How has blogging changed: reflections on my blog and my fellow bloggers

Blogging means sharing food.

A common topic of discussion with fellow bloggers is the changes to the blogosphere since I started blogging.  After celebrating my 6 year blogging anniversary last week, I have had a spate of navel gaxing posts.  Today I wanted to continue a little self-indulgence with my reflections on changes to my blog and fellow bloggers. 

Blogging means enjoying an interesting journey.

Changes to the blogosphere:
When I first started blogging, there were lots of blogs that were of the what-I-ate-for-dinner-with-a-blurred-photo variety.  I barely knew what I was doing.  It took me a while even to find out how to take close up photos.  These days many blogs seem to start with a glossy design, high quality photos and ambitions to be a success.  Perhaps this is a result of so much information about blogging.  Or maybe they are just the new bloggers with the higher profiles.

Changes to technology:
When I first started blogging, I remember tossing up whether to use Blogger or Wordpress.  I can't remember why I chose Blogger but I am still using this platform.  Sometimes I think Wordpress might have a cleaner look but I really like how Google continues to develop Blogger, even if I don't agree with all the changes.  Back when I started, the options for the side bar were far more limited and so were the design options.  Back then, no one who hosted blog events use the Linky tools. 

Blogging means you never have enough time in the day.

The rise of social media:
One of the biggest changes to blogging has been the rise of social media.  Back when I began blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Eat Your Books were unknown.  Now they have made a huge impact on blogging.  It is not enough to enjoy reading a blog these days - even if Google Reader is closing so you need to find another feed reader for the RSS feeds.  Nowadays you can follow many blog on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest.  You might say that old bloggers never retire, they just are found on Facebook.

Changes to my blog:
I started my blog with intentions of merely sharing recipes but not my life.  Six years later I still like to write down my recipes but this blog is more than a large index of many vegetarian, vegan and gluten free recipes.  I now also write about places I have eaten and travelled (though I don't as a rule accept freebies and advertisements).  I have also created an excellent resource of nut roast recipes, discovered an interest in food history. and shared more of my life than I ever expected. 

Blogging means sharing old family favourite recipes
(this is the chocolate pudding that I loved as a child).

A large and gradual change is that I am less wary of revealing some of my life online.  And so my blog reflects my life far more than I had ever planned.  One other change is how death and birth have been reflected on the blog.  It has become a memorial and a celebration of a childhood.  Update: and I forgot to say that the blog is a place to record some of the craft that we do.

Lately the blog seems to have been recording some of the places we have enjoyed.  In fact I might be so bold as to claim that it is not just a food blog any more but also gives an insight into my Melbourne.  This is assisted by better photos that capture some of the sights around me.

However, I am still wary about sharing too much of my life.  I still resist sharing photos of myself and the faces of those closest to me.  But I am opening up in other ways.  I now share my cookbooks, my bookmarked recipes and even recently have started a page of recipe planning.

Another big change on my blog is the photos.  At first I was stingy with photos and struggled to find the close up button.  Then I found that bigger photos looked better, I collected more food props, our kitchen space improved for photos, I bought a DSLR camera and now I just like putting is esoteric photos that record our day and not just our food.  In line with better photos, I have made quite a few improvements to the blog design.

Blogging means lots of photos at a fancy meal.

Changes to other bloggers:
It is fascinating to look around at other bloggers who I have followed since around the start of my blog and see all the changes in their blogs.  Some have become more professional, learn to take better photographs, accept advertisements, hold giveaways or promote products.  Many but not all now post with less regularity than when they first started.  Best of all, they still continue to delight me with their recipes as well as sharing some of their life.

Most of us have had many life changes: travels, babies, illness, deaths, marathons, graduations.  There have been celebration cakes and cleansing detoxes.  Many post round ups of ideas for traditional feasts because we all have such amazing archives of recipes.  Some fellow bloggers have had dietary changes that influence what recipes they post.  Katie and K have been diagnosed as coeliac.  Ricki has embraced an Anti Candida Diet.  Lisa has found her wheat allergy has abated since her pregnancy.

