Experimenting...

Do you stash things, put them in a safe place then forget about them and/or their location? I do it all the time; Christmas presents, important notes for school, chocolate...

Last week, in a moment of weakness, I let my kids make slime; my 7 year old loves experiments, google has a lot to answer for. The slime was a disaster, clag clearly is not pva glue; our second attempt, with my quite possibly toxic craft glue, was deemed a health hazard, we binned the lot. The upside of gluegate, we found my stash of popping candy, purchased on a trip to the US last year, and very carefully hidden in the food colouring container on the highest pantry shelf. I don't use food colouring often, even my red velvet cakes are "nude"!

I'd bought the popping candy to add to the ganache for some macarons, I had visions of a fabulously smooth, but crackling centre. IT DID NOT WORK, it mostly vanished with a few crunchy remnants. There must a product out there, it works for Cadbury, and I've definitely had fancy popping truffles. The macarons themselves were lovely, if a bit sedate! It was my mum's birthday, so naturally I made jaffarons, recipe here.

We also got crafty and made a birthday card, totally stole the idea from Jane at emerald and ella. I spent a lovely escapist half hour in a florist, choosing the most beautiful flowers, then belted them in on the front seat and hit the road...