Recipes of mine 
Mama’s Christmas Cake
Cake mixture divided up
dense rich cake
All set for Christmas!
It’s that time of year again when we stay home, or up all night! We have to, because it takes 4 hours to bake this ubiquitous Christmas cake. This recipe has been in my family for years. It’s so easy and fun. It also makes a giant cake, so if you do want to divide it into two, or as I have done, use some of the mixture to make smaller ones to give away as presents, then you can have your cake and give it away too. 🙂 As you know all Christmas cakes get better with age. Well, I am still eating this one in March if there’s any left. So here’s the recipe, enjoy: (more…)
I’m about to head off to the gym, but will quickly blog about this amazing bread. It looked fascinating in the recipe book and just as amazing when it was baked. It took a while, though not really as long as you’d expect, but it was the interesting and different way that the dough was assembled which gave it its Je ne sais quoi. Last time I was at the gym I was sitting with the weights resting beside me between sets and a guy came past and said, “Don’t think about it, just do it.” I liked that. Sometimes, we do need to just do it. As one of the teachers said during a prize-giving speech recently, “Feel the fear and do it anyway, let it motivate you to do better.” Whether it be fear of the unknown, change, a challenge, a new opportunity, it does add spice to our lives and that guy was right, sometimes its best to not think about it, but just do it. This bread was different and well worth just doing it!! The bake required 
Sticky Apply Sponge Pudding was simplicity and goodness at it’s best. Using Braeburn Apples for a bit of a bite, I sliced and sauteed the apples in demerara sugar and butter until they were golden brown, then placed these on the bottom of a baking dish covered in maple syrup. Quite sweet! I did this step before heading to the supermarket to get a couple of things. While in the public toilet which has recently been renovated at the mall, I overheard an elderly couple waxing eloquent about how wonderful the new toilets were. It went something like: 
I went to a mother daughter breakfast at my daughter’s school. Lovely idea. Lucy Lawless as a past pupil was the guest speaker. She expounded about the merits of being yourself, “live brave but live authentically.” I do like that message, and she emphasized the importance of following a career path that you love. It got me thinking, how important it is to be exceptional in whatever you do, you owe it to yourself to shine,