Birthday Cake - Mango & Strawberry Flower

I've just finished making the birthday cake for my niece's 2nd birthday.  The celebration will be tomorrow.  Technically, in around 12hrs time, but I always call it tomorrow if it's the early hours and I've not had my sleep yet.

I'll try and remember to take pictures of the yummy Vietnamese food my SIL & her auntie will prepare, but I often forget!

Here's the finished cake!

Don't even ask me where I'm going to put the candles!!!!

As you can see, I'm quite glad I didn't put the candles in yet as the cake only j-u-s-t managed to fit into the fridge!!!!

I took plenty of photos whilst cake making - including the errors I made and I'll do a post soon of how I made this cake.

Happy Virtual Feasting!

Quick Dinner - Roast Chicken

Last Friday I was in hospital for an operation to my right ear.  I have been suffering from hearing loss in that ear since my twenties and it is getting progressively worse.  It's now considered severe hearing loss.  Tinnitus,  humming and buzzing noises in my ear, are also what I have to put up with.  It can be a common problem in women after childbirth.

When I was first diagnosed with this problem a few years ago, I was not a mother.  It was unusual for a healthy person of my age to have such problems, especially as it had been giving me dizzy spells and vertigo on occasion.  In fact, it was because it had made me feel so unwell that it prompted me to go see my doctor.  After several hearing tests and even a scan (to rule out any tumours causing my hearing problem), I was diagnosed with Otosclerosis.  Hardening of the Stapes bone in the ear.  The Stapes bone is the smallest and thinnest bone in your body and it's job is to vibrate sounds up into the Cochlear (the snail shaped shell) in order for the brain to hear.  There is no explanation why I have this condition only that it is hereditary, although, I'm not aware who in my family has hearing problems.

It's not something that will get better, only worse unfortunately.  What may help is surgery to remove the Stapes bone and replace it with a plastic prosthesis.

I am recovering from surgery now and as a result need quick and easy dinner solutions.  Seeing Elin's recent post on Simple English Buttered Roast inspired me to make it for our dinner.  I had half a free-range chicken in the fridge needing to be cooked so it was a perfect opportunity.  I teamed the chicken up with roast potato & sweet potato wedges and cauliflower cheese.  Something simple for me to knock up in the kitchen and pop in the oven to feed Mr Leaf and myself.  I even mashed some of the cauliflower and cheese for Baby Leaf's dinner!  Thank you Elin for an inspiring and tasty dish!  Don't forget to visit her blog to see how the chicken was roasted!

I haven't been baking cakes or bread whilst recuperating but today is our niece's 2nd birthday and I've promised my SIL to bake a cake for the birthday girl.  It will be a fruit and cream decorated chiffon so nothing too strenuous.  Will post the creation when it's made.