How to make the best chocolate chip cookies

Do you find that your cookies always come out burnt or dry or just generally not
cookie shaped? Well those days are past! Here's a quick (and delicious) recipe for
perfect cookie shaped, cookies!

Ingredients:

150 grams of unsalted butter

225 grams of brown sugar

300 grams of flour

2 small eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/2 a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

1 large bar of chocolate


How to make these things into cookies:

Before you start: Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line two baking trays.

Step 1: Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and  beat together.
You may find it easier to melt the butter for a couple of seconds in the microwave
before adding the sugar.

Step 2: Add the vanilla extract and eggs and beat until light.  
Make sure the eggs are small because you don't want your mix to be to runny.

Step 3: Sieve the flour and bicarb into the bowl and stir until the mix stiffens up.

Step 4: Using two teaspoons make small balls of mix and put them on the baking trays
remembering to keep large gaps between each ball.

Step 5: Remember that large bar of chocolate? Were going to put that chocolate in a food
bag ( Take off the wrapper first! ) and take a rolling pin to it. Smash it up into small chunks
then distribute those chunks between the balls of cookie placing 4 or 5 on each one.

Step 6: Bake for 15 to 20 minutes keeping a watchful eye on them through the oven door.
Take them out when they are golden brown and still slightly squidgy because they will harden
up when cooling.

Step 7: Put the kettle on and eat when still hot!

Remember not to eat more than 3 in one sitting due to large amounts of sugar!

A super quick guide to the Parthenon and Athena Parthenos

Probably one of the most well known pieces of ancient Greek art, the Parthenon is made 

completely of Pentelic marble ( A pure white marble quarried on Mt. Pentelicus near Athens )

 apart from its wooden roof. The whole thing took 15 years to complete but was finally

 finished in 438 BC. What is left of the Parthenon stands proudly on the highest part of

 the Acropolis ( A ciadetel -fortress - protecting many previous temples to Athena and Nike ) 

with a main purpose of sheltering the Athena Parthenos. The Athena Parthenos is a 9m tall 

sculpture of Athena ( Ancient Greek goddess of war and wisdom ). In her right hand she holds

 a statue of Nike ( Ancient Greek god of Victory ) and in her left a gold spear. At her feet lies 

a shield coiled with a serpent. She was made by Phidias  ( A Greek sculptor and architect who

 lived in 5th century BC, Phidias "statue of Zeus in Olympus"is one of the seven wonders of 

the ancient world ) using a method called Chryselephantine ( Chryselephantine statues are 

built round a wooden frame then layered with thin slabs of ivory, then details are added with

gold leaf - 91% pure gold hammered into sheets - ). 

 The Parthenon was used for many different purpose over the course of time and in early 1460 - just after the Ottoman conquest - it was turned into a mosque. The Parthenon was destroyed in 1687 when an Ottoman ammunition dump inside it was lighted by Venetian bombardment  

So next time you happen to be Greece ward way .........

Elephants

Elephants 

Elephants...... wow, where to start!

Ok ill do bullet points:

• Where can I find them

• Eating habits

          Elephants need to eat 150 kg of vegetation a day. This is made up of grass, leafs,

          bushes, berries and fruit. Elephants will sometimes eat tree bark which contains

          calcium to aid digestion. To make a change from all that vegetation, they will use 

          their tusks to dig up earth to get to salt and minerals. Sometimes a herd of elephants

          have formed caves and hills, searching for these salt licks.

• Tusks

          Elephants tusk are formed from the second upper incisors, and can grow to over

          3 m long in some African elephants. The longest tusk on record was 3 1/2 m (138 in).

          The tusks grow over the elephants lifetime at a rate of about 18 cm a year.

          One third of the tusk is attached to the the skull underneath the skin. the outer part is

          dentine covered in apatite, which is made up of mainly calcium phosphate. This is 

          the bit most wanted by poachers, the ivory.

• Ears 

          African Elephants have the largest ears, on average 1.5 m across.

          But they aren't used for extra hearing, elephants use their ears as massive fans or

          for dominance and threat displays. Asian elephants have smaller ears because their

          habitat is normally cooler.

• Different types

1. African
2. Asian
3. Borneo Pygmy 

• Telling the difference

           One way to tell the difference is to look at the shape of the head.

Asian Elephants have a dipped hump on their head, but African Elephants have a smooth one.

Another difference is their food. Asian elephants generally eat more grass, Whereas African elephants have a more leaf based diet. They also have different shaped trunks, teeth and body shape.

• Extinction rate

          According to recent study’s Elephants

          will be extinct in roughly 12 years,

          due to humans poaching these

          harmless creatures.

                                

	Beginning of 20th century	Now. 2013-2014	In 10 years
African	2 million	450 000 to 700 000	As many as 20% will be killed off
Asian	100 000	35 000 to 40 000	Not recorded
Borneo	Not counted	1500 left in the wild.	Extinct

  

            African are the least threatened species, but there is still an increasing poaching
            rate. Most study’s agree that African elephants will not go extinct as quickly as

            other types yet they are still on the WWF critical animals list.

            Asian elephants are more often used as carriers and way of transport then
            any other type, but they are also the most protected. There are more breeding
            sanctuary’s and safe parks for Asian cows and baby’s then any other species.

