CAKE and A CATCH-UP

Cake & a Catch-up: Yogurt and Passionfruit Syrup Cake from an old Donna Hay magazine recipe that I’ve made many times. I love its buttery, soft crumb, the tartness of the yogurt and passionfruit and the sweet stickiness from the syrup making it not only good with a cup of tea or coffee but also a lovely dessert served with a generous dollop of cream. If you’d like the recipe, click on the link.

In a can, passionfruit or “passion fruit” it’s also referred to, can be bought on Amazon if you can’t find it in a specialty market such as Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Or use pineapple juice instead to make the syrup if you can’t be fussed with the passionfruit. Either way it’s good.

This year is just hurtling along isn’t it? I’ve worked on many great projects so far in 2020. I’ve been writing recipes, food styling and doing food photography. One particular project I’ve been working on for months – since the end of February. Confidentiality doesn’t allow me to talk about most of what I’ve been doing but I can tell you it’s been a number of books I’ve had a hand in, in some capacity this year.

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In typical form it’s mind-numbingly hot and humid here in central Indiana. The herbs are growing like weeds, we have two squash plants marching across the yard already with about a dozen butternut squash on them that are already large. Our house is currently surrounded by corn that must be 10 feet or more high. At night the fire flies dance across the lawn and into the corn. It’s so pretty. Thousands of Tinkerbells wanting to play. I’ve got zucchini growing in a pot and we’ve picked so many zucchini off it I’ve lost count.

Because of the hot Indiana summers, we rarely used our back deck apart from when we go swimming because that’s also where the pool is located. This summer ‘we’ built a small covered area on the deck for the gas grill, a sink with running water, electricity, a small bar and a little seating area. It’s about 10 + feet wide and 20 feet long. And it’s perfect for grilling during a storm or sitting out there in the evening having a cocktail. The patio on the other side of the house requires me going up and down steps so to be able grill so without having to traverse steps feels like a bit of a treat. Here are a few pics of the area. It is channeling somewhat of an Aussie outback pub look and feel don’t you think – rustic but the beer is ice cold? Look at that corn – it’s taller than our fence.

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Now we have shade we can use the space, regardless of the weather – summer or winter, we can grill outside without having to go down the steps to the other patio. Good for someone with injured knees who hates the heat.

A couple of weeks ago I collected my first peach order from ‘The Peach Truck‘. Being new to this concept, I had no idea what to expect or how I’d be able to find a white van with a few people milling about in the maze of the outdoor shopping mall where I had to meet the truck. It was a bit of a shock to see a giant red semi-trailer parked with hundreds of people (forming an orderly, social distancing line of course), also picking up their peaches. For those in the US who’ve not bought peaches from the Peach Truck before I’d highly recommend it. The peaches are so beautiful.

You might recall back in February, Fresh Hunger underwent a design change with a new look site. I didn’t have the chance to do the rebranding back then but now it’s done and you MUST go and look at the site in its entirety because it looks lovely. Gone is the granny-cardigan beige and in its place…a pop of color I’ve called “green tomatoes”. The new tagline is now ” fruit, veggie & herb cookery for omnivores“. I’m thrilled with it.

The stunning artwork above in the new logo (and some of the components of it below) is a bespoke piece my friend Sarah, who is the owner of Dragonfly and Blossom created for me. Sarah has such an attention to detail in her illustrations. She has the most gorgeous range of fine bone teapots, cups, mugs, jugs, aprons, pot holders and such on her website. And everything on Sarah’s site has been illustrated by her. She’s very clever. Here are a few parts of the logo she created for Fresh Hunger. I have used the elements such as the mint (top right) as the ‘pin-it’ image for Pinterest on my images.

The berries I’ve used as my favicon (the little icon you see in the tool bar when you’re on a website on your computer).

Below is the logo with just the illustration – so whimsical and just what I wanted. Sarah is located in the Cotswolds in England.

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This month my husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. Not bad for two people who knew each other only days when they married. I’ll save that story for another time. For now I’ll say “adieu’ and let you enjoy the cake. Here’s the link to the recipe again. Sending you lots of love where ever you are in the world. Drop me a note and let me know what is happening in your part of the world. Lovoni xo