Easter egg cake

This cake is otherwise known as my mouth moves faster than my brain. Did I just promise the kids I'd bake a cake? Anyhoo, after losing my planned lazy Sunday, I figured I might as well take out a couple more birds out with that stone. Mika has been bugging me to bake his chocolate cake and we have a huge stash of chocolate eggs from the Easter hunts.

Fluffy vanilla cake sandwiched together with black berry jam, dripping in chocolate and covered in yet more chocolate Easter eggs. Mika first sentence upon waking..Mama, can I have a piece of cake now?

P.S. They had a slice with breakfast. Heck, I say "let them eat cake"!

Shelfies

Added some much needed storage in the hallway. I like to think adding these shelves add the style...

Have a great weekend!

Firestarter

I was browsing through the Etsy shop of George and Willy, drooling over the daily roller for groceries and the round sign for a bit of in punch in the hallway when I saw this fire starting kit.
I know, I know, it's almost June, but I can't help it. I have fires, Christmas and marshmallows roasting on the brain. Yes, my brain is a frightfully delightful but oddball kind of place...

But back to the fire starter. Totally perfect. I mean, seriously, do you see me with a kindling and paper? I'm scared every time I light a candle! This kit is seriously easy and not to forget aesthetically pleasing. Light stone. Place stone in fireplace. Bob's your uncle. 

Glasses love

Most days I won't leave the house without my contacts. And most days the first thing I say when I get home is "I'm going upstairs to take out my lenses". I finally got around to updating my glasses and I can see again. I even wear these outside the home... sometimes.

Barcelona days

We had a couple of days in Barcelona. The thing I love about the city is the architecture. The most amazing, detailed, buildings mixed in with grand open spaces, little courtyards and windy streets. An our favorite thing to do? Dinner and drinks.. Thanks babe.

Brass bed

Not quick to DIY. Also not one to jump on the brass bandwagon right away. And then I saw this headboard made from a sheet of polished brass and now I'm thinking of ways to get rid of our current one..

Check out more of this lush bedroom here.

Raspberry-strawberry cheesecake mess

Still very much in a fruit mood. With a chicken and peach salad for dinner. But my fruit fix was not met yet. I still craved something sweet and fruity and oh so right now. Out with the more elaborate treat I had planned and in came the good old-fashioned ease and lighting speed of cobbler. I mean it does not get better than rum roasted raspberries and strawberries. Except rum-roasted berries with dollops of vanilla flavoured creamcheese and spoonfuls of cinnamon sugary goodness!

Peptalk

I had to share the coolest, most totally honest view of parenting around. The peptalk for parents cards by Studio Flash are spot on. I'm continuously bouncing between 'no' and 'whatever, is it bedtime yet?' So I can totally relate..except on sleep being the new sex. :)

Have a great, extra long weekend!

Rum-moist pineapple cake with frozen mascarpone cream

My eating habits are the worst. Infrequent, skipping and then loading up. Plus the never-ending sugar addiction. Eating better has been on my list for like ever. And to be honest not anywhere near there yet. Baby steps. In this cake a curbed-back dessert that didn't need a whole pack of refined sugar. You could even swap out the brown sugar for honey or coconut syrup. Skip the cream (had a tub in the fridge..) and it's closer to guilt-free but still super tasty.

Moist pineapple cake
500 grams pineapple
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
3 tablespoons dark rum
250 grams almond flour
100 grams oatmeal
50 brown sugar
1 packet yeast
pinch of salt
2 eggs
3 tablespoons coconut oil
Coconut flakes

Mascarpone cream
500 grams mascarpone
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pineapple juice

Toss the pineapple in the tablespoon of brown sugar, vanilla and rum. Let sit till ready, mine sat for two days in the fridge for maximum effect. Mix the mascarpone, vanilla and a spoonful at a time of the pineapple juice till smooth. Pour into a freezer-proof container and freeze until set.

Preheat oven to 180 Celsius. Grease a container with coconut oil and sprinkle the bottom with coconut flakes if desired. Blitz the oatmeal in a food processor. Add the flour, sugar, salt and yeast and mix to incorporate. Add the eggs and melted coconut oil.

Drain the pineapple. Blitz in a food processor till pureed as I don't like chunks of fruit in my cake. Mix the puree into the batter. Pour the batter into the greased container. Bake until browned and fragrant, about 40-45 minutes.

Serve with a scoop of the softened cream.. if it's cheat day!

Perks of being a mom

Zoe Isobel went outside to play. A minute later she ran back in with a pretty flower. Two minutes later she ran back in with a dandelion. Just for mom!

Nest

Homebody meets home proud, that's me. Home is incredibly important to me. It's where I feel safe, comfortable, happy and myself. So I'm pretty much always tweaking and updating it to meet the needs at the moment. Right now, I have an insatiable need for a home. For all four of us. Only recently did I realise how stressed home has been making me. This place, that I made my own, feels less than home.

Between the two of us, we have three houses. Two homes that we don't live in and this rental which I made home for me and the kids. My partner moved in but that's the thing. Since he wasn't here from the get-go, it's not ours. Things gets constantly switched between our places to make space for his and our stuff as opposed to just my stuff. Pretty much every weekend sees the car loaded up with yet more gear. And with summer weather here, we need to travel back and forth more, with all that gear and paraphernalia, To work on his place, to keep it form disintegrating. And to enjoy summer with the kids in the garden that this place misses.

It's driving me looney tunes! Home all of a sudden feels like stop-gap, temporary housing, yet permanent as the other two homes keep us in limbo. Home is so much more than were we eat, sleep and play. And I need it to be, again! It's the place we come back to when we're happy, sick or tired. The place where we dream, discover and grow. Where memories are created. Where we are family. Home.. our nest...our together.

Geek cooking

Cooking is a passion. Looking at and using most kitchen utensils is not. Also the very one dimensional usage has my kitchen busting a gut!

In comes the versatile and dare I say sexy GK series from Thingk. Not only are they beautiful and well designed but they are multi-use. The cutting board is a kitchen scale and clock. The slanted timer is also a clock and is touch-activated.

But that's not all! Oh no, these babies are connected up to the hilt. Measure an item on the scale, tell the app what it is and a recommended cooking time is indicated and automatically sent to the timer. Gone are the days of me using the microwave as a timer only to loose track of time when actually needing the microwave function. Needless to say, I like a cooking panther crouched and waiting for product release!

The big yellow

A couple of weeks ago, when spring was just starting to bud, we took the kids to a local theme park. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. But I'm eating my words doubly. The kids had a blast.. all three of them. Our daredevil fell in love with roller coasters and I remember why I have a love/hate relationship with them, with the emphasis shifting to hate..

And now that I've finally gotten around to going through the pictures, I'm in love with the fresh, slightly chilly part of spring, where the light is just right!

Lines

Unreformed shopaholic on holiday means a amazing amount of time is spent tracking down the best shopping spots. That includes plenty of tiny, individual boutiques but also hitting up a high-street store or two. My favorite purchase are these hair accessories from &Other Stories.. though I might not actually use them for my hair.