Grandma's Christmas Cake

Anyone who knows me well will know that Christmas is my absolute all time favourite time of year. I BLOOMIN' LOVE IT. As soon as summer is over I'm getting hyped for the festive season. Now, I usually try to behave myself and don't get into the Christmas spirit until the last week of November at the very least. However, if you want to make a Christmas cake then mid-October is the perfect time to do it. I very much enjoy the fact that this gives me an excuse to have a few hours of feeling 'Christmassy' super early. I had to make my cake at the end of September this year before I moved away to University but if you've not done it yet, now is the perfect opportunity.

My Grandma was an amazing woman for many reasons but one thing that she is remembered fondly for is her incredible cooking and baking! Her Christmas cake recipe is undoubtedly the best and you lucky lot have me to share it with you! So get the festive tunes on and get baking.

so, so haps to have an excuse to wear my xmas jumper! (and to look like a twat)

Ingredients:

• 8oz (225g) butter
• 8oz (225g) soft brown sugar
• 6 eggs
• 8oz (225g) plain flour
• 4oz (115g) glace cherries
• 4oz (115g) ground almonds
• 4oz (115g) raisins
• 8oz (225g) currants
• 8oz (225g) sultanas
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice
• 1 tablespoon black treacle

Method:

1. Cream together the butter and sugar 
   
2. Gradually blend in the eggs and flour 
   
   
   
   
3. Put all fruit and spice into a separate bowl and stir in the ground almonds 
   
4. Combine the two mixtures, add the black treacle 
   
   
   
   
5. Transfer the mixture to an 8 inch, lined cake tin 
   
6. Cook at 160° for 2 hours 
   

Once the cake has cooled, you need to wrap it in grease-proof paper and store in a tin.

Dates for the diary: At the end of October, make holes in the cake with a skewer and pour over 2 tablespoons of brandy. Then, at the end of November, spread a thin layer of apricot jam over the cake and then place a thin layer of marzipan to cover the cake (I just use shop bought marzipan). In the week before Christmas (or whenever it is that you want to eat the cake) add a layer of royal icing. You can either buy 'ready to roll' icing or make your own. Last year I made my own using this Mary Berry recipe and it was delicious! In between all of these steps, re-cover the cake with grease-proof paper. You won't need to do this once the cake is iced.

Follow me on Instagram @cornerofkatie  to see what my cake looks like once it's finished in December. No doubt I shall post a picture of it!

Don't forget you can follow this blog too (blue 'follow' button in top left corner).

Thank you so much for reading. Let me know if you have a go at this recipe - I'd love to see your versions!

Love,

Katie xxx

A Letter to My Grandad

It's my Grandad's birthday today and so I got to thinking about him and realised there are so many things that I've never told him. It seems ridiculous that we only really reflect on the impact someone has had on our lives in private, without ever actually telling them. So here is a letter to my Grandad that he can read: one in which I reflect on what he has done for me, the things I love about him, and the things I'm looking forward to in the years to come.

Dear Grandad,

Where to start... I suppose I'd better start with what is of course the most important thing you have given me: my love of Ireland! Technically I'm half-Irish but I often feel that the Irish blood in me outweighs that of the English haha! I could eat spuds for every meal, I drink a glass of milk with dinner every night (I'm not sure if this is even an Irish thing but you do it too... maybe we're both just slightly odd?), I get way too emotionally invested in the prospects of the Irish rugby team, I know more of the words to the Irish national anthem than those of the English one, I believe that 'I'll put the kettle on' is the phrase to solve all of life's problems, and I wear this hat you bought me with true pride.

Even you look embarrassed to be seen with me wearing this haha!

I'm definitely a home bird but Ireland is one place I can see myself moving to in the future. I can't wait to get back over to Dublin in December to get together with the whole Ledden clan!

Another thing that you have passed on a love for is Frank Sinatra. Some of my earliest memories of you consist of you singing 'Fly Me To The Moon' in your strong Dublin accent. When I was little I would sing it around the house in that same Dublin accent because that was the only way I had heard it sung! Now I love all his music and have also developed a passion for other music like his - play me some Nat King Cole or Ray Charles any day.

