Here we are in the heart of summer, the dog days of August, and it’s dull, raining and chilly. No surprise there, then!

A trip to the open-air theatre in Regent’s Park is coming up, so we fully expect to be enjoying a bit of Gershwin while kitted up in all the wet weather gear.

At least they’ll probably have mulled wine on offer.

The occasion is my birthday, and I’m one of several among family and friends in the next few weeks, so the idea of cake is looming large (not too much cake, though, and not too large!)

One friend with a birthday soon has diabetes so I’m going to have to do some research on the internet to find a suitable recipe, or to see whether the Cider Apple Cake or Marmalade Cake in the new edition of The Dairy Book of Home Cookery (2012) would be OK.

I’m not a great baker of cakes – too much precision needed with the ingredients and following the recipe to the letter. I’m more of a chuck-it-in-and-see sort of cook. But the Marmalade Cake sounds delicious and don’t seem too complicated. I suppose I could push the boat out and make them both.

By the way, the term ‘dog days’ comes from the dog star, Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, part of the constellation Canis Major. It rises and sets with the sun during the summer and the ancients believed the two combined to create especially hot and steamy days. So what’s gone wrong?!

Have good weekends.

Marion
Dairy Diary Team

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