Bad Muffin Good Cake

It's been a baking week of lows and highs. With too many over-ripe bananas in the house I started by making banana and cinnamon muffins. They were simply dreadful. I don't know what I did wrong, but the tops were overcooked, the bottoms undercooked and they totally failed to rise.

Not one to be easily defeated I set my sights on some of the challenges on the recent Great British Bake Off. I think I managed 3 in one day - the brandy snaps, the tarte au citron, and the sachertorte. The brandy snaps and tarte have already been devoured and were pretty delicious. The sachertorte is to take with us when we go out for dinner tonight. I only hope it tastes as good as it looks.

The focacia and the iced fingers are next on my list, and possibly my old nemesis - macaroons.

SHENANIGANS (again)

Quite uncharacteristically I found myself actually doing some housework today. I can't even begin to explain quite how that happened but it did. Big mistake. I even decided to tackle the amazing sons' bedroom. Even bigger mistake. In the process I stumbled upon more SHENANIGANS.

If it hadn't been such a gloriously sunny autumnal day I might never have found out. Except NOTHING gets past me, even the weather seems to work in my favour. Due to the sun shining in their bedroom it became apparent that there were clear, shiny hand prints around the walls. Hand prints that were undoubtedly deliberately printed on the paint using Diprobase (think E45 mixed with Vaseline and you have an idea of what we're dealing with here). I think 'words' are needed with the amazing sons.

Their bedroom already bears permanent testimony to past SHENANIGANS - writing on the skirting boards and walls, paint picked off the walls, indescribable things wiped on the walls that for some reason can't be removed........

There were more SHENANIGANS involving the cat's litter tray today too. You really do NOT want to know the unsavoury details of this incident. It rendered me speechless. And in need of a glass of wine before 8.00am. I wonder what the weekend has in store......I've stocked up on vino just in case it's needed.

Hmmm, as you can see from this recent holiday photo - 'butter wouldn't melt in their mouths'. Neither would ice cream it seems. You have to laugh, you really do.

13

That's all I can bring myself to type as a title as I am still in shock at officially having a teenaged son. Surely I am far too young. Amazing son number 1 turned 13 at the weekend and (teenage grumps aside) is becoming a wonderful young man who we are very proud of, particularly as anyone who knows our story will know a little bit of the obstacles he has already overcome in his life.

He chose the new hat himself - thank you for it to Uncle Chi, Aunty Karenza, Victoria and Daniel, even though this is the first you will know about it!

Having made Lego Head Cake Pops for amazing son number 2 for his birthday I decided to make Super Mario Mushroom Cake Pops for amazing son number 1. Needless to say both the amazing sons thought they were great, and have even started making requests for their next birthdays. I haven't the heart to say that I'm thinking of going back to making Nigella's incredibly speedy ice cream cake next year, probably because I also know I will undoubtedly relish the challenge (if not the hours required) to make more cake pops nearer the time.

On The Jazz, Man

The gorgeous husband and I have recently introduced the amazing sons to The A-Team - oh yes, the original series from our childhoods. I seem to remember not being allowed to watch it as a child, but my sisters and I usually found some way round that little rule. We bought the first series on DVD off EBay for pennies and watched an episode every evening on holiday - classic family entertainment.

Incidentally, I watch most television programmes and films with the subtitles on. My hearing is fine, but I find it very difficult to follow any plot unless I can read the dialogue. If they did special 'subtitled' screenings of films in the cinema I would undoubtedly go more often. So, we watched The A-Team with subtitles, and the gorgeous husband and I found the description of the instrumental music as amusing as some of Murdock's antics. From one episode alone, and I quote:

• tropical instrumental music
• upbeat instrumental music
• adventurous instrumental music
• tense instrumental music
• fast-paced instrumental music
• triumphant instrumental music
• soft instrumental music
• cheerful instrumental music
• sentimental instrumental music

Fantastic stuff! Can't wait to see what other descriptions they use. I'm thinking the subtitler probably runs out of adjectives at some point in series 3!

