Finished!

This week was my 26th Birthday. As well as being another year older it meant that I am no longer a member of “The Senior Section” and am now just a plain old adult leader in the land of Girlguiding.

However, more excitingly it meant that I had reached my deadline for completing the Queen’s Guide Award and guess what? - I’ve only gone and managed it!

This means that since October 2013 I have:

Baked 56 bakes and spent more than 69 hours baking, researching and blogging…

...Spoken to over 180 people about organ donation, given out nearly 200 leaflets and 40 posters, and written 10 facts sheets about the cause…

...Kept 4 strangers entertained for 3 days while getting my Senior Section Permit despite of the snow...

...Sourced 4 Brownie fancy dress outfits and reviewed 90 bands, artists, shops and foods at Solfest 2013...

...Gained my Leadership Qualification, became a Brown Owl and attended 34 Brownie sessions and 5 Senior Section meetings...

...Spent 5 nights in Berlin in charge of 17 Rangers (giving out countless numbers of plasters and bottles of water)...

...Organised seaside crafts for hundreds of soggy Brownies...

...Dreamt up loads of ideas and suggestions to shape the future of guiding at Innovate...

And done so many other things that aren’t directly related to the award that I wouldn’t have done if I hadn’t taken on the challenge.

But most of all I have met some amazing, welcoming people that have helped me in so many ways I can’t even count.

So I want to say a big THANK YOU to all of these people and hope that my Guiding adventure continues to be as rewarding and as fun!

Snowy Winter Fudge

It’s December and that means only one thing – it’s time for Christmas baking. Christmas is the best time of year for cake and this year I am going to have a go at making lots and lots different kinds of them. My first bake (is it a bake if it doesn’t involve an oven?) is this fudge that I think looks super wintery. 

Method 

I got the recipe from a booklet that Tesco sent me and you can find it here. 

This recipe was really easy to make (although all the very unhealthy ingredients were a bit scary). I put the butter, sugar, condensed milk and syrup into a pan then melted everything and brought it to the boil. As the mixture boiled (for about 8 mins) it thickened and turned a darker colour. I had to keep stirring though so that it didn’t stick to the bottom and burn. 

I then mixed in the broken biscuits (just like a cheesecake base) and put the mixture into a greased tin. Mini marshmallows were put on top and pressed into the mix and then everything was covered in a dribble of while chocolate. The fudge then went into the fridge to set. 

Results 

I really liked this fudge, although it was so very sweet that you couldn’t have lots in one go. I thought it tasted yummy and also looked great. I am thinking of adding cranberries or maybe even glitter for a more grown up feel and using it as a Christmas gift.

Score: 9/10