An Interview With Holly Bell - The Great British Bake Off

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The Great British Bake Off is a programme which is becoming more and more popular as each series comes around. Two weeks ago the first episode of the fourth series aired and had around 6 million viewers, a programme best. It was also reported that there was a baking sales boom in the run up to GBBO as bakers stocked up on ingredients and equipment with which to create their own yummy goodies. I've followed it since the first series, I love cuddling up on an Autumnal evening with a cup of tea and a few choice biccies. There's just something about it's sweet, homely but still stressful and competitive style. I suppose I feel about GBBO how other people feel about the X Factor and I am not ashamed to admit it!!

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Holly Bell, a finalist from series two, very kindly agreed to let me interview her. Holly is a young mum of two boys who lives in Leicester. She writes an absolutely hilarious blog called Recipes From A Normal Mum which is the perfect mix of funny life and parenting observations and nice things to cook and bake. Since being on GBBO Holly has worked with Sainsburys and QVC creating tasty recipes and presenting videos. She has also written a cook book called Ready, Steady, BAKE!. It's in E-book form and is available from Amazon.

Here's Holly in action, giving some great tips on how to ice a cupcake.

Everyone seemed to get on so well in your series of GBBO, did you get to spend much time socialising off camera? Are you still in touch with anyone?

Some of us did socialise and some of us didn't. I have always been someone who deals with stress by talking about it so I was keen to go out and let my hair down after filming. I also like eating out! So myself, Rob, Ian and the lovely Jo always went out for dinner somewhere and *may* have sunk a few glasses of wine too. I am still in touch with pretty much everyone, in particular Jo, who I meet up with and talk to regularly.

Mary and Paul seemed really helpful and knowledgeable. Did you get to speak to them much off camera?

I'm afraid they weren't allowed to talk to us off camera - and if they tried to they got in lots of trouble. Mary would often try and give us hints to improve our bakes and would then be told off by the crew. I wish they had been allowed to help - there may have been less disasters. Though I guess the programme wouldn't have been as entertaining!

Mel and Sue are the hilarious presenters of GBBO but they give a lot of emotional support to the bakers as well as comic relief. Would you say that they helped you when you were stressed or upset?

Mel and Sue are both incredibly kind and generous souls, very sweet to anyone having issues and always there for a bit of banter and chat when we all needed to lighten up and remember that no-one's life was on the line - it was only baking after all. Sue was especially kind to me when I cried at the quarter final and gave me perspective on the situation.

Do you have a favourite recipe or signature bake which you most enjoy making? Do your children have a favourite recipe?

I love baking anything that others like to eat - I guess if pushed I'd say a lemon drizzle cake. Everyone seems to love it and it's incredibly easy. My eldest son love cupcakes, oaty biscuits and anything with sprinkles on top! My youngest does not really have a sweet tooth. He'll eat very dark rich chocolate cake but other than that he's a savoury man, so cheese straws, pastry and pies are his favourites.

I've seen, via Twitter and Facebook, that you're really excited for this series of GBBO. Has anybody caught your eye already as being a potential finalist?

I think they're all marvellous - I liked Lucy a lot in week 1 but obviously she didn't make it through week 2. Frances is very creative, I wish I had half as good ideas as her. Kimberley seems to have great tech ability. It's very hard to say at this stage. If you look at past years winners, it's often people who have had a few ups and downs who really shine as their confidence grows towards the end of the competition. So frankly, anyone could be the winner!

Do you find it hard juggling work, your home life and your two boys?

Like any normal Mum who juggles work, kids, the house, a relationship and friends, something has to give. I am not superwoman, nor would I want to be! I am not very house proud, which helps. My tolerance for mess and disarray is pretty high.And I get a lot of help - my Mum and Dad help me a lot with the boys when I am working. My husband does pretty much all the ironing and my boys are already trained to tidy up after getting all their toys out.

