Day Forty - Double Smoked Bacon and Banana/Apple Cake

Dear all

Day forty and another milestone reached, this time in the form of apple/ banana cake and 'home grown' double smoked bacon. The apple and banana cake was the brain child of Darren who exclaimed 'why not add apple' whilst we were mulling over the relative merits of banana bread. He truly has a brilliant mind and it extends to culinary expertise.

After a quick google, I decided on making this fabulous recipe http://www.sugarlaws.com/apple-banana-bread. It was quickly quite clear that I biting off 'slightly' more than I could chew when I realized that the recipe called for 'pre-baked apple slices' {gulp}. Needless to say, I rose to the occasion, aided by a corona or two, and the result was fabulous!

MUM and JO: I am improving!

My other assault on the kitchen involved some home-grown bacon, [double smoked.. ooo la la] which was tossed in some pre-blanched Brussel Sprouts with added pine nuts and onion. It was totally decadent yet cleansing at the same time.. the perfect combination.

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/1081/brussels-sprouts-with-bacon-and-pine-nuts.aspx

And in other news:

1. Yet another breath taking view from our place early morning. Life doesn't get much better than this.

2. Today I had my first relationship counseling session with Gandalf. The big G needs to work on his anger management; I need to work on my insecurity issues that have arisen due to this 'mismanaged' anger. This will become particularly pertinent during the 'rutting' season when any bonds formed will be extremely important in order to bypass Gandalf's rampant hormonal rage. The nature of the beast is contrasted, some might say, by his very strong affection for eating dandelion leaves

Note to self: NEVER enter reindeer pen without a fist full of dandelions.. it could save your life.

3. It is officially summer.. ( well spring ) and to celebrate: a wonderful bottle of shiraz on the lawn with Karla, Jay, Candice and Adam. We even went exploring through the forest ( please note Adam's staff - it is always very important to wield a staff when trekking)