Welcome to today’s blog post which includes The Great Blogger Bake-off, Song Lyric Sunday and a Mystery Award. We are informal here. No perfect presentation of ourselves but loving the way we are with all the frizzy hair, laughing lines around our eyes and the messy home too! 

---

 

Hello out there, how are you? I hope life is treating you well and you are up for a very long blog post. Of course, I could do three and the topics would certainly deserve it but hey I never do things as they are supposed to be done. So buckle up and come along for the ride.

Let’s start with Song Lyric Sunday which was invented by the brilliant Helen at “THIS THING CALLED LIFE ONE WORD AT A TIME” (get better Helen, we miss you 🙂 ) and is now hosted by the most generous Jim at “A Unique Title for me“. Today’s topic is “Minutes/Hours/Days/Weeks/Months“. Please head over and find more ingenious blog posts about all sorts of music.

Life is helping me out here: Good old YouTube just played me Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” and as it is still a new day here in the UK when I write this it fits perfectly. Not feeling too good though. I somehow caught a cold and fell asleep and woke up with some funny chest pains. So in that mug up there is a hot lemon and I will fill myself up with a bucket full of tea today to get rid of it. But that aside I am up for shenanigans and here is the song with the lyrics in it for ease of use and following at least some of the rules 😉

video source: Adam Howard via YouTube, credits Nina Simone

And yes, you eagle-eyed of my readers, I have used this song in several versions already for Song Lyric Sunday. But it’s a classic and you can never hear a classic often enough!!!!!

On and off we go to cakes. What? You don’t like cake? Well, that’s too bad because there is a new bake-off in WordPress town. REALLY? You haven’t heard of “The Great Bloggers Bake-off“??? Ok, let me tell you, I took part and promised a post about the baking process but of course didn’t get around to it. Still sent the pictures off and got a mention over at “Crushed Caramel”. Thanks, Mel for all the work you put into this venture!!! It is/was great fun and tasted delicious!!!! And also thanks to

On Thursday I took to the baking tins and created my now famous “Messy Bloggers Chocolate Cake“.

I used this recipe over at Good Food: Chocolate Sponge Cake by Eve Scott

So, first things first. You have to weigh the ingredients which in this case were butter, sugar, cocoa and flour. It was supposed to be self-raising flour but me being from Germany where you do not have self-raising flour works with flour and baking powder. Same thing. As you can see we do things the old-fashioned way ;-). The husband found this wonderful old-school scale and we love it especially as it is always a bit of a gamble if our bakes come out the way they are supposed to be 🙂

Next thing is to mix it all together. First butter and sugar then add the cocoa and flour. Oops. I forgot to take pictures of the eggs. You need those too.

 

 

Let’s get the tins ready for baking the sponges and use the baking time to create the icing :-). I have to admit I did double the amount of icing because I am not particularly good with decorating cakes (and might or might not eat half of before it even hits the cake 😉 ). It was easy to make though: melt the chocolate, mix butter and icing sugar and mix both together.

 

Now comes the fun part: The sponges are ready and cooled down, so you can assemble the cake. I just put some of the icing on one of the sponges, put the other on top and then tried my best to make a huge mess of “decorating” the cake LOL

And that’s how it looked like in the end:

Sorry to everybody who cannot see the gallery pictures. I add all the pictures at the end of the post again. Some of them have no description but the title is pretty self-explanatory!!!

What do you think of this messy beauty???? I can tell you, it tasted delicious and is all but gone!

So please head over to “Crushed Caramel” and find other beautiful cake posts and find out later on who won!!!!

The Great Bloggers Bake Off over at Crushed Caramel

You grumpy? No cake like? Well, I am proud I took that many pictures while being able to create a presentable cake so you have to see all of them!!!! 😉

Moving on you ask: And what’s the mystery?

Oh! Yes! THE MYSTERY!!!

