P. A. R. T. Y.

Oh yes we will! There was a very special birthday around here over the weekend, one ending with a ZERO. A very wise woman once said, it seems worse to see it in print, so I won’t name the person or the number, except to say she’s a pretty awesome lady, and I love her to the moon and back. This birthday was, to us, a bit of a fresh start, leaving behind some rough times and shining a light ahead. And somehow, it fell to me to make the cake. I pondered a bit, and then settled on a plan. Pans were bought, and Wilton paste. 5 hours in the kitchen later, I’d burned through a dozen eggs, a litre of milk, and 1.5kg of flour, as the cake stack grew before me. Brilliant. Cake of Awesomeness is rocking. Stage two saw four blocks of chocolate and two cartons of cream converts into a rather large bowl of ganache, which set in the fridge as I attacked the butter once more and joined the layers with buttercream. Ganache applied, and then more buttercream, and colours. I took a deep breath, and started decorating. I had this grand vision of a beautiful flower-covered cake. Instead in looked like a clown on an acid trip drew a sunflower on top. *sigh*. Next on my to-do list – buy a cake nail and attend a cake decorating course.

Oh. And Bear tells me I didn’t do a very good job on the top layer. It doesn’t taste like anything except cake. Thanks baby.

sweet & sour

Laden with fruit, the lemon tree begs to be useful. With a basket in one hand, and a small little boy clinging to the other, we answer it’s call. Bare feet cushioned by grass invigorated by unseasonally rainy weather, warm spring sunshine beating on our backs, we fill the basket. One. Two. Three.

Traipsing inside, I assume the captains position, and issue directives as the lemons are sliced opened and juiced. Flour. Butter. Sugar.

In goes the butter and sugar, the beaters go on… And the baby wakes. With Baby Butterfly in her sling, we start again, but apparently she’s starving. No one *ever* feeds her, dontchaknow? Eventually we get the batter made, into the tin and in the oven, and the smell of fresh lemon cake wafts tempting through the kitchen as we have lunch.

Butterfly is 10 days old, and growing quickly – our MCHN visit earlier in the week showed she’s put on 240g in a week. She sleeps well, feeding every two-ish hours during the day and three hourly at night.

This week, husband is back at work, and I think we’ve just about found our feet. Today has been a gloriously sunny day so far. A picnic for morning tea. Stories in the sunshine. The house is clean. The cake is baking away nicely. Baby and toddler are sleeping. Our visitors aren’t due for another two and a half hours. I see lunch and then a spot of crafting coming up. Bear has requested an aeroplane softie. And then I might try and make *something* pink. Anything, really. If I get a chance, a quilt and doona set has just about finished designing itself in my mind – next step, the paper version. A pile of scrapping is calling for attention. As is the folding pile. Eh, go fold yourself, washing. Wednesday already, where is the time going?

Comfort food.

4pm. The school bus grinds to a halt at the end of a gravel side-road. The young girls, the last on the bus today, peel themselves from the cracked vinyl of the seats, and slinging backpacks laden with school books over one shoulder, they amble towards the front of the bus and clamber down the steps. Impatiently they wait for the bus to lurch away, and they break into a run, up the driveway and through the gate. They burst through the door, the previously almost-silence shattered by the clattering of school bags and shoes hastily discarded. The scent of promise wafts in the air. Their mother grins at them. How was school? The question is ignored, more pressing matters on their minds. What did you cook? Is it chocolate cake? The ends of the cake are quickly sliced. Slathered with butter. And, gone.

Now it’s I that does the baking, with my own two little ones at my knees. And I’m the one baking the comfort foods, the recipes that are copied from spidery writing on delicate, yellow paper. Wrapping it in checked tea-towels, and taking it to share with my mum. Completing the circle.

Today, we were blessed with yet more rain. Cabin fever threatened. So we bundled the children into the car, and set off in search of adventure. Or shops. Unfortunately, it appears I have used up my current “drag-husband-to-fabric-store” credit. But we managed some productive shopping nonetheless. And coffee. With some yummy citrus tart. And only two tantrums over who had the better biscuit. Tomorrow is our last day with daddy on holidays. So we are making it count. Trains. Long breakfasts. Family time. Painting. Stories. Hopefully not too many “that’s MY toy” moments. Enjoying every second. It’s 2010, the rain has arrived at long last, and all is right with my little world. Monday is still a whole day away. Let’s do this!

Bliss…

…is a good book, a coffee & a piece or 3 of chocolate cake, made using an ol family recipe. Mmm, mmm!

 

 

2009 Reading Challenge

 

1. The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald (fiction, opshop find) *** (Jan 09)

2. Fishing for Stars – Bryce Courtney (fiction, new/gift) ***1/2 (Jan 09)

3. The Time Travellers Wife – Audrey Niffinger (fiction, re-read for the 736th time) ****1/2 (in progress)

 

Lots of stuff to blog this week, hopefully I can find some time to get everything posted!

 

Happy Monday everyone!

Monday Munchies

What better to do with a small boy on a rainy day but some baking!

I had a stack of very ripe bananas, and was planning on cooking up a big batch of muffins, but then I found this super easy recipe over on Bluebird’s blog:

2 pieces of fruit

2 cups of wholemeal flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/3 cup olive oil

spices and/or nuts to taste

 

Chuck it all in a bowl & mix together (I did it by hand), bake in a moderate oven. The original recipe said a hour at 180, but my fanforced oven seems to bake hot, so I only needed 45 minutes at 160 (I used 160, as I know with my oven I need to take 20 degrees of unless it’s specified a temp for fan firced).

 

The end result? A yummy, healthy alternative to cake!

 

Then, we made a batch of yummy choc-chip cookies. These are great for making with him, as there is lots of hand mixing, which he insists on doing, of course!