Concentrating

On baking....

And in the meantime letting my mind wander....

wander away from anything reminding me of the weather outside....

Concentrating on measuring.....

Measuring in 'cups' instead of 'grams' because the recipe is in English.

Wondering why most English recipes use no grams but cups.

Why is that? What came first, the cup or the gram?....

Wondering..... Wandering.....

I still hope to find a good measuring cup sometime,

one with a handle so I can dig in the flour

and I don't have to use a spoon to put the flour in the measuring cup first

like I always have to do with the cup I have now.

It's a bit of a mess every single time but it's the only way.

'Sift the flour' says the recipe

but not so long ago I read somewhere

that sifting is something from the past century.

In this century, we do not sift anymore,

we use a whisk to 'sift' the flour, and it's just as effective, it read.

Don't remember where I read this....

but I'm gladly joining in and using my whisk instead of a sieve.

Concentrating and trying not to forget to take a picture now and then

because I plan on making some kind of post on my blog about this.

Don't quite know yet what exactly it'll be

but I am determined to try and take some close-ups.

O, how I would love to be able to dig deeper and deeper

and make pictures so very close up.

O yes, a dslr camera with macro-lens is a wish.

While typing this post,

somehow it became a post about concentrating

and on the same time mind wandering,

I'm trying not to notice the weatherforecast on TV

that once more predicts summer for the eastern part

and fall for the western part of our small country.

I live in the utmost western part....

O, now I heard it anyway.

15 degrees Celsius for us, 27 degrees Celsius for De Kempen,

that's the utmost eastern part.

They're so lucky....

Now I start wondering how I ended up here?

How come my ancestors persisted on staying in this part of the country,

not even as far west as I am now I suddenly realize, yes, I even moved more to the west.

Where did they originally come from? Up north, the east?

O my, my mind is really wandering now....

OK, forgot to take pictures of quite a few steps.

Probably because I was concentrating too much on

this new recipe for frosting I tried.

Want to try it too? You can find it here.

Scroll down to 'Cream cheese miracle frosting'.

Good recipe. A keeper.

Oh look, my  red velvet cupcakes turned out bright pink again.

No? Can't see it from the outside?

I did try to take pictures of a cupcake cut open but they didn't come out right,

not postworthy, sorry, you'll have to take my word for it: Bright Pink.

Is it possible we may not have the right kind of foodcolouring over here?

I thought I added quite enough of the stuff.

The kids don't mind though.

Delicious!

Yes, that's what they said and I'm a happy mom again.

From behind the kitchen window,

I can see the snowballs in the tree being swept from left to right

but not letting go yet of their snowflake flowers.

Looks like a struggle against the wind.

.....

It's spring.

Just heard on the news,

there's been a storm with a lot of rain and floods in de Kempen.

That's not so good of course. Some strange weather we've been having lately.

I hope the problems there will be solved quickly

and that everyone gets the necessary help.

And then there's Italy.

A serious earthquake and so many people who can't go to their homes

because of that. It must have been a nightmare,

and to top it off, it's dreadful weather there as well.

All those people, searching for shelter from the rain,

 no roof above their heads....

Luckily there are some tent cities set up now.

I am thinking of all the victims of the earthquake in Italy

and wishing them strength in these difficult times.

I hope the sun will shine again for them soon.

Bye,

Marian