SWEETREATS: CRANBERRY MUFFINS!

Reader and blogger Sweetreats is sharing this extra-gorgeous recipe for cranberry muffins with us today ... what are you waiting for?

Sweetreats says:

These cranberry muffins are perfect for a lazy weekend breakfast or a sunny spring picnic... or almost any other occasion you can think of,  for that matter! They taste great, but are deceptively simple to bake! Scrumptious!

You will need:

100g self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
55g caster sugar
100g dried cranberries
100ml natural yoghurt
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
icing sugar to dust

Method:
- Pre heat the oven to 190c/ gas mark 5.

- Line two 12 section mini muffin tins with 18 3cm mini muffin paper cases.

- Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Stir in caster sugar and cranberries.

- In a separate mixing bowl, beat together the yoghurt, egg and vegetable oil with a fork, until all is evenly combined.

- Tip the yoghurt mixture into the flour. Use a dessert spoon to gently fold ingredients together until only just mixed. Do not over-blend, or the muffins will not be as light.

- Spoon mixture into the paper cases... it should be roughly level with the top of the tin, rather than the top of the paper case.

- Bake in pre heated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch.

- Leave muffins in tin for a couple of minutes, and then transfer them, still in their cases, onto a wire rack to cool down.

- Serve warm or cold, dusted lightly with icing sugar!

Sweetreats has a fabulous baking blog which you may like to check out or follow... take a look! Lots of inspiration there!

www.bakingboutiquebirds.blogspot.co.uk

Cathy says:
Wow... these look so good, and Sweetreats' step by step instructions mean that even a kitchen klutz like me should be able to make them! Are YOU a whizz in the kitchen? COMMENT BELOW to tell us more, or share your favourite treat recipes with me via the 'email Cathy' link on www.cathycassidy.com for possible inclusion on DREAMCATCHER!

ALICIA: SATS TEST BLUES

It's problem page time again on DREAMCATCHER, and Skye Tanberry has some hard-hitting advice for reader Alicia...

Alicia says:
We have SATs tests coming up and I am so, so stressed out. I am trying to study and understand what we are doing but I just get flustered and confused. I get so anxious with tests and I know I am going to let everyone down - my parents, my school and most of all myself. Help!

Skye says:
I am not a fan of SATs tests. I don't mind studying but I don't like jumping though hoops just for the sake of it and that's what SATs feel like. Not everybody likes tests and exams, and some of us get so wound up we cannot remember what we've been revising at all. At my old school, the teacher told us that although it's important to do our best in tests like this, they do not measure the important things about us... our creativity, our kindness, our individuality, enthusiasm, effort. It helped me to hear that and I did manage to get through the tests OK in the end. Remember that SATs are just something we have to go through. Stay calm and study as hard as you can, but keep in mind that whether you do brilliantly or whether you do less well than hoped, it doesn't make you a better/worse person. Do your best - that's all you can do. Be proud of yourself for all your unique qualities. So what if sitting tests isn't one of them?

Cathy says:
Wow... strong words from Skye! I agree... but do YOU have any tips for handling that SATs stress? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!

CAMERA COOL!

I met reader Meabh at a recent signing in Dublin... and asked her to write about her very cool polaroid-type camera!

Meabh says:
I was given a Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 camera as a Christmas present this year and I absolutely love it. It comes in a whole range of amazing colours... black, white, yellow, blue, pink, raspberry and grape. My camera is is a soft pink colour and I love it! The idea of the Instax camera is that it's like an old fashioned 'polaroid' type camera, which are very cool again now at a time when everyone has digital cameras or cameras on their phones. There's nothing old-fashioned about this though - it's very easy to use. You just turn it on, press the button and your photo pops out... a real photo, not just on-screen! There's a viewfinder you can look through to see what your picture is going to look like... this is very important, because once you press that button your photo will instantly print. There's no deleting like with digital!

The photos are printed as soon as you take them and take three to five minutes to develop fully. This is great - no more going to the print shop or making do with on-screen photos! At Christmas I was able to take photos of all my relatives, and when they were going home they could take the photos with them! They still have them, too! The photos have a cute little white border around them, very retro! There are lots of accessories you can get for this camera, such as a bag, stickers and special lenses that can make your photos different colours. You can hang the finished photos up on your wall with pretty ribbons and pegs, too!

