Penny's Top Ten Tips: Autumn Activities:Part 2 With Friends

 Hello and welcome to the second part of the Autumn Activities post I did last week, however this week are ten fun things to do with other people while the weather is not at its best.

1. Dinner Party-
Inviting friends for a dinner party is a good way of chilling out while the weather is cold. Mulled wine is optional. 

2. Get Cooking-
Or if cooking is your thing then get your friends to cook a meal together for a dinner party instead. 

3. Book Club- 
Starting a book club with you friends is a good excuse to chill with a good book. Once a month, a group of us discuss a book over Skype and to have a general catch up. 

4. D and D night-
I have a secret to tell you... I love playing Dungeons and Dragons! It's my latest obsession and again its a great excuse to grab your party and go on an adventure, without even leaving your living room. (If your interested I'm a level 4 Gnome Sorcerer called Elphaba.) 
  5.Movie or Series Binge-
Watching a set of movies like the Alien franchise or binging on American Horror Story is a good way to spend time as a group. Just grab some blankets, pillows and plonk on the sofa.

6. Game Night-
Get some snacks ready, and grab that deck of Cards Against Humanity and Articulate set up for a night of laughs.   

7. Spa Evening-
Instead of having a pamper evening on your own, grab a couple of friends and have an old school sleepover style girly evening. 

8. Coffee Morning-
or tea morning if you're not a coffee lover or strapped for time. A quick catch up is nice on its own. 

9. Cake decorating-
Bake a batch of cupcakes, whip up a some various buttercreams or whipped creams, good some food safe colours and grab some edible decorations. Then simply decorate! You can all experiment with colours, different piping skills or go nuts with sprinkles.

10. Chill and Catch up-
This is kind of an obvious one, but invite your friends over, order a take-away and just catch up. This also works if you both don't want to go anywhere, just use a phone. (Pyjamas are optional.) 

Happy Baking!

Fat Friday #42 Chocolate Banana Loaf Cake

Happy Friday everyone! This week is another fail-safe recipe that is excellent for snacking on while revising or hosting a party. Actually, what made me make this recipe was a lazy attempt to make some for a D and D party. *Thats Dungeons and Dragons to you non-players* We play with a group of friends wanting to be hero's for the evening. If you want more information on it I can pop that in the another post. 

But we're focusing on this super easy banana cake which is very more-ish and was loved by the whole group during our D and D quest for the evening.

Recipe: Makes one loaf cake (Adapted from The Primrose Bakery Cookbook by Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas)

Ingredients:

• 125g unsalted butter, at room temperature (plus a little extra to grease the tin)
• 250g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 250g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 bananas, the riper the better
• 175g of dark chocolate, chopped into thick chunks

Equipment:

• Large loaf tin, greased and lined with a little butter
• Bowl x 3
• Chopping board
• Knife
• Masher or a fork
• Electric hand held whisk/wooden spoon
• Wire rack 

 Method:

1.Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line the loaf tin.

2.Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. 

3. Add the eggs, one at a time mixing very well after each addition.
4. Mix in the vanilla extract, then the flour and baking powder. 
5.Mash up the bananas in a separate bowl and add then to the cake batter.
6.Add the chopped up dark chocolate and beat briefly.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes or until the cake is completely cooked through. 
8.Leave in the tin to cool on a wire rack. 
9. Serve warm or cold along with a D20 dice and, if your lucky, an D10 inspiration dice!

Have a great weekend!