When you have lemons, make...

It’s the final week of Strictly and I am sort of excited about it... am pretty sure I still want Kimberley and the gorgeous Pasha to win but would be happy with ABD (anyone but Denise) which is probably a bit mean but I just can't warm to her at all. Am also very excited as I have two weeks of holiday coming up and I honestly can’t wait. Last couple of weeks have been really tough and I am ready for a break. It’s actually been a good week as I got to meet the rest of my team at work. Since our most recent restructure, we’ve been split between Eastleigh & York so it was fab to finally meet face to face. Such a lovely bunch – and Secret Santa was good to me too (yuuuum, jelly beans!)

Well, the ole Vanillekipferl turned out ok if a little unexciting. I don’t think it was helped by the fact they didn’t quite look the part – they were more open ended brackets than crescent moons.. think I took the whole ‘roll into a sausage’ part of the recipe a bit too literally! They were tasty enough though, but just like vanilla ice-cream – whilst it’s nice and does the job of an ice-cream, I would never pick it over mint choc chip or honeycomb (oh, goodness – I now want ice-cream in the middle of a cold, wet snap!)

Lemon Drizzle Cake is on the menu this weekend – it’s wanted for Christmas and I’m quite looking forward to baking it. A lady I used to work with used to make the most amazing drizzle cake – she really should have marketed it. I wish I knew her secret but am going to follow a Jamie Oliver recipe which I’ve tried once before and it turned out ok. I’d like it to turn out amazing this time though, so need to find me some poppy seeds and a decent juicer.

And Boy! - hasn’t it been drizzling! Kind of hope it’s not too wet for Christmas and I know there won’t be snow but an icy cold, dry winter’s day would be nice. Still not feeling as festive as I’d like but am hoping that once the weekend hits and we’re only a day or two away, it’ll kick in.

So, brace yourselves people, this could be your last chance to sample my wonderful blog seeing as, according to the ancient Mayan culture – today is the end of the world!!  Or at least there will be a catastrophic event like Earth heading towards a black hole at the centre of the universe, or colliding with the Planet Nibiru (or Planet X, depending on your fancy). Apparently, this collision was prophesised by a lady with regular contact with extra-terrestrials through a communication chip implanted in her head as a child.

Personally, I like to follow the more New Age interpretation that this dates marks the time in which Earth and all who sail on her undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation with today marking the start of a new era. Trying not to come over all philosophical but:

“They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.”

Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)