Wonderful Surprise!

Upon visiting Julies blog this morning, I was delighted to discover that I have been made the featured blog of her Spotlight Saturday!

Thank you for this honour Julie. As a relatively new blogger, I look forward to meeting (in the virtual sense!) all the new blog readers that will be directed here from your site. Your Spotlight Saturday is a great idea and a fantastic way to share great blogs with others. I know there are loads of interesting blogs out there that probably we're missing out on!

In other news, myself and the children designate Fridays as our "Art and Craft Day." We often do art on other days but we have specifically designated Fridays so that we never let a week go by without fitting in some creative activity!

Yesterday, we took some hen eggs, used a pin to make a hole at one end of the egg and extracted the gooey inside through this hole. We then had much fun painting the eggs. I was quite surprised at the fantastic results that my children (ranging in age from 2 to 12) produced! I think you'll agree that they make beautiful home decorations.

And we didn't let the egg whites go to waste either! After all that hard work, I baked meringue for dessert. Much enjoyed by all!

Typical!

Myself and my husband decided to leave the peace of the countryside and journey into the city at the weekend, to spend some quality time together, and this happens!




On our way into the city, we were stopped at traffic lights when the car coming up behind us drove straight into the back of us! I was completely shocked. It wasn't too big a bump but it was enough to leave me quite shaken. Just as my husband was getting out of our car to talk to the driver behind, the cops pulled up - perfect timing! They took both of our details and descriptions of what had happened. They then proceeded to question the other driver futher and, after a few tests, they concluded that he was over the alcohol limit for driving. No wonder he drove into our stopped car!!

It makes me so disappointed that people continue to drink alcohol and drive. We were lucky that ours was only a minor accident but this man could easily have injured a child walking near the road or even worse! Some people are too selfish and do not think of those around them. I hope that at least this man will learn to become more responsible!

Tea and cake

This months meeting of our Feminine Womanhood group was held in my house. Our group meets once a month in a different members house. During our meetings we discuss the bible, we debate the role of women in society today, each month we choose a different famous woman who we feel is a good role model and (the best bit!) we drink tea and eat cake! You can't imagine how excited my kids were at the prospect of everyone coming to our home!! They were really keen on baking something themselves so I helped them to make a fruit cake to have with our tea.

The cake was so delicious I feel I just HAVE to share the recipe with you guys!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped cherries
1 1/2 cups coconut
2 1/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
6 egg whites

How to make:

Prepare fruits. Measure the sifted flour and reserve a few tablespoons to dredge fruit. Sift remaining flour into a bowl with baking powder and salt. In mixing bowl cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in sifted dry ingredients, alternating with the milk. Beat well and add the dredged fruit.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.
Line a greased loaf pan with waxed paper or parchment paper and grease the paper. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 300° for about 90 minutes. Enjoy!

While our meeting was held indoors, we were blessed with fantastic weather and I was able to give the ladies a tour of my garden. I know it looks like the sun is shining in this photo but it was REALLY COLD! Winter is on its way to the Mid-west!

What food do you serve to guests in your home?