I took the dog for a walk through the Roy Clements Treeway after buying the next lot of ingredients for my bake today. 
I was out of selfraising flour, caster sugar and mascarpone crème(surprise surprise!) but the other ingredients were pretty essential so I tootled off to the 
local fresh market. When I was putting my trolley away outside, a woman came up to me and said, “Oh, Nike shoe, I don’t know what Mum would have said if I’d lost that.’ She reached in and pulled out a tiny wee Nike sneaker, sandwiched in the third trolley, I suppose for about a 1-2 year old. Has the world gone mad you may ask. A Nike running shoe for a baby now. But no, it’s true, the big brands have managed to manipulate our brains, needs and desires to that extend, that we will open our wallets to such benign and outlandish self indulgence. And the multinationals? Successful companies, who have earned their millions, or manipulative rogues? What we should be asking about companies instead of being influenced by their multimillion dollar marketing campaigns is are they ethical, do they get audited, what are the conditions of their workers and do they abide by environmentally sustainable practices?
I bought some clothes the other day at a Hospice shop, a Dejuba dress, an Armani Exchange jacket and some Isabella Anselmi shoes. I felt good when I realized that the clothes I had bought were branded. I too get sucked into the system, the concept that branded is better. But I also felt good that the clothes were recycled, were affordable and the money was supporting a great cause.
Wouldn’t it be better if branded was better, not because they showed status, were more expensive and potentially better quality but because they were more ethical and environmentally sustainable. And the little kid that was wearing the Nike, did he care about the brand? No, but his mother did and that’s who needs to care, because its her child that will benefit in the end from a more ethically oriented world. Food for thought anyway. 🙂
This is a long way off the Sponge cake, 
which btw I decided to make because I wanted to make a cake today, and as I was flicking through the recipe book this one popped out at me. It reminded me that my husband loves supermarket bought jam roll so I’m sure he’s going to love this!! And with the kids at home on holiday it’s a good time to bake!!!
I used my new/not so new anymore mixer and after adding the eggs a tablespoon at a time (:/) then the flour, I had a light as air cake mixture. 
Unfortunately I only have one tin, so had to take turns baking the two sponges. While I waited, I whipped up a brew of Poppin” Praline tea which my daughter gave me for Christmas. Its so luscious and tasty, made out of Black tea, cocoa beans and husks, almonds and hazelnut brittle, its divine. I managed to drink the whole pot during the bake and was still left wanting more!!! T2 is such a cool concept for tea drinkers, (which I am, avidly!) where one can choose your own combination of ingredients through touch and smell of the tea leaves. A very aromatic and rewarding experience buying and drinking T2 tea. I did check out the www.T2tea.com and Bodum websites for their stand on socially responsible practices but there was no information available. Nevertheless it’s good to enquire and get companies thinking along those lines.
I sell products at markets and promote giving to charities in developing countries through the sale of my products.
Anyway, back to the sponges, after cooling, I made up the icing and voila, a beautiful light sponge filled with fresh raspberries, mascarpone and cream cheese, YUM. Luckily we were all home for dinner and so it had a chance to be eaten and enjoyed.
