This time of year

Happy New Year friends! I'm having real trouble getting started today. They say you should never start a post saying sorry that you haven't posted for a while, so I won't do that, but perhaps you could just read in between the lines? It's been a tough few weeks. In my upside down life the best times become the worst times, and getting through Christmas was a challenge. You will be proud of me though, we put up the Christmas tree and I bought presents for all. I even finished making those Christmas stockings that bring back memories of this time last year. And yes, I made some food for Christmas Day...

Raspberry, Cherry and Coconut Slice

I try to be good and blog about cooking that is challenging, or requires a bit of technique or something I haven't done before. And I wasn't sure if this was really going to be different enough to qualify. Just sending a few different ingredients round the mixer isn't really what The Cook's Sponge is all about. But actually, this was really different. The ingredients were unusual for me (I mean who buys glace cherries except maybe at Christmas?). I have, believe it or not, never made a three-different-layers slice before, and if you want challenging and nifty techniques, just you try cutting this baby. Oh and also, never in all my life have I ever put a tablespoon of vanilla extract in to anything. That alone is worth blogging about.