Crumbs to Crunch

Tis the season of Christmas Fairs and the cake stall is always the most popular. I recently volunteered to sell baked goods at my local fair so I thought I would share my tips to make your cake sale the best ever! Advertise your event - you have awesome baking skills so you need to let the world know! Get your arty friends to make posters. If you are doing a cake sale for a well known charity, they often have ready to print posters and other resources on their websites such as AmnesTea for Amnesty International or Macmillan's Coffee Morning. Variety is the spice of life - have a good selection of cakes and biscuits to cater for all appetites and tastes. Ask your friends to pitch in so you have a good spread without the stress of baking for a hundred people! Keep it simple - if you are providing lots of cakes, you can;t spend hours perfecting your showstopper like you're in the final of The Great British Bake Off. Simple home baking is best.  Batch baking ...

When I think of castles, I usually think of stone turrets. portcullis and battlements so I was quite surprised when I saw a white wooden castle looming in the distance. Of course Japanese castles would look different from British ones, I just had never thought about it before.   I visited Tsurugajo Castle in Aizu Wakamatsu which was once a stronghold for Samauri. Built in 1384, the castle was home to the feudal lords who ruled the area.  However, it was destroyed in 1868 during a rebellion that marked the end of the feudal era. The castle that stands today is actually a 1960s replica but is impressive nonetheless. I climbed to the top of the castle and got a feel for how the feudal lords felt surveying their kingdom.  In the castle grounds there is the adorable Rinkaku tea cottage which was built by Sen no Shoan specifically for tea ceremonies. In fact, his father invented the ritual that we know today as the tea ceremony.    Nowadays they...