The absolute delightfulness of rocking out to some good old classic metal.

 

As i've mentioned in some of my previous posts, I am such a rocker at heart and since 2011 when I lost my Download virginity (figuratively speaking), I really look forward to this time of year. Why? You might think it's because of Christmas (yes, also EXTREMELY exciting) or my birthday, but it's also when they start to release the line-up for the upcoming Download Festival. A festival that I am completely obsessed with going to every year now. I go to the festival with my boyfriend, which I think makes it somewhat more exciting as it's just the two of us. Some of you might think that it'd quite boring going as a couple and without friends, but I actually really enjoy it! We have so much time to wander around the stalls and can go to watch the bands that we love together. Afterall, music (especially rock and metal) is a wonderful thing to have in common. Of course, every year there are bound to be certain bands that one of us likes and the other doesn't. We usually battle it out (and being a girl, I'm pretty sure I usually win too). No actually, in all fairness we do try to see both bands for a bit if they clash. 

So the first headliner band they announced was Avenged Sevenfold, who are quite possibly my favourite band ever! I was so excited when this was announced as i've already seen them once at Download 2011 and i'll be seeing them in December at the LG Arena in Birmingham and now at Download 2014 on the Friday night. They've also just released a new album called Hail to the King, which really is a fantastic album. It has that more 'classic rock/metal' feel to it that you often hear in the music of bands like Metallica and Led Zeppelin. I mean afterall, these are the bands they grew up listening to and were influenced by and boy does it come through in this album. The main reason i'm into rock and metal is because of my Dad, who also grew up listening to these iconic bands, which probably explains why I love them so much too. Avenged Sevenfold are absolutely amazing live and really put on a good show (we even got free A7X flags handed out to us at Download 2011 - cool or what?!)

 Rob Zombie is also set to play on the Friday night, which i'm actually really looking forward to. I've never seen him live before and I must admit i've not listened to a great deal of his music but nonetheless i'm sure he'll put on a good show! He has a very crazy but fun personality and that's always good because they're usually really energetic and get the crowd going when they perform and from what i've seen on Youtube, his live shows are great. Let's face it, Rob Zombie is classic and an absolute must to see!

On the Saturday night, we have Linkin Park performing the whole of their Hybrid Theory album (another favourite band and album of mine!) My boyfriend and I saw them play for the first time in 2011 at Download and it'll be so amazing to see them perform again, especially as they've decided to perform such a great album of theirs. I really love Linkin Park's older music - it's so emotional, easy to listen to and it always makes me feel better. I'm not a massive fan of their latest albums as I think it's lost the emotion a little and is more about the electronic sound, which i'm not that into. I'm sure my boyfriend will read this and either laugh or be angry that i've just said that as he really loves all of their albums and just understands everything about their changes in music, whereas i'm just not quite feeling it.

Also on the Saturday night, we have Fall Out Boy. Again, another band that I haven't actually seen live but i'm really looking forward to it as I do quite like their music, not so much their newer releases but definitely their old stuff. When I think of Fall Out Boy, I go back to being fifteen again and it's quite nice to have that nostalgic feeling when you listen to music, so it should be really good to finally see them perform live. I just hope they play some of their classics!

Finally, we have the amazing Aerosmith ending the festival on the Sunday. I can only begin to imagine how many people are going to turn up to see them, i'm sure it'll be as many as it was for Metallica and Iron Maiden, which was A LOT. I do really like Aerosmith, as I grew up listening to them with my dad as well as my late childhood friend, Amy. So i'll be there next year rocking out in memory of Amy, as she too loved and lived for rock and metal and I just know she would have loved to have seen Aerosmith. 

Also playing on Sunday are Alter Bridge, which was a nice surprise! My boyfriend and I have recently seen them at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham with Shinedown and Halestorm and they were great! It was my first time seeing them but I already liked a bit of their music anyway and I particularly like Myles Kennedy's voice, so that's always going to be a winner. Alter Bridge are really good live and I don't think I can really pair them up with another band; they're quite unique, which is probably mainly because of Myles Kennedy's amazing voice.


So that's it so far. That's all we know but from what we've been told already, it looks like it's going to be one hell of a year again. Download, you never fail me to impress me and all I can say is keep 'em coming! I'm sure there'll be more posts on Download when we get some more announcements or even posts on my adventures to Birmingham to see Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death Punch and Device (along with a quite controversial trip to Clothes Show Live 2013!)

A delightful afternoon of baking the BEST banana muffins EVER (even if I do say so myself!)

So i've been meaning to post this recipe for about a week now, but with Halloween and Bonfire celebrations to be had, i've obviously had to postpone it a little. I was on annnual leave for four days last week, which left me with lots of spare time to do lovely things that I don't usually get the chance to do, such as baking! It has to be said that I absolutely love baking, nearly as much as I love cooking. In fact, to me there's nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked cakes - mmm!

Anyway, here's the recipe I followed, which I found on www.yammiesnoshery.com. I must admit I was really sceptical about making these at first. The first thing I read was 'The Best Banana Muffins Ever {Without Dirtying a Single Dish}' and for some reason thought they probably weren't going to be that great straight away. However, when I took my first bite, I was ever so pleasantly surprised and I knew she wasn't kidding. The muffins were so moist, the texture was perfect and they just looked and smelt divine. These were in fact the best banana muffins I had ever made and I know I will never use another recipe for banana muffins other than this from now on.


The Best Banana Bread Muffins Ever
Makes about a dozen muffins

3 brown bananas (1 cup mashed)
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup plain flour (I used gluten free flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil as I didn't have vegetable oil))
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze (optional - I didn't use it because I didn't think they needed it but I bet it makes them super scrummy!):
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon milk or lemon juice

Method

(Make sure your oven is preheated to 190ºC).

1. Mash the bananas in a fairly large bowl and make sure you've got about one measuring cup full. Add the eggs and oil and mix well.

2. Add the sugar and mix well until combined.

3. Put in the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Mix all of the new ingredients a little on top before combining properly with the rest of the ingredients in the bowl.

4. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. You should now have a very runny cake batter. 

5. Place muffins cases into a muffin tin if you have one and spoon the mixture into the cases making sure they're all relatively equal.

6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

7. Once they are cooked and out of the oven, put the muffins on a wire rack to cool before icing if you wish to do so.

8. If you are planning on icing the muffins, just mix together the icing sugar and milk or lemon juice and spread over the cooled muffins. Remember this should be quite runny as it is more of a glaze than proper cake icing.

Here are some photos of me actually baking the muffins.

I highly suggest that you have a go at making these muffins as they really are delicious. 

I will also provide you with the link to the original blogpost on Yammie's Noshery, which you can find at http://www.yammiesnoshery.com/2013/10/the-best-banana-bread-muffins-ever.html?m=1. 

Stay posted for more yummy recipes and beauty/fashion related posts!