37 Weeks

So anytime now would be nice lol - wishful thinking!! We measured spot on at our midwife appointment so have recovered from a bit of a growth slow down and are back on track now!

I have been suffering from SPD, for a couple of weeks it was agony to walk, I went to see a physio but they couldn't do much. My mothercare support band wasn't really supportive anymore so I invested in a paramedics Wiltshire support band suggested by the physio.  I have to say it has relay helped, it isn't overly comfy to sit down whilst wearing and also I can still feel my pelvis move when I am climbing stairs (so I avoid stairs!), however generally it has helped.  I also saw an osteopath but he couldn't help either.  Just a case of putting up with the pain until she is here!

Cupcake Ice Cream Cones

I was inspired by Sunday Brunch to make these:

 Ingredients

120g caster sugar

120g butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 medium eggs, lightly beaten with a fork

120g self-raising flour

2 tbsp milk

15 small flat-bottomed cornets (called ‘cup cones’)

For the buttercream icing

• 150g butter, softened
• 300g icing sugar, sieved
• 1-2 tbsp milk
• Food colouring (optional)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas mark 5.
2. Beat the sugar and butter together in a bowl until pale and creamy.
3. Add the vanilla essence then add ¼ of the beaten eggs at a time, beating them into the mix.
4. Fold the flour into the mix and add the milk to loosen it a little.
5. Spoon the mix into the cones so that they are half full.
6. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a skewer pushed into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cones and place on a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, make the buttercream icing: beat the butter until it’s nicely soft then add most of the icing sugar (saving 2 tbsp) and beat again until it’s pale and creamy.
8. Mix the remaining icing sugar with the milk and beat it until it’s smooth. Add food colouring if you’re using it.
9. Take a piping bag with a star-shaped nozzle and fill it with the icing, then pipe whippy shapes onto the cupcakes.
10. Sprinkle popping candy or chocolate shavings on, and add flake chocolate to finish it off.

 

I used a Wilton 1M nozzle, the cakes were lovely, I wasn't sure whether they might be a bit dry at the bottom but they weren't at all :)

Baileys Fudge

So for my last day at work I was asked to bake cakes, I thought I would try to make some fudge. I have tried three time before - the first time was perfect, the second time it turned to toffee and the third time it didn't set - it hadn't helped that I didn't have a sugar thermometer, now I do I wanted to try again!  

397g can condensed milk

150ml Baileys

450g Demerara sugar

125g Butter

Grease a 7inch/18cm square tin.

Place all the ingredients, except the whiskey, into a large non stick saucepan and heat gently stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes stirring continuously until the temperature reaches 116*/240*C on a sugar thermometer (make sure you stir continuously scraping into the sides of the saucepan or the cream and butter will burn and give you brown specks in your fudge) - don't worry if you don't have a sugar thermometer fill a small bowl with cold water and drop a teaspoonful of the mixture into the water - roll it between your fingers it should form a soft ball. If not simmer and stir for a little longer and try again until a soft ball is formed.

Remove the pan from the heat and beat for 5 minutes with a wooden spoon until thickened and slightly grainy. Pour into the prepared tin. Allow to cool. When cold cut into squares. Store in an airtight container for 1 month if it lasts that long!

So the outcome? It worked and everybody loved it, it has a lovely crumbly texture and is very alcoholic, if you like smooth fudge its not the recipe for you, but if like me you like crumbly fudge you will love it!

Mug shots

I found an article about the new craze of baby mugging, well as we have not got our human baby, I decided to mug the dog!

So here's Ember's Mug Shot!!

Cornetto chocolate

I came across these while in Asda - conveniently placed by the checkout with the other chocolates, designed to make you think "oh I just fancy a chocolate so I'll buy one of these!"

Anyway they caught my eye a I thought they looked cute! Described as Cornetto Vanilla Chocolate Cone - vanilla flavoured white chocolate truffle in a wafer cone, chocolate flavoured coating and caramelised hazelnut pieces.

My review - mmmmmmmm! Lol! These are really yummy, the caramelised hazelnuts are lovely and sweet. The truffle centre is very tasty and they still have the normal chocolate at the bottom of the cone just like you would find in a normal Cornetto ice cream. The only thing I would improve is perhaps make the cone a bit thinner as its quite think halfway down because there is less filling. However this may make the chocolate too brittle? 

All in all I would buy again and only 110 calories per cone so I didn't feel as guilty for eating it!

4D scan

We decided to have another 3D scan as part of me wanted to confirm gender (heard a lot of people having boys when they were told girl!) and also heard tales from people who had growth scans and came across problems.  Unless you have a high BMI or aren’t growing enough you don’t get any further scans after 20 weeks which is a long time really and I wanted a bit of reassurance that everything looked okay.

 

So we decided on the Bronze 4D scan at 4D Baby Face, Newport, Shropshire.  They are currently doing an offer to include a free DVD so that definitely gave me the final nudge to book.  I am 32 + 5.  The little monkey had been doing somersaults most of the day but as soon as we got in the car to go she went to sleep, so I had a chocolate bar and Mark tried to wake her up, she did move a little bit but didn’t really do much.  She was covering her face with her hand but we managed to get her to move it to get some photos of her face, had to be quick though as she would put her hand back as soon as she moved it!  Eventually though she went to sleep with her cheek resting on her hands so we got a good shot of her face.

 

So yes she’s still a girl and they also measured her and said she is currently weight 4lb 12oz.  It was a great scan and we had a good 15-20minutes in there, they put the ultrasound on a large screen in front of you, it’s amazing to see and well worth every penny.  The sonographer (Toni) is brilliant and spends her time with you trying to get some really good photos.  We must have had about 20 images on CD plus a DVD movie as well.

32 Weeks

Time seems to be flying by, I finish work in 5 weeks time. Have been off sick the last few days though as I had a severe muscle spasm in my shoulder which trapped a nerve and I had constant pins and needles in my arm. I have suffered from neck pain for a while and seen a chiro and osteopath but neither have really helped long term. I think this is all related so doctor has referred me to a Physio to see if that helps, we shall see. Other than that I am well, just feeling like an Oompah Loompah!