The madness continues.

I must stop moaning so much, but it is hard to give up something when you are so darn good at it! It is also one of my favourite past times and I try to do it as often as time allows. I really must stop, but before I go cold turkey, I will indulge myself one last time. Here goes:

Is it just me, or has this world gone mad? I know it is a cliche and every generation probably feels the same way, but seriously, being prohibited from filming your own daughter at her own ballet recital because it is against some Health and Safety law, must be the maddest thing I have ever heard. Health and Safety? Health and Safety! The new catch phrase to stop anybody from doing anything.
"Please do not let your children climb trees in this wood as it is against Health and Safety laws"
"Please do not take out a camera and record your daughter doing a twirl in her ballet outfit as it is against Health and Safety laws"
"Please do not sit on the grass..."
"Please do not tap some one on the shoulder.."
"Please do not ...blah..blah..blah..."
Lets all wrap our kids up in cotton wool, put them in little glass boxes and put on white rubber gloves when we take them out to disinfect their little cages. Good grief! I am sick and tired of all these laws, rights and thingemewhatsist that prohibit us from doing normal things. What about Common Sense Laws? Those who have it please use liberally, but I guess some Health and Safety officer will be quick as a whip to stop that from happening too, using some excuse like: Over usage of brain may cause independent thinking and who knows what that may lead to?

The only photo I took of Mia at her ballet recital before
I was told not stop this terrible behaviour!
I had to edit the other girls out of the picture for legal reasons.

I know all these rules and rights started off as a good idea, but boy have they gone sour. I guess I never understood the saying :"The road to hell is paved with good intentions", until now. I mean, these were all good intentions, but they have now all become our stepping stones to hell as we curse our way through life. Human Rights, good idea, but as we all know, this right has completely overstepped the mark as well. There are endless examples of the criminals rights being placed above the victims as we all know.
My husband can come up with some gems sometimes. As we were listening to some bloke babbling on LBC radio about something he said: "You know what the problem with the world is? They don't know the difference between discrimination and discernment". I thought that was rather wise and rather accurate. Do we still know what the difference is?

The worlds gone crazy and we all have to live in it. Who knows if we will be allowed to cross the street, make a fire or even cook our own food in the future. These are all very dangerous things. Maybe my Saturday night feasts will be a Health and Safety risk in the near future. Mad to think about, but will it become illegal to cook for friends? Will your kitchen have to have a Health and Safety inspector come around to check every time you invite people around for a meal. It may sound crazy, but you never know. It used to be okay for kids to go climb trees in the woods and to film your daughter in her ballet class.

Well, before this becomes the case, I at least got to light some birthday candles in my own house on Saturday evening. Yes, it was my birthday. I turned 29 again, for the 7th time. It was a mad evening. One thing I did learn is that parties at your own house in the UK is strictly for summer. Kids cannot play outside in the snow. Health and Safety and all! Boy, was it a bit crowded. I completely forgot to take pictures of the food. The only photo I did manage, was the kids blowing out my birthday cake (the best chocolate cake recipe in the world! See below!). Although it was chaos, I had to savour the moment as the little faces blew out the candles. One never knows how long this activity will still be allowed, maybe at my next 29th birthday I will have to let them use a fan to blow them out, or better still; have pictures of birthday candles. Surely nobody can get hurt from a candle drawn on a piece of paper! Well, that is if you do not consider paper cuts.

My 29th (+7) birthday cake.

Until next week....

Ouma Hannah's Chocolate Sponge Cake Recipe:


Mix together:

½ Cup of Boiling water
3 Table Spoons of Cocoa Powder

In a separate bowl, mix together:

1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Sugar
3 Tea spoons Baking Powder
½  Tea spoon salt
1 Tea Spoon Vanilla extract
1 Table Spoon Instant Coffee Powder
½ Cup Sunflower Oil
Mix the two mixtures together
In a separate bowl beat
4 Egg whites (stiff but not dry)

Mix the 4 yolks separately and add to the Flour Mixture

Fold in the egg whites.

Bake at 180 C ( I forgot for how long, but until you can stick in a knife and it comes out clear)

Leave to cool in the oven for a while before taking out.

Enjoy!This is the perfect cake for making those kiddie creations. I usually double the recipe to make a proper size cake.