We lost all of our chickens. Every last one. A genet discovered that they are easy prey and just devoured them systematically. One a night. It was quite sad for us, but part of the circle of life I guess.
I became so used to having lots and lots of eggs available at any given moment and it has been a bit of a rude awakening to suddenly realize I have the flour, sugar, vanilla and mixer ready but no eggs. No more running to the chicken coop for some fresh eggs but off to the little shop at the garage close by instead. For now we will not replace them. We'll wait a while in the hope that the genet moves on.
We had a busy weekend with lots of people coming to visit and friends for lunch and dinner. That of course translates into more baking and lots of cooking.
My daughter had a little friend over on Saturday as well and I prepared a huge batch of cookie cup batter for them to bake in her own silicone baking trays. Special girls cakes also calls for special pink icing and lots and lots of pink sprinkles. They had a blast icing and licking and sprinkling and eating. They ended up with some pink icing in their hair of course and lots on the cheeks too but with big smiles and happy laughs as well.
When friends came round for tea on Sunday I needed a quick, delicious treat. Eclairs is perfectly easy and quick and always delicious and always appreciated around here. They are not difficult, contrary to popular belief and are really worth a try.
This is a cake I make often for special occasions. The sort of decadence I like to take along to Christmas Family get-togethers and birthday parties. It is decadent and rich and yet not sweet, not sickeningly rich tasting and definitely the sort of thing you can eat after dinner.
My sister's little girl turns one tomorrow. Amazing, how time flies. It feels like only the other day we were waiting for news of her birth and wishing every inch of the miles and miles of sea between us and her in Canada could just disappear. Wishing that we could time travel to be with her. The distance is always worse at times of joy. Tomorrow is no exception. The kids are yearning to be there too. They try to climb into the computer, fighting the strange notion of seeing them, but being worlds apart.
My sister asked me for the recipe of this cake to bake for little A's birthday. And on the very same day my mom gave me a tin of cherries, some eggs and a jar of cream and asking for a decadent yet light cake with a black forest twist. Strange coincidence or telepathy? Not sure, but reason enough to bake the ever dependent mousse cake.
I had no time to photograph the whole cake before it was sliced and eaten by very happy family members.
We are selling some orchids at a nearby country stall this weekend. Our town is overflowing with festival goers for the Innibos music festival and we are trying to share some orchid love with some of them. Hope we see some of you there today.
This is a bit of a busy week. A really big bit busier than normal. It is my daughter's birthday in a few days and we had her party on monday. I also volunteered to bake three hundred Easter biscuits for a party at my son's school and I am having our annual Easter egg hunt as well.
All this translates into a lot of baking and making. Not that I mind. Nothing quite like being in the kitchen and baking. Nothing, except maybe making things for parties.
My little girl loves to draw. She wakes up and starts looking for crayons or pencils and some paper. We always take some drawing stuff with us just in case and we are never in the car without them. So it was not long before the fairy party turned into a drawing party. And then she became so excited. She counted the sleeps and helped with the crafts. She even helped to do her cake.
And on the day she hopped and skipped and giggled, all day long. So precious.
I painted a big floorboard with chalk board paint and some filing boxes became chairs with a bit of white paint and a chalk board lid. I kept the eats simple and made some painting aprons from plastic table cloth covers. I simply glue gunned the frills, ribbon and rickrack to the plastic. So simple, but the girls adored them. The cake was a bit of a last minute affair, but M was so happy with the end result and in the end, that is all that count. Her happy smiles and giggles made me giggle too.
