Colours . . .

Frowns can make the start of day
A really dreary kind of grey.
But a smile is sunshine's gold
So will you today a smile unfold?
A smile - and this will make you think -
Puts you - and others - in the pink!!
~Elizabeth Gozney

What a lovely little poem. Just reading it puts a smile on my face, and brings a song to my heart. It's so true isn't it? A smile can turn your whole day around.

Occasionally I have a blue day. You know the kind, one of those days that, for inexplicable reasons, you just feel a bit down in the dumps. Nothing bad has happened and yet . . . you still feel a bit blue and melancholy.



I felt like that most of yesterday. Just a bit blue. No reason that I could put my finger on and yet , when I looked in the mirror, all I saw were my bad points . . . my hair that needs a haircut and is getting greyer by the day, my ever widening hips, all that cake I shouldn't have eaten but I did, not to mention the chocolate . . . all my bumps and wrinkles . . .

My thoughts gave way to all my shortcomings in life. The things I hadn't done, the things I shouldn't have ought to have done, the things that I want to do but wonder if I'll ever have the time to do. Self doubt crept in and I began to doubt that my artwork was really any good at all, that my writing was blah and that I would never amount to anything other than what I am . . . an overweight, middle -to rapidly-aging woman, living far away from my children and other family, and walloping pots from dawn til dusk . . . it was nothing . . . and it was everything . . .

and then . . .

as I sat in my chair during my break yesterday afternoon, I looked down at this . . .



And I saw the smile in it . . . and my whole day turned around, and suddenly things seemed that little bit brighter . . . even though the sun wasn't shining, and the bumps and wrinkles and ever widening hips were still there. The glass suddenly became half full again, and I began to count my blessings again, and I remembered who I was and what I was . . .

"You must know . . . that you are not alone in this world. There are hundreds of thousands of you. You live in many lands. You speak various languages. And every one of you has something divine within you. You are second to none. You are daughters of God."
~President Gordon B Hinckley

and suddenly . . . everything was alright again . . .



Our local shop often has recipe cards that are there for the taking, no charge whatsoever. They are usually quite seasonal and change from one month to the next. I have found that the recipes on them, whilst making good use of all the lovely ingredients that they have for sale in the shop, more often than not, are also really quite good recipes. Occasionally one catches my eye, and I find myself wanting to make it right away, and so I make sure that I purchase everything I need right on the day . . . and so it was with this lovely recipe. From the Waitrose September recipe card collection 2008 . . .



*Plum Tray Bake*
Makes 10 squares

This tray bake is lovely and spongy and creamy and stogged full of wonderfully juicy and sweet chunks of ripe plums. There is not much to improve upon here, except that next time I think I'll add a hint of spice to the batter mixture, such as some grated nutmeg and ground cinnamon, other than that, it is the perfect autumn delight!

200g tub of cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 TBS white sugar
4 medium eggs
175g unsalted butter, softened
175g dark muscovado sugar
200g self raising flour
400g ripe plums, halved, stoned and roughly chopped

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a 12 by 7 inch (approximately) shallow baking pan and line it with some baking parchment, making sure the paper comes up higher than the rim of the pan.

Place the cream cheese in a bowl and cream it until soft. Beat in the vanilla, white sugar and one of the eggs until smooth. Set aside.

In another bowl, place the remaining eggs, butter, muscovado sugar and flour. Beat with an electic whisk for about 2 minutes until pale and creamy.

Spread half of the batter into the prepared base of the tray. Then dollop on half of the cream cheese mixture. Swirl it through a bit unevenly through the base. Scatter on half of the chopped plums. Spoon the remaining batter over top and dot with the rest of the creamed cheese mixture. Scatter with the remaining plums.

Bake for about 45 minutes until risen and just firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin before cutting into pieces. Serve warm or cold, with or without ice cream. Delicious!



*Note - when I make this again (and I will) I shall add about 1/4 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg and 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon to the batter mix. Then it will be perfect!