Hi folks! I’m here with an easy recipe that I’ve been wanting to share, as well as some of our summer news, the back-to-school, and my books. Let’s start with cake!
This is a remake of a post I did eight years ago on a standard French goûter (pronounced goo-tay, and which means snack). Yoghurt cake! The French generally bake using weights and not standardised cups and spoons, so this simplifies their lives since in this recipe they don’t have to weigh anything. This is the old yoghurt cake recipe, which is plain. And today I’m just modifying it to what my kids prefer – chocolate chip yoghurt cake. It just involves swapping the sugar and adding the chocolate chips. Simple!
The ingredients:
In one bowl, add the yoghurt and fill the container with 2 pots of brown sugar.
Add 3 eggs, a container of blended vegetable oil, 3 containers of flour, a teaspoon each of vanilla and baking powder, a half-teaspoon of sea salt, a cup of chocolate chips, and mix it all together! Pour it into a 9″ cake pan.
Bake for about 30 minutes, but check to make sure the inside is cooked.
You can sprinkle confectioner sugar over the top when you serve. (See why my kids like this? I do too because it’s so easy to make).
This summer was busy. As for most of you, I imagine, the school year fizzled to a halt, and we were left wondering if we would be able to do any of the things we had planned for summer. In the end we were able to do everything, which made for a fun (if eventful) summer. We started with our usual 2 weeks in Brittany with the extended family.
We were then home for a week and a half before William left for the pre-teen camp in the Swiss Alps. We as a church hesitated a lot over this one, because as much as we have faith, we respect the government’s advice on meeting during a pandemic. (The government did allow groups of our size).
In the end, we decided to go ahead with the four weeks of camp (pre-teen, teen, students, mission prep) but with certain protocol in place that included being very careful in the weeks leading up to the camp (wearing a mask in public, taking our temperature before coming and while on-site, and many other things). To our relief, not a single case of Covid erupted in the four weeks of camp, despite uniting people from several different countries.
Matthieu and I have been serving in the teen ministry, so it was our first year at teen camp instead of pre-teen camp. We started the week by baptising our son, Gabriel, in the glacial alpine waters.
And we spent the rest of the week in a sort of paradise of beauty everywhere we looked, and tons of fun, silliness and spirituality which makes the kids (and adults) want to return each year.
Following the camp, we went to Le Gers region (about an hour from Toulouse) for a family wedding. Once again, we prayed for protection against the virus and it was granted. The cases have been picking up in France, but the regulations regarding wearing masks are more strict so it does offer some protection.
And now my kids are back in school. My daughter is in a private school that focuses on art, which is great but is farther away. My two boys are at the local school and all of them have to wear masks all day. Like all of us, this constraint (especially after months of home schooling last year) requires courage and adjustment. This year, Juliet is in 11th grade, Gabriel is in 9th, and William is in 7th. When you think that the very first photos I shared of them on my blog were these …
you realise how old this blog is!
My latest book, His Disinclined Bride, (on pre-order here*) is sent off to the editor so I’m feeling accomplished. It’s a short-lived feeling, though, and I’m already feeling the … itch? pressure? to work on my next one.
A Fall from Grace is starting to fall a bit in sales since it’s been out for 5 months, but it’s still holding pretty strong, and now the audio book is out. It’s everywhere except Audible for the moment, since that platform is taking longer. All my regencies will be on audio if you like to listen rather than read. Here is my storefront with Author’s Direct, which is just another audio platform but offers better support to the authors.
So that’s the cake, and that’s our news. I truly hope all of you are finding ways to thrive in these strange times.
(*affiliate link)
- 1 plain yoghurt
- 2 pots of brown sugar
- 3 pots of flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 pot of oil
- 1 teaspoon baking power
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- Combine all the ingredients and mix (by hand is okay). Use the yoghurt pot to measure the sugar, flour and oil. Preheat the oven to 375° and then bake in a 9" cake pan for about 30 minutes. Check with a knife to make sure the inside is cooked.
