My sister in laws 50th Birthday Cake

My sister in law jennifer turned 50 on 20 June so i thought i'd bake her a cake.
Its the same recipe that Jackie's cake was made from so it was just the shape and decorating that was a little bit different

Now all I'm worried about is what she will do for my 40th on the 13th July (black friday) lol

Tattoo for Mum

May 12th should have been Mum's 63rd birthday so Tania and I decided on a tattoo of the orchid that mum was growing, it was in flower when mum passed away.

Birthday Cake---Coca Cola Fudge Cake

My friend Jackie celebrated a birthday on April 5th
I decided i wanted to make her a cake

Coca Cola Fudge Cake
1 3/4 C Flour
2 C Brown Sugar
3/4 C Cocoa
2 t baking Soda
1 t baking powder
dash salt
2 eggs
1/2 C oil
1 C Cola
1 C of Buttermilk (I actually used Calci-trim Milk and it works)
1 t vanilla
Sift all dry ingredients into mixing bowl
Add wet and beat on medium to high speed till combined. If using a spring form tin, make sure you line you tin with baking paper as this is a very wet mix.
But being such a wet mix it is a moist almost mud cake texture.
Bake in large cake tin at 180*C for 45mins or until prong comes out clean.

There was no way in hell i could give her just a plain old cake like that so i thought of decorating it.
A friend on facebook posted a photo of the cake she had made for her dad's birthday and that gave me the inspiration for Jackie's cake



1. So armed with a few packets of things i knew were Jackie's favourite things...

LET THE DECORATING BEGIN...

First of all the Ganache frosting.

1 cup of cream

1 packet(375gms) of chocolate milk melts

1 teaspoon vanilla essence (i used vanilla paste)

Slowly heat the cream in a saucepan, add the melts and stir until combined.

Refrigerate until it's thick and of spreading consistency

I knew Jackie liked caramel timtams, so on they went...

I knew Jackie liked those tiny mini flakes, so on they went...



Along with a sprinkling of broken flakes that weren't big enough for the edges

The finished cake with the addition of Jackie's favourite flavoured mini Easter eggs, crunchie, caramel, creme and top deck. I forgot she likes Turkish delight, and i left them off, buggar (sorry Jack lol)
Happy Birthday

Summer in a jar (or 9)

5 Apricot trees and no fruit this year.
I have a Katycot planted out the front
A tree grown from a stone, in a pot out the back (variety unknown)
And i also have a triple-grafted tree in a pot out the back too. Steven's Favourite, Trevatt, and Moorpark
A gale force wind blew all the blossoms off but Dad came to the rescue and gave me two trays of apricots from the fruit and vege shop over 4 kilos

Then i had to cut the yukky bits off, half them and stone them.

Then i weighed the fruit and added half the weight of fruit in sugar.

Once i had let it boil down to the thickness i was happy with, i then bottled it up.

Nine jars of summer in a bottle

After 17 years I FINALLY GOT ONE

A tattoo that is.(Not an engagement ring lol)
I've known exactly what i wanted and where i wanted it.
I've loved Egyptian mythology ever since my brother and sister went to Egypt many, many years ago.
John's not the keen on tattoos so I'd not bothered about it, but on Christmas Day his prezzie to me was him paying for my tattoo. So here it is.

I was very nervous, but a girlfriend (who wants a second tattoo) came with me. We were just there to price my one up and to see if i could book in for it and he said it would be $70 for just the solid black eye of Horus but because i wanted the eye to look human it was $80. At some points of the design it tickled abit, but i watched him the whole time. I found it absolutely fascinating. And no it didn't hurt as much as what people say it will.Took about 40 mins. I've been told that once you get your first, it won't be long before you get a second one.Lol, yes that is what everyone at work said last night.
And yes there will be a second one, but that is only because my mum died on Boxing day and my sister and i are getting an orchid ( mum's fav. flower) on our upper left arm ( all us girls in the family are lefties and my dad and brother are righties, so thats why both tats will be on my left side). My sister told me i had to get the eye of Horus first as i have wanted it for so long.The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power and good health. It protects from evil.
This next bit was googled a wee while ago...The Wadjet (or Ujat, meaning "Whole One") is a powerful symbol of protection in ancient Egypt also known as the "Eye of Horus" and the "all seeing eye". The symbol was frequently used to ensure the safety and health of the bearer and provide wisdom and prosperity.

My Card of Thanks

My mum passed away while i was on 3 weeks holiday from work. On the day  i was to return,(Monday 16Th) i rung the pay clerk explaining what happened, and to ask her for 3 days bereavement leave. Less than 3 hours later a beautiful bunch of flowers arrived from staff and management

Trish, the pay clerk said she would let my team leader in my department know so as i didn't have to have another phone conversation.On Wednesday morning the courier arrived with another beautiful bunch of flowers from the girls in my department with a card signed from them all (about 26 girls over 3 shifts)

So over the weekend i got a few things together

And made this card to put on the noticeboard to thank everyone.

