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'Yummee Cake' especially with whipped cream!

I found this recipe at http://www.smittenkitchen.com which is my new favorite cooking site. There are lots of yummy recipes to try.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake
Adapted from Gourmet, June 2009

You can just ignore the word “raspberry” up there and swap it up with any which berry you please, like blackberries or blueberries or bits of strawberries or all of the above. This is a good, basic go-to buttermilk cake — moist and ever-so-light — a great jumping off point for whatever you can dream up.

Makes one thin 9-inch cake, which might serve eight people, if you can pry it from first two people’s grasp

1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (56 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (146 grams) plus 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large (57 grams) egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 oz)

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup (146 grams) sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter (see Note) raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Make your own buttermilk: No need to buy buttermilk especially for this or any recipe. Add one teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of milk and let it sit until it clabbers, about 10 minutes. Voila, buttermilk!

Homemade Shampoo's for your Pets

NEVER use human shampoo on your pets. The ingredients are very harmful to them.
Any dog has a time in its life when it doesn’t smell as fresh and clean as if it was just washed in a fresh, spring-fed lake. This is where essential oils can come to the rescue. Not only do they mask unpleasant odors but they offer some aromatherapy to the dog and household. You can create a variety of different aromatic shampoos for your dog. All-natural aromatherapy grooming begins with the addition of essential oils to an all natural soap or shampoo base.

The following recipes all call for the essential oils to be added to 8 oz of an all natural shampoo base.

1. Spicy Deodorizing Shampoo
5 drops Cinnamon Leaf 6 drops of Atlas Cedarwood
5 drops Caraway 4 drops Rosemary
3 drops Black Pepper 2 drops Patchouli
3 drops Bay Lead 3 drops Vetiver
2. Refreshing Citrus Shampoo
3 drops Sweet Orange
3 drops Lemon and Lime
3 drops Grapefruit
3 drops Mandarin
3. Delicate Floral Shampoo
4 drops Lavendar
2 drops Ylang Ylang
4 drops Rose
6 drops Petitgrain
4. Woodsy Conditioning Shampoo
6 drops Atlas Cedarwood
4 drops Rosemary
2 drops Patchouli
3 drops Vetiver
Make sure to watch the dog carefully to see how they react to the scents. If they seem uncomfortable, change the blend, or lessen the amount of oils used.

Read more at http://www.pawsnclaws.com.au/homemadepetshampoos

Two good reasons to use non-toxic dish liquid

'Helping your Health and The Enviroment at the same time'

I know this is going to seem like a simple tip but it can make the world of difference to everyday health and the ability to move into cleaning simplicity: Buy liquid dish detergent that is free of dyes and fragrance. Just switching to fragrance-free dish detergent will make the world of difference to the indoor air quality in your kitchen. Synthetic fragrances are made of a large number of petroleum products, hundreds in fact, and can cause a number of health problems including aggravating asthma and neurotoxic reactions. So if you wear gloves when you wash dishes and are not too worried about the dyes (usually a green color) in the detergent, you will still breathe in the scent, and be affected.

Dyes tend to always be up for review for causing cancer and being neurotoxic, even food grade dyes are being removed from the diets of children because they can cause behavioral problems.

Outside of health concerns, vegetable-based dish washing liquid is safe because it can be used for other home made cleaning formulas. If you use toxic dish liquid in your homemade formulas you miss the main feature of the formulas, they don’t contribute to indoor air quality and are better for the waste water stream.

Below are 5 good reasons to switch to Green envorimental products:

Health Hazards of Comercial Dish Washing Liquids:

1. Repeated an/or prolonged exposure is irritating to skin.

2. May cause reproductive problems and kidney and liver damage.

3. Some contain formaldehyde-carcinogenic and causes birth defects.

4. Fragrance and colour additives harmful to health - Some contain ingredients that are incompatible with bleach products and will release toxic gas when mixed.

5. Does not break down in the environment.

To read more go to:

http://www.foryourhealth.com.au/2goodreasonstousenontoxicdishliquid

Bath time fun

When my grand-daughters Apryle and Kathryn were staying over in the holidays they wanted to have a spa bubble bath, so in went the water and a few bubbles, in went the girls and on went the spa. The bubbles starting rising and I thought little Katie was going to disappear under them. She got out very quick and hid in the shower. Apryle was having too much fun, so she stayed in and I got some great shots of her and the bubbles. Maybe Katie will be brave enough to stay in next time.

Scrapping Time

I have been in the right frame of mind for scrapping lately, so here are my lastest efforts

We went to the coast in January and Rennae's best friend Penny came too. We had lovely hot weather and lots of swims. Canberra is about two and a half hours drive to the coast.

This is Rennae and her sister Carly at Carly's home in the country

Rennae and her best friends at her sweet 16 birthday party, enjoying life in the city

This is Mickey and his friends, they are always getting together for play dates, usually Lucky and Odie come to our front door and bang with their paws to come in (they only live close by) then when they have played and are ready to leave they bang on the back fly wire door to go home. Its so cute.