SYD SPECIAL

 This is Syd.  

He was my Grandad.

These are some facts about Syd;

He liked to dance.

He wore pink polyester shirts.

He loved gardening.

 He became outraged if he had to spend more than 50p on a cup of tea.

He watched Bullseye.

This is not a blog about Syd.

This is a blog about Syd Special.

My family would always have an Easter break in the Lake District, and we would go to a cafe at Skelwith Bridge as a treat.  This is where we partook of Syd Special for the first time. 

 A chocolatey treat but with a healthy(ish) edge. Fortunately the cafe sold recipe books so we could recreate SS at home. 

It is also known as Chocolate fudge, but my brother and I thought it was hilarious that a.. well it's not really a cake or a biscuit, is it a tray bake? was named after our Grandad (it wasn't of course there must have been another Syd lurking about!)

  I have tweaked the recipe a little and feel free to use any cereal you want.  I'm sure my Mum used to make it with Shredded Wheat.

Enjoy with a cheap cup of tea!

HOLIDAY BLUES

I am suffering from post holiday blues!

  We came back from a fabulous week in Turkey yesterday and even though the temperature here was a balmy 30 I still can't get back into the swing.

Normally I attack life with renewed vigour after a break, and I do have a number of projects I need to work on, but I just want to go back to my all inclusive hotel where I don't have to think about anything except being with my family.

One of the nice things for me this holiday was that I started to sketch again.  I always made little pencil sketces on holidays but this had all stopped when my kidlets arrived. However now they don't need constant supervision to make sure they are not eating stones I could start again.

I did have a lovely surprise waiting for me.  Remember the giveaway by Agnes from Knock Knocking...well I won!

  Thankyou very much Agnes I am so happy to be the proud owner of one of your wreaths.

 I am working on a recipe blog that I hope to have up this week but while you are waiting why not pop over to my Mum's blog for a lovely dandilion cordial.

BOYS AND CASTLES

Here are some more cakes I've been busy making.

 I usually find it much easier to create girls cakes as I am naturally drawn to pink glittery fluffy things. 

 However I have to say this is one boys cake I thoroughly enjoyed, I love the figures and had great fun making twigs and logs.  It was only a last minute decision to add the hide but I was really pleased with it. Can you imagine Bear Grylls peaking out?

But I couldn't leave you without something more girly.

 This is a return to a cake I made a year ago for my kidlet.

RAINBOWS AND BIRDIES

As promised in my sneak peak here is the finished cake for Marie.  I was really pleased with how it turned out and I think the birthday girl was too (and the birthday girl's Mum).

  

 

As the cake was to be rainbow themed Marie requested that the inside be a rainbow too.  This was my first time at coloured cake so I made a cupcake to check out how it would look and this portion was a perfect rainbow! You can see the actual cake innards here.

 

Take a look at Marie's blog to see all her fabulous party ideas, I love the banners and bunting. She has definately raised the party stakes in our town!

CUPCAKES AND POMPOMS

Head over to the Copy and Paste Project this weekend as they are celebrating their first birthday.  They have a wonderful array of bloggers lined up with special projects and printables for you, even a competition!
Oh yes and did I mention a fabulous guest cake blogger....mmm who could that be?

SNEAK PEAK

I have been working hard over the last week.  Busy caking!  So I thought I would give you a sneek peak of one of the cakes I have been working on.  This is for Marie from Heartfelt Handmade.  Have a look here at what she is planning for her daughters birthday, very cute!