Baking Binge

This afternoon I heard the weather forecast for tomorrow and Friday and suddenly decided that I should do some baking. Both days are supposed to be in the high 20C's. Hooray! Bring on the heat -- just not in my kitchen.

So in order to keep my kitchen as cool as possible, I made a chocolate cake, a banana cake, and some raisin walnut bars this evening. I'm still hoping to make chocolate chip shortbread too. Yum! Too bad I'm on an (absolutely no sweets for awhile) diet. That probably explains the strong urge to bake! Aha! It's not the fact that the kitchen will get hot, it's my poor stomach craving sugar. Actually, it's both! Combine that with the knowledge that our central air is still unhooked from having the work done on the back wall, and the fact that the pool isn't set up, I'm just making sure that if it truly does get hot (and humid) I can be outside enjoying every minute of it! Bring on the heat!!

On another note, check out this tree. Does it look like it is dying to you? Well, it's not. It is just loaded with keys! It is so loaded that it barely has any leaves.
Now check out this one. Can you believe it is the same variety as the "keyed" one? They are both silver maples (Acer saccharinum). It is so amazing how different they are! Another one of the wonders of God's beautiful creation!