With all the fantastic recipes being published, it is not surprise that many of these bloggers are becoming published authors.  Ricki has self-published a cookbook and many e-books, and she now has a cookbook soon to be published by a commercial publisher.  Lorraine has just had a book published  about her journey as a blogger.  Anh is writing a commercial cookbook with a fellow blogger from another country, Lucy and Kathryn publish a cooking e-magazine. Kathryn also writes a column for Readers Digest and Jac writes regularly for Baby Centre.

Blogging means more colourful food.

Many of the bloggers whom I knew from the start of my blog are now hosting blog events.  Susan started My Legume Love Affair and Black and White Wednesday.  Lisa and Jac co-host No Croutons Required.  Jac has resurrected two events: Bookmarked Recipes and Pasta Please.  And Jac also started the Food Blog Diary to keep track of blog events.

There are so many contributions and achievements by bloggers.  I have only focused on a few that I met at the beginning but there are many more great stories of those I have met since.  If only we had the time.  But I can tell you that I am lucky to have met bloggers at potlucks or just for a meal, to have exchanged emails, comments and parcels, and to have found friendship and support in this community.   And if I ever need to think about where to eat in Melbourne, I can consult the amazing list of reviews by Cindy and Michael.

As an aside:
This is the last of my self indulgent blog anniversary posts.  I have lots of recipes to share and will be posting some soon.  However my internet has been slow for the last week or so and will be for a few more days so it is all slow going here.  

About my oven (or why the nose is mightier than the timer)

This is partly an apology and partly some helpful advice.  Mostly it is an explanation for anyone who finds the oven timing in my recipes a little odd.  The apology is about my oven.  I have noticed every time I write up a recipe on my blog, I always take far longer to bake anything than the recipe states.  In conjunction with this, I have been thinking about a baker I once heard never used a timer but relied on her nose to know when her baking was ready to come out of the oven.  And I would love to know about your oven experiences.

My slow oven:
So it seems that my oven just doesn't have the oomph that is expected of an oven in standard recipes.  It is not due to it being old and cranky.  In fact we bought a new oven in 2011.  (See my kitchen renovation post.)  I expected a new oven would deliver the power to my baking that had been lacking.  It didn't.  The second time we called out the oven repairman, he explained why.

Apparently our place has a weak gas flow so the flames are never as high as they should be.  There was no easy solution.  Unless we move house.  I have always preferred gas ovens over electricity.  Perhaps it is due to my memory of moving house and being told by my mother that we could bake in our gas oven whenever we wanted now because we didn't need to preheat the electric oven.  However if my previous residence I had one of the most effective ovens I have lived with and it was electric.  If I had known about the gas flow before buying my current oven I might have bought a good electric oven.  (Though I couldn't stand an electrical stovetop.)

What this means is that I can't be sure that my recipe times are accurate.  It is frustrating when writing a recipe on my blog that I want to be replicable by others or myself (in this kitchen or others).  What is means is that I am more likely to include advice on how to know when a cake is ready.  This is usually the skewer test but I can also see if it looks baked by the batter firming up, turning golden brown and slightly pulling away from the edges of the cake tin.  I usually turn my cake around midway through baking for even timing.  This gives me an idea of if the cake will need more time that the recipe suggests.

No oven is the same:
When I think about the ovens I have had over the years in many different homes, I think about how each acted differently.  Some were uberpowerful and others looked like they had been there for centuries.  My mum also bought a new oven a few years back and she has the opposite problem.  Her oven cooks so powerfully that it burnt so much food at first.

It seems that many of our ovens have quirks.  We learn to live with them.  My mother has found the right setting on her oven to cook food and not burn it.  I know that my oven will usually take longer than a recipe says.  (I know I need to use my oven thermometer more.  Perhaps one day I will find the setting to bake everything at the time a recipe suggests but I fear it will be off the dial.)