            Borneo Pygmy’s are the most endangered of all the elephants.14 have been
            found poisoned since January 2013. One of their main threats beside poaching
            is their habitat being destroyed.

•   Fact file

1. Elephants are the largest land animal
2. The Elephant is the only mammal that can't jump
3. Elephants can be left tusked or right tusked!
4. Elephants have the second best memories for a animal, after dolphins (and humans).
5. Elephants can cry and laugh, just like a human
6. Elephants can swim! They use there trunks as snorkels in deeper water.
7. Elephants can listen through there feet. They pick up sub-sonic rumbles made by other elephants, through vibrations in the ground.
8. Elephants will mourn there dead, standing by the skeletons gentling touching the skull with there trunks.

Elephants are actually very intelligent creatures and there is no reason
to poach them like we do. If you want to do something to help, visit this link
to adopt an Elephant today:

https://support.wwf.org.uk/adopt-an-elephant?_ga=1.74397140.795824284.1390500977

Ta

Strictly come dancing 2014 - should Jennifer have been in the dance off?

No (in my opinion).

Without being controversial, I think it should have been

Scott Mills and Joanne. Although he was arguably better than last week, 
Jennifer Gibney was better overall.
Ok that sounds controversial.

Fair trade fashion

All you need to know 

* Whats it all about?

   Fair trade is about:

   - Better working conditions

   - Better prices

   - And fairer terms of trade.

   Fair trade is about stopping injustice in working.  

   

* Why buy fair trade?

   There is currently a massive cheap cotton industry that is putting the poor cotton

    farmers ( who live on 1 dollar a day ) out of business. This is very bad news for the

    workers who need the money they earn to survive.

    If the cheap cotton industry was removed then it has been estimated that west and 

    central African countries could earn an extra $94m - $360m from cotton production.

    So by buying fair trade products you are helping these people.

   

    

    

A cotton plantation 

* Where?

 Fair trade clothes are produced all over the globe but to name one place - Mali

    Highlighted in light blue, Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world.

    Cotton is Mali's most important exports with around 200,000 cotton farmers in the

    country, but with the worlds cotton prices falling Mali's farmers are struggling to make

    enough money.

    

* I bet you didn't know.....

   There are currently more than 1500 cotton products licensed as fair trade.

  

   75% of all fair trade producers are smallholding farms.

   68% of the UK's population recongnise the fair trade logo

   20 million fair trade cotton garments were sold in 2008

   

      

 Thanks - choose fair trade         

The Bustle

The Bustle

The Bustle first came around in the mid 19th century just after the crinoline went out of fashion.

A wire frame supports many layers of underskirts & a hooped up over skirt.

These are some examples of a bustle, ranging from the middle one - a expensive model for the posher lot - to the rather humble make on the right - a smaller bustle for the less important -. On the right is a bustle made of cloth instead of wire, which makes for a more comfy ( if smaller ) bustle.

Here is a drawing of a high class lady wearing a large bustled skirt.

You could often tell how high up the lady was, by how big her bustle was. 

i.e the bigger the bustle, the higher up she was.

The bustle finally went out of fashion in 1905 when the long corset came in.

The era of big bums was over.

Hanbok - the Korean traditional dress

Koreans nowadays only wear the Hanbok at special occasions

and festivals but it used to be the everyday dress to wear up until
100 years ago.
Children wear a Hanbok for their 1st birthday and adults wear it on
their wedding day & their 60th birthday.
The Hanbok is also worn for funerals and religious services.
The Hanbok is coloured using natural dyes in colours such as pink, red and blue.

The tight jacket and billowing skirt is considered very beautiful and enhances
the wearers beauty.

The design of it is original with unique lines that are smooth yet sharp.

Koreans have lived with nature and favour smooth curves rather than straight lines as they 

think curves are more beautiful.

Every Hanbok is more beautiful on and when the wearer is dancing!

So next fancy dress party you know what to make!

X

Style goddess no.1 - Suzy Parker

Suzy Parker (Born 1932, died 2003)

Suzy Parker was a popular American model and actress from 1947 to the early 60's, her modelling career reaching its peak in the 1950's when she was employed by Chanel and was the face of many film adverts, high street ranges and magazines all wanting her to pose for even just one shoot.

 Suzy Parker posing during her successful career.

Harper's Bazaar shoot November 1960.

Suzy Parker wearing typical mid 40's to early 50's dress.

Suzy Parker 1955.

Defiantly a style goddess x

Murmuration Teens - By The Stylish Purple Elephant

Unique summer style for floaty, dreamy teens & tweens!

Handmade freedom fashion, for staying stylish in the great outdoors!

Fairy tale sweet tooth skirt £8.99 ^

Rose sarong style beach dress £15.45 ^

White plaited freedom vest £4.99 ^

Candy colours tunic £11.34 ^

Forget-me-not sundress £9.99 ^

Noir queen pleated skirt £14.99 ^

HANDMADE WITH LOVE.....

.....so BUY NOW!

Xx 

Welcome!

Hi & welcome from The Stylish Purple Elephant!
I hope you like my blog.
Thanks M x