Naughty Dog!

She ate my cake!  

It was a sponge cake - two sponges sitting on a wire rake cooling down and waiting to become a Victoria Sponge - one sponge cake never made it..........  I turned my back for a nano second,  well actually I went out of the kitchen without shutting the door.  I heard Mr Milly shout at the dog and there is was,  one sponge cake with a dog size bite!  How annoying,  I wasn't happy!!!   So out with the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, mixer, pans etc and another sponge made.   The chickens enjoyed the ruined cake though!

Star on pidgeon patrol.   She will chase them away if they land in the garden!

Star is a weimaraner and she is tall,  so it's very easy for her to reach the kitchen worktops.   This is not the first time she has eaten a cake.  Last year I was making a giant cupcake birthday cake for my Sisiter-in-Law,  it was disatrous - the first cake was overcooked and went in the bin and in the chickens,  the second cake the dog ate,  the third cake was OK,  but these cakes take an age to cool down and with all the messing about it was iced when very slightly warm - this doesn't work well with butter icing.  It tasted OK - but the look wasn't upto standard!

It was hot yesterday - too hot to be digging,  so a quick visit to the Lottie a little foraging around the site, some picking on my Lottie plot and a little more clearing.  And look at all the goodies;-

The apples from behind my Lottie,  the pears and plums from a neighbour, runner beans, french beans and courgettes from the lottie,  eggs from my chicks, tomatoes from home and my latest loaf of bread.  It kept me busy for a while, all nicely arranged for a photo moment and then the eggs for the cake  -eaten by the dog,  all the beans blanched and frozen,  apples, pears and plums are now mixed fruit jam.  The rest in the fridge until needed. 

I had fun trying to photograph the jam on a rolling boiling - the camera kept steaming up everytime it was over the pan,  I think I took about 10 pictures before I had one decent one!  That's blogging for you - everything has to be photographed!

Rolling boil

Steamed up camera!

Rolling boil after the magic knob of butter had been added.  
The jam becomes clear  and the fruit scum on the top vanishes!

All done!