I feel extremely honoured that the gracious Beckie over at “Beckie’s Mental  Mess” awarded me “The Mystery Award”. Thanks, Beckie! You rock! Please head over to “The Mystery Blogger Award. The Nominations are…” but don’t stop there. Much to discover there is as Yoda would say 😉

I’ve learned my lesson from the last couple of challenges and awards where I searched for about a day or two through my comments to find the bloggers who awarded me: This time I get around to it directly hence this chaotic triple topic post. (Sorry, if I missed anyone who awarded me 😦 please let me know and I get around to it immediately 🙂 )

Rules:

1. Put the award logo/image on your blog.
2. List the rules.
3. Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link back to their blog.
4. Answer the 5 questions from the blogger who nominated you.
5. Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well.
6. Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.
7. You have to nominate 10 – 20 people.
8. Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog.
9. Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question (specify).
10. Share a link to your best post(s).

 

So? What is the Mystery Award?

“Mystery Blogger Award” is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging, and they do it with so much love and passion.
Okoto Enigma

 

Beckie’s 5 Questions for her nominees:

1. Do you collect something, if so, what?

I used to collect reindeer ornaments and bottles at one time. Currently, the best husband (Jeremy Clarkson voice) in the world and I are more into fossils. We have a couple of overflowing shelves and buckets full of fossilised belemnites, sea urchins and Mediterranean Sea hearts.

2. Other than writing, do you have any other hobbies or activities that you enjoy?

Guess what? I love baking and taking pictures. Well, not only of my baking “successes” also of North Norfolk, Sherky and whatever takes my fancy 🙂

3. What is your most embarrassing moment in public?

Giggle. There are two I guess. I once fell in a cesspit while on a walk with parents. Had to do the walk of shame home through the whole village I grew up in. Bahahahaaaa. Taught me not to look to the sky but watch my feet LOL.

The other was some years later when I went away with a Christian YouthGroup and we saw “Hair” the musical on stage. The actors threw flowers into the audience before the play started and I desperately wanted one. Just when I shouted “Me, me” to get a flower Berger asked, “Who wants to have sex with me!” Imagine my embarrassment and the laughter of the rest of my group.

4. If you had your choice of sleeping on a bed of nails or eating chocolate covered ants, which would you choose, and why?

You haven’t read the previous part of this post? Chocolate covered ants no doubt about it 😉

5. What is your worse pet-peeve?

Just one?????? Well, currently Brexit for obvious reasons 🙂

What’s next? Three things about me?

Uhm, what haven’t I mentioned yet????

1. In keeping with the last pet-peeve topic: I hate ripe fruit. When it comes to bananas and tomatoes love them nearly green the most.
2. Oh, brilliant: I love the film “Fried Green Tomatoes“. I think the line “The secret lies in the sauce” the best line ever!!!!!
3. Oh, brilliant again: last night I saw “Warcraft” the film for the first time and quite liked it. I have no idea about the game and if there is a book I haven’t read that either. Might take to both though…

And the nominees are…

anyone of you who wants to take part. I know this is cheating but most blogs I follow have a pretty strict “No Awards” rules. So please, if you feel like you want to take part please do so and let me know. I will come and visit as well as mention you here!!!

And my 5 Questions are…

Let’s start with the funny/weird question:

1. You just spilt coffee over your white shirt and the Queen turns around and says: “How do you do?” What do you answer?
2. When did you last see a film at the cinema?
3. What is the worst film you’ve ever seen?
4. Have you ever met a famous person?
5. And last but not least: Haggis or not, that is the question!!!!! 😉

Again, thanks to Jim, Mel and Beckie for either doing a brilliant job with blog events and/or for nominating me. You guys and gals rock!!!!!!!

See you later alligators because I am off to the beach. Sea air should do my troubled chest very good!!!!

OMG, I just saw I already got the Mystery Blogger Award last year!!!!!

---

And last but not least all the Bake-Off pictures again: