Pimp my red velvet chocolate heartache

I've had one hell of a busy evening today making red velvet cupcakes, the basis of some chocolate truffles and trying to also squeeze in some exercise and writing this blog post. It's all in the name of charity of course and I had a lot of solitary fun doing it!

I decided that I would make some cupcakes to take into work tomorrow. The purpose is to get them all hooked on sugar and agitating for more cake so that when I have a cake sale, hopefully next week if I can find time to bake the goods, they will all be addicted and pay me lots of money for them, mwahaha (that's an evil plan laugh btw). Kind of like a cake pimp. I said this today to someone and they have been calling me pimp cake ever since. Makes it sound so much more seedy than it really is.

Here's a sneak preview of my wares:

I also learnt how to frost rose petals today - it's so easy I can't believe I never tried it before! I'm definitely going to be pimping/blinging my cakes with those bad boys soon.

I did also manage a quick run, well some interval training. Will see tomorrow morning if the dreaded shin splints return. It felt good though to get out in the fresh air and do some exercise and luckily the snow had mostly thawed out drastically cutting my chances of serious injury. Will have to do a bit more to burn off these cakes though!

Curry...the sweet smell of success!

It's been a busy week for fundraising activity as I had my first event on Thursday, curry night at Imli. It was a good fun night and I think everyone else enjoyed themselves. Our waiter was a funny guy and told us he was taking part in a BBC gameshow next month testing his memory. We were his guinea pigs and he did manage to remember 30 starters, main courses and drinks orders, very impressed! My quiz was apparently a bit less 'Wheel of Fortune' and a bit more 'University Challenge' so I may have to adapt that for my next victims! All in all the night raised almost £100, which I'm very pleased with and very grateful to everyone who came to support the cause. Here are some pics from the evening.

I've also been going running a fair bit but worryingly seem to have developed shin splints :-( I've rested my legs for a few days now so I'm feeling ready to get out there again, although the forecast snow might scupper my plans. Probably time I braved the swimming pool instead.

Next week I'm off to a cupcake decorating workshop so that I can command maximum cash for my bake sale the week after. I'm really looking forward to it and the great thing is I'll be able to reap the benefits of my learning for years to come. I'm also considering going on an Indian Head Massage course so that I can get paid to do that. I only wish I could massage my own head afterwards! I think my mate Danners is going to come with me though so I'll just have to get her to do it!

Global day of action for Amnesty

Today has been a seriously productive day and I'm feeling very enthused about my cycling, fitness & fundraising project! After almost a whole weekend off doing anything cycle-related, apart from a run on Saturday, I've today managed to finish off my quiz for Madras for Cash on Thursday night, as well as making some components of the prize and going for another run. And I also managed to plan and organise another little craft project in time for my Valentine's Day surprises. It's so satisfying when you manage to get a lot done, especially when you can fit it all around work!

I went to an exhibition yesterday at the Southbank with my hilarious friend Danners and we saw lots of Ghanaian coffins shaped to look like tigers, eggs, cocoa pods and cars. It was all done in partnership with Dying Matters which is a coalition of charities which work on 'end of life' issues. It was really refreshing to see an exhibition addressing such an important issue, which I guess most people don't think about very often.

And it for me it was an opportunity to reaffirm the values that have made me want to do this bike ride in support of Amnesty - besides the personal benefits associated with spending a year focusing on something really positive for my own sense of health and wellbeing, it is about focusing minds and efforts on ensuring people's freedom and dignity are protected as best we can. Anyone who knows me will know that I'm not always that dignified myself (even 'sometimes' might be stretching the truth) but it doesn't change the fact that I think it is an important principle and that as a society we should always aspire to uphold our own and each other's dignity as best we can. On that note I'm planning to go to a global day of action for Amnesty International on Saturday 11th February. There's going to be a rally at Trafalgar Square from 12-2. It's going to be a full-on action packed charity fund-fest for me that weekend as straight after I'm heading for a cupcake icing class to improve my bake sale prospects! If anyone is interested in joining me for the rally let me know or take a peek at http://www.amnesty.org.uk/events_details.asp?EventsID=2129.

Offski!

59 ways to lose your head in Mongolia

I just discovered that Mongolia has 59 separate offences which carry the death penalty - I'm shocked! I've been to Mongolia and rate it amongst my favourite countries in the world, mainly because the Mongolians seemed such a lovely and peaceful people, Ghengis Khan excepted!

