So I'm 29 now... it's rather fun!

 Last week I turned 29 and was happy to enjoy spending a few days with my little family enjoying the finer things.  You know croissants, ribs, sculptures, curry, full English breakfasts/brunches, cupcakes, marvel films... it's a hard life!

I got to have a lie in on the day which is a miracle with a toddler!  Then enjoyed some nice warm buttery croissants before opening my many cards and presents.

After that we got ready and headed out for a birthday lunch at Damon's then a nice cultural walk around the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.  (Of course we weren't shouting "poo", "sheep poo", "sculpture" you must have us mistaken for someone else...)

Later after a long drive back via Aldi we enjoyed a takeaway curry.  The next day we ventured to my son's toddler Spanish class then enjoyed full English breakfasts at Fancie.  It was good! I had Paul's mushrooms and black pudding and my son had my beans.  The lovely waiting staff also gave him a giraffe toy which he adores.  Obviously we ended the visit by purchasing some cupcakes as a cake-a-way.  This resulted in a bit of a toddler meltdown on Ecclesall Road... turns out they can't handle the idea of seeing cake and not eating it. 

 We consumed the cupcakes later with a cup of tea when the sleeping beauty had awoken from his rage induced nap and enjoyed a kick about in the local park.  The day was topped off with the rest of the left over curry, a visit from my Mum who babysat so we could have a trip to the cinema to see Avengers: Age of Ultron.  It was an entertaining film and a very good day

Since then I have also returned to work, watched a couple of roller derby bouts and enjoyed a birthday lunch with my Dad, Step Mum, Sister, Grandparents as well as my small family unit.

After a couple of days of healthy eating I decided to test the Giant Cupcake mould I was given as a birthday present.  It would be rude not to wouldn't it? So obviously I have had to experiment.  The results were not quite up to the Great British Bake Off standards but still rather tasty.  Might need to practise a little more.

So it seems that being 29 is every bit as good as being 28! I've been spoilt my my friends and family with nice cards, thoughtful presents and more nice food than I should really consume in a month.  I think this will be a good year.

Blog Everyday in May - day 14. Cake. #BEDM

So I haven't managed to keep up with the blogging everyday thing very well because I've been busy with work, helping my boyfriend survive the election, counting votes after the election, getting my hair done, going out, looking after my son... you get the picture!
After all of that I haven't found much time to engage in either of my writing projects or any of my other hobbies. Then yesterday the toddler decided to have a nice long nap and enabled me to bake!

Hurrah!

Every cake should be served on a dinosaur plate.

I got to make a sponge cake with some butter cream and I went slightly overboard with the jam. It tastes lovely. "Nice" even... that's what the little monster said about the cake mix and the cake. Little joys!

Compliments. Blog Everyday in May.

I'm one of those people who struggle to accept compliments, they're very nice to receive but there's a rubbish part of my brain that doesn't think I deserve them. Sometimes another part of my brain warps things further and turns them into backhanded compliments.  Why this happens is a mystery to me!

Yet somehow this goes out the window when people compliment something I've made or an idea I've had! If someone compliments my sweet making,baking or writing I'm over the moon. I probably wouldn't hear if someone said you've made a delicious cake shame you look like you've been pulled through a hedge backwards... all I'd hear would be the cake bit. My favourite compliments have been when people say they like my novel idea and want to read the finished article or when someone compliments my writing when I've had an article or a recipe published.

So if you want to get into my good books now you know exactly what to say!

Yet more things I've been doing when I haven't been blogging...

Over the few weeks I've found it difficult to find the time to try new recipes and at the start of the month I struggled to find the time to even cook home cooked meals!

In one week I was out with work for lunch and then I ate out for my Mum's birthday celebration tea, a few days later I was eating out again when meeting my boyfriend up for an election day lunch then the day after we had a takeaway once the count was done...  I even ate out for my tea that Sunday as well!

This year I took a few days off around the election and helped with the count which was enlightening and should soon be enriching my bank balance! I got to the English Sport Institute at 8am helped set out a few ballot boxes before going to my ward table after nine where I received my training, basically count things into piles of 25 on the desk in front of the party activists/candidates. This process took about four hours for the count of the local election and the mayoral referendum.

Despite it not taking too long I stuck around with my boyfriend a little after to help him pack everything away and left around three-ish.  By this point I felt shattered and not up for cooking so we ordered a take away.

The next day I woke up feeling a bit brighter eyed and bushy tailed so I met my friend up to sample cake's at Appetite Sheffield's Cake Break at Tamper Coffee.

Word had obviously gotten around and the little coffee bar was rammed! Eventually we managed to get seats and cakes, the biggest challenge was choosing from the many varieties!

All the cakes were on sale for between £1.50 and £2.50 a slice with all proceeds going to the M.S Society, nowt like eating cake for charity! You can find out more about it this event and Appetite here.

The rest of the bank holiday was spent visiting family and pottering before returning to work and preparing for our day trip to Cleethorpes!

Surprisingly on the Saturday of the day trip to Cleethorpes the sun was out and the rain stayed away for once.  There was a leisurely train ride to the coast, a trek to the smallest pub followed by a refreshing pint in the beer garden.

Some light refereshments for our journey!

Then a tiny train ride on the light railway.

Enjoying the sunshine & tiny train ride...

A ride on the lollipop train, fish and chips, more beer and all manner of other seaside treat based gorging.

After this successful excursion and a relaxing Sunday spent seeing relatives and putting my greenhouse back up after it fell down I've finally managed to find the time and energy to make a new recipe to put on the blog! Keep your eye's peeled it will be up soon.