All of last week had been bitterly cold and we even had snow very near us; the first in eight years. You can imagine with snow being such an infrequent, rare beauty around here, that news spread quickly and thousand of people made the trip up the mountain to see and play. For some it was a once in a lifetime experience, our nanny included. She went home with some photos to show to the neighbors. And the kids went to school with a bunch of photos too. We absolutely loved the outing.
But now it seems that spring has finally arrived. The trees and the birds are all showing signs of new life. The greenhouse is full of orchid flowers and the Clivias are in full bloom. If you know me, you will know that I am not a winter person. I come alive too as soon as the chill leaves town. I need heat to function at full speed.
And so with the onset of spring, I returned to the kitchen, albeit a bit reluctantly. I wanted to be outside, digging dirt and planting, re-potting, sowing... However, I had promises to keep and so ended up baking a chocolate mouse cake with black cherries, two vanilla sponges (lemon curd and strawberries, carrot cupcakes and sweet potato cakes. And of course macarons. It has been a while since I have made these and we really craved them. Just plain with sweet cream. Perfect.