I've never understood why anyone would try and do everything in a household. It's just not possible. Of course if I won the lottery I'd employ a cleaner, gardener and maybe even someone to help with the ironing. (Probably ought to start playing it to be in with a chance of winning!)

Follow Holly on Twitter, like her on Facebook and have a look at her blog :)

The Great British Bake Off Series Four Episode Three - Desserts is on BBC2 Tonight at 8pm

My Week #5

Last week seemed so long! It was only four days because of the bank holiday but it just went so slowly. Autumn is well and truly on its way. The mornings have still been sunny and warm but there is a crispness creeping in which makes me excited for Christmas! I know, its way too early to be thinking about the old Crimbo but I do need to start sorting out my Christmas crafts. 

I found this great blog from the Travelettes. My wanderlust is always there, bubbling away under the surface but this post made it erupt. I want to travel so badly, this post made me want it so much more. Some of the points are really funny and some are a bit more heartfelt but it was a really good read.

I had an interview with Cathy Glass! I was so excited, she is one of my favourite authors and a big inspiration. If you missed it you can read it again here. Keep a look out on this blog because I have a few more really interesting blogs lined up for the coming weeks.

I also went to the Harry Potter Studios. It was amazing. Here's the post if you didn't catch it the other day.

Whisks, Hooks and Books also has a brand new Facebook page! Head on over to https://www.facebook.com/whiskshooksandbooks to like us :)

Well, it's only a quick one tonight but I'll be posting a few exciting things this week including an interview with a previous contestant on the Great British Bake Off! Keep an eye out. And I hope this week is a great one for you.

Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour

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On a delayed train between Manchester and London the image of an eleven year old wizard with a lightening shaped scar on his forehead popped into a woman's mind. That woman was of course J.K.Rowling and that boy was Harry Potter. The first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released in 1997 and ever since then the world's love of this young wizard and his creator has been growing and growing.

I have always loved the Harry Potter books. I was six when the first one came out and I remember adoring it. Over the years as Harry, Ron and Hermione grew up, so did I and the Harry Potter series really does remind me of my childhood. There are many, many happy memories attached to the novels. The films came out and even though I didn't enjoy them as much as the books they were still good. The story line is magical no matter if its on paper or a screen. So, when I saw an leaflet for the Harry Potter Studio Tours around a year ago I knew that it would be very high on my list of places to visit in London.

 I was a bit worried. I was so excited to go and I had built it up so much in my head, would it be a total let down? Would I be disppointed? Well, the short answer is no I bloody wasn't.

The studios are in Watford, I needed to take two buses and two trains, and because I was quite nervous about missing my allocated time slot I left really early. It wasn't needed, door-to-door the whole journey took me around one and a half to two hours. There is a regular shuttle bus which operates from Watford station so I rode this to the studios, they played Harry Potter music the whole way there and I really felt like I was going to Hogwarts!

The outside of the tour didn't really look like anything special. It basically just looked like a massive aircraft hanger with some Harry Potter artwork on the outside, but I wasn't expecting a scale model of Hogwarts so it's okay. There were some original chess pieces outside though.

I collected my ticket, it had a Mandrake on it and I thought that was a strange Harry Potter creature to have on all the tickets. Then I saw the someone had Fawkes!! I must say that I did feel rather cheated at getting a Mandrake, hehe. I also paid for an audio guide. It was like an iPhone with a case and headphones, and a lanyard so you could wear it around your neck. It was really good and had loads of extra information on it. A lot of these audio guides just repeat the information which is already written down but this didn't do that. I paid £4.95 for it and it was definitely worth it in my opinion.

After queuing, we went through to a room where a member of staff spoke to us, told us a little more about Harry Potter and the experience we would be getting that day. We then went through to a room with a big screen where we watched a film which had more information about the background of the Harry Potter films, the more 'behind the scenes stuff'. From here we went through the Hogwarts main doors and into the Great Hall.

