Bonfire Night Treats

Bonfire Night is the one night of the year completely dedicated to bonfires, fireworks, celebrations and burning a figure of a man in 17th century styling of old law breaker Guy Fawkes. A night full of fun, friends and fireworks and I have created the perfect recipes for cosy comfort food that are easy to prepare in advance, leaving you free to enjoy the fireworks. 

Honeycomb is the perfect sweet snack to nibble away whilst wrapped up in winter warmers. 

Here's what you need:

80g Butter

160g Caster Sugar

80g Golden Syrup

Tablespoon bicarbonate of soda

(splash of oil to line the baking tray)

Spread the oil over the whole tray so that the honey comb doesn't stick (it doesn't hurt to be generous here). 

Measure out the butter, sugar & golden syrup.

Pour the butter, sugar & syrup into a pan and stir them up till all the sugar has melted. 

As soon as it looks like this stop stirring, and let the mixture bubble and brown till it turns to a caramel sort of colour. 

Add the bicarbonate and watch the explosion happen. 

Quickly stir and the pour into the baking tray. 

Leave it to cool and go rock solid.

Then break it all up into bite-sized pieces. 

Now onto the toffee apples.

Here's what you need:

Lots of apples
400g Caster Sugar
4 Tablespoons Golden Syrup
Assortment of topping

Pour all the sugar into 100g of boiling water and stir it all in till it has completely dissolved, and leave it on a medium heat till the mixture darkens.

Add in the golden syrup.

If you have a sugar thermometer then as soon as you hit 140°C then your good to go. But if you are not lucky enough to have said kitchen utensil then you can tell if its done by dripping some of the syrup into a bowl of cold water and if instantly hardeners then you're ready, but if its still gooey then carry on heating it. 

The next stage is the fun part. Stab your apple with a wooden skewer dip into the sugar mixture ensuring its completely covered and then dip into one of the yummy topping bowls. You have to be quite speedy with this as the toffee hardens rather quickly. 

 Leave then on a plate or flat surface to solidify for a couple of minutes and you've got a plate full of tasty treats to share will all of your friends and family. 

Remember remember the fifth of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

4th July

My first ever 4th of July celebration, and what a good one it was!

I am lucky enough to live in Midtown right by the Hudson River which meant that we had a brilliant view of Macy’s 36th Annual 4th of July Fireworks.

Now, this day is a huge day in America as it marks the start of their independence all those many years ago, but is seems as though the celebration is just as important to them as the actual holiday itself. People flocked from all over New York State to line up by the river front to get the best view of the spectacular show.

A mix of friends, a reason to celebrate as well as some amazing fireworks, and before we knew it we had ourselves a roof party. 

Following the fireworks we decided to head on out. Where better to go for a 4th July celebration then to the fantastically debaucherous club, The Box. Stepping into the secluded entrance of the lower east side club makes you do a double take. The decor is like something out of a Horrible Histories book on the Victorian Era. An old ornately decorated theatre, where the stage is surrounded by private booths and sofa’s all with an eclectic and rather naughty edge. Not so much of a club and more of a theatre, we sipped on Moet whilst the first show started.

Now when they say ‘expect the unexpected’ they really do mean it!

We had a full array of performances from ‘The Monkey’ jumping through hoops which were set alight, two girls performing live porn where the sub ended up killing the dom (thank you 50 Shades for enlightening me on the correct terminology), a transvestite punk spitting and urinating off the stage, sky dancers, and even a magician and his glamourous assistant performing a quick change act.

Camera’s are banned inside the club, but I managed to get a few sneaky photos anyway....

The acts change every single night so you never quite know what you’re going to get. Despite the smell of formaldehyde and almost getting peed on I would say that it is certainly an item to be added onto the bucket list. (I recommend going on a Wednesday or Thursday as you are guaranteed a show on those nights)