Of course, it's not all perfect. If you are not happy with the way you look in a photo, there's no going back - it will be printed the moment you press  that button! As the film for the camera is quite expensive in some shops, you don't want to waste it! There's one other major  drawback, too... LOTS of people will be very jealous of your camera!

I am totally in love with my brilliant Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 camera - I absolutely love the fact that you can hold your memories in your hand just moments after they've happened!

Cathy says:
I think I fell in love with this camera too... how cool? Y'know me... it just has to be retro, right? Would YOU cope with a camera that isn't digital? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!

AMELIA: ILLNESS HAS MADE ME A BETTER PERSON

Reader Amelia writes about the challenge of living with a serious health condition…

Amelia says:
I have what is called an 'invisible illness' - it is Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, a rare genetic disease. The type of EDS I have inherited is called Classical EDS and affects one in 20,000-50,000 people. The disease means I cannot do any kind of contact sports because my joints dislocate, my skin is really stretchy and takes twelve times longer to heal than the skin of most people, and I have to endure pretty much constant joint pain.  The upside of this is that I pretty much always have my head in a book!

I have routine physio and heart scans, and I have to take painkillers every day, but I don't really feel angry or resentful about the EDS. The worst time was when I couldn't sleep for several weeks because of it, but mostly I just accept that this is the way things are for me. I have taught myself to stand up to people who think I'm a freak, but most of my friends seem to take it in their stride. Sometimes, funny though it sounds, they totally forget! I have a friend with EDS, but he has not been out of hospital for a long time now.

The thing is, in some ways this illness has made me a better person. It has made me mentally stronger, because you have to be strong to cope. My advice to anyone out there who is going through health issues is to stay as positive as you can and keep going. It may seem hard right now, but there are always lots of things to look forward to.

Cathy says:
I am so amazed at Amelia's courage and positivity... what a girl! I first met her a few years ago at Hay Festival, and was delighted when she agreed to write about EDS for DREAMCATCHER. Have YOU ever had to cope with illness or disability? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!

HANNAH: THE FAN FOLDER THAT GOT ME PUBLISHED!

Reader Hannah isn't just a CC fan, she's a super-creative and talented one... read about how her love of THE CHOCOLATE BOX GIRLS series got her into print in one of the books!

Hannah says:
I have been a Cathy Cassidy fan for as long as I can remember. I've been reading the books since I was six or seven and I am almost seventeen now. I can safely say I'm still hooked! When I got the opportunity to meet Cathy at a book signing at Waterstones in the Bluewater shopping centre, two years ago, I knew I had to do something special. My favourite books are THE CHOCOLATE BOX GIRLS series and I've always loved following the tales from Tanglewood. What makes them so great is that the characters are so easy to identify with - there's a little bit of each of them within all of us, whether it be Honey's stubbornness, Cherry's creativity, Summer's determination, Skye's eye for cool stuff or Coco's madness! I wanted to harness that and show Cathy how much her characters meant to me. So, I made a folder of letters from the Tanberry-Costello girls, including a few recipes of my own invention! And this is where my own story begins...

Cathy loved the folder, which I gave to her at the book signing at the Bluewater shopping centre, and she later contacted me to say she'd like to put it into her blog post on DREAMCATCHER. Of course I agreed immediately! But what happened over the months to come exceeded my expectations. Cathy messaged me again, this time to say she'd like to use a recipe in one of her new books. You can imagine how thrilled I was by this point - my favourite author wanted to publish my writing about her characters... in her own book? It was amazing! Time went by, and eventually the book was published. You can see my recipe for 'Skye's The Limit Cake' in Cathy's book CHOCOLATE BOX SECRETS.