The timer vs the nose:
It is not that many decades ago that cookbooks often didn't give a time for recipes.  I guess it reflected on ovens being less standardised than today.  I am sure many of our grandmothers were quite adept at using their nose (like the aforementioned baker) to know when a cake was ready to come out.  It is all about intuition.  We rely on recipes so much these days that we forget to use our intuition.  Common sense is just not that common any more.

So I will give you this gentle reminder.  There are many ways to tell if a cake is cooked.  However the nose is a great helper.  If a recipe smells like it is burning before the time is up, it may well be.  If a recipe doesn't smell cooked when it comes out of the oven, be wary as it may not be.

Update (November 2013): After this post, I felt I should try harder.  I used my oven thermometer more.  I have started to turn my oven dial up to 20 C above the stated temperature.  Which means that though my oven is fan forced and technically I should put the temp at 160 C plus the fan if a recipe calls for 180 C, I now usually put it at 180 C.  It doesn't always solve the problem.  It can still take ages to roast vegies.  I can't make my oven really really hot.  But it is working better. 

Update  2017 - found this article on The Kitchn really useful in thinking about gas ovens - 5 important things to know about baking in a gas oven.  It advises that you have a pizza stone in the lower racks to spread heat evenly and that you always rotate trays and dishes mid way though baking or roasting, both of which I do.

Questions for you:
I'd love to hear about your oven.  Does your oven have any quirks and if so how you do compensate for them? Have you had problems with a weak gas flow and if so have you any advice for me? Do you prefer to use your timer or your nose to time your baking?

Recipe planning - latest ideas and jottings

This is a work in progress page for planning what recipes to make - both from my blog and from elsewhere.  It is set up to help me plan, and you are welcome to observe just as you can see my bookmarked recipes on Delicious or Pinterest.

However recipes will come and go from this list and not necessarily be used and/or blogged.  I may get distracted or just use an idea and then they will fall off the list.  It is not a meal planning list in the strict sense of the term.

Dinner:
https://www.vnutritionandwellness.com/simple-tofu-green-bean-stir-fry/
quinoa salad - http://twohappyrabbits.com/vegan-mofo-2017-day-15-bonus-recipe/
http://www.bitesizedthoughts.com/2017/10/creamy-vegan-tomato-and-basil-pasta.html
https://pinchofyum.com/instant-pot-wild-rice-soup with tempeh?
https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/stuffed-pumpkin-recipe/
https://www.davidlebovitz.com/the-best-holida/
https://www.mydarlingvegan.com/2018/01/green-goddess-buddha-bowl/
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-crackers-recipe from http://www.withafork.com/2018/03/breaditation.html
http://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/homemade-sweet-and-sour-sauce/
http://feelingpeckish.ca/2013/02/24/warming-up-february-tempeh-corn-chowder/
http://86lemons.com/corn-chowder-quinoa-casserole/
http://www.fashionandlifestyle.at/veggie-muffins/
https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/greek-tortellini-pasta-salad/
https://thetipsyhousewife.org/veggie-pizza-appetizer/
https://cadryskitchen.com/2018/06/26/vegan-cheese-dip/
http://tohercore.com/roast-pumpkin-caramelized-onion-walnut-pizza/
https://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/one-pot-pasta-with-kale-goat-cheese/ with tempeh
https://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/vegetarian-savoury-mince/
https://utterlyscrummy.blogspot.com/2019/01/koshari.html - lentil rice and macaroni
saovury granola 
Chef mimi's layered salad 
vegan queso sauce (with potato and cashews) - serious eats
https://www.notquitenigella.com/2009/05/24/forget-about-it-three-cheese-risotto/ - baked risotto
vegan reuben jackfruit sandwich - Cadry's kitchen
Fish shaped (snip snip) bread rolls

Sweet food
Ginger scones
http://wallflowerkitchen.com/sesame-seed-rice-krispie-treats/
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/pumpkin-date-scones/da8f9707-52d9-433c-85f3-fa
http://www.crumbtopbaking.com/coconut-chocolate-chunk-pumpkin-loaf/
https://pinchofyum.com/healthy-gingerbread-muffins
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/82595326/Recipes-Lucy-Corry-gets-creative-with-food-waste?rm=m - AF hotcakes
https://www.goodfood.com.au/recipes/chocolate-licorice-loaf-cake-with-choc-licorice-crumb-and-caramel-20180703-h127p9 via cakelaw
Vegan white cake - yup it's vegan
Vegan choc chip rosemary cookies - food to glow

I have turned off comments for this page because I change the links here frequently.

