Teenagers!

For the life of me I cannot remember sleeping in later than 9:00am during the summer holidays when I was a teenager.  If you look closely at the photo you will find Jack fast asleep at 10:30am.

I vowed when Jack was a baby that I would go into his room at 7:30am every morning and wake him up as he was a very early riser and for his first 4 years of his life he woke up at 5:30am, every morning! 

BUT, I just cannot do it.  You see Jack is suffering from the Teenage Hormone syndrome where he needs to reserve all his energy just to function for at least 9 hours a day.  I have been reading that during the ages of 13-16 it's a tough life for boys and their hormones so I've cut him some slack and I'll let him sleep, but only until 10:45am then he is getting out of that bed, washed dressed and fed.

I'm a thoughtful and considerate mum don't you think?

Have a lovely Thursday.

Lynetta Xx

Happy Birthday Old Man!......

It was Ian's birthday on Thursday, reaching the grand old age of 44 - mind you I shouldn't say anything as I am a little bit (a lot a bit) older. 

I left the day completely free and leaving any decisions and plans up to Ian on what he would like to do. Oh dear, I don't think I will do that again at one point we were going to go to Ikea!  Ian struggled to decide on what he wanted to do and in the end we went out to dinner and to the cinema to watch The Dark Knight Rises, a great film and highly recommend you to watch it.

Even down to the cake he struggled to make a decision and finally decided he wanted me to bake a Victoria Sponge, nothing fancy and no chocolate! However, me being me I could not leave it at that and decided to make mini sponges with fresh strawberries and cream, delicious if I say so myself.

Here's my boys waiting to go into the film.  Love you both :-)

and Happy Birthday once again :-)

TTFN

Lynetta

Xx

Week 24 - Chocolate Birthday Cake

Quote from a book -  This little cake is such a simple show stopper. 

If the birthday boy loves chocolate, a more perfect cake you won't find - Jo Wheatley A Passion for Baking.

Faff Factor = 9

Bake = 9

Keeping Up Appearances = 9

Total score = 27/30

Oh, have I got a baking tale to tell you this week.  It was Jack's birthday last weekend (can you guess how old!) and I wanted to bake him his birthday cake.  It was a silly question asking what kind of cake he preferred as I knew before the word came out of his mouth it would be chocolate. 

To add to my ever expanding cookery bookcase I bought Jo Whitley's A Passion for Baking book and she has recently ran a competition on her blog for people to bake the chocolate cake. After reading all the complimentary comments on how wonderful it tasted I decided this was the recipe to use.

After the first bake I realised that two layers would not be enough to feed 10 of us at Jack's party so decided to bake another cake to add and have three layers.  Unfortunately I did not have any butter remaining, however I did have the new liquid Stork in my fridge.  Thinking it would not make any difference away I went and baked another cake.  Well peeps let me tell you, there is a difference, a very noticable difference too.

The cake I made with butter was more dense and firm, and even on tasting more of a brownie kind of texture, however the Stork cake, which is the middle layer in the photo above, was more bouncy and moist, more like an American cake when you use oil instead of butter (which alot of American recipes favour).

I couldn't fault either cake but as a preference when I bake this recipe again I will be using Stork.  I have used it once before for a vanilla cake and I really didn't like the taste so have avoided using it again but this recipe has changed my mind.  I'm no expert on the science of baking but I think it maybe the liquid is having a good counterbalance when using cocoa powder to make the cake moist (just love this word J) and not dry. 

If you can get your hands on a copy of Jo's book, treat yourself, because this cake is truly easy to make even the ganache is made differently to the norm but the taste was excellent.

And before anyone asks the Chocolate Smiley face is from Hotel Chocolat.  It was Jack's treat as he loves 70% Dark Chocolate and I thought it made the right addition to a boy's cake.

And the birthday boy looking mighty pleased.

Blow the candles and make a wish!

It is an impressive cake don't you think?

Have a great weekend.  I'm off to look and see what light and low calorie bake I can do this weekend.  All these cakes are making an unhealthy addition to my hips!

TTFN

Lynetta Xx

He's on track!!!

I'm feeling rather a proud mum at the moment.  Jack's report this year is soooooo good, all on track and exceeding expectations and grades in all subjects. Not too sure where Jack is getting the brains from as I did not do too well at school (easily led astray) but all his achievements are down to his own hard work.

Way to go Jack.  Keep up the good work and you will get to be the accountant you so want to be.

Xx

Culinary Delights

It's a funny thing how conversations can lead you from one topic to another and one thing both myself and Jack have every evening around the dinner table is a conversation on how our day has been.  I love these little special times together, it is something we have done since he began to talk.  I used to ask 'what made you happy today?' or 'what did you learn from today?'  but now it's more of a quick yes/no kind of conversation as I'm sure you know 13 (nearly 14) year olds do not 'do' the conversation bit.

We've recently been talking about looking after yourself both physically, mentally and well being. The first two I have no problems with Jack's capabilities however the well being, oh dear, oh my, he can't even boil an egg or even put a duvet on.  Now don't get me wrong I don't mully cuddle him but as a mother knows sometimes it's easier and faster to do it yourself. So with all this in mind the conversation came around to learning to cook and as Jack loves his food he needs to start gaining confidence with the cooker.

Whilst shopping this weekend, for a joke, I bought Jack the king of all students diets, the humble Pot Noodle.  I've never ever tasted one and am now wondering is it because I wasn't a student? So ladies and gentlemen watch this space as I will be giving you a full report on how Jack made this wonderful cuisine of meals along with his verdict on the taste.

Do you think I ramble too much? I love a good natter and will talk to anyone about anything so if you want a chat leave a comment and we'll see where our conversation goes.

Toot toot!

Lynetta Xx

He makes my day happy.......

Waking up to see this in the fruit bowl from Jack has certainly put the smile on my face today.  Thanks Jack, love your personality, wit and charm.  I suppose I better open one of the tins of sweets now it's nearly Christmas.

Have a great day everyone and enjoy whatever you maybe doing.

Jingle all the way.   Lynetta Xx

County Trials and a Farmers Market

Oh yes,  Proud mum moment coming up!  Jack has been playing cricket for 2 very short seasons and we were as proud as punch when we received an email to let us know that his club nominated him to go for County and District trials.  They were to be held one Sunday morning in a neighbouring town.  As we didn't want to put Jack under any undue pressure we decided to leave him at the ground to just get on with it.  2 hours on the field, 1 hour in the nets and 1 hour in the classroom, then a 24 hour wait to see if he was selected.  Sadly the answer was no, but we are so so proud of his achievements, he has done this all on his own merit and dedication to the game and hopefully the door will not be closed for him to try again next year.

So whilst Jack was at the trials myself and Ian poodled off to the town and was pleasantly surprised to find a farmers market taking place.  OOohhh, all the home made goodness right before my eyes.  The jam and marmalade were delicious so we bought some to take home. (I am wanting to make my own next year)

would be rude not to have some bread too!!!

and look at the wonderful cauliflowers - yum yum

and we were even treated to some music from the local Morris Dancers, sadly they were having a cup of tea and a break so it was only the accordinist who entertained us.

I've decided that we should support our local Farmers Market more so will be investigating when it is held and go to buy some scrummy fresh produce soon.

Hope your day is full of fun!

Lynetta Xx