The other reason I have not posted is because we did manage to escape from the drudgery of housework and take a lovely cruise around Italy, with other stops in Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu and Corsica. Here is the link to my blog about that trip - Our Mediterannean Adventura
This weekend is a holiday weekend, whether you live in the US or the UK. In the US, this is Memorial Day weekend. Which, when I was little, was the weekend the public (outdoor) swimming pools opened. I wonder if they even had indoor pools "back then"! In addition to the summer season beginning and BBQ's everywhere, there is also a serious element about the weekend because it was established to give a thought to our Armed Forces. In memory of my Dad, who fought in World War II, here is a picture of him with the crew he flew missions with.
In the UK, this weekend is simply referred to as a bank holiday and is not necessary a long weekend for everyone. But where I live, this was a 3 or 4 day weekend for all. The schools were out Friday and Monday. I was lucky to be available for my grandson for Friday morning since the day off came as a shock to his Mum! With all the chaos in the house, he had not been over for a while and really enjoyed just being here.
Then, our son came up from London for the weekend! He met friends and Alan and I walked to Belleisle for a Festival which was part of the Burns an a' That Festival. First time in a long time I can remember free concerts as a result of this festival, and to have them within walking distance was amazing. All the bands were relatively local, with the exception of Matt Cardle. He won X Factor a few years ago, and was the only performer I had heard of. But it was fun just enjoying the music!
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| Matt Cardle |
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| Clare Grogan from Altered Images |
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| A lovely day at Belleisle |
Alan and I were able to go together on Saturday, but I went by myself on Sunday. It was nice, in a weird way, to be there on my own. I don't do many things just on my own and I really enjoyed it!
Maybe I am still in travel blog mode because this was really supposed to be about cupcakes! So I will focus now!
Corbyn's mum had tickets for the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend in Glasgow so he stayed with us all day Sunday and Monday. It was great that Martin was here too, because the two of them had some serious quality time together!
This morning, after exhausting his uncle, Corbyn thought it might be fun to bake. I got out "My Baking Journal" since we had not baked anything from this in a long time. Corbyn chose the Classic Cupcakes after considering every other recipe. This is a basic recipe, but in the past, I always made cupcakes using cake mixes. I am trying to stop this and was happy to try a recipe from scratch! I apologise though, I was not able to do any conversions.
Here is the recipe:
Classic Cupcakes makes 12 according to the recipe, but with the smaller cases, I got 18
200g plain flour
125g butter
150g caster sugar
125ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1. Preheat oven to 180C and place 12 cupcake cases into a cupcake tray. (I used smaller cupcake cases, not mini ones though)
2. Cream together butter and sugar, then add vanilla essence and then beat in the eggs.
3. Sift in the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well whilst slowly adding the milk.
4. Divide the mixture between then cake cases and bake for 20 minutes.
5. Have fun decorating the cakes with your choice of topping.
After the cupcakes were cooled, I used another recipe from this baking journal:
Normal Glace Icing
125g icing (powdered, confectioners) sugar
1 tablespoon warm water
1. Sift sugar into bowl. Slowly add water until the icing become thick enough to cover the back of a spoon.
2. Add more water if needed - one droop at a time.
"Uncle, a double blessing. You love like a parent and act like a friend!" Anonymous
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