So Sunday afternoon, the sun
was streaming into the living room
after a lovely Mother’s Day 
brunch 
at Mac’s Brewbar in Takapuna. Fantastic menu, I had salt and pepper squid with aioli and salad with a cappuccino. (as you do!) The sun had just come out so we sat outside with the puddles 
then enjoyed a nice walk along the beach. I noticed how many families were out and about. 
The place was packed. What a wonderful excuse to celebrate not only mothers, but families getting together. What a pity every Sunday isn’t mother’s day or family’s day. It should be.
Reading the novel, 
“Lab Girl,” by the scientist Hope Jahren got me thinking about how we are here for such a short time (c.f. trees which have been around for 400 million years! ) and we need to make the most of it. 
My Dad always said, “we’re here for a good time, not a long time. ” That’s why these mother’s days and family days count for so much I guess.
Mac’s Menu
It was wonderful to see the restaurant taking a stand against plastic straws, not serving them at all to save the turtles. Environmental awareness needs to be on all of our minds, if we are to be here for a long time, 
like the trees, but don’t even get me started on them. Oh well alright then, “every ten years we cut down about 1% of [earth’s] total forest, never to be regrown. That represents a land area about the size of France.” (Lab Girl, p. 2)
Go plant a tree everyone 🙂 please.
This bake was to be expected,
didn’t have all the ingredients and had to go to the shopsssss. This time for coffee and chicory essence, 
which was nowhere to be found. I used coffee instead and I baked a gluten-free version so I could take some to my poets group on Monday morning, Central Auckland Poets that is. (One of whom is gluten-free) 
The bake was easy, fun and delicious as usual, finished off at night with lots of butter and coffee icing and wrapped in walnuts. 
You cant’ complain really except I am running out of people to eat my bakes!!! The family are a bit sweet toothed out. 🙂 It’s getting to the point I have to practically bribe them to eat cake. Hope that changes.