Razor Rash

We are just back from 2 weeks' holiday in Spain. We stayed at a lovely villa with its own pool and did nothing more strenuous than opening wine, barbecuing chorizo and jumping in the pool when we got too hot. Bliss

It is the third time we have used this villa and I have now truly refined the art of packing light. We took 2 hand luggage suitcases between the 4 of us for the 2 weeks. For the amazing husband and the gorgeous sons this looked like (in addition to what they wore) a pair of swimming trunks, a spare pair of shorts, 2 spare t-shirts and 4 pairs of boxers/pants (depending on age and underwear fussiness!). I slipped in an extra dress for me (I was packing, there was room, you can call it packer's prerogative) but had much the same. Needless to say it didn't take very long to unpack when we got home today - always a good thing as I have a knack for leaving suitcases unpacked for days weeks months after a holiday! I wish that last sentence was an exaggeration, but sadly it is all too true. That and the fact that I usually like to pack in Sainsbury's bags.

The holiday started off with some typical SHENANIGANS with amazing son number 2. When we arrived at  the airport I noticed his upper lip was rather sore and red looking. It had been fine the previous day. Don't ask me how I knew (I always know, poor boys) what he'd done but when quizzed he admitted that yes he had been shaving his top lip. Makes a change from his eyebrows and hair then.

Jump Jump

A while ago I decided to toilet train my cats. Literally. You could buy a device which progressively taught them how to 'use' the toilet, although you had to ensure the seat lid was left up and they obviously wouldn't flush when they were finished.  I am rather proud of the fact that I have successfully managed to teach train nag the gorgeous husband and the amazing sons to both put the seats down AND flush but I was prepared for the cats to forgo this. Despite my best efforts it failed. I think my cats were too old, and one of them too big. If we ever get kittens in the future I will try again.

Following the toilet training failure I am rather impressed with the amazing husband's cat training skills. We only have one cat now - Harvey, who very much adores the amazing husband as highlighted in a previous post. The cat now 'showjumps' for his food. If you stand at a certain point in the kitchen and raise your leg he will jump over because he knows he will then get a food reward. I have video footage as evidence. Quality stuff!

What To Do?

Today is a very unusual day for me. The amazing sons are away on a camp for a few days and so I have the whole day to myself. The gorgeous husband in his gorgeous way has told me to have some fun once the glass shelf for his new tv stand has been delivered. It is 8.35am and that said same shelf is already sitting in the hallway. So the day is mine. I have made a quick list of some of the possibilities (things I both could and should do) on offer to me today:

1. go to the gym (there is a an abs class followed by a spinning class at 10am which I really enjoy) - very likely
2. clean the bathroom (have been meaning to do this all week, it is a quick job and would make me feel better) - quite likely
3. tidy and clean the kitchen (I have already emptied the dishwasher this morning, that feels like enough) - not at all likely
4. have a nice lunch (though after suffering for my 2 glasses of wine at lunchtime yesterday BEFORE a circuits class in the evening I will go to the gym first) - very likely
5. do some gardening (feel quite nauseous at the thought, although that could be the double espresso on on an empty stomach) - very unlikely
6. have a mooch around town (there is a maxi dress I would rather like, so think I will try it on.....again, and see if it is cheaper in the sales) - very likely

I think you might get the idea. Thankfully, the gorgeous husband seems to understand (or is at least reconciled to) my aversion to housework and is somewhat appeased by the fact that I love to cook for him and the amazing sons. Now, let's get on and enjoy the day.....breakfast thanks to the Vitamix.

That will be an apple, half a carrot, a slice of lemon, a chunk of ginger with some water and ice and whizzed for 30 seconds to produce:

So nice! And (with my housework aversion) so clever that the washing up of the Vitamix literally takes seconds. Total brilliance.