In late June the kids clashed again with Bernard & Simon in the second great bake off, this time held at their place. The pressure was high as, unlike the first bake off Click here for the inaugural bake off & scroll almost to the end, an impartial judge had been sought. The kids had practised a particularly yummy Nigella Lawson cake for a few different events and reckoned they had it just about perfect. While a last minute change of dates to allow Will to attend a birthday party meant the judge was no longer available, the competition went ahead nonetheless.
Aisha and William showed determined collaboration in an effort to outdo the competition, a rhubarb and sour cream with toffee drizzle cake!
In the end it was a close call.....
Too close.
After giving points for presentation and, of course, taste, amazingly Mark & Sally declared... another draw!
Who would have thought ?!
A return match is now necessary to once and for all declare the outright winner. Not only will a judge definitely be there BUT it will be a blind judging. The cakes will be cooked and presented before the judge arrives with no indication of who cooked which cake. There could tears and frustration worthy of any reality TV programme!
MARK AND WILL'S GREEN THUMBS
Back in November last year Mark planted a stack of bulbs in the garden. He dug small plots, removing the builders' rubble and London clay replacing it with fluffy British potting mix, horse poo and compost. He planted roughly 250 bulbs, laid down the necessary anti squirrel devices (holly branches) and waited.
The all too brief warm start of spring teased with promises of a repeat of the FABULOUS spring of 2011 (have we mentioned how good it was and how terrible this year 's weather has been?!) The much anticipated blooms came up in early March and threatened to flower just as we headed off to Italy. click here for the Italy post We wondered if they would flower and fade in the time we were away. Despite the rain and wind of much of March and April the flowers were all in good shape when we returned and stayed pretty much intact for a good five weeks before starting to fade and fall apart in late April. William took most of the pictures below.
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William has developed an interest in gardening as well as cooking. Having seen how well the hanging baskets that Mark and Margaret made last year went, he was keen to have a go. He did the ones below by himself and, although they were a late, the poor weather we have been having (have we mentioned how bad it is?!) means that they wouldn't have come on all that much had they been planted when they should have been.
The Olympics loom, as do the long summer holidays. School finishes on July13th and resumes on September 10th and when it does William will be in year six and Aisha in year nine. Yikes!
Aisha and William showed determined collaboration in an effort to outdo the competition, a rhubarb and sour cream with toffee drizzle cake!
In the end it was a close call.....
After giving points for presentation and, of course, taste, amazingly Mark & Sally declared... another draw!
A return match is now necessary to once and for all declare the outright winner. Not only will a judge definitely be there BUT it will be a blind judging. The cakes will be cooked and presented before the judge arrives with no indication of who cooked which cake. There could tears and frustration worthy of any reality TV programme!
MARK AND WILL'S GREEN THUMBS
Back in November last year Mark planted a stack of bulbs in the garden. He dug small plots, removing the builders' rubble and London clay replacing it with fluffy British potting mix, horse poo and compost. He planted roughly 250 bulbs, laid down the necessary anti squirrel devices (holly branches) and waited.
The all too brief warm start of spring teased with promises of a repeat of the FABULOUS spring of 2011 (have we mentioned how good it was and how terrible this year 's weather has been?!) The much anticipated blooms came up in early March and threatened to flower just as we headed off to Italy. click here for the Italy post We wondered if they would flower and fade in the time we were away. Despite the rain and wind of much of March and April the flowers were all in good shape when we returned and stayed pretty much intact for a good five weeks before starting to fade and fall apart in late April. William took most of the pictures below.
.JPG)
.JPG)
William has developed an interest in gardening as well as cooking. Having seen how well the hanging baskets that Mark and Margaret made last year went, he was keen to have a go. He did the ones below by himself and, although they were a late, the poor weather we have been having (have we mentioned how bad it is?!) means that they wouldn't have come on all that much had they been planted when they should have been.
The Olympics loom, as do the long summer holidays. School finishes on July13th and resumes on September 10th and when it does William will be in year six and Aisha in year nine. Yikes!
Just love those cakes!! The bulbs looked magnificent. Just like you,I have planted hundreds of bulbs at Strehlow Place this year, some in the inhospitable Canberra soil and some in pots. I too realised, too late, that Ross and I will be wandering the Pilba when most of them are out, as we leave on a 2 month trip to the West on 1st September.
ReplyDeletemuch love
Ross and Col