twice in one day

is really too much, I know, and I do have a life away from the PC, but it is a useful monitoring tool for keeping me focused as I have a massive tendency to go off piste throughout the day.

Firstly, I made cupcakes:

And that fluff is on my camera lens, not the cakes,  you will be relieved to know.  I have not ever really produced good cupcakes - they have always tended to be very 'eggy' tasting and not the light and fluffy affair I imagine they should be.  Today's recipe called for an ounce of cornflour to add to the rest of the self raising flour, and because I took them out of the oven earlier than I normally do (I have finally got used to touching the top of my cakes and judging readiness from that) they seem much nicer.  I made a chocolate ganache using this recipe from Eric Lanlard (or, Rude Bloke, as Oliver and I like to call him),  and topped my little lovelies with it.  I have to say, they are the best I have ever produced.  That actually isn't really as much of an accolade as it sounds, since some very dodgy baking has emerged from the depths of my oven in the past.

Next I decided to make a stew for tea. (and for Mark and Oliver to complain bitterly about).  I used the Hugh F-W recipe from the Veg Everyday book, which I have used before.  Used sweet potato instead of squash though (read on for the reason behind that particular substitution) and as I couldn't face slaving over a hot stove, I bunged all the ingredients into my orange pot and slung it in the oven.  I felt very naughty in doing so, and yet quite liberated.  Then twas time to face the shed. 

Earlier on, between the cakes and stew episodes, I went down to the shed to get a squash, from the supply we have stacked in there from last Autumn.  On opening the door, I was met with a stale whiff and the horrific sight of putrifying squashes in abudance, and orange ooze everywhere.  Zut Alors I thought to myself. (!)  The options were: a) shut the door and pretend it never happened, b) report the incident to Mark so he might deal with it or c) don't be a pussy and deal with it so Mark, currently under loads of work pressure, doesn't have to.  I went for a mini a) followed by a brusque and stern talking myself into c). 

It was yuck.  I hate manual work.  I'm more of a crochet-along-to-a-DVD sort of girl, but I did it.  I pulled on my wellies and rubber gloves and dealt with it.  Yay for me.  It was bloody hard work too because I had to hoik the rotting carcasses in a wheelbarrow down to the allotment to dispose of.  I was sweating and everything. 

This spurt in the great outdoors has inspired me to tell Mark that I want to take over the garden this year.  (Well, I will tell him tonight).  It is a big garden, and I won't be able to do some of the manual humping of 'stuff', but I am convinced that part of my reluctance to help much in the garden stems from when Mark completely took over the garden when we moved in, and I completely lost interest as a result.  In the face of Mark's full-blown enthusiasm, the tiny flicker of interest that I had, was extinguished.  Can't blame him though, he really turned it into a workable garden from the overgrown mess it was. 

Here it is today - empty and ready for veg.  There are a couple of things on the go, including this pretty little yummy thing:

And the stew has turned out fine.  Too much onion in it, but it's edible.  And that's a good thing.