Guinness cake... yes, Guinness cake!

Good friend, Esther, with the 'Beast'!

So at the end of softball season, nearly four months ago now, a team-mate gave me a recipe for a delicious Chocolate Guinness Cake.

I have to be honest, when I ate it I was blown away but when I started making it I was skeptical that I had been given the correct recipe. It's a very odd, non-traditional start to a cake. The recipes originally comes from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, so it's got a good reputation around it but still, I was very worried! Melting butter in simmering ale is not the best smelling thing and cake is really the last thing on your mind when doing it! However.. it works, really well! Again, like my carrot cake recipe, I'd prefer you to just take a look a the scan from the book if you'd like to try it. It is delicious and HUGE, you could easily feed a small army with this recipe and I did when I brought to a friends house party, apparently there was a lot leftover, too!

Spinnin' round the city...

For about a year I have been hemming and hawing about whether or not I should get a bike. It's been obviously that cycling is the quickest way around London but I have been petrified of the London traffic. Finally, I bit the bullet and bought a bike! The monetary savings were my main motivation, nearly £100 a month! Then, a week later, Rob bought one.

My bike was brand new and Dutch-style... quite fashionable and very handsome:

Note the VERY hi-vis jacket in the basket... Safety first!

Rob's, on the other hand, is a used 1970's slightly rusted racer that we haven't photographed... for cosmetic reason! Though it's looks aren't so good, it runs well and I think he is safer on it than a normal bike because it squeals, especially at high speeds. I have secure storage at my work where as Rob needs to leave his chained at a train station every day so he opted for a bike that, if stolen, wouldn't be that big of loss. There is a method to our madness!

And now that we are officially cyclists we have become quite interested in the campaigns for city cyclists in London. There is a big push to make it a more cycle-friend city and we're keeping a close on developments. The London Cycle Campaign and Kennington People on Bikes are two great sites for finding out what's going on and getting London-centric cycling tips.

All-in-all we're saving about £200 a month and nearly 90 minutes a day by cycling, also we're getting more fit and learning lots of new back routes through London, it's a whole new city again!

Because we Cannes!

This post is ridiculously late but very necessary! In mid September we were invited to spend a week in Cannes with our very good friends Thom in Gillian. The week was idyllic and reminded me of one of my all-time favourite movie quotes from Office Space, 'I did nothing. I did nothing and it was everything I hoped it would be.' We saw no sites, visited no museums and avoided formal 'cultural' experiences as much as we could... it was perfect... relaxing and perfect! 

On the beach, with tans! 

Newlyweds, Gillian and Thom

We spent the week eating amazing food and sitting on the beach or swimming in the ocean... pure heaven. We also had just about the most perfect weather ever! I think it rained once in the middle of night, otherwise it was sunny and hot but not too hot, just right for spending 8 hours a day on the beach!

Rob and I also picked up a new hobby in Cannes, paddle ball!!! I've always watched people play it and thought it seemed a little boring, if not annoying for the other patrons of the beach. However, this visit I was mesmerised by it, I think the Cannes beach-goers are on a much higher level and therefore make it much less disruptive for others! Mid-week we finally snapped and bought a set to try for ourselves... so much fun! I really enjoyed it and it was surprisingly athletic (this was the first 'do-nothing' holiday that I DIDN'T put on any weight!)

Yep... Paddle ball champs!

All-in-all it was a perfect week, with wonderful friends. It really capped off what was one of the best summers we've ever had, I will miss 2012 when it's gone!