Grandad you have always been my biggest fan and your encouragement means more to me than I could ever say. I'm sure you end almost every phone call and visit by saying "don't forget me when you're a star... throw me a few bob when you're rich and famous" which never fails to crack me up... like I could ever forget you, famous or not! And don't worry I'm writing all my songs down in a book so I can sell it for millions one day like you always say aha!
More importantly however, you always tell me to follow my dreams. It is the best feeling in the world knowing that you will love and support me whatever I do; I know that you just want me to be happy.

Speaking of encouragement, the way you have always told me I'm beautiful and that I must have a whole line of chaps after me is great for a girl's self-confidence! Sorry to disappoint in the male department however (no, for the last time, Raymond is not my boyfriend!). But of course, you know I'm going to marry George Ezra one day so we can all look forward to that.
In all seriousness though, any future romantic partners of mine are definitely going to have to get your approval!

Another thing that I want to thank you for is the inspiration you have been, and continue to be, to me. Amongst many great things, you have faced some terrible trials in your life. From having to leave school and support your family at 14 (when I was 14 the most I had to look after were my two guinea pigs!) to so many serious injuries and illnesses I lose count - yet you have taken it all in your stride. Of course, it was all tough, but I have NEVER heard you complain despite the fact that you live in pain from your various injuries and accidents. During my years of illness, this fighters spirit you show was a huge inspiration to me and I did my best to be as brave as you (I don't think I did a very good job though, I complained a lot!) I know you'll probably hate me for writing about this stuff but I don't think people tell you how amazing you are enough - most other people would have completely lost their marbles had they been through everything you have.

Finally, and on a much lighter note, I want to thank you for all the laughs. We're always up for the craic when we're together and I love joking about with you - although I'm still not sure I've forgiven you for scaring the living daylights out of me when you gave me a fright to try and get rid of my hiccups a few months back (but then, it did work, to be fair).

So, Bernard Patrick Ledden, my wonderful Grandad, here's to many more laughs, sing-a-longs, pints of Guinness, glasses of milk, and Irish rugby victories in the future.

All my love,

Katie




Thank you as always for reading, go and tell someone you love how you feel about them today. GO. NOW.

Love,
Katie xxx

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From Mountain Tops to Valley Lows

This past week has been quite the journey. I've gone from feeling like I'm stood on a mountain top to feeling like I'm lying in the deepest valley and then back up again . It's been a week of friends, singing, crying, laughing, hope, and despair.

Last week was spent building up to an audition I had at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School on Friday. I was very nervous - particularly after being rejected from the last two schools I had applied for (see previous posts) but I was also really looking forward to performing for the panel. I felt that the audition went well; I performed my pieces the best I could, and the panel were really lovely so the interview part was fine. However, as I left the room afterwards I thought to myself 'I feel like that wasn't enough'. I don't really know why but I just felt like I hadn't had the 'wow factor' (if that's even a thing!). Yet just as I had gathered up my things and was preparing to leave, one of the women from the audition panel came out to call in the next person but instead of going over to him, she came up to me and said "Thank you again so much for coming!" she then gave me a thumbs up and a sort of wink and said "So, yeah, hopefully see you very soon!"

My heart LEAPT. I wanted to look around at everyone and be like 'did anyone else just see that?!'
When I met up with my mum afterwards I told her about it but we both agreed that I shouldn't get my hopes up too much. I knew that even though they might have wanted to give me a recall, they have to consider everyone together and could easily decide that they already had plenty of girls like me. Bristol Old Vic audition well over 1,000 applicants a year with only 14 places up for grabs (and only half of those being for girls) so I knew from the start my chances were extremely slim! And sure enough, I received an email at 11:13 yesterday morning to say they couldn't offer me a place for October 2017.

Despite expecting this to some extent, it still crushed me. The whole thing was definitely made worse by the fact that I couldn't help taking what that woman did to heart - it gave me hope and made me feel like I had a chance of getting through. I think it was pretty insensitive to say what she did without being 100% sure - because of course I would take it to heart! As humans we always look for meaning in things, we strive to cling on to the words of others.

Right now, this sucks, but I'm going to take this week off audition prep to focus on what really matters to me: my friends, my family, my work, and singing/acting for my own enjoyment - then next week I can get back to work to prepare for my last audition.

