Peanut butter cream cheese frosting is evil genius

My friend Caroline came to visit husband and I in the country and to mark the occasion I wanted to bake a cake to knock her socks off. (She has a sweet tooth to rival any Mooney!) I have a few baking books I would normally go to, but I was a bit bored of them so decided to troll the internet to see what I could find.

The one that came up most when you googled "most amazing cake ever" was this chocolate cake...

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3092/ultimate-chocolate-cake

I have made it several times and the raves are correct, it IS the best chocolate cake ever. And one I have made for her before.

I then found this...

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/chocolate-peanut-butter-cake/

BINGO! I knew Martin wouldn't like it but it wasn't really for him anyway plus I always make cakes just for him and this time I was making a cake just for me. I mean just for CAROLINE.

The best thing about this cake is the peanut butter cream cheese frosting. I was slightly delighted/horrified when I had some left over. I would have to eat it all, it was too good to waste! But it was rather a lot so I just saved it and will frost some future chocolate cupcakes with it. The idea of eating it all made even me a little sick. The ganache unfortunately cooled too much so I don't have quite the drip effect I was hoping for, but it still tasted great which is what really matters.

Here is lucky Caroline with her cake.

I've said it once...

And I'll say it again and again. I heart you Ottolenghi!

I decided to buy some cabbage as it is in season and it looked pretty and I figured it might be a good idea to get to know this veg and try to make it interesting. I know of one very good place for interesting recipes...my Ottolenghi cookbook, Plenty! In it there is a recipe for stuffed cabbage. AND IT IS F*&$ing GREAT!



Stuffed with rice and vermicelli noodles, the seasoning is fantastic and the texture spot on. The cabbage doesn't smell great, but wrapped around the filling and seasoned with parm and a white wine sauce, it tastes great.

I had this as a main and served it to Martin as a side to his chicken, of a similar theme. Works better as a side. It doesn't re-heat brilliantly so try and eat it all on the first night. Yum-my!

Pigs, napping in the sunshine...

Also, I just finished this pillow, of which I am very proud. Required the use of a sewing machine and although I messed up and had to start over, I am quite happy with the end result!

Sold Out!

With an increased number of chickens in our chicken flock, we have the predictable problem of having an increase in egg production. Most days we get at least 4 eggs, but some days we get 5 and as exciting as this is, I don't love eggs that much and can't eat 25+ eggs a week.

So last weekend, while looking at my collection of 24 eggs and contemplating what to do with them and the ones waiting for me in the hen box, I had a brainstorm. SELL THE EGGS!

I do occasionally give my eggs to our very nice neighbours who can get £2 for half a dozen at their work. (City folk go crazy for things from the country) However this was a Saturday morning and Monday was a long way away. So I thought, why not be one of those people who puts up a nice home made sign that says "eggs for sale", and see what happens.

And what happened was I sat at my kitchen table all morning and waited for people to pull over and buy my eggs. AND THEY DID!



Let me tell you, I don't think there is anything more satisfying than people buying stuff you made.(I know, I didn't actually MAKE the eggs, but they did come from my hard work and TLC) I think the chickens grazing in the grass right next to the sign helped.

(You can tell from this sign I haven't quite mastered writing the £ sign but I feel it gives it a nice home made maybe a 5 year old wrote this sign look)

Narrow Escape

While the pink beast slept in the sunshine, the chickens decided then would be a good time to sneak into the pig pen to have a roll in the hay...



Hark, what's that?! The pink beast has awoken!



Run for your lives!



But first, a drink of water...



Small spotted beasts, clearly not bothered...



Quick, under the electric fence to safety. Phew!



I clearly have too much time on my hands.

Living Together

For the most part, our little pigs all live happily together...



Unless there is food involved..



When it comes to feeding time, the little ones run under the electric fence where Rosey can't steal their food. At snack time, they pick up their carrot and take it as far away from Rosey as they can...



Sometimes a chase ensues...





Our little pigs are growing fast, and pretty soon it will be time to send Rosey away for bacon. I'm not going to lie, I am really excited for the bacon. Once these pigs are big enough, we will sell them for meat as well, and then I think that is us done with pigs in Horsebridge. Husband and I are hoping to find some land to buy so we can expand properly, and it makes sense for us to stop until we find the right place to do so. Most likely this land will be further away, so a summer without having to feed pigs twice a day will make the search a lot easier for us, as we will then be able to go away for a couple of days at a time and not worry about who will look after them. Might also mean we can do some traveling. Say to places like USA. No details yet, but the Partners will soon be coming to a state near you!

Snow you can see!

This happened last week but with all the excitement with the pigs I didn't bother posting as I thought posts about cute new pigs was way more fun. But now that I don't have anything else fun to post about, here is a picture of the snow last week that has since melted.



It is actually a beautiful day outside so I am going to abandon my post and enjoy it while I can. What I am going to do outside, I have no idea.