Two Phews and an Argument with the Traffic Warden

Phew No 1

Made £65 profit on the cake stall at the weekend.  Not bad considering I didn't have as much time to bake as usual.  Worth doing anyway.  No photos because Scary forgot to take any!  Humph!

We'll skip over the argument with the Traffic Warden, shall we?  I always thought you could park on double yellows if you were unloading (which I was)!  I didn't get a ticket, thank goodness, so I guess I sort of won that argument, but it did awful things to my blood pressure and sense of humour for the rest of the day.

Phew No 2

I got the date wrong for the craft stall and it is on 2nd December, not this Friday as I originally thought!  One more week to get organised.  [But what am I doing?  I'm messing about on the computer, instead of getting one's ass in gear!]

I will try and take some photos of what I'm making later, when I've finished checking Pinterest for some more inspiration ................

Running on Caffeine

My bottom has just hit the chair for five minutes while my chocolate shortbread is baking.  Plain shortbread, cherry cupcakes and bakewell tarts already done, thank goodness.  Coffee, chocolate and coconut cupcakes and lemon drizzle cakes left to do, along with anything else I can think of!

I just quickly clicked on Selfsewn for a little read and she is summarising her week in three words.

I put "Running on caffeine".

Ooops.  Gotta run.  Oven beeping!

Baking Again

A little bit of this:

and a little bit of that:

All add up to rather a lot of cakeage to do another cake stall tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

Off to make some more cupcakes (or buns, as The Runner insists on calling them).

See you tomorrow.

Can I Go To Work Now (For A Rest)?

A little bit of shortbread,

a few slices of gingerbread,

some 'flower' lollipops,

a fudge tart or two (recipe in the side bar), the odd lemon drizzle cake,

some bakewell tarts,

a brilliant pan and dibber thing borrowed from a friend

to make mini tarts, eg rolo and jam ones,

all came together for a Cake Stall in a very windy and rainy street over the weekend.

Scary has signed up for a trip to India next year to help renovate an orphanage with a charity called World Challenge.  It's all very heartwarming and altruistic but the bottom line is that she has to raise over £3,000.  Gulp! 

When I'd picked myself up off the floor, I figured that I'd better do something to help and baking seemed to be the answer.  Cake is always the answer!

Most of the time, we were hanging on to the gayzebra and trying to keep things dry!

Middle of June!  It felt more like the depths of winter!

Can I tempt you?

Rocky Road Muffins

Do you fancy a rocky road muffin?

Yesterday Scary and I were in a coffee shop and had a rocky road muffin; we weren't too greedy, we did share it!

Well, I must admit I missed the nuts in it.  To me, rocky road has to have some crunch.  They did have some little crunchy balls on top but it wasn't quite enough for me.

So I tried my own today. 

DRY INGREDIENTS:

7 oz plain flour (sorry I don't think in grammes!)

1 oz cocoa powder

3 oz castor sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder
4 oz/100g/one packet of white chocolate chips
big handful brazil nuts, chopped
(I also put a few chopped cherries in, but Scary said they didn't 'go')

WET INGREDIENTS:
1 egg (decent sized one)
2 fl oz oil (I used sunflower)
8 fl oz milk

Prepare wet and dry ingredients separately and mix at the last minute very quickly.  Don't worry too much about getting it smooth, just make sure there are no major lumps of dry ingredients.  Don't overmix and get it into 12 muffin cases as quickly as possible.  Cook for 20 minutes at Gas 6.

I made a small amount of chocolate butter cream icing and dolloped it on top and then scattered with mini marshmallows and drizzled over some melted chocolate.

For the buttercream I used approximately 4 oz milk chocolate melted it in the microwave.  I cut up 1 oz butter into small cubes and mixed into the chocolate whilst still warm.  It didn't melt, just softened and I beat in sifted icing sugar with a wooden spoon until it was the right consistency.  Sometimes a little milk helps it come together.  Sorry I didn't measure any of these ingredients so this is just a guess!!!  (Like most of my cooking!)

Eat up quickly because they are made with oil so won't stay as fresh as cakes made with butter or marg.

See you tomorrow!

Bits and Pieces

Fancy a bun?

Not sure where this week has gone but spring has definitely sprung!

Poor Scary went to the Orthodontist this week and has to have four teeth out AND a brace to get her teeth straight!  I've heard that once they get the braces, it is quite 'cool' but at the moment she is very slowly coming to terms with it.  I think she is wondering what The Boyfriend will think about it.

What did you think of the new Dr Who then?  We thought he was excellent!  Mad Child really liked the comment "Get a girlfriend Geoff!"  Of course, we also had Ashes to Ashes and Jonathan Creek over the weekend so for us it was top notch televisual entertainment.  About time something decent was on though.

Anyway, still haven't shown you my birthday presents but it's getting a bit late now so will try and do that tomorrow.

Many thanks for all your lovely comments and I'm still working on the scarf so that hopefully it will be ready to post next Monday (have had to start it again, bah!).

See you soon.  Gotta finish my birthday chocolate before the gannets get home!  Go on, have another bun!

People Don't Cross the Street to Avoid Me Anymore!

