Winter weekends...
Can sometimes look a little like this...
Furry pom-pom creatures, made by the 7yo. The penguin (right) and mouse (front) would have to be my favourites. Although the yellow lion is pretty darn cute... |
Our sourdough starter is
truly alive and
frothing! It is like having another pet in the house...albeit a very quiet, low maintenance pet!! At feeding time, our small pet here recieves equal quantities of flour and water. The flour is any type I have to hand, often with a little organic rye thrown in to get the yeasties excited while the water is from the tap that has been allowed to sit overight to evaporate the chlorine.
Winter weekends have been known to see many a batch of hearty winter slow cooker soups. Great for chilly Saturdays when our daughter has netball - everything is tossed in before we go and the smells waft around all day giving us a delicious dinner at night.
Cartoon doodles by the 9yo |
Every row in the pattern in different so boredom is kept to a minimum! The repeats are:
1st row: P3, *K3, yrn, P3, rep from * ending last rep with P3
2nd row: K3, *P$, K3, rep from * ending last rep with K3
3rd row: P3, *K1, K2tog, y fwd, K1, P3, rep from * ending last rep with P3
4th row: K3, *P2, P2tog, K3, rep from *ending last rep with K3
5th row: P3, *K1, y fwd, K2tog, P3, rep from * ending last rep with P3
6th row: K3, *P3, K3, rep from *ending last rep with K3
I've completed the back and this is the front that I'm working on now (101sts on the needles)...although I think I'm going to run out of yarn..eek! Fortunately there is still a big bag of Dusty's fleece to be used so I may have to crank out the wheel this week...
Here is a peak at the 9 yo's origami shelf in her bedroom:
She has really taken to it and is constantly ransacking the house for any scraps of paper she can get her eager little hands on. There is an 'Activity TV' channel on the web where she gleans insider tips and watches demonstrations (like a kid friendly youtube), as well as studying a couple of library books borrowed from school.
I'm sure some of you will know what this is below. Yes? Do you happen to have one in your house?
Correct, this is my first attempt at the famous citrus spray by Nellymary!
Hubby's daily orange peels are added to the jar of vinegar and are 'brewing' at the moment...I can't wait to use it, it smells absolutely divine!!
Hubby's daily orange peels are added to the jar of vinegar and are 'brewing' at the moment...I can't wait to use it, it smells absolutely divine!!
Our chilly winter weekend was kick-started with a cake made by the 11yo. Is it ok to be super proud of her efforts? She made the entire thing from start to finish all on her own. It was very exciting because we were given "The Tin" last weekend from Oma for her to use and it popped out perfectly (we were slightly worried). Don't you just love how the hearts all line up around the outside making a centre star in the middle? The tin was given to Oma by a friend who had brought it back from the USA last year (and it's very, very heavy!!)
Five members in the family meant that we each received our own heart to consume at our leisure! |
Here is the recipe as written by Oma for the 11yo to follow:
Marmorkuchen (Marble Cake)
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend whatever it sees you doing! :)
Grease and flour cake tin. Heat oven to 180c.
Ingredients:
150g butter
150g sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 tablespoons milk
325g self raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
Method:
- Cream butter and sugar until fluffy
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well
- Add vanilla
- Add milk
- Fold in flour
- Put about a third of the mixture in a smaller bowl and mix in the cocoa to this mixture
- Put about half the main mixture into the baking tin, making sure it is evenly spread around the tin.
- Put the cocoa mix into the tin on top of this and make sure it is spread evenly
- Put the remainder of the main mixture into the tin, spreading evenly
- Use a fork to carefully spread the mixture (to do this put the fork into the mixture vertically and take it in "jumps" around the pan - this will spread the chocolate mixture through the rest a little bit)
- Put cake tin in oven. If using an "Oma" tin, bake for 45 mins. If using a lighter tin, leave it in the oven for 50-60minutes until you are sure it is cooked all the way through.
- Let it cool for a couple of minutes (not too long), then use a knife to slide carefully down the centre section where the 'hole" is, and also around the outside of the tin to make sure it is not sticking anywhere. Then turn it out on to a wire rack and allow to cool.
- Sift icing sugar over it when it is cool
- ENJOY!
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend whatever it sees you doing! :)
Kudos to your kiddos!!! Wonderful little animals and the cake looks soooo delicious. :)
ReplyDeleteThat starter must be a cousin of mine. ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great weekend, your family is so talented, though it seems all your husband had to do was eat oranges and cake!
ReplyDeletelovely array of weekend creativity..i have made a marmorkuchen too but i don't have such a lovely tin..nevertheless it is a great cake..a bit too good :) jane
ReplyDeleteYour kids are supertalented. I see your 9 yo has artistic talent and your 11 yo has baking talent. You also are talented. I've just been introduced to your blog so I'm sure I will see a lot more of your talents in evidence over time.
