love those cupcakes

Below par

For the last seven days I've been laid up with the worst cold/flu/bug I can remember having.  The Boy brought it home, the mister was next to succumb and then it was my turn.  

It started with a pounding head (which has continued every day since and which the Nurofen has consistently failed to reach), a load of iron bars stuck in my throat (or so it felt) and the sound of the sea constantly in my shell-like. 

The iron bars have since departed (more or less), leaving me with a late night/early morning cough.  Then yesterday I woke up with one eye swollen and stuck fast and the bloodshot other hinting that it might follow.  (It did.  This morning.)

I've wallowed in hot, deep baths for hours on end, because that's the only place I feel comfortable and who knows, I might actually manage to sweat the bugger out.  I've rested (in truth, hardly moved from the horizontal), self medicated and tried to keep taking in fluids (which isn't easy when your throat is full of iron bars but I must have taken in more than enough as evidenced by the overflow from my eyes and nose). 

I did venture out on Saturday to celebrate the Girlie's birthday with dinner here (of course I couldn't taste a thing and felt full pretty quickly) and threw some cakes together for her to take back to Manchester on Sunday. (Maybe I should have worn gloves and a mask during the making of them.)

 

Unbeknown to everyone, the Boy quietly cracked on with making some Jammy Dodgers, just in case I wasn't up to baking.

I think he did a pretty good job and the Girlie got an extra present.

 

Flying the flag

I was only half heartedly interested in The Wedding shenanigans but found myself being drawn in on the day itself.  I loved the dress, cried at the music and relished the pomp and spectacle.

Our young neighbours were keen to organise a street party and we felt obliged to contribute, hanging bunting from the trees and baking for the buffet. I wasn't sure about joining in but we've had a brilliant time, sharing food and drink and getting to know the people who live nearby.   A right royal day.

Easter tea tally

Consumed (by me):

2 handfuls of Kettle chips

4 finger sandwiches

4 cheese straws*

2 raspberry meringue nests*

1 strawberry and cream scone*

2 baby chocolate eclairs*

 

To be consumed (by me, when I've recovered):

1 Cadbury's chocolate bunny

1 Whispa egg

1 or 2 of these

 

which were inspired by a tea cosy.

*Recipes from Mary Berry's "Baking Bible"

Birthday cakes

Not mine, the Gorgeous Girlie's.  Actually, it's not her birthday until next week but she was home for the weekend.  Boo isn't yet at the stage where he can be left for any length of time so, instead of our usual celebration at a local restaurant, we had a special dinner at home last night.

For pudding I made the "I Can't Believe You Made That" cake from the Baking Made Easy television programme.  Although I followed the recipe to the letter, the cake turned out very crumbly (it disintegrated) and ended up in the bin.  This was the second attempt, using a basic chocolate sponge cake recipe. 

Of course, in our house it isn't a birthday without cupcakes and GG (she requested the Hello Kitty ones, honest!) will take these into work tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Boo has been introduced to his outdoor lead.

He's not impressed.

My week

This week didn't get off to a good start when I was given some information I really didn't want to hear.   But there were some welcome positives as the days progressed, such as:

• Driving home from work in the late afternoon sunshine and spotting a magnificent hare running in front of me down the lane near home.
• A lovely late lunch with a lovely friend after a successful meeting.
• The arrival of my new camera (the workings of which I am trying to fathom).
• Browsing a just delivered Christmas book.
• Baking cupcakes for a Macmillan Cancer Support coffee morning at a friend's house. (Photographs courtesy of the Husband).

The little sugar handbags are new additions.

So far today I've been browsing cook books for new dishes to add a bit of variety to our menus here and made some fabulously ruby coloured beetroot soup using an old recipe I'd forgotten about.   I might summon the energy to bake a batch of cheese scones for tea later.  No promises, though.

Started

National Cupcake Week (and since when have we had one of those?) kicks off today so I thought we could celebrate with these which I baked in readiness yesterday.

 

Chocolate sponge, tangy orange frosting, sprinkles, all topped off with a chunk of creamy Belgian chocolate.  Simples.

Gone to the dogs

The Mister here volunteers at the local RSPCA animal centre and today was their annual summer gala. He was on car park duty (after his usual dog related tasks).  My job was to make cupcakes for the tea tent.

If you're wondering, those black blobs are meant to be Scottie dogs. Whilst I stuck to my usual decorations, I wanted to have some canine themed cakes so made these.

The gala is obviously a fundraising event but it's also an opportunity for rehomed dogs to make a return visit and take part in fun competitions .  These are some of the entrants for "The Dog The Inspector Would Most Like To Take Home".

Then it was time to practice for a game of Musical Sit based on that old party favourite, Musical Chairs. Hilarious.

The Boy and I made a sharp exit before the start of The Dog With The Most Moving Rescue Story judging.  He didn't want to be embarassed by my inevitable weeping.

On the way to the car we passed the American miniature horses.

Now I do like a well dressed miniature horse.

Cupcakes for Eve

Last night was mostly spent in the kitchen, whipping up some sparkly cupcakes for a Giant Tea Party at work later today.  The event has been organised by some of our admin staff and is aimed at raising money for The Eve Appeal which was set up to fund groundbreaking research into gynaecological cancers.

This is a charity I'm very keen to support, not least because of my recent history, and anything which furthers the awareness, detection and treatment of women's cancers, and ultimately helps save women's lives, has to be a worthy cause.

Not everyone is aware of all of the gynaecological cancers (for instance, in my own case, two GPs didn't recognise the symptoms for what they were) and the Eve Appeal is addressing those gaps.

The Gorgeous Girlie is on her way from Manchester to add her support to the event which promises to be very successful (I'm told £1300 has been donated in advance).  And who could object to a Giant Tea Party on a blustery Friday afternoon?  Not me!

Easter weekend

Consumed yesterday:

Assortment of finger sandwiches

3 cheese and pineapple sticks

4 baby scones with strawberries and clotted cream

1 Easter biscuit

3 slices of passionfruit Pavlova

1 Hotel Chocolat Eton Mess egg

5 chocolate mini eggs

To be eaten today:

Leftovers.....

Starting tomorrow:

Healthy eating regime.

"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore"

 

Last night we went here to see a production of The Wizard of Oz that my cousin was directing and which turned out to be rather good.  The star of the show was undoubtedly Milly, the little terrier who played the part of Toto with great applomb and true professionalism*.  She is surely destined for canine stardom. 

(*Edited to add:  As she was a little Yorkie there wasn't a hint of typecasting!)

I'd considered making these again

 

but then remembered how fiddly those ruby slippers were.