Apple picking

Last weekend we went apple picking! Apple picking is one of those family traditions that I couldn’t wait to share with Emma. We took her last year, even though she was only 4 months old back then, but this year was much more fun. And although she hasn’t completely mastered the art of walking yet, she managed to get around and find lots of apples.

 

It was a lovely September day, perfect for a afternoon of apple picking. After filling 4 buckets of apples (let me tell you, that’s a lot of apples!) we strolled around the petting farm, bought some apple goodies and called it day ... a beautiful day.

Note: All black and white pics were taken by my mother with her camera (Nikon D7000)

I predict a lot of apple eating in our near future ...

It’s my birthday!

This year I decided to make my own birthday cake!

I figured that since I was about to begin attending decorating classes, it would be a good idea to get as much practice as possible. I wanted to make the cake from scratch, something I don’t usually do, and also pick an unusual flavour. After browsing several websites and recipe books, I chose a cherry cake with marzipan frosting recipe from a cooking magazine. I followed the recipe to the “T” but as soon as I put the batter in the cake pans, I knew something was wrong. It didn’t look, smell or taste right. I baked it anyways and it was horrible! That is what I call an epic fail!

After some more browsing and another trip to the grocery store, I took on a “brown sugar” cake. Thankfully, the second attempt was much more successful than the first, and I was able to go to bed with the cake frosted, though not yet decorated. I spent the morning of my birthday decorating the cake with fondant and a set of “baroque” mould that I had just purchased. Although the cake wasn’t perfect (it had one tear), I was pretty happy with it overall.

The weather was hardly ideal, it was very humid with rain & thunderstorm, but we were still able to go outside for a bit to play with Emma in our backyard. All and all, it was a great day with a nice dinner with my family.