Personally I don't agree with capital punishment, ever, for the following reasons:

- there is a high risk of depriving an innocent person of their life and have been many such cases in the past
- the death penalty legitimises an irreversible act of violence
- two wrongs don't make a right. You cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing. Or to put it in Desmond Tutu's words, to take a life is revenge, not justice.
- it promotes and sanitises vengeance
- it does not work as a deterrant to others who would consider committing a crime carry the death penalty
- it degrades those who use it to no more moral than the convicted criminals who have incurred the penalty

I could go on...

I think most people in the UK who, sadly, still agree with capital punishment, would only see it as justified for a small number of offences such as murder and violence towards children. So I'm astounded about what relatively minor offences must make the grade for Mongolians to consider them worthy of such a high punishment?

However, I'm pleased to see they're moving towards abolishing it in favour of other penalties. If you are interested in taking action on this issue click on the following link which will take you to Amnesty's campaign page on the subject http://action.amnesty.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1194&ea.campaign.id=10033

Here's a photo from my stay in the very peaceful Terelj National Park in Mongolia for a bit of inner zen!

In other news I'm pleased to report that thanks to a generous donation from my lovely friend Danners I'm now only £3 away from my monthly fundraising target! Thanks again to everyone who has contributed and helped me get to this point.

I've got 20 people coming to my curry night next week which should be fun, but there is plenty of space for anyone else who fancies it, £20 for 3 courses a drink and a chance to take part in my India-themed quiz. More details available from the Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/356244781067608/

I'm also organising a big bowling party for April and a curry night in Leighton Buzzard so keep your eyes akimbo for news of those.

Happy Friday!

Make the International Arms Trade Treaty bulletproof

I've just been reading an encouraging email from Amnesty about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop the first international Arms Trade Treaty.

Members of the United Nations have voted overwhelmingly to develop the Treaty and Amnesty is calling on as many people as possible to put their name to letters to David Cameron and Nick Clegg asking them to make it 'bulletproof'.

In February a UN Preparatory Committee will be held ahead of the final and deciding negotiations take place in July. Any indication that the UK, as a major arms exporter and influential government at the UN table, is reducing its support could encourage other countries to press for a weakened treaty which offers little protection of human rights.

The arms trade is currently unregulated - with devastating consequences in terms of human impact.

If you want to add your voice to Amnesty's and call on our government to press for the strongest possible regulation, please visit Amnesty's campaigns page on this issue: http://tinyurl.com/6s3cteo.

I'm off now for my first run in over a week, very naughty of me. Wish me luck!

Pumpkin scones - a revelation!

It's almost Monday (boo) and yet again the weekend has flown. I've had a truly fabulous one spending time with my honorary third sister and brilliant friend Helen who came to stay for the weekend and kindly offered to pay me for cakes and photos to help me in my fundraising quest. We went to see one of our joint honorary sister's Emma as she was having a housewarming, so took her a yummy batch of brownies and then proceeded to eat most of them ourselves.

In between using up most of the available air in Bedfordshire putting the world to rights, Helen and I had a lot of fun today making pumpkin scones - an amazing new revelation to both of us - and banoffee muffins. The thing I love about cooking is that it feels like legitimised playing for adults, getting your hands dirty and being really tactile with stuff that then rewards you with a second gift of being delicious!

Here are some pics of our scones in various stages of development, which I highly recommend as an accompaniment to cheese or veggie soup, or just warm with some butter. We had them with cornichons and some cranberry & apple chutney I made a few days ago. Altogether a pretty heavenly trio and a win-win way of raising money for Amnesty!

If you fancy some pumpkin scones of your own or something else (the list is pretty endless) please contact me and I will bake you up a treat!

Kitchen bitch catering services

Those who know me know how much I love, love, love to cook. In fact I'm such a foodie geek that I actually have a spreadsheet on my pc with a list of all the recipes I either like to make or want to make. In fact this just gave me a little brainwave to write my own version of the '1000 things to do before you die' but a quick search on Amazon reveals somebody else got to it first, never mind!

Anyways, I've decided to put this passion to good use by offering my cake baking & catering services in return for donations. So if you need a birthday cake or something for a special occasion, or you'd like to cater for some friends or family but lack the skill or inclination to cook for them yourself, contact me and I will let you know whether I can help. I've included some photos here to wet your appetite and show you the kinds of things I can do, from patatas bravas to peanut butter cheesecake! You can contact me via this blog, my Justgiving page www.justgiving.com/EmilyCharlotteJeffrey or on facebook http://www.facebook.com/emcupcakes