Month: September 2015

400 emotions in one day.

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The kiwis use the phrase, “Four seasons in one day”, a lot.  And with good reason.  We’ve lived over here three and a half years now and I still haven’t mastered the art of selecting my outfit so I can be comfortable in a cool and overcast start to the day, a steamy hot midday, a bitter “Southerly” sweeping in and finishing off with some hail.  Bigger bag maybe…? Anyways this blog is not about weather, although as I am English I could probably write a blog purely on weather.  Another time perhaps. This blog is about how many emotions a mother experiences in one day. I could put parent here if we want to be PC but frankly I think the number of fathers who are swayed by their children’s emotions, as much as the mother of their children is, will be in single figures. We have our own emotions, yes we most certainly do.  And I’ll admit it, they are stronger and darker at certain times of the month.  I would like to …

#2 Great British Bake Off Training Session

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The Sachertorte was another technical challenge on Series Two of GBBO and trying this out timed well with me needing to bake a cake for a friend who was moving into his new home, on his birthday.  I thought this would be homely but special. It needed to be gluten free so I exchanged the normal flour for a gluten free version.  As it’s a dense cake using almond meal already I didn’t think it would make any difference.  I’m pretty sure it didn’t.  I think the main thing I was hoping for was a smooth, flat top on the cake as in the actual technical challenge all the bakers got a ridge round the outside because the cake sunk in the middle and it meant when the ganache went on it looked lumpy. There were some little air bubbles and a few cracks but all in all a nice finish I thought. Now for the ganache.  Heat up cream and when you can see steam, take it off the heat and stir in the …

Take Today

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It was once suggested to me that I was a “through time” person.  What this means is that I tend to focus on what is ahead.  I’m a planner, somewhat of a dreamer (but not in the staring out of a window in a daze sort of a way), someone who is listening to you (no honestly) but sometimes I have been known to be also thinking about my reply and likely to interrupt (yes that is awful of me and I’m trying to change). In contrast an “in time” person is someone who is totally involved in the here and now.  This person is unaware of time passing, they are fully invested in the conversation or activity they are in and they’ll worry about the next thing when it comes and slaps them across the face. Like a wise young four year old son continually warns me, “I’ve got good news and I have got bad news for you Mummy”.  The good news is that being a “through time” person I have a large capacity …