Easter Outings

 

If we weren't painting the front room* this Easter weekend, then we were playing with friends, new and old**, eating chocolate, or spending time at the beach.

 

I gotta tell you, I've been thoroughly enjoying this landscape painting, material collecting, research caper! And while the weather holds, I am planning some more field trips this week. Yippee!

 

Hoping that you have all had a wonderful weekend.

 

 

Sam xx

 

 

* It looks amazing! Shame about the furniture.

** Loooved seeing friends from our old Mundaring stomping ground.

Open Garden

 

 

Ever hopeful of another opportunity to grab a swim, I threw everyone's bathers in the car before we left for today's outing to an Open Garden* an hour away.

 

But it rained and rained!

 

All was not lost, however, for, although I had also thrown in the umbrellas "just in case", the girls haven't quite perfected their umbrella technique yet and, surprise, surprise, they were soon wet through. Drenched!

 

They weren't getting back in the car in that state! What to do? Aha!

 

Bathers!

 

And the garden at "Tree Elle" where we had received the drenching? It is a beautiful parkland with quite established trees in what had been a paddock a mere 13 years ago. Inspiring...... as was the chocolate mud cake the owner had for sale! "Yumm," said Miss J.

 

My search for a really good chocolate mud cake recipe begins!

 

Hoping you all had a fantastic weekend!

 

 

Sam xx

 

So much Chocolate!!

It's Easter Sunday - and it's also G's birthday which means a cake is required.

I know, I know. We only just arrived home from camping but I'm still going to make my beloved a cake. Only problem is, he likes chocolate cake and, if it's going to be a birthday cake, it has to be chocolate. Funnily enough, chocolate is something I seem to have a lot of today. We even found some hidden away in the cupboard from last year!

So, I made my no-fail, ever-faithful chocolate cake recipe which you can find here and here. And I used good chocolate - good chocolate Easter Eggs! See it in the photo? But the cake mix didn't seem to do well - it seemed to separate.

Hmmm. What to do?

Persevere!! No time to dither. Parents are on their way here for husband's Birthday Celebration. Get On With It.

There. The cake is ready to go in the oven, covered in Easter Eggy chocolate chunks.

When the decorated cake is presented I tell my mother that the ingredients didn't amalgamate as well as usual. See? See how buttery it is? Not as successful. The cake isn't anywhere near as good as it usually is.

Not it isn't.

It is BETTER! It is really, seriously good; moist, luscious, dense. Mmmmmmm. Chocolate!

You just have to wait until it is totally cool - the next day is best!

So I can safely say that the recipe for the Melt-and-mix chocolate chunk mud cake is truly a Very Good Recipe.

What are your fail-safe go-to recipes?

Having lots of chocolatey fun,

Sam xx

Easter Parade

According to my eldest daughter, the making of an Easter Bonnet for the school Easter parade at assembly is a Very Important undertaking!

Great care must be taken in its creation.

Lining up for judging is also Very Important Business!



It's fun to see the many varied forms that cardboard, paper plates and tissue paper can take. And I love that it was obvious that so many of the older children in the school made their own hats and wore them with pride. They had a blast!

Great excitement was had by all, including me -

our family won three of the Easter Raffle prizes!!

Maybe I shouldn't have bought those Easter eggs yesterday, after all?

Happy Easter!

xx





Miss M's Easter Basket she made at school - a very clever use of a paper plate!