On days like these it's so easy to sit and say ' life really sucks right now'. However, I don't think that's true. Some really great things have happened over the past few days too and it's up to me to choose whether to focus on those things or to focus on this one really rubbish thing. I'm not saying that when something bad happens you should just push through it straight away and pretend it hasn't happened - far from it! It's important to feel and process your emotions. Indeed, yesterday I had a good old sob for about 10 minutes which helped me to get all the hurt and anger and bitterness and disappointment out of my system! What I am saying however, is that we can choose whether to dwell on the negatives and we can choose whether we let the negatives determine how we feel about life as a whole.

Some really great things that have happened since my audition:

1. Because I was in Bristol, I could meet up with my wonderful friend Grace who is studying to be the best vet in the world (maybe I'm a tad bias) at the University of Bristol. We ate veggie goodness at GBK, caught up, and giggled a lot. I left my time with her feeling very loved.
   
2. I then went to stay with my best friend, Laura, who is studying to be the best oncologist in the world (again, maybe a teensie bit bias) at the University of West England. She knows that whenever we go to Pizza Express I always order the Padana so she bought that for us to have for tea! Then I got to meet her boyfriend for the first time - beforehand I was planning on grilling him (y'know, you've got to make sure your bff gets only the best), however it ended up being that me and Laura basically recounted every major embarrassing event from my life to him. We discovered there is a considerable amount of said embarrassing moments!!! I think it's safe to say that I terrified the poor chap. In all seriousness though, it was lovely sitting and drinking tea with them and getting to know the guy who's making my friend so happy :)
   
3. On the train home from Bristol the next day, I was sat opposite the sweetest middle-aged couple. They got really confused over the seat numbers and got very excited about the little packed lunch they had made which included those little juice cartons that you drink from with a straw. I don't know why they made me smile so much, I guess sometimes it's just the little things that people do/say that can be the most entertaining.
   
4. Saturday evening was the MYCO Open Mic Night. This meant that everyone in the company had the opportunity to perform whatever they wanted. I performed a solo and a duet with my friend Oscar. I loved every single second of it! The stage is my happy place. There's nothing that makes me feel better than singing my heart out for an audience. More than this however, on Saturday I just loved watching everyone else do their thing. I felt honored to be able to perform alongside such incredibly talented people and to be able to call them my friends! Tickets are now on sale for our show 'The Hired Man' which is going to be EPIC (if I may say so myself). Buy them here. Also, you can watch my solo from Saturday evening on my YouTube channel - just click here.
5. After I got the email to say I hadn't been accepted, my brother Matt and I headed for the McDonald's drive-thru. I hardly ever get a McDonald's but this was a level of depression that only chicken nuggets could ease. We blasted out tunes like 'Roar' by Katy Perry, we sung (rather badly) at the top of our lungs and whacked out some pretty horrendous dance moves, but I definitely felt better for it!

   

   Disclaimer: these photos were taken whilst stationary.

6. In the afternoon I had lesson scheduled with a young girl to whom I teach singing. The lesson went really well and I felt so proud - she had obviously been practicing what I had been teaching her and had improved so much!
7. I was working in the late afternoon/early evening with one year old twins that I look after. Honestly seeing their little faces light up and watching them speed-crawl towards me when they see me come in is just so amazing... It kills me every time... MY HEART JUST CAN'T COPE.
8. After work I met up with one of my best chums, Beth, who is back from University for a few days. We drank wine and ate bread and it was blissful.
9. Finally, messages like this from my friends and family have kept me going. Thank you to you all, you truly are the best and I'm so blessed to have you.

   

   Laura Perry, you're the real MVP

So to finally get to the point... What I'm trying to say is that even when something happens that makes you feel like your dreams have been crushed or you've been let down or your heartbroken or you just want to give up, there are always good things to focus on. I'm still upset about the outcome of my audition but by coming up with a list of good things that have happened, I've realised that the good usually balances out the bad. So this week when people ask me how I'm doing or how my week is going, I'm going to say that I'm okay and that my week has been good overall. I'm going to choose to dwell on the positives of my week as well as the bad. Life is never as simple as being at the top of the mountain or being in the bottom of the valley - it's a mixed bag. No day is all good or all bad.


Thank you so much for reading, I hope your week is going well!
It would mean so much if you could follow my blog (there's a little blue 'Follow' button at the top of the page on the left), thanks!

Love,
Katie xxx