I am so lucky Marathon Runner likes to bake bread.

He has the weekend off, so you never know, we might get a few little jobs done!  That's when he recovers from Ireland losing their rugby match, that is.  Awww diddums.

Yesterday I had a lovely surprise.  After several years of extremely hard work with the local Parents and Teachers Association at the Primary School, I have finally hung up my secretary's hat and I received these lovely goodies from the new Committee.

Shhh, don't tell Marathon Runner about the chocolates!  I'll happily share the wine with him though.

I never was very good with flower arranging I'm afraid.  Why do they always look like they've just been plopped into the vase, however long I fiddle and fart-ass around with them?

Parents can stop avoiding me now!

However, I will be keeping a wary eye open for the PTA Committee at the secondary school.  Once lumbered, twice shy!

Three cups: egg, cakes and 36JJ

A certain teenager was trying my patience today.  So I thought I deserved a present:

Four little eggcups, just in time for Easter, from a nice little shop called Leaf Street.

Then home and a little more experimental baking from my new-ish cook book 1001 Cupcakes, Cookies and other tempting treats: banana and pecan cupcakes.

Just have to try one, in the interests of quality control.  Would hate to serve up something that wasn't up to spec.

On to cup number 3.  During an attempt at an unknown yoga position whilst trying to reach a spoon lodged at the back of the dishwasher last night, there was a rather loud snack in my vicinity.  Marathon Runner enquired what was that?

Well, the RSJ in the left cup of my brassiere had just snapped in two!

Quick as a flash, he says: "well, that one's tits up then"!

More like down, I think.  Oh well, have to visit this lot I supppose.

(image from Bravissimo)

Do you think it will suit me?

Happy St David's Day!

Guess what I've been doing? Yes, trying to take some arty photos! With the added side effect of CAKE.


Spring has definitely sprung today, albeit probably temporarily. My hyacinths smell lovely (yes, I can smell them eventually).


And a new magazine caught my eye on the way to work this morning. (Not that I've had chance to read it yet!)

Mushroom soup for tea tonight:

Welcome to March!

Fruitless Friday

I'll admit I am struggling this week.


I think it is mainly that I have been under the weather and so haven't felt like doing much.


I did manage to make some Lemon Cakes today. This one:



is for us and there is another one for the Senior Citizens Cake Stall tomorrow morning which is still in the tin. By the time I had made these and a few phone calls, I was ready to sit down again. The most craft I have managed has been a bit of my bright ripple blanket.




I did however browse a little on good old ebay, looking for a few fabrics towards a quilt I am planning for my bed. At the moment I have stolen a fleece from the living room to keep me warm when Marathon Runner works nights but if I am to believe that my mantelpiece will be ready for my birthday (!), then the fleece will have to be returned to it's rightful place. Re The Mantelpiece - one man has come to measure for the brackets and the wood has been taken away to be polished and varnished, so here's hoping....




Anyway, back to the material. This is what I have bought today:

I am going for greens and creams with a little brown and perhaps red thrown in but I want it to be a bit more contemporary than I usually manage. We'll see.

Anyway, off to Exeter tomorrow with the girls to buy jeans and trendy things. Nothing for me then! See you soon

Valentine's Day!

He knows how much I like magazines and how hard I try to resist them!

Then he made me scrambled egg, grilled tomatoes and bacon for breakfast! Yum!

My name is Ellouise and I am addicted to making garlands! I was still making them this morning!


I put these beads on the bottom as Mad One is rather keen on penguins. I think I have had these beads ForEver. I remember playing with them as a child in my Mum's button bottle.


Yes, I know the gun's a bit weird but it's a family heirloom! I found my crochet hearts from last year and other bits and pieces that I have collected on a red theme.

Remember those little heart shaped silicone cases that I bought? I filled each of the six with different sweets. Lovehearts, of course

and some gobstoppers and heart shaped things and letter shaped things and sour things and more sour things.

We also had some Lindor chocolates in a little dish bought from Paperchase last year.

And not forgetting a bumble bee, synonymous with Valentine's Day of course - not sure where he came from!

Don't forget some sweet treats to eat!

I managed to save some of those ginger nuts I made yesterday.

And does anyone fancy a slice of chocolate cake?

Guess what, I forgot to take a picture of The Pie!!!!!!! Duh!

Baking Day

Do you like ginger biscuits?

I made one or two today.

Mad Child also made some 'fork cookies' or something like that. (I think that's what she said!!!) She looked up the recipe and did it all herself whilst I battled with the computer trying to put a Flickr montage onto my sidebar (I was unsuccessful!)

There's also a little chocolate something in the background for tomorrow!

I also started The Lemon Meringue Pie but didn't quite have time to do the topping, so I will have to do that in the morning! (So no pie in bed tomorrow morning!)

He was a little late home from work this evening(!!), so I think it's a good job I've at least started The Pie methinks.

It's really heart-warming to get nice comments, thanks a bundle people and so glad you like my witterings, Ramble Time- Reinvented!

Here's hoping you all have a WONDERFUL Valentine's Day, with lots of chocolate and flowers and kisses. That's what I am hoping for (oh and a little bit of Pie!)

See you soon