Marvelous May-May

Our permanent Nanny Maricel has joined us from Hong Kong for over a month now which means it's time to say good-bye to our dear Nanny May-May. Tonight we cooked her favourite - Italian and Maricel made her first Meringue which turned out beautiful. However, the whipping cream was a bust when they both showed me the "butter" they had made - so we opted for Ice-cream instead. We gave May-May a supply of baking goodies including her very own Laughing Lemon apron to take with her on her next adventure. The night was stormy and fun. Love you May-May, we will miss you very much. Sir Keith, Maam, Nanna and especially Christian.

So I have wanted to make a big beautiful Meringue my friend Fiona is famous for. Her Pavlova is to die for! Being it was my birthday and well, to Taya from Taya was on my mind that's exactly what we did. My friends Cass and Shaun came over and we attempted the tricky little recipe. We used the one from Jamie Oliver (although this link takes you to a different recipe, the meringue recipe is the same). Free pouring sugar, the wrong sugar on top of it, well didn't work. (See flat meringue pictured!). Shaun stepped in and did everything Cas and I didn't do. Big difference - use real eggs! Not that egg whites in a carton aren't real.... ???? but these super eggs from Vitala are the bomb! See the difference! LOVED my homemade birthday cake with love. Oh and lemon zest was perfect in the meringue. Next time I'm going to try lemon and ginger.

Today on National Lemonade Day - Give to Alex's Lemonade Stand

So I've been following Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation because I think it's brilliant, heartfelt and deeply moving. A little girl named Alex wanted to help other kids like her suffering from cancer so she literally opened a lemonade stand. She passed away at the age of 8 knowing she had helped other children like her with raising over 1 million dollars. This foundation is her legacy.

As its National Lemonade Day and the fact I am the Laughing Lemon I feel it my duty to share this with all my lemony fans and encourage you to give. Please support me in meeting my goal. All those who give will be entered into a draw to win a year's supply of lemon marmalade. As well, 100% of all sales made at the Fiddlehead Farmer's Market this Saturday will go to this cause.

To give, follow this link: http://www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/68615

Here's to making life sweet out of lemons!

frog omen on market day

So today was my fourth day at the market. Packing up the car we had the marmalade stand left to go however there was a frog sitting right on it! He wasn't moving but Keith was able to nudge him along to a nearby plant. It got me thinking all day I needed to look up what this "sign" meant. In a nutshell: birth, re-birth, fertility, fruitfulness and creation. As well according to some European forklore good luck. Whatever the meaning, it all sounds pretty good to me!

Baking Break

It has been so piping hot! Making jam has made it even hotter in the kitchen. Spent some time in recovery with cool refreshments. I had a bunch of lemon cordial I had made so mixed it with some fresh mint to do a Laughing Lemon version of the mojito. My friend Jannetta had hers with some vodka where the rest of us enjoyed it without.

Gorgeous Gravity

How gorgeous is this Angel Food Cake? I know the confetti is a little over the top but I couldn’t resist my childhood indulgence. This used to be my birthday cake of choice when I was little and as it is my birthday month I had this cake on my mind. Nothing pretentious, imperfect, light and delicious (not that I was thinking that hard as a child). Everyone around the house thinks I should sell it at the Market tomorrow but selfishly I will keep it for afternoon tea. Besides there’s nothing lemony about it except for the lemon I will use in the whip cream to make it extra light and fluffy. Lemons are good for so many things!

natural lemons

Love these images of lemons. So natural. For more beautiful foodie images go here.