Lemon and Cloud Cake

"What !?!" said my husband.

He'd just walked in the door from uni and commented on the lovely smell of baking, to which I replied that I was making a "Lemon and Cloud Cake"

Um sorry Abi - it seems I renamed your light fluffy lemon concoction... To see Abi's true version click here and by the way its actually called a "Lemon and Coconut Cloud Cake"!

Heres mine in pictures:

All ingredients present and correct

Looking like a lemon cloud!

Yummy with a cup of tea

Thanks for the recipe Abi

Chris says I didn't get it "quite" right - I'd bought the Lemon Curd and its not as good as mine, so I have to make some Lemon Curd and then bake it again so he can perform a "Taste Comparison" !

Shopping, tempers and cake

My car passed its MOT today - phew, always a relief not to have to spend money on it! I also went and did the food shop and feel quite cantankerous now. I'm normally fairly relaxed as I shop. I take the view, I don't have to be in a hurry and so I have time to peruse the shelves (I'm probably your nightmare shopper!). Today I was going to be in a different town and so a different supermarket was required. I'm not a Tesco' girl. I have a complete aversion to them, to the point that I'd rather pay more than give them a penny of my money...

Did I also say I'm a girl to hold a grudge?? Anyway my shopping habits usually involve sifting through recipe books with a cup of tea, followed by a trip to the butchers and then Waitrose via the Farm Shop. However today I wasn't in my usual town. I refuse to go to Tesco's, I didn't want to cross right to the other side of town for Sainsburys, so that left Morrisons. Now I've nothing against Morrisons. Oooo - but some of their customers - sheesh... It started well, with me and an older gentleman seemingly sharing a trolley - until he realised he was very carefully putting his groceries in with mine! We had a good old laugh and I offered to go and sit in the coffee shop whilst he shopped for me - which he gracefully declined. However almost all of the other customers looked completely frazzled, snapping at children (and I'm no Saint Mum either), barging into people without an apology. Grabbing stock when an 'excuse me' would have done, and I guess thats the thing thats riled me most. I appreciate that not everyone has the luxury of time, some may not have slept well etc etc - but does that really mean we can just dispense with manners? Manners cost nothing, and further more whats wrong with smiling?

Anyway for fear of turning this into a tirade I am off to collect my ironing and then bake "Abi's Famous Lemon and Coconut Cloud Cake" and if that doesn't put my world to rights - nothing will!!

Another Photo

This is the sight that greeted me yesterday morning. Fresh fruit salad made by my children, with proper napkins, a pot of tea and toast. Now thats a Sunday to remember.

Sweetly Inspired

Inspired by the Flickr group Etsy UK Challenge for 'Sweets from your Childhood' I made a crayon roll with Dolly Mixtures.

My fav sweets from my childhood were Pacers - but they don't make them anymore and Dolly Mixtures run a very close second!

I didn't have plain enough material for this - I really wanted the Dolly Mixtures to be the focus, so used soft fleece and felt - and I love it! With a notepad added so that it really is enough to keep a child happy I think I've come up with a variation on my original. Future crayon/pencil rolls will be made of felt and fabric, I just need to work out a way of making them pretty in a less time consuming way!

Shrove Tuesday

I can't actually get my head round the fact that it is indeed Shrove Tuesday today. The year hardly feels started and yet we are approaching Easter. The children were mightily disappointed that I did not make pancakes for breakfast - I was told in no uncertain terms that I made Scotch Pancakes last year and they had some more for tea. I tried to justify my lack of eggs by saying that I was going to make stuffed savoury pancakes followed by sweet pancakes and that I had ice-cream too. My daughter gave me the look and said "well last year you made pancakes for breakfast, and we had stuffed ones for tea too". I think I'll just shuffle to the back of the Mum Class...

Maybe I could re-deem myself by making a couple of small ones for them when they come home from school.

Help :: Toad in the hole

I'm hoping someone can help me! I decided to make 'Toad in the hole' tonight. To cut a long story short I invited one of my daughters friends round for tea. Nothing wrong here... only the girl has just come downstairs where I was just making the batter and said "Oh are you making your own Toad in the Hole?" ! ! ! Am I missing something here - what other sort is there???

Dishcloths

I'm a little odd - as my husband will atest to. I like dishcloths and I always smile when I buy new ones. Usually on a shopping trip with said husband just so that I can grin inanely at him when I pick them up. Well I've discovered some new dishcloths (thanks PinkPetalDesigns) - hand knitted ones too. Such a luxury... My poor darling husband knows nothing of this covert purchase either. Now he'll either spot them at the sink and ask what they are... or he'll read about this using bloglines (Hallo love!) Can't wait to wash up later and try them out...Don't you just pity my long suffering husband