Fionnuala's February Five For A Fiver Friday

...or 'How Many Fs Can You Put In A Blog Post Title'.

I have made a few really lovely purchases over the last week or so and that has motivated me to join in with Julia from Rainbeaubelle's linky 5 under 5. I'm working with Euro rather than GBP but the idea is the same.

So, here are my five:

A glass jar for holding bits and bobs, candles or for use as a vase, €1.50

Intricately painted real eggs, 80 cent each

A tea set for four, €5.00

Tulips, €1.98

A baking book, free in exchange for baking a cake

The glass jar, the eggs and the tea set were all finds from my latest discovery - a second hand warehouse not far from where my in-laws live. 

How I hadn't noticed it before, I do no know. Apparently it has been there for 18 years, but it seems to be a well kept secret. I have a feeling I will be a regular visitor.

The tulips were a treat to myself when doing the grocery shopping on Saturday. I adore tulips. They are one of my very favourite flowers and, at this time of year, I often buy myself a bunch as a little reward for doing the grocery shopping. 

The baking book - 1 Dough, 50 Cakes - was a present from our wonderful local independent bookshop. Every year the shop holds a bake sale in aid of a local charity. To encourage us to bake (as if I needed encouragement!), the shop offers a small range of baking books in exchange for a cake donation. I have taken part the last couple of years. I find it a really nice idea.

  

I've baked a few tray bakes from this book already (photos below) and they worked out perfectly. Tomorrow I will be handing over my cake donation and buying a few slices from the range on offer. I may even make tea in my new tea set to go with them.

This Week I've Loved - Filming with Number Two

There are times in life when you ask yourself "Why did I do that? It was obviously a bad idea" and then it turns out it wasn't such a bad idea after all. Like me moving to Germany with no money and no job. But twelve years later I am still here, happily married and with three sons and a lovely house.

I had one of those bad idea moments this week, albeit on a much smaller scale. I had a notion to make a yeast bread video tutorial. When I couldn't get my phone to the right angle to film from, I asked Number Two (my almost 5 year old) to hold the phone steady for a few minutes. It started off well but then he decided to get creative and take a few photos of me. As he did so, he chatted and waved the phone about, leaving me a video in need of severe editing. But what I also got were some candid shots of me in the kitchen, just doing what I normally do while baking. Number Two enjoyed filming and photographing as he pleased while I had floury hands.

I loved this shared moment with Number Two, interrupting our usual routine of breakfast, chatting and getting ready for the day by adding a phone set to video mode into the mix.

I never got to re-film the start of the tutorial, but here is what i was able to salvage. If you are interested in the recipe, leave me a comment and I'll post it soon.