Cathy was my initial inspiration to start writing books for teens and pre-teens, and I am working on a book at the moment. It's early days, but I am hopeful! Last June I was shortlisted for the Wicked Young Writers Awards, and to be in the top sixty out of 12,000 entries was a real honour. I've also recently started writing for an online magazine, a proper journalism job that earns money! It has been a whirlwind journey and a most exciting one. When I'm older, I hope to see books of my own on the shelves of bookstores, so having Cathy's support has inspired me and will go on inspiring me through all of my writing days...

Cathy says:
Hannah is without a doubt one of the most inspiring young people I've been lucky enough to meet... her amazing fan-folder was so detailed and carefully done, I just had to use one of the cool ideas! I'm certain Hannah will achieve some awesome things in her life. Are YOU a super-CC fan? Do YOU love to write? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!

BROKEN HEART CLUB!!!

A new CC book is released into the wild... be warned: this one might just make you cry. (In a good way, of course!)

Cathy says:
Yesterday, my new book BROKEN HEART CLUB was released into the wild... and so far, readers are loving it! I'm currently on tour... on the weekdays I am visiting schools all around the UK and I will be signing books in Waterstones stores in BLUEWATER (Kent) and READING on Saturday 23rd April, and BIRMINGHAM on Sunday 24th. The following Saturday, April 30th, I have public events in SHREWSBURY and OSWESTRY (3pm at Booka Books). Check cathycassidy.com for details!

So... what is the new book about? Well, it's the story of five best friends, four girls and a boy, who have known each other since they were really small. When notice that the first letter of their names can be jumbled up to spell the word HEART, they label themselves the HEART CLUB... Hasmita, Eden, Andie, Ryan and Tasha. They're ultra-close and think things will stay that way forever, but in the summer holidays following Year Six their friendship group breaks away in a dramatic way. By the time Year Eight rolls around, the friends are in real trouble. Hasmita no longer speaks to her old friends, Eden has lost her spark and built a wall around herself so she cannot be hurt again, Andie has been right off the radar for the last two years, Ryan has turned into the school troublemaker and Tasha now lives overseas. Can they begin to pick up the pieces and put their friendship back together again?

BROKEN HEART CLUB is a very special book to me.... it was inspired by a group of readers met after a school event a few years ago, who also called themselves the HEART CLUB, though the characters and events in the story are purely fictional. Still, I love the fact that my awesome readers helped to sow the seeds of the story! BROKEN HEART CLUB is a powerful and emotional read - be warned, you may need tissues towards the end! This is the only book I've ever written where I made myself cry while writing! I think you'll love the book... and if you do get your hands on it, remember to send me your reviews through the 'email Cathy' link on the website!

Want to watch a trailer for the new book? You can... right here: BROKEN HEART CLUB TRAILER.

Have YOU read BROKEN HEART CLUB yet? Do you plan to? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!

LIZZY: I CAN'T TELL ANYONE...

It's problem page time again on DREAMCATCHER, and reader Lizzy has a worry for SUMMER TANBERRY to unravel... will you agree with her advice?

Lizzy says:
I have a very serious problem. Over the Easter holidays my mum was diagnosed with depression and anxiety and started on medication and counselling. She hasn't been well since Christmas or maybe longer. She is still very low but I think she is getting a little bit better, I don't really know. The thing is, I feel like I can't tell anyone in case they judge my mum or feel sorry for me, and I can't ask friends over any more because Mum is acting very weird a lot of the time. My dad is in denial and my brother is away at uni so it feels like I am the only one who notices. I just don't want my friends to know, is that awful of me?

Summer says:
This is a very hard situation for you. If you feel like keeping your mum's illness quiet that's fine... depression can still be misunderstood. It's not a case of feeling sad for a few days, and then snapping out of it. In some ways it is similar to an eating disorder - people think you just have to eat more and everything will be fine, but it's not that simple. Counselling can really help, but a recovery takes time and patience. Why not take the pressure off and plan to see your friends away from the house for a while? If anyone questions why, just say that your parents are a bit stressed just now... your friends probably won't think twice about this. In time, you may decide to confide in a close friend, or let a couple of trusted mates come to the house, but equally you may choose not to. It's not awful to want to protect your mum, it's natural... and it's OK for you to have some support, too. Why not talk to a guidance teacher or school counsellor in confidence and get some back up while things are difficult at home? Good luck!

Cathy says:
I agree with Summer - Lizzy should trust her instincts on this and do what feels right to her. Do YOU agree with Summer's advice? Would you add anything more? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!

SLANEY: MUSIC IS MY LIFE!

Reader Slaney describes what it's like to be crazy about music... and how much hard work it takes to follow the dream!

Slaney says:
I am fourteen and I have been interested in singing since I was tiny - my mum says I was singing even before I could talk! I don't play any musical instruments currently, though I can play the odd tune on piano... I am thinking of taking up guitar though. I wouldn't do guitar lessons, as I already have a busy week with various commitments...  I'd just see where I can go with books and online tutorials and the help of friends. Currently, I have four music lessons each fortnight... one for practicing a piece, two for composing and one for listening/theory. There are singing lessons on top of that and I am part of two choirs, one in school and one outside. I have made so many friends through choir and absolutely love it... our teachers have so many ways to make it fun! We do concerts sometimes too, and I had a solo song in the ones we did at Christmas.

In the summer, we made a CD, which involved spending a weekend in the studios, recording all the songs we needed. It was great and brought us all so much closer together as friends. It was also hugely rewarding when we finally got to hear the result! I have recently found out that I am going to be able to record a mini solo album, which is SO exciting! I am happy to do all the extra work with my out of school choir, but keeping up with my school choir is hard work sometimes as we have two rehearsals a week on top of my other practices. It also means that my voice is often tired from doing so much singing!

I have a few role models... Julie Andrews from the film The Sound of Music is one. She is an incredible actress with a wonderful voice. It's such a shame she cannot sing anymore. I also love Bars and Melody (Charlie and Leo) because their music is great and I love how they've become so famous so young! They are only fifteen and seventeen and have literally done what I would love to do in life. They're also just great people. and do so much to keep their fans happy. I have seen them in concert and met them too, and they followed me in Instagram and replied to me once of Facebook! I know it sounds cheesy, but my dream is probably to become a famous pop singer. This has been my ambition since I was tiny, and let me tell you, it hasn't changed!

Cathy says:
I love Slaney's dedication and determination... she is putting in so much hard work that she definitely deserves to succeed! Do YOU love singing? Do YOU dream of a career in music? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!

AMBER: GLASSES TO CONTACTS!

Reader Amber describes what it's like to grow up with glasses... and how she made the transition to contacts!

Amber says:
I started wearing glasses when I was four years old. The pre-school eye test was when I was first told I was long-sighted and had astigmatisms in each eye (basically, my eyes are shaped like rugby balls rather than footballs!). I went to a very small primary school of only 28 students, so everyone was very understanding and this made me feel more confident about my glasses. To begin with I did not understand the issues with my eyes, but now I could explain it to anyone! I have been through several tests to try to improve my eyesight. I started out with an eye patch which slipped over the glasses on my right eye - the idea was to make my left eye work harder and become stronger. This is help, but it didn't make me look like a pirate at all - the patch was pink with a 3-D purple dog on it! Next came the eye drops, which I HATED. Every day I was pinned to the couch by my mum to get them in my eye. Nightmare! All of this did eventually make my eyes much better.

When I got to the age of wanting to wear make up, my glasses became a bit annoying. When I wore mascara my lashes would push against the lenses and if I wanted to wear eyeliner I had to take off my glasses to apply it - and then I couldn't see where to put it on! I suppose these small things were irritating, but I can honestly say that wearing glasses has never stopped me from doing anything. I've been doing gymnastics since I was young and haven't taken my glasses off once in class... if I did, I'd miss the vault! I did boxing for a year or so, too. You can even get prescription goggles for swimming if you want!

Although I like glasses, I have always wanted to try contacts. I found a great optician in the end, who spent several hours talking about them and taking the contacts in and out to make sure I could do them well and to make sure I felt confident with it all. I had almost forgotten the feeling of not wearing glasses, after ten years of having them! If you decide you want contacts, I can tell you they are definitely not as scary as they sound. You have to take your time with them and make sure you keep them clean - the optician will give you a special solution for doing this, and it's important as the last thing you want is an eye infection. Contact lenses do take a little time to get used to, but overall they are definitely worth it. I love them!

