Happy July everyone! Jack Frost has been very busy at our place this week – frozen pipes, no water, and burst pipes to troughs in the paddocks. One problem after another….
My husband is the best!! Today, instead of getting frustrated over yet another burst pipe delaying his fencing job that he’s been trying to get to all week, he calmly comes back to the house and tells me to bring my camera and grab my gumboots. My gumboots have been hijacked by the kids (the problem with having such small feet) and I have to clomp across the paddock in a pair of Rob’s boots – very classy I must say, but a good workout. I love that he can spot a photographic opportunity in the midst of his busy day.
I did tell you it’s been cold out here this week! Who would have thought that frozen grass could look so amazing.
Back into the warm and on with the cake baking for week SIX. This week it’s a Hummingbird Cake, chosen for it’s very cute and quirky name…..yummy and fruity and filled with banana and pineapple.
The worst part of baking is all those dishes….
The best part of the school holidays is having little helpers who do the dishes for you…
Four weeks ago I had a plan….and it’s such a good plan. At school the girls can collect house points in a House Competition, so I decided to do something similar at home. I can dish out points for all sorts of things, making beds, pulling curtains, not calling out once you’re in bed, being nice to your sister, winning the cross country, …. and so it goes on. At the end of the week each 1000 house points you’ve collected earns you $1.00. The girls are REALLY getting into it now and they are just loving how helping out around the house can earn them points…and money!
This silver teapot has been polished especially for todays photos…it’s not usually quite so shiny or so silvery. This is a shame because it’s actually very precious to me and is part of a set that my grandfather won at golf on my fifth birthday. Now many years later, he has passed away, and I have been given the teaset. He had it engraved when he won it – To Lisa with Love. Special isn’t it?
Speaking of special people….my Nana, was responsible for these teacups – a present for me on my 21st. I am so blessed to have such beautiful things to remember my grandparents by.
I also have a very special friend, Nadene, who happens to live just up the road. She spoils me something terrible and a lot of the most beautiful things I have in my house are courtesy of her. This week Nadene surprised me with a beautiful cake plate – just perfect for my cake baking challenge. I LOVE it!!
The Recipe
(found at taste.com.au)
Hummingbird Cake
250g Self Raising Flour
1tsp coriander
1 tsp cinnamon
270g Brown Sugar
440g can of crushed pineapple
50g desiccated coconut
2 ripe bananas mashed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 eggs, lightly beaten
250ml sunflower oil
Cream Cheese Icing
100g Cream Cheese
50g butter
1tsp vanilla extract
225g Icing Sugar
Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius. Grease and line a 23cm round cake tin.
Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Add sugar, pineappple, coconut, banana, walnuts, eggs and oil. Stir to combine.
Spread into prepared cake tin and bake for 40 minutes or until cooked through (this took me longer than 40 minutes). Place on a cooling rack until cold.
Ice with cream cheese icing and garnish as you wish. I used finely chopped dried apricots, walnuts and shredded coconut.