I'm not much of a card maker (my sister got that side of the family craftiness)
but i am very pleased with the result and I've had a few positive comments from workmates

Best Ever Chocolate Cake

This is a recipe that has been posted on TradeMe numerous times so i thought i'd give it a go, using the Breville Scraper Mixer that i received from Dad after Mum died.

1 3/4 cups Flour
1 1/4 cups Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup oil
1 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup boiling water.

Put all ingredients (except water) into a mixer and mix well.
Add the hot water and mix well again

Pour into a cake tin and bake for 60minutes at 160*C

I made the cake yesterday before heading to work and when i arrived home at 11pm i then iced it.
This morning i took it over to Dad's and we ( including my brother and sister) had it with a cuppa as we were sorting throu more of mum's stuff. It was only as i got the leftovers home that I'd forgotten to take a photo of it iced.

This recipe can be used to make muffins, it is an excellent cake if you want to impress people and it gets moister by the day so stays nice and fresh, very similar to mud cake.
The original recipe was double the above amounts but i knew all the ingredients wouldn't all fit into my mixer so i halved it.

Our Son Turns 6 today

OK so the title may be abit misleading.. John and I don't have kids.

"Who" i am talking about thou is our fox terrier dog Mac

John's sister Jennifer breeds foxy's and Mac was born not breathing. After 10 minutes trying to revive Mac, the vet assisting Jennifer told her there was no hope for him. Jennifer refused to listen because as a pig farmer she know how to save a piglet so she wouldn't give up on him.She got his heart going and nursed him round the clock. He came home with us at aged 13 weeks (which is ironic both, our birthdays being the 13th) Jennifer sells the puppies on Trademe and when asked about the firstborn male Jennifer was honest and would tell them about Mac, no-one wanted them because they all thought he'd be brain damaged. 

But all the tricks he has learned...bringing the mail in, closing the back door, sit, beg, rollover, shake heads etc,etc.He knows that when we're out walking and we need to cross the road, when i say "wait", he'll sit and wait until i start walking again.

He loves going out fishing and rabbiting with Dad (John) and if a car leaves home he just has to go too.

John quite often has to go to the coast for work and when he packs his bag, guess where you'll find the dog lol

 He even has his own ride on lawn mower, the only problem with that is he knows that he's not allowed out the front gate so he cant mow the front lawn lol

There are just so many photo's of Mac that I would love to put up here but i just can't choose which ones and it would take me forever.

He may be small in size but he certainly is a guard dog in every sense of the word. He's very protective of Mum when I'm home alone so if we ever have the pleasure of meeting at my place there is one very hard obsticle course to get thou first.

Floundering @ Ellesmere

Yesterday after work John went out to Lake Ellesmere to put the flounder net in. I didn't go as i was over at Dads sorting through some of mum's stuff with dad and my sister. The last time i went out on the lake it was blowing a gale, i swore black and blue i was never going out again.
But tonight we brought the net in ( wind wasn't as bad ). I counted 24 as John was pulling the net in and as John idled back in i cleared the net and measured the fish.
The dog made my job harder cos as i was getting each fish out of the net all he wanted to do was try and bite them (one ended up slapping him in the face but that didn't stop him lol)
24 in total and only 3 were undersized
17 sand flounder

and 4 (i think) are lemon sole (don't quote me on that i had to do a google check for New Zealand flounder species and i think thats what they are.

John tells me" no more meat for the freezer" (we received some pork for Xmas from John's sister, who is a pig farmer plus John did a foreigner for a guy who gave us some lamb) and he goes and tops it up (actually it's overflowing ) with fish.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining cos when you can go outside and pick home grown veges to have with home grown meat for tea. You just can't beat that.

Rhubarb Champagne

A few years ago dad gave me a couple of rhubarb plants
I've found a number of recipes to use the up the fruit (John's favourite being rhubarb and apple crumble), mine (and dad's) is rhubarb champagne.
You'll need:
2lb rhubarb
1.5 lb white sugar
2 Tbls white vinegar
2 lemons, cut into chunks
8 pints water
Cut rhubarb up fine or put in kitchen whizz.
Put all ingredients into a new,clean plastic bucket ( or other safe container) and cover for 48 hours

 Strain twice

Then bottle, cap with an airtight cap (recycled screw capped wine bottles are great)

Ready in 7-10 days
Chill well before opening
This recipe makes nearly 4 litres so make sure you have enough bottles on hand before making it

A Little Bit About Me

My names Jocelyn, I live in Belfast Christchurch with my partner John. We've been together since June 1996
I have an older sister and a younger brother. Not forgetting Dad of course
Mum passed away on Boxing Day (2011) so I started this blog for her ( I love you mum )

I work in the afternoons/evenings so during the day is what i call "me time"
I have too many U.F.O's that i would like to complete and things i like to do in the garden so i thought I'd start a blog to help me get things done ( abit like a pull ya finger out and a kick in the pants)
I love gardening and growing my own food, from there i make my own preserves ( mainly tomato sauce and jams)
And i love knitting as well as baking

Reading this makes me sound like a nana lol.But thats just me, if you don't like what your reading then feel free to buggar off