Think pink!

Everyone has some ups and downs, but it's better to always stay positive, because then everything will be positive too. People usually say "I don't want this to happen" and it happens. Why? I've read somewhere that when you say something like that your subconciousness does't unerstand "don't". It means that your subconciousness thinks that you are saying "I want this to happen". So put your negative thoughts aside and be more positive. Say for instance "I am going to succeed something in my life.", "I am going to be the best mum in the world." etc.

You are going to feel a whole lot better and happier and I am sure that you are going to start pushing yourself to do more to be successful and happy in life.

Think pink and smile!

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Mary Berry's frosted walnut layer cake.

Great British Bake Off is back! I have decided to pick some recipe every week and try to bake it! I think it would be interesting and very challenging for me as well.

In the beginning I wanted to bake technical challenge's cake. I wanted to bake one sponge instead of 3 and just cut it through to 3 sponges. Unfortunately, my cake pan was a little bit bigger or maybe something else was not right. I made two sponges and the buttercream that I made wasn't good so I added one from the tin.

American frosting was a bit tricky, because you have to put it very quickly on top and sides of your cake. I didin't complete this challenge... The frosting on my cake, as well as in the bowl, has started to set so I left it unfinifhed. At least the top of my cake was covered with the frosting. I was pleased with how my cake looked and tasted. I loved the crunch from the walnuts.

You can try and make it yourself.

Ingredients:

For the sponges

- 225g/8oz self-raising flour, sifted

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 100g/3½oz walnuts, finely chopped

- 225g/8oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

- 225g/8oz caster sugar

- 4 large free-range eggs, beaten

For the caramelised walnuts

- 100g/3½oz caster sugar

- 10 walnut halves

For the buttercream

- 125g/4½oz butter, softened

- ½ tsp vanilla extract

- 2 tbsp milk

- 250g/9oz icing sugar

For the boiled icing

- 2 large egg whites

- 350g/12oz caster sugar

- ¼ tsp cream of tartar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3. Grease 3 x 20cm/8in sandwich tins and line the base of each tin with baking parchment.

2. Mix the flour, baking powder and walnuts together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs a little at a time.

3. Fold in the flour mixture using a large metal spoon. Divide the mixture equally between the 3 tins and level the surfaces.

4. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the cakes are golden-brown and springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.

5. For the caramelised walnuts, tip the sugar and 2 tablespoons water into a pan and heat over a low heat until the sugar begins to melt. Increase the heat and cook the caramel to a dark golden colour (CAUTION: boiling sugar is extremely hot. Handle very carefully). Remove from the heat, add the walnut halves and swirl to coat in the caramel. Transfer the walnut halves to a silicon sheet and leave to set.

6. For the buttercream, put the butter, vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon of the milk and half the icing sugar in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining icing sugar. Pour in the rest of the milk, if needed to make the buttercream the right consistency.

7. Spread half of the buttercream over one of the cooled sponges and place the second sponge on top. Spread the remaining buttercream over the second sponge and top with the third sponge.

8. For the boiled icing, measure the egg whites, sugar, 4 tablespoons water and cream of tartar into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of hot water and whisk for 8-10 minutes until thick.

9. Working quickly (the icing sets rapidly), cover the top and sides of the cake with the icing, swirling the icing to form softened peaks. Leave to set in a cool place, but not in the fridge. Decorate with the caramelised walnuts.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/marys_frosted_walnut_15679

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There's an elephant in the room.

Little babies are growing very fast and it is so nice to see them smiling and laughing, but it isn't always rainbows and butterflies. Sometimes our babies are under the weather and that time comes when they are teething.

There is so many sollutions to help your baby with the pain, but the most important is love, kisses and cuddles. And A LOT of patience.

My baby has four teeth and next two are coming out. I always try to calm him and hold him very close to my body just to help him with the pain.

Today we had this kind of day. It is really heartbreaking to see your little one in such pain. I gave him some rice pudding which was kept in home temperature and a little bit of cooled milk. I also gave him a soother, which helped for a while. You can always use some teething gel or teething ring taken straight out of the fridge.

When a babies are teething, they don't want to eat anything and they don't sleep very well too. Sometimes you can see redness on their cheeks and swollen gums. They might be feverish and have diarrhoea.

The best advice is cuddle, cuddle and... cuddle! 

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Baby essentials.

My baby is 10 month old and since he was a newborn we still use the same products.
We didn't want to use only one brand so we tried a few.
We've tried e-v-e-r-y single nappy brand in UK!  We've started from Aldi's Mamia, but our baby's bum was sore

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