it more now that I am between jobs. I finished my job as a carer last Friday and do not start my next job until October. So I am using this time to research for my book, catch up on books I want to read and generally having some me time.

If you have any writing tips I would love to hear them. All advice is welcome.

Love Yah

IsThataRedHerring

Writers block sucks. So have a list of my favourite films.

I'm just not sure what to write. I wanted to do a heartfelt blog post but I'm honestly not sure I want to, I feel like it would be whiny and boring. So I am going to reveal my top 10 ish films that I love in no particular order.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels 
Snatch 
RocknRolla 
These three films are my staple films to watch, classic gangsta movies by Guy Richie, absolutly perfect and some rather lovely men as well. Ruthless violence, all conected and amazing acting what more could you want from a film? Layer cake also fits in with these films but I did not enjoy it, for me the film was compeltly ruined by how it ended.

From Dusk Till Dawn 
Has always been one of my favourite films, its an early Quentin Tarantino film, in which he stars as Richie the little brother of Seth (George Clooney) the film follows the two brothers, who are criminals and take a family hostage, they take shelter in an old bar for the night unknown to them its a popular vampire hang out. Safe to say all hell breaks lose. Its full of blood, guts, gore and hilarious moments.

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
Love, Rosie
Whip It
Amazing girly films, perfect for when too much drama is going on in my life, I put on my favourite pjs, get my duvet and some ice cream and I'm set. I would normally watch all of these films if I'm feeling particularly stressed out... On a side note, my all time favourite book is Where Rainbows End by Cecilia Ahern, Love, Rosie is based on this book. I honestly thought I'd hate the film because I knew it wouldn't be like the book (which is set out in letter, email and text form) I knew this would be hard to recreate in the film, but the film was lovely. The director and writer added their own twist to a wonderful book and I can honestly say it's one of my favourite adaptations of all time.

Love, Rosie trailer

Back to the Future 
Pretty in Pink
Say Anything
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Breakfast Club 
My favourite 80's films, a perfect mixture of Sci-fi, romcom and damn right crazy, pretty much sums up my love of anything 80's. All a must watch.

Rocky Horror Picture Show trailer

X-men: The Last Stand
Guardians of the Galaxy
Zombieland 
Of course at least one Marvel film made the list. To be honest all of the X-men should be on this list but I have restricted myself to just the one. I adore the last stand because the Phonix aka Jean Grey is boss in it, and she happens to be my all time favoutite superhero (don't tell Wolverine because I love him too). Let's not forget the master pieces that are Guardians of the Galaxy (dude a walking kinder talking and dancing tree) and of course Zombieland, this film for me know matter how I am feeling can change my mood in an instance, what more coudl you honestly want from a film? Bill Murray YES Emma Stone YES Woody Harleson YES and of course Jesse Eisenburg, a glorious film.

Zombieland Trailer 

UP
I had to have one Disney Pixar film on here, and of course it had to be UP, I adore this film, it makes me go through all the emotions I can muster. And yes I always without a doubt cry at the beginning, middle and end of this film, its a rollercoaster of emotions okay.

UP trailer

Perks of Being a Wallflower 
This is one of my all time favourite films and books. Must read and must see.

Others that deserve a mention are
Lucky number Sleven 
Book of ELI
Jack 
Big 
Forrest Gump 
Dirty Dancing 
Footloose 
Pretty Women 

Okay I went way over my top 10 but hey I've seen a lot of amazing films. There are too many good films to write in one list without making it too long. But there were a few of them and my reasons behind it. I hope you like this blog, I'm hoping writers block will solve itself soon because I have a book to finish.

Love Yah
IsThataRedHerring

Knowing your limits

We are always told that staying in our comforts zones is not really a good idea, that we should broaden our horizons and get out of our comfort zones. Which I mostly agree with, but we all have our limits and pushing them too far too quickly like I found out is not a good thing.

The past 4 months have seen big changes for me, I finished university, got a full time job, committed to losing weight and started writing a book. These have all impacted me greatly in the past few months. Finishing university was a massive deal, I went from living with my best friends to hardly seeing them, being a 5 minute walk from some of the greatest people I know to being hours away from them.

But recently the biggest change is going from barely working at all to working 80+ hours a week, doing stupidly long night shifts and working 2 weeks in a row without a day off. Safe to say it killed me, resulted in me becoming very ill and ended up getting sent home from work. I did too much too quickly. I was stupid to accept all the shifts I did. The money was good and meant I could put a lot into savings but it was at the cost of my health. I had cut down a lot of food and with working a lot and cycling a lot my body just overloaded, it was a lot of changes in a very short space of time.

But I have learnt from my mistake. I've got 5 days off of work, able to relax a bit, socialise which is nice and just chill a bit. I know now I was doing to much for my body to handle. So now I am signing out, going to enjoy my days off, write a bit more.

Love Yah
IsThataRedHerring

My latest book purchases and why...

My latest book purchases are:

I have recently brought a lot of books, mainly because I work nights at work and they can go a little slow when there is no work to do I am able to read. I've been flying through books which is amazing. Here is a list of books so far, and a little bit about the ones I am looking forward to the most.

• The Time keeper by Mitch Albom 
• The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom 
• The Quiet Game by Greg Iles (series, including The Bone Tree) 
• Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes 
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins 
• The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan 
• Department 19 by Will Hill
• You Don't Have To Say You Love Me by Sarra Manning
• Just A Girl Standing In Front Of A Boy by Lucy-Anne Holmes 
• Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell 
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 

The Quiet Game by Greg Iles...
this is also a book by Iles, I have been recommended this book by several people and thought I'd give it a go, it is the first book of a series and I haven't read a series in a while so I am going to try this one and see how it goes.

Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes 
This book is based on Hitler coming back from the dead, he becomes a YouTube star and follows Hitler as a YouTubing and staring in his own TV show, I have mixed views of this book, but I am looking forward to reading it.

The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan 
From the reviews this book is heartwarming and very emotional. The book is a collection of essays written by Marina, sadly Marina died in a car accident 3 days after graduating from university. She had a very bright future ahead of her, which sadly was taken from her in a freak accident. I am looking forward to reading it but feel that I am going to need a lot of tissues at the ready.

The Girl of the Train by Paula Hawkins
This book was eagerly recommended to me by the staff of Waterstones, I was lucky enough to be given a voucher from my wonderful friend Vikki for my birthday so thought I'd give it ago. I am about to start the book and from what I've read (reviews) I will not be putting it down.

Love yah
IsThataRedHerring

P.S
You can also follow/add me on GoodReads: Gemma Herring

Sunday 26th July 2015 - She believed she could so she did.

Sunday 26^th July 2015

Its 17:19 and I’ve been sat on my bed for two hours looking at this blank screen. I haven’t written anything meaningful in a couple of months. Every time I try I just delete what I’ve written, not knowing how to proceed or even start.

Tired of work, running around for 12 hours straight, my first full time job as a carer is really taking its toll on me. But I love it. I’ve learnt so much. But I feel like its stopping me from writing, I start work at 7pm and finish at 7am and I rarely get a day off, and when I do I am too tired to do anything other than sleep.

Last night I finished work at 10pm, went to bed at 11pm and woke up at 10 am. I had a full night’s sleep, went shopping with my brother and sat in front of my laptop, wanting, willing to write something but for 2 hours nothing came. I gave up, loaded up Sims and proceeded to waste my day.

To the right of me were two new books I had recently purchased. One book in particular stood out to me. The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan. I shut my laptop down and picked up the book, got comfy in my bed and began to read.

I didn’t even get passed the third page before having to stop, and contemplate my life and my choices, I sat there in my pyjamas crying my eyes out. How stupid was I being, this young girl who worked her arse off died three days after graduating from Yale University and I’m sat here moping about because my job consists of a lot of hard work and long days/nights.

Marina Keegan was just 22 when she died in a car crash of no fault of her own. She was an inspiring writer and did everything in her power to improve herself and prove to the world that the art of writing and literature was not dead.

The way in which this young 22 year old women wrote was inspiration enough to get me motivated again. But I still felt unsure of what to write… and then I picked up my birthday present from one of my closest friend Jenny. She had given me a personalised notebook, and wrote a beautiful paragraph in there for me. And on the front a simple little quote that I adore; She believed she could so she did.

If Jenny believed in me then it was time to prove it, time to prove that I could. I needed to believe in myself, and here I am. It’s now 17:45, after 2 months of being absent I am back. And I do not plan going anywhere.

I am going to chase my goals. Life is too short not to chase the things we want and love. So here goes… here’s to my future, the struggles, heart ache but most importantly achieving my goals. Not dreams because my goals are real and I will achieve them.

Love yah

IsThataRedHerring 

I am never going to be a size 8! And I am fine with that.

My dream/ideal size is a UK 14! Many of you may be shocked that I want to be that size, a lot of people think that is massive and not a healthy weight. But the fact is in the UK, the average size is 14/16. It is a healthy size and the size I aim to be. 

I have always been a larger girl, and like I've said in previous posts it only bothers me because of how unfit and unhealthy I am. 

The point of this post is to explain what I am doing to make myself healthy and happy. For my height my BMI is shockingly high, and it scares me. I turn 21 in a month and I am obese. I am overweight, unhealthy and scared that if I don't change now I won't have a long future. I want to get married, have children, travel and most importantly I want to get old and wrinkly with white hair. I do not want to die young and have wasted my life eating and being 'fat'. It is time to change, I am finally in the right mind set to do it and take action. 

What have I done?

1. I joined my local Weight Watchers group. I felt that if I had to pay each week to attend and get weighed, it will motivate me more to lose weight and it really has. In 5 days I have already seen a difference in myself. And sticking to a plan that I have made is so much better. I still enjoy the little naughty things, but I'm learning to do it all in moderation. 
2. I got a new bicycle (and helmet, safety first kids). Myself, my dad and brother used to cycle everywhere up until I was about 15/16. Every Sunday we would go for a 3 hour bike ride and although I moaned a lot then, I did really enjoy it. I'm very lucky to live near a town but also in the countryside which means there are plenty of places to cycle. I've managed to rope my brother into it as well and now we are going to try and cycle for 30/40 mins 3 times a week and slowly build it up and have less breaks.
3. I am doing this for me. Time and time again I have tried to lose weight but for the wrong reason. If I lose weight boys will like me more and that is the sad truth but now I say sod it, I am doing this for me and myself only. And that's why it is so important to me to remember that in order to be happy I do not need to be a size 6 I can be perfectly happy and healthy as a 14. 

I want everyone to know that if you are happy with yourself, no matter your size, stay like it. But if you aren't do something about it but take the healthy route! Don;t go trying to lose or put on weight too fast. It may takes years to get to how you want to be, but that is a fight we must all take. And for me mine started on the 10th of Junes 2015, and I am determined to carry on and prove to myself (not anyone else) that I am worthy of being happy and healthy and still be myself. 

Love yah 

IsThataRedHerring