5 1/2 weeks ...

Yes, 5 1/2 weeks is all that's left till Claire's due date! I have a few bits of baby cuteness to show you :) today.

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First of all, THANK YOU to Deb of Paper Turtle who sent Little Baby Alice Rose one of her cute little birds :D, isn't it beautiful!  At the moment it's hanging on Alice's little wardrobe but once Claire and Craig get their own place it'll be going in her nursery.  Deb, this was so sweet of you and Claire was delighted when it arrived so Thank You again :o) 

 Next up is this cute little Baby on Board teddy who will likely be hanging in Craig's car :o).

 And finally, her "My First Christmas" sleepsuit.  Claire reckons this is what Alice will probably wear on Christmas morning for present opening before she's changed into a Christmas dress for the day :o).

 Did you notice the little feet?   How cute are they!!!

xx

Chocolate Banana Bread (with Walnuts)

This morning after coming home from work I was in the mood for baking. Craig (Claire's partner) passed his Driver's Theory test this morning, so I thought I'd make some Chocolate Brownies for him and because we had some bananas which need to be used up, I tried a new Banana loaf recipe.

 Chocolate Banana Bread

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250g    Self Raising Flour
A good pinch of Salt
150g    Castor Sugar
100g    Butter, melted and cooled
2          Medium Eggs, beaten
250g    Peeled ripe Bananas (2 large or 3 medium)
75g      Dark chocolate, chopped
100g    Walnut pieces

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A 900g loaf tin (about 26 x 12.5 x 7.l5 cm) greased with butter and the base lined with greaseproof paper

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Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4

Mix the flour with the salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the melted, cooled butter and the beaten eggs. Roughly mash the bananas with a fork - there should still be some lumpy bits - and add to the bowl. Add the chocolate and walnut pieces and mix all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and spread evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes, until the loaf is a good golden brown and a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool before slicing. Store in an airtight container.

Recipe from: The Great British Book of Baking (I can see there'll be a few more recipes for me to try from this book :)  )

As you can see in the first photo, I didn't wait for the loaf to cool before cutting the first slice - hence the smeared chocolate across the loaf ;o)
I put the flour, egg & banana into my free standing mixer and mixed that first then added everything else and mixed again. That seemed to work out fine.
The loaf was really easy to make but I did end up having to leave mine in the oven for an extra 10 minutes because it wasn't cooked through properly after the given time - you would just  have to do what's right for your oven.
I had mine with some butter on and it was really yummy! Hope you enjoy :o)
xx

Emily's Birthday (Part 2)

Emily is doing a GCSE in Astronomy a couple of years early this year and she normally stays after school on a Wednesday for the classes. On Tuesday night she decided she would give it a miss this week as it was her birthday (and a friend was going to take notes for her) and that way we could go ahead and have a afternoon tea with family - as we normally do on birthdays. 

 So on Wednesday morning, after popping to the shops after dropping Claire at work, I did some baking. Emily had requested Brownies and I decided to give the Buttermilk Scones in Nigella's lastest book a try. My scones don't normally turn out very well but these ones rose beautifully and were so easy to make. I'll have to post the recipe up soon.

 Tyler was on hand to help Emily blow out all the candles - it took them a few turns, I guess that many candles takes a bit longer ;o)

 The chocolate cake went down well :o)

 Not sure why everyone looks so serious in this shot - we did have fun, promise! ;o)

 Mum and Jon's sister, Deb

 And Alyssa was in top form even though she had been tired when she arrived. She is just so sweet and it reminds us of all the fun we've got to look forward to when Claire's baby arrives :oD

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We also go out for dinner when it's anyone's birthday. It used to be as many of the family who wanted to come but it's become so expensive, we now just go out as our little family.  This year Emily chose to go to The Wing Wah Chinese restaurant in town.  We all enjoy going there and it meant I could pop across the road to my Weight Watchers meeting to get weighed before going to dinner!

 Our birthday girl! 

 Claire and Craig

Jon and myself

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Unfortunately Hugh had to work that night so he and Sarah weren't with us.

I think that about covers Emily's birthday for this year. In October we have my nephew Richard's and my SIL Liz's (both in Chicago), Craig's, my SIL Merle's (in SA) and Jon's birthdays. Busy month ahead!

xx

Emily's Birthday (Part 1)

Today was Emily's 14th birthday. In fact, as I write, she would just have been born (9.30pm). I can't believe my "baby" is 14 already - the years have certainly flown by. 

This morning she came downstairs to presents waiting to be opened.

And the obligatory helium balloon ;o)

 She had breakfast first but was then happy to get stuck in and start with the present opening.

 Her list had consisted of a number of books - Emily would be the first to tell you that she's a total bookworm! - and some DVDs.

 This was what she had really been hoping for and it had been ordered from America

 Her very own Harry Potter wand ;o)  Emily loves Harry Potter, has read the books numerous times and seen all the films.

 It even came with it's very own pouch 

 Manga books are another of Emily's favourites though this year she'd also asked for a number of the "My Story" historical novels (eg. Tudor Stories for Girls, My Royal Story : Victoria; War Stories for Girls, etc.).

By the time she'd finished opening her presents she had quite a pile to take upstairs with her.

Part 2 to follow
xx