Ellie Ellie Wears

Although we can feel Spring in the air (hurry up Spring), Winter is very much still here, with a light dusting of frost here and there and a chill to the air and Ellie Ellie Wears this week includes this very cosy Fair Isle Cardigan from Boden, which is in a lovely green colour. We've paired this cardigan with these comfy essential trousers from Crew clothing, but the cardigan would also be great with grey or pink jeans. Add a splash of colour and neon with our new pencil stud earrings (launching on the 27th of March), and keep cosy with this knit hat from Seasalt. A cosy winter look this February!

Fair Isle Cardigan: Boden clothing
Pencil earrings: Ellie Ellie
Essential trouser: Crew clothing
Knit heat: Seasalt

www.ellieellie.co.uk 

Get the flour ready!

This Tuesday is one of the best food celebrations ever, Pancake Day! We will be celebrating by making pancakes in the morning in our Ellie Ellie kitchen, with various different toppings to go with them. In case you don't know how to make pancakes, and prepare you for Tuesday, here is a simple recipe so you can stock up on the vital ingredients.

All you need is: 

- Plain flour

- Eggs

- Milk

- Sunflower oil for frying 

- Pinch of salt. 

Simply: 

1. Put the flour, eggs, milk and a pinch of salt into a bowl or large jug, then whisk to a smooth batter. Set aside for 30 mins to rest if you have time, or start cooking straight away.

What is your favourite topping? We've got chocolate sauce as a favourite, lemon and sugar and strawberries in the office!

National Strawberry Day!

Celebrate National Strawberry Day with a yummy Strawberry Jam Recipe! 

Ingredients:

• 2lb 3oz strawberries
• 2lb 3oz granulated sugar or caster sugar
• 1/2 lemon (juice only)
• Small knob of butter 

Recipe:

• The day before making the jam, hull and halve the strawberries and check for soft spots
• Remove any soft spots and throw away any berries that are overripe
• Put the strawberries in a bowl with 18oz of the sugar, turning carefully and mixing well - cover and place in the fridge overnight
• Place a saucer in the freezer to chill (you'll need this later)
• Sterilize the jam jars 
• Pour the strawberries, their juice and any residual sugary juices into a very large pan 
• Add the remaining 18oz of sugar and the lemon juice
• Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved
• Bring the strawberries to the boil and boil hard until the jam reaches setting point (this may take up to half an hour) 
• To test if it has reached setting point, remove pan from heat and place a drop of the jam onto the saucer from the freezer, after a few seconds push the jam with your finger
• If the jam wrinkles it had reached setting point and is ready. If it slides about as liquid, it is not yet set.
• When setting point is reached, stir in the butter, skim off any scum on the surface of the jam 
• Let the jam cool and thicken in the pan for ten minutes
• Stir the jam and ladle it into the sterilized jars 

Enjoy!

You can find the full recipe, plus more here! 

National Banana Bread Day!!

Today marks another great day, this time dedicated to a popular fruit. It's National Banana Bread day and a Sunday evening is the perfect time to get some simple ingredients for a great cake that will last you all week for lunches and tea.

It's so easy to make, and uses simple ingredients you may have in your cupboard anyway!

1. Mix together 8 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of sugar
2. Stir into the mix 2 beaten eggs and 3 mashed bananas
3. Slowly mix in half a teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda
4. Slowly mix in 1 and a quarter cups of all purpose flour
5. Fold in gently a third cup of walnuts for an extra taste
6. Pour in a greased loaf tin
7. Bake at gas mark 4 or 180 degrees C
8. Wait to cool, add dried banana or icing for that finishing touch and serve

Ellie Ellie Wears

Happy Valentine's Day from Ellie Ellie! 

This weeks look is inspired by Valentines, some inspiration for a fun and colourful look. This beaded top from Frock and Frill is perfect to wear for dinner or dancing and will add a touch of vintage glam to any outfit. This skirt is a great shape and structure and would look brilliant with some tanned heeled boots! Add this fun heart canvas pouch from Alphabet Bags for an added sparkle and finish off with our Recycled Aluminium Name Heart Pendant! Which you can personalise with a special name, like your first child, partner or husband! The perfect piece of jewellery this Valentines! 

Beaded top - Frock and Frill
Heart pouch - Alphabet Bags
Pink Skirt - Ted Baker
Date Heart Pendant - Ellie Ellie

It's Home Made Soup Day!

We are big fans of a hearty home made soup at Ellie Ellie HQ, so being Home Made Soup Day we thought we'd give you a favourite yummy recipe of ours for you to try at home!

Danielle loves making her leek and potato soup, always cooking a big batch and freezing individual portions to bring into the office, this is a great way to save time in the morning!

Danielle's Leek and Potato Soup: 

Ingredients:

• 50g butter
• 8 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
• 5 large leeks, sliced
• 2 large potatoes, cubed
• 1.2L vegetable stock
• 300ml milk
• handful of chopped parsley

Recipe:

• Melt the butter in a large pan and add the bacon until it just starts to get some colour
• Add the leeks and potatoes to the pan, stirring well
• Add the vegetable stock and season, bringing to the boil
• Puree the soup in batches with a blender (or all at once if you can) 
• Return to the pan and stir the milk in, season to taste
• separate into separate containers and store in the freezer until you need a quick and yummy lunch 

Best served with some crusty bread and butter!

What's your favourite soup?

Fun Photo Challenge

At Ellie Ellie HQ we love capturing important and funny moments with the camera. We have a brilliant instant camera which means we can make memories and look back at what we've been doing.

Despite every phone now having a camera, moments can still get lost or you can end up taking photos of the same thing all the time.

We have found a great photo challenge for Instagram and photography lovers which many people have created, which gives you a challenge to take a photo everyday of something different. There are so many different ways to do this and you can find one for every month of the year! Think of all the moments you could capture that would have been forgotten about.

Here some we've found for February, with different things to capture every day!

Have a go this February and you'll be able to look back at the unusual and interesting things you took pictures of! It's a great idea to do for the month of your birthday, or a special event, which means you can get a different perspective of that month. You could have a go with a friend and see how different your photos are and print out your photos to make a scrap book!

Have fun!

Get your Purple on!

February is the month of the Aquarius, and the beautiful amethyst birthstone.

Purple is wonderfully romantic, and to keep the romance going strong after Valentine’s Day, we think an outfit choice dedicated to the colour is perfect for this week!

From aubergine to magenta, go get your purple on! We love these happy and sad face tights! Utterly adorable, and you can cross your legs to show how your day is going! Team it with a cute little dress, some sharp Vans and Ellie Ellie's Recycled Stamp Necklace to add a bit of charm t'boot.

Dress- Topshop

Tights- ASOS

Shoes- Vans

Stamp Necklace- Ellie Ellie

So many celebrities have been spotted rocking the look too!

Blake Lively and Lauren Conrad have both been seen giving their outfits an injection of colour with shades of purple. Purple is hot right now.