Friday 6 March 2009

Yikes!

Took the scenic route (i.e. got a bit lost) to kindergarten the other day, drove through lots of fields and downs some extremely narrow (and barely used, by the looks of them) roads, and stumbled across a very bizarre vegetable plot:



Pretty neat and tidy, eh? Looks pretty lively... except it's not. Look closer, those people have no faces:





Scarecrows! Me thinks the farmer has too much time on his hands. In fact, this farmer hit the news a few years back with his scarecrows. His fields were being wrecked by wild boar, so he made loads of real -looking scarecrows in a bid to keep them away. K's colleague was having a similar problem on his land and laid traps - the next day he had caught 12 wild boars! If only he had a butcher friend...

The other day I held a baby shower for a Japanese friend. Very small scale, only a few of us, and it's not a British custom so wasn't really sure what a baby shower should entail. Played a couple of games, one of which was quite gross but very funny - I melted various chocolates (and no, I didn't eat any)and squished them one-by-one in nappies, then the guests had to try and guess what kind of chocolate they were. Highlight for me was watching my very, very cute friend Hiroko sniffing and then tasting! We ate lots of goodies and treats, including a baked camembert which was very simple to put together:



Brown sugar Dijon Camembert

1 camembert (I used a small one, 125g, if you use a bigger one you may need to double he recipe)
25g brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
20g flaked almonds

Chop half the almonds and combine with the sugar and mustard. Cut the camembert in half horizontally and put one half cut side up on a baking tray. Spread with half the mixture, then put the other half of the cheese on top (again, cut side up) and top with the remaining mixture. Sprinkle with the rest of the almonds, then bake at 190c for about 12 minutes. Serve with slices of apple, chunks of French bread, etc. to dip in.

I love camembert, but wasn't so keen on the mustard in this recipe. Would make again, but with a different filling (chilli and apricot, mmmmm)>

I also made another nappy cake for the guest of honour to take home:



Thinking I might like to make these to sell...

8 comments:

  1. Wow, that is such a funny hoot about the farm... I hope it works though? lol And what a fab way to serve Camembert, oh it looks so yummy, did you have it with biscuits?

    Your nappy cake, oh it is surely adorable,you should sell them, you could open up a net shop, you could do towels for Newlyweds..... ps. where did you get the wrap film and ribbon, I was thinking of send some cupcakes to some friends = )

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  2. That farm is brilliant! I wonder if it works better having so many people mid action.

    hehe I've heard of that nappy game but have yet to try it!

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  3. What great scarecrows. And here I was thinking I might just stick Granny K to a bit of wood and plant her in the back yard to keep the ferrits and moles at bay.

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  4. Love those pics of the rice field!!
    Thanks for your comments too...it is an amazing view :) very lucky to live there.
    thanks for the compliments on our style as well!!
    stop by if you're every in sydney! :)
    Caitin x

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  5. Those pictures are great!
    What an interesting find, sometimes getting lost can be fun.
    Once I was quite shocked driving in the country, rounding a corner to find (caucasian) heads on stakes in the rice fields... they were plastic heads hair stylists use to practice on, also used as scarecrows. I almost had an accident.
    Shikoku L.

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  6. Thanks so much for your kind comments! :) I love this farmer's plot-bizarre and yet so fascinating! Love your blog!

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  7. The nappy cake is awesome! I'm going to try my hand at one for my niece. Is that a teddy bear on top?

    Just here new after seeing your sig on the MIJ list.

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  8. Hi Pat! This cake has a squeaky rabbit toy stuck in the top, but the cake in the post above has a teddy shaker. I just buy a whole pile of stuff and arrange with whatever I've got. There is a big bottle of babysoap in the middle to act as a core, as well as various bits of clothing.

    Thanks for dropping by!

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