ReplyDeleteJinx! I've been posting about our weekend as well! :) I love all the creativity in your house - and the various showcases of origami and pom pom creatures. I'm quite partial to the little white mouse that looks like it's wearing glasses. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd the Wilton pan (known as the "Queen of Hearts" pan) is one of my favourites, but then again, I'm a bundt pan addict, especially of those heavy cast aluminium ones! Looks like you've found the perfect cake to bake in it!
It was a tasty one, Kimberly ;)
ReplyDeleteIt is most definitely a relative, Rose!!
Nah, dixiebelle..he did eat oranges and cake but also fixed the door handle, the front gate, put up some shelves in the 11yo's room and repaired the light out the front - busy, busy man!
Yes, a bit too good, Jane, exactly! I love to say it..Marmorkuchen..it turns a simple cake into something exicting!
You are spot on, Joyful..the 9yo does lean towards handcrafts while the 11yo loves to be in the kitchen. Me..not talent just way too many outlets that allow me to keep putting off the housework for as long as possible... ;)
Haha, it does look like it's wearing glasses, Celia, nicely spotted!
You are spot on with the tin too..it has Wilton engraved underneath and how clever are you knowing the name of the mould! It would be very easy to become firmly attached to this tin.. :)
That cake looks glorious! What creative children you have, they must have a very creative mum!
ReplyDeleteWhat a yummy looking cake - I must give this recipe a try also!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing
Jodie :)
That cake looks delicious, full of love - you should be proud of the biggest one! love the origami and cartoon too - very talented indeed. let me know how the orange spray goes I love the smell of oranges! What a windy one we had last night - good weekend for some craft. You're making me feel unproductive with all that weekend business.
ReplyDeleteBeatiful cake!
ReplyDeletedear christine,
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful weekend,very creativ.
marmorkuchen,mmmh...my family love it.
the summer makes a break.....its cold here.
have a wonderful day,
regina
Hi Christine :) :)
ReplyDeleteOh, you've gots of fun things happening at your place ;) :) The little animals are cute :) :) I LOVE knitting. My favorite is to knit socks, hats, Norwegian mittens. I can
t wait to see your project when it is finished :) :) It's summer here in Oregon, but a nice slow -cooker meal is always welcome ;) :) Have a lovely weekend. Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :) :)
Thanks, Lisa - it's the weather to be creative at the moment..sooo cold outside!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice, simple one that's tasty too, Jodie :)
Kirsty - I've just had a whirl through the kitchen with the spray..it's good! Smells great, too.
Thankyou, Dasi, I'll pass that on to the 11yo.
Hi Regina, it's nice to hear your family likes mamorkuchen..my Dad is German and my mum bakes this cake for him! Keep warm :) xx
Isn't knitting in winter bliss, Heather? I confess, I'm still finding my way with it though..I'd like to crank out more pairs of socks, especially the toe up ones which I haven't tried yet. Slow cookers are the best, aren't they! Hope you're having lovely summer weather! :)
Of course it is ok to be super proud of your 11 year old's cake. She does a better job with one of those bundt pans than I do. And I am a long way past 11 let me tell you!
ReplyDeletejust took the kids to nanna's house today with Marmorkuchen recipe in hand which they baked with nanna. Apparently Abi had fun doing the fork bit. Nanna said what's an Oma tin? Then realised she had one being an Oma herself - hers was plain and round but still did the job. I got to try some tonight, yum! Also was inspired to make some gozleme last night - only had wholemeal flour but turned out even tastier - kids were even happy. Hope it snows tonight - feels cold enough.
ReplyDeleteAhh, thanks, Spice, you do make me laugh! :)
ReplyDeleteAww, so sweet Abi got into the forking, Kirsty! What a coincedence that your Oma had an Oma Tin, too! Wonderful. I've been thinking about gozleme for weeks but never seem to get around to it (eat yoghurt and never have enough! Must make a separate batch..). I think the weather man said it could very well snow tonight in MM! Let us hope so..
How did things go with your own sourdough? :)
ReplyDeleteGood, Lovely Greens! You can read about the latest loaf here:
ReplyDeletemixed grain sourdough
and here are a couple more loaves:
sourdough fruit loaves
Christine, your family is full of talent...Use your citrus cleaner, why wait...it just gets better and better....the more you add....just don't add mandarin peels...they seem to turn it bad......I love the look of your sourdough starter...I tried, but failed at getting bubbles..so I threw it in the compost...
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the cake tin..we have five in our family too....it is a lovely thing that your daughter was able to borrow her oma's tin....maybe it is in her future that it will someday be hers...
Fantastic post, thanks heaps for the link
Loving your blog
Yes, Narelle, I've been using the cleaner this week! It's great..so fresh and does a really good job of cleaning. Thanks again. If you would like some starter, let me know and I'll pop a small container in the post for you :)
ReplyDelete