Cathy says:
Amber looks brilliant both with and without glasses... but her honest account of wearing glasses and making the change to contacts is brilliant. Do YOU wear glasses? Or contacts? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!

IOANA: I LIVE IN ROMANIA!

Another in our occasional series of readers all around the world... we talk to Ioana, who lives in Romania!

Ioana says:
I am thirteen and I live in the small town of Onesti in Romania. I live in a flat - an apartment - with my family, my mom, my dad, and my little sister. We have a pet hamster, too. My school is mixed, girls and boys, and quite big. We have a uniform, including a red waistcoat. I like Maths, Geography and Biology and hate French because I already know a foreign language (English) and don't want to have to learn a new one! I like to study, but school is hard. We have been told that we learn in grades 5-8 what American children learn in high school. After school I draw and write small stories, and at the weekends I meet my friends. I don't have a boyfriend yet because I'm only thirteen. I like to read and watch movies, but I don't play sport. I used to do tennis and volleyball, but have no time for them now. My teachers are great. Some are quite old, but they always smile and encourage us to be good people!

Our national dress is white with red and black... it is simple but special. and we wear it on the 1st December, which is Romania National Day. Our country's main religion is Romanian Orthodox, which is a little like the catholic religion. We have a national celebration on March 1st called 'Marticor' where we share small, red and white things to bring good luck. We also celebrate Valentine's Day, but call it 'Dragobete'.

Food in Romania is good. We eat lots of vegetables and fruits but 'Sarmale' is our speciality dish, made of minced meat wrapped in cabbage leaves or vine leaves. These are really delicious! We love sweets too and have a kind of muffin, lots of chocolate and cakes with lemon juice, and a very tasty bread-like cake called 'cozonaci'.

Romania is a wonderful country. We are not rich, but we are happy, and I think that's what counts! Our summers are hot, our autumns are rainy and in winter it snows and is very cold. We have a lot of parks and rivers, and visitors should be sure to see the fort, 'Sighisoara' and the monastery, 'Voronet.' The thing I like best about my country is that the people here are honest and cheerful and always happy. For myself, in the future I wish to be an architect and to live in a little house with sunshine and flowers and two children running in the garden. I wish to be happy - this is what matters most to me.

Cathy says:
Wow... I love this post so much! Ioana has made Romania come alive for me, and her love of her home country is contagious! Do YOU live outside the UK? Would you like to write about YOUR country for DREAMCATCHER? COMMENT BELOW to tell me more!

BETH'S BOOKS: UNDER-HYPED AND OVER-AWESOME!

Guest blogger Beth is back with some more top tips for YA lovers... and trust me, she has excellent taste!

Beth says:

Hi everyone! Welcome to my second guest post for DREAMCATCHER - thanks again to Cathy for having me! Today I'm going to be talking about six YA books that I believe deserve more attention than they get - in other words, under-hyped. All of the books are linked to my review (in some places), Goodreads and Amazon.

Goodreads | Amazon

I wouldn't say that PAPER TOWNS is underrated as such...but compared to it's more popular cousin, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS it most definitely is. I am probably one the few people that found this book hilarious, moving and a lot more original than TFIOS, and I couldn't recommend it enough!

Goodreads | Amazon

I never see enough of this book, along with SECOND CHANCE SUMMER, another great book by Matson. However, I absolutely adore both novels!

Goodreads | Amazon| Review

Goodreads | Amazon| Review

I was lucky enough to read this through NetGalley, and now I want to own it because I loved it so much! Lindstrom has amazing skill, and I admire him so much.

Goodreads | Amazon

Goodreads | Amazon| Review

I would go as far to say this is the best series I've ever read, and if you're into alternative/dystopian, I would recommend it in a heartbeat!

Want to see more posts like these? Click here to view my blog!

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Cathy says:

Ooh, some fab suggestions here... and I agree re: PAPER TOWNS, it's my fave John Green book too! Do YOU have a tip for an under-rated YA/teen book? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!