In my kitchen - May 2013

Kitchens tell stories.  That is why we love to peek inside.  While I don't seem to have many fancy foods in my kitchen lately, I still have food and stuff to share with you.

In my kitchen are reminders of my mum and dad who have headed off on holiday this week.  Above are apples and lemons from my mum's trees.  I am thinking about cooking the apples but still not sure what to do with them.  I am glad to be able to use some of the lemons while my parents are away, particularly as our lemon tree is not being very productive right now.

In my kitchen are badges.  My dad's contribution to the kitchen is the Collingwood Football Club badge.  Strangely enough he could only find Collingwood badges and not  my nominal team, The Cats.  Sylvia is not as steeped in football culture as her cousin Cooper.  She thought the magpie on the badge looked like an emu. 

The other badges are an ANZAC badge bought for ANZAC Day, an old Alice in Wonderland badge bought from the Potter Gallery and an old protest badge from the days of George Bush, John Howard, David Hicks and Guantanamo.  I don't know how the Gitmo badge is still around and I wish I could find the Domestic Goddess badge that used to be blu-takked on the wall.

In my kitchen is a whole kent pumpkin.  I usually buy it is wedges.  It is hard to get a sense of size from the photo.  For those who are wondering, I guess it is about as big as my head.  Half of it has gone into lasagne.  Perhaps the other half will become soup.

In my kitchen is a new set of electric beaters.  My old beaters died recently.  Well they were misbehaving.  They had trouble turning off.  And no one wants electric beaters whirring away when they shouldn't be.  I went down the street and bought the cheapest beaters in the shop.  For a mere $24.  Not as pretty as my old ones.  (I am not keen on the black look!)  I hope they last as long.  They come with dough hooks.  I've never used dough hooks before and wonder how effective they would be on such cheap beaters.

In my kitchen are the dishes.  Always.  Piled high.  Our poor dishrack has seen better days.  One of these days it will just collapse.   I think our dishwasher feels like that sometimes.  (Sorry for all those dishes, E.)

In my kitchen are my keys.  I constantly lose them.  Despite my best attempts at finding them a regular spot.  Last week I lost them.  I could remember the last time I had them.  I looked in that bag.  E looked in the bag too.  We looked everywhere else.  In despair I looked back into the bag where I last had them.  There they were.

In my kitchen is rhubarb.  This is the rhubarb that went into my stewed rhubarb.  The colour is so pretty.  I liked it so much, when I finished it I bought stewed some of the last plums of the season. 

In my kitchen are masks that Sylvia and I decorated at the art gallery on E's birthday.  They relate to an exhibition of masks by Aleks Danko.  Apparently he wanted them to be coloured in with only black and red.  Fortunately Sylvia loves red because it is so close to pink.  Can you spot the house and the monkey she drew on her mask?

In my kitchen is a pairs game with characters from Playschool.  I used to watch this tv show when I was a kid.  It is amazing that it is still going.  Noni, Lorraine, Benita and John are replaced by Justine, Karen and Alex.  It still remains fairly true to my memories and I still want to do all the crafts that they do.  Sylvia loves playing Snap with the Playschool cards.  Often we play a game after dinner before she goes to bed. 

In my kitchen is a small pot of basil that I bought from the supermarket.  It is small enough to fit on the windowsill.  I've remembered to water it regularly.  The bunch has lasted almost 2 weeks and I still have some basil.  Far longer than it ever lasts in the fridge.  I will definitely buy it this way again.

In my kitchen is a lovely pumpkin bread.  Actually the last dried heel of it went into the food processor for a nut roast.  The bread is from the Rustica Sourdough stall at the Fitzroy Market.  It is a great new addition to the market but between markets they can be found at the Alexandra Parade end of Brunswick Street.

