Back in the swing of things.

I'm baack... Back on the wagon, back on my bike, back to the future...

After a few weeks from hell I'm finally back to cooking. There is nothing better than the feeling of

chopping up stuff, putting it in a bowl adding a few bits and pieces and voila... something yummy.

My dad's birthday was on Friday, and seeing as I gave him his present at Christmas, I decided to cook him dinner and make a cake.

Dinner was nothing fancy. Good old home made Sheperds Pie. I couldn't actually believe I hadn't

made it before. I think because it seemed too easy. Dad loved it which was a good thing.

Next up was the cake. And not just any cake mind you. Dad's favourite

BLACK FOREST GATEAUX

Now it might sound like a hard cake to make but it's not as

hard as you would think. If you break it down, it's layers of chocolate cake filled with cherries and

cream, then covered with shaved chocolate.

To start with, you bake 2 round chocolate cakes and allow to cool. Once cooled, you slice each cake in half, placing one half on the serving plate.

Then you drizzle the cake with some of the cherry syrup that you've boiled with some cherry liqueur and spread with some whipped cream and add some cherries.

You do this for the next 3 layers.

Once you have the top layer of the cake on, you drizzle with the syrup, and spread the remaining cream over the top and around the side.

Then you pat the chocolate on top of cream. I freeze the chocolate so it doesn't melt while I'm

handling it.

On the menu today is home made chicken stock, made from the bones and carcass from the chooks I roasted last night.

Next up I'm thinking triple choc praline pie.

I'll keep you posted.... xx