CuteKittyPunk

My little girl had a birthday recently and requested a Bumba themed cake. Bumba is a clown from the Belgium network - Studio 100 . The kids really like this little clown. I was happy to make the cake - it was easy and turned out really nice. I used the recipe from The Church Cook - Pumpkin spice layer cake with cream cheese buttercream frosting and it was delicious. I just colored some of the frosting the colors I needed and added extra powdered sugar and cornstarch until it was a consistency in which I could roll it up into a ball for the nose, or flatten it out and make shapes like the star-shaped hair, eyes, mouth, dots, and hearts.

Leftover Breakfast Hash Last week I made the most delicious Hete Bliksem, which translates literally as Hot Lightening . Normally we make this with potatoes, apples and some bouillon, but I've been making it with celery root in an effort to eat Primal (Paleo). It tastes really good with celery root, too. So, I made the Hete Bliksem and served it together with Oostere Spek  (Eastern as in Asian Pork) which is one of our favorite meals. And all through the meal Mark was exclaiming his love for the meal! And I was, too. Love it! celery root But I didn't want to eat it again so soon, so I stored up the leftovers* in the freezer to save for the following week. Then, in the meantime, Mark eats some spoiled meat (little pork sausages) that he'd been carrying around all week long (supposed to be refrigerated after opening) and then he gets sick on his birthday. And he takes a while to recover from food poisoning. And then he goes and associates my delicious  meal with...

This was my first successful go at baking a Paleo/Primal chocolate cake. I actually set out to make Peanut Butter swirl brownies - a varation of... but the end result from the texture and taste of the "brownies" - it's so cake, spot on. I found a nice looking recipe here , and then had to make some changes based on the ingredients I have and just some changes that I felt were necessary based on my feelings as a baker - and I'm experienced enough to make those changes ... so... (yeah, I'd actually like to go back and make the actual brownies as she made them because I'd really like some dense peanut butter swirl brownies)... but that will be for another day! here we go: 160 grams cashew butter (100%) 3 medium eggs 1/3 cup honey 1 large ripe banana, mashed 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1/4 cup coconut flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda (I did attempt the "peanut butter" swirl ingredients like this...

With this Primal/Paleo thing, the only way to do it - is to do it right. And the only way to do that is to take it one day at a time. It's a journey. And I'm taking joy in the journey.  There is a challenge in the fact that previously I've been vegetarian with good reason - number 1, the Word of Wisdom ... and number 2, I just don't like handling raw flesh... it grosses me out big time. (You can see the long explanation if you wish, in the link). Okay, so I think it was around 2010 just before Siembra was born that I started to eat meat again. It happened quite by accident. I was at a baby shower for another friend and someone had brought some sandwiches. Some of them were vegetarian with avocado and they were totally delicious. And some of them were chicken salad and those were totally delicious, too. And that's when it got me! After Siembra was born, I had the feeling that we needed to add meat back into our diet. And it started slowly at first and then it g...

On the last day of 2011, I participated in my first competition - 2k run. I didn't finish first, but I didn't finish last. Okay, I practically finished last because I think there was a 4 year old girl behind me with her mother. But that doesn't matter... any way, some one has to come in last. And I am just so proud of myself for doing it and for jogging the whole time and my incredibly slow pace... but I did it and I didn't walk at all... I finished it and my time was 14 min 28 seconds! Now, here is a completely embarrassing photo of myself... but hey, this is what I look like: Yes, that's me. And seeing myself in a photo such as this makes me go, what?! Am I that big? And my husband says, you look kind of slim in that photo, as if to say I normally look bigger. I think the mirror in my closet is playing tricks on me. Or do you actually look fatter in photos. I've heard that before. Any hoo, it doesn't matter... it's 2012... and I'm going to...