In my kitchen are balloons. Not the kind you blow up (though we probably have a few of those around).  These are meant to decorate a cake.  Sylvia and I were in Cake Deco in the city before meeting my friend Jane at Gekkazan@GPO.  We were late because Sylvia left her bag of little and tiny things in the shop and we had to go back for it.  She is besotted with her balloons.  They are just dolly-size. 

I am sending this post to Celia for her In My Kitchen series.  Go there and peek into other people's kitchens.

Calendar of significant dates

I have compiled a list of dates to help me keep track of days that I'd like to remember or highlight on my blog.  Mostly food.  A few quirky celebrations.  Some international.  As much as possible, I have attempted to highlight some Australian calendar events. 

2013 - International Year of Quinoa
2016 - International Year of Pulses

January

6 January - Epiphany
25 January - Burns Night

26 January - Australia Day

26 January - India Day

February

Shrove Tuesday

Chinese New Year (February or January)

5 February - Nutella Day
6 February - Waitangi Day, NZ 

14 February - Valentines Day
17 February - World Cabbage Day

March

Labour Day (Victoria)

Easter Sunday (March or April)

1 March - St David's Day

8 March - International Women's Day 

13-20 March - Celiac Awareness Week
14 March - Pi Day

17 March - St Patrick's Day
21 March - Harmony Day
28 March - Earth Hour (2015)
31 March - Melbourne Food and Wine Festival starts (2017)

April

4 April - International Carrot Day
6 April - Tartan Day (America)

13-16 April -  Songkran (Thai New Year)

23 April - St George's Day

25 April - ANZAC Day

29 April - my Blog anniversary (started 2007) 

May

Mothers Day

1 May - May Day

1 May - The Beltane
5 May - Cinco de Mayo
6 May - International No Diet Day

13 May - World Baking Day

13-19 May - Food Allergy Awareness Week

23 May - Australian's Biggest Morning Tea

26 May - National Sorry Day

June

Queens Birthday Holiday

National Celtic Festival, Portarlington, Australia

1 June - National Doughnut Day
2 June - Yell "Fudge" at Cobras Day

13 June - Kitchen Klutzes of America Day

16 June - Bloomsday

19 June - Red Aussie Apple Day (2013)

20 June - World Refugee Day

Winter Solstice (Southern Hemisphere)

July

Christmas in July

NAIDOC week

1 July - Victoria Day (Australia)
1 July - Canada Day

1 July - International Tartan Day (Australasia)

4 July - American Independence Day

14 July - Bastille Day

21 July - National Lamington Day

August  

Lammas
International Scone Week (@Fig Jam and Lime Cordial)

5 August - International Beer Day

9 August - International Day of the World's Indigenous People 
18 August (2014) - RSPCA Cupcake Day

September 

Fathers Day

13 September - International Chocolate Day
18-24 September - Meat Free Week (2017)

19 September - International Talk Like A Pirate Day

October

Vegetarian Awareness Month 

Canada Thanksgiving
1 October - World Vegetarian Day

10 October - World Porridge Day

16 October - World Food Day (UN) 
23 October - Diwali (2014)
25 October - World Pasta Day

31 October - Halloween

November

USA Thanksgiving

Melbourne Cup

Stir up Sunday (Christmas pudding baking day)

1 November - World Vegan Day

5 November - Guy Fawkes Night (Bonfire Night)

11 November - Remembrance Day
13 November - International Food Photography Day

30 November - St Andrews Day

December

Summer Solstice (Southern Hemisphere)

13 December - St Lucy's Day
21 December - Gravy Day

25 December - Christmas Day

31 December - New Years Eve (Hogmanay)

More dates:
One of the hardest parts of working out days of celebration is that I couldn't find much about national food days in Australia but the UK and America (my other main points of reference) have different dates.  So I will add to the above list according to whim.  Below are some lists of dates that I have found useful:

• Month of Edible Celebrations (fantastic blog with lots of info on food celebrations)
• Bizarre American Holidays (is this a joke - it is so weird!)
• Calendar of Cultural and Religious Dates (Australian government site)
• Dates, info and trivia
• Food Days and Holidays (recipes4us.co.uk)
• Important Dates (NATSIEC)
• Days of the year

I will continue to add to this list and edit the photos as appropriate.  Please let me know of any Australian/international food days/weeks/months of celebrations that I may have missed.