The member of staff talked throughout the time we were in this room, telling us interesting facts about some of the props, the room's role in the films and some information about the actors. We then went through to the first section of the tour and we were left totally to our own devices, we could take as long as we wanted to look at everything. There was a mixture of rooms from the films which had been set up identically, Hagrid's hut, Snape's dungeon, Dumbledore's office, there was costumes, hair and make-up displays, and there were props displayed on their own. There was such a wide range and eclectic mix of items from the films.

Umbridge's Educational Decrees

The Invisibility Cloak

The Triwizard Cup and the Golden Egg

Triwizard Cup

Dumbledore's Office

Potion Ingredients

Animal Actors Who Played Hedwig

Animal Cages in Hagrid's Hut

The Door to the Chamber of Secrets

The Door to the Chamber of Secrets

Mad-Eye Moody's Trunk

Death Eater Mask

Death Eaters Including Bellatrix Lestrange, Lord Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy and Draco Malfoy

Magic is Might Statue

A Selection of Dolores Umbridge's Outfits

Ministry of Magic Floo Fireplaces

An Original, Handwritten Letter First Received by Harry

Ron's Howler

You were then directed outside into a large courtyard which contained a small number of food outlets, a butterbeer stand and some more of the larger props.

 I had some butterbeer! I am very pleased with this fact. It was delicious, the 'head' of the beer was so sweet and tasted like caramel and butterscotch which I expected but the liquid was cold and fizzy. It tasted like caramel too so it was a little bit weird at first. It was really nice one I'd gotten used to it. It was quite expensive, £2.95 for a plain plastic beaker of the butterbeer. I paid £2 extra to have it in a tumbler which I could take home. They even had a little 'tankard wash' so you didn't have to put the sticky cups in your bags, great idea!

The Wooden Bridge

The Knight Bus

Tom Riddle's Grave

4 Privet Drive

 The last part of the tour was smaller than the first. It was made up of a creature shop, which had many of the dummies, prosthetics and models used in the films. There was also a big set of Diagon Alley with the shop windows all decorated. One of the staff members was doing a demonstration on how they got the 'Lumos' spell to work in the films, it was interesting. They had then displayed lots of the drawings and models which the film crew had used to design the final image of the set.

Nearly Headless Nick

Gringotts Goblins

Hungarian Horntail

Rest In Peace Dobby!

Aragog and the Basilisk

Buckbeak

Diagon Alley

Ollivander's Wand Shop 

Diagon Alley's Entrance Behind the Leaky Cauldron

The Weasley's House Sketches 

The Shell Cottage Paper Model

I thought that this was the end of the tour and to be honest it was a bit of an anti-climax. Then I walked around the corner...

It was so beautiful. I cried. Again. It was amazing. This is the model which they used to film most of the exterior shots of Hogwarts.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the day. The place was exceptionally clean, the toilets were immaculate and I hardly saw a piece of litter throughout the whole day. I hadn't realised how much detail had gone into the film sets. There was fake lichen put on one house, who would have seen it in the film?? In Ollivander's wand shop there was over 5,000 individually boxed wands and each had a handwritten label. Incredible. Yes, it was expensive. I went on my own so it wasn't too bad but if I'd paid for a family ticket plus all the extras on top then it would have been extortionate but no-one's forcing you to buy anything other than the tickets, you don't have to so I don't see why people complain. The gift shop had some nice things but they were also crazily overpriced in my opininon. I bought a keyring and two postcards, that was all. This was one of the best things I've done in London, it was great. I would thoroughly recommend it, it was totally worth the money and I would definitely go again. I was a bit worried that now I know how they did some of the effects and costumes the Harry Potter series would lose some of its magic but it hasn't at all. If anything seeing how much everyone loves the series, even the directors, producers, costume designers, everyone who worked on the films, has only reinforced the magic and childhood memories which these books and films induce. Sorry that this post is a bit 'photo heavy' but it was really hard to decide which pictures to include and which not to, it was all so great!