In search of (4)

Many people come to this blog by putting a search term into their search engine of choice.  Many seem to find what they are looking for.  Others must be very disappointed.  Here is a selection of search terms that make me laugh, groan or cover my eyes.  (I did leave out one or two that are too disturbing to share!)  I hope it gives you a smile.  NB the bold headings are my comments on the search terms.

Oh please leave the giraffe to roam free

• can you roast a giraffe
• do people eat fried giraffes
• roasted giraffe nose
• smoked giraffe recipe
• good experiments with a giraffe

Huh?

• giraffe is a pig astra google mail
• chocolate conumdrum recipe
• sausage love for giraffe
• giraffe meme in road drunk get you home 
• giraffe with no clothes on
• don't buy me cake, pie or meat we don't my cat is old
• masteribution is good or bad for health
• "in the water in her t-shirt"
• how to make explosives from tomato sauce 

Here are my favourites for being so silly and giving me a laugh

• if a giraffe ate an apple seeds and all how long would it take to see apples growing out of it's ears?
• what color are the nuts of a giraffe
• can you be arrested for carrying a large bag of apples up a hill, late on a sunday evening in kent, england
• will you marry a giraffe
• sly pie mean bean nasty pasty 
• soup war 
• what does a haggis look like in the wild?   

Gotta to be a typo

• where can i buy giraffe of beer
• melbourne university spinach language short courses
• a picher of marsbar crispy cacks
• cake believe giraffe

Can you be more specific?

• first day of being a vegetarian... what do i eat!
• what not to do
• i am in central melbourne
• what road to take 

I want to see these people's creations

• tim tam pizza
• rice bubbles peanut butter nutella condensed milk slice
• haggis sweeties
• 1 cup brandy chocolate grape
• glue for vegan pizza 

Must be taking lolcat pictures
making viking helmets for cats

Variations on spelling vegetarian
vegetairn, vegetaruiian, vegetraian,  vegitarian, vehetarian 

Aren't you sick of all those giraffes?  Here's an elephant search term!
how do you eat an elephant

If you want to see more search terms that lead people to my blog, check out these posts:

• In search of . . .
• In search of (2)... 
• in search of (3)

Vegan Victoria Sponge Birthday Cake

Another year has passed.  Another birthday for E.  And it is 6 years since I started this Green Gourmet Giraffe blog.  In past years I have made some fun novelty cakes to celebrate.  This year I lacked the energy and will to immerse myself up to my elbows in buttercream, food dye and lollies.  Instead I kept it simple.  Well almost.  I made Victoria Sponge Cake.  Twice.  And it was vegan.

I come from a family where the birthday boy is king for the day.  E always wants a boring vanilla sponge cake.  He is very British when it comes to sponges.  It is not the Aussie tradition of the light airy sponge cake that my mum ices and sandwiches together with cream.  He wants it buttery and dense.  Preferably with buttercream frosting.  The very mention of a Victoria Sponge Cake makes him swoon.

Such a cake is all about eggs and butter rather than chocolate and fruit.  It is just not my thing.  Inspiration finally hit this year when I saw Jac post a very British Vegan Vanilla Cake.  It is the sort of cake that E likes but not laden with eggs and butter.  I cheer at any cake where I don't need to crack icky sticky eggs.  (Anyone who has followed this blog might recall that I have never liked eggs.)  E always accuses me of making cakes that are too dense, heavy or rich.  He was quite happy for me to make his cake vegan.

Some time ago I bought a little cake stand on special.  I also have purchased a smaller cake tin.  I made the full recipe but baked it in the 6 inch tin.  It took ages to bake but it looked very impressive.  (So good that even my 4 year old Sylvia could take the below photo and it looked pretty!)  I sandwiched together the two halves of the cake with buttercream and jam, as is traditional in a Victoria Sponge (though some have cream and jam Mrs Beeton's cookbook required just jam).  It was rather delicious.  E was most pleased.

The sponge exterior was notably browner than a traditional sponge but slightly yellower inside.  My mother commented that it is the eggs and butter that make cakes yellow.  Never mind.  It was a good dense cake that held its shape.  I thought it very sweet and felt a little paranoid you could taste the oil ever so slightly.  Sylvia thought the buttercream frosting was too sweet and scraped it off her cake.  E loved it and thought it tasted like it had a touch of treacle.  I think he liked that it was a bit lighter than a traditional sponge.

We kept the celebrations low key for E's birthday.  A visit to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).  The wrong one.  At least we enjoyed the waterwall and the ceiling in the great hall.  Even if the lunch wasn't that great in the ground floor cafe.  It is not far to walk back to the Australian site of the NGV at Federation Square.

Sylvia and I enjoyed some Aleks Danko craft.  E and I enjoyed Top Artists 2013 - the exhibition of school students' work.  We enjoyed an ice cream and caramel slice in the Atrium.  Then home for pizza and birthday cake.  Sylvia found it all very exciting and wanted to do it all again the next day.

Actually I did make the cake all over again for a birthday lunch with the family.  This time I doubled the recipe and baked 2 x 20cm round cakes.  This time they baked quicker.  This time I tried a bit of turmeric for yellow colour but it didn't make much impact.  This time the buttercream frosting and jam oozed down the side and the top threatened to slide off.  Perhaps I used more jam this time.  Perhaps it wasn't as easy to transport in the car as I thought.  My mum said it was because the cake was heavy.  You can see her light fluffy yellow sponge in the picture below.

So in this above photo you have my past and present birthday cakes.  The cake that my mum made for birthdays during my childhood and the cake that I am making for birthdays today.  Oh yes, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I don't want to dwell on my 6th blog anniversary.  I write my reflections on blog changes each new year so I don't need to repeat those here.  I can announce that my StatCounter account (which I started in March 2008, almost a year into my blog) has just recently reached 1,000,000 "page loads".  (Stats are a moveable feast so I don't place too much trust in them but I do love a 7 figure number!)

As I have been saying recently, I am glad the blog is still going strong but goodness I wish I had a bit more time and energy for it.  Fortunately I still have truckloads of inspiration thanks to the wonderful bloggers and readers around me.  So thank you for reading, thank you for sharing.  Here's to many more years of Green Gourmet Giraffe.  If time is kind to me, I have a few self indulgent posts to share over the next week as a little birthday present.  You can decide whether it is me or you getting the presents :-)

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: Ghost cake, birthdays and wildlife
Two years ago:  Guitar Birthday Cake
Three years ago: Viking cat cake with a butterscotch secret
Four years ago: Happy Birthday to E and GGGiraffe
Five years ago: Green Gourmet Giraffe Birthday Cake

Vegan Victoria Sponge Cake
cake adapted from Tinned Tomatoes and buttercream adapted from BBC Good Food.

Cake:

• 250 plain flour
• 250g caster sugar
• 1 and 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp salt
• pinch turmeric (for colour)
• 250ml soy milk (or other dairy free milk)
• 60ml canola oil
• 3 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:

• 50g non-dairy margarine (I used Nuttalex)
• 70g icing sugar
• drop of vanilla essence
• 2-3 dessertspoons of raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).  Grease and line a round 20 cm cake tin.  

Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium to large mixing bowl.  Mix together the wet ingredients in a large jug or small mixing bowl.  Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until just combined.  Pour batter into prepared cake tin.

Bake until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.  It took me about 55 minutes and but on Tinned Tomatoes, Jac said it took about 25 to 30 minutes.

I have also baked these in a 15 cm or 6 inch round tin but as it was a taller cake it took even longer.  I think it took me about 1 hour and 30 minutes. 

On the stereo:
Goodbye yellow brick road: Elton John