What day is it anyway?

It was the first day back at school for my girls today. Somehow I had managed to get myself quite into the Christmas holiday spirit and didn't feel entirely organised this morning. It was only last night that I remembered that I hadn't washed one of the PE kits or rinsed out the water bottles. Then this morning, with our coats and shoes on, I remembered that my eldest's Christmas homework was due in first day back! So there she was, hurriedly penning a book review as I got the bikes out. Homework done and to school on time... just, phew!

To continue the mixed up feel of the day I had a hot cross bun for my mid-morning snack. There doesn't seem to be a break in the availability of hot cross buns in the shops these day. Usually I'm a stickler for seasonality but I let this one go as I really like hot cross buns! Yep, hypocrite! I was somewhat alarmed when standing in my local Tesco Express on New Year's Eve to see that Cadburys Mini Eggs were back on sale and then yesterday Cadbury Creme Egg adverts appeared on the TV. Good grief!

For lunch I had a quick sweet and sour chicken meal made from left-overs but I don't think you could quite accuse me of being premature for Chinese New Year! After lunch my Lakeland order arrived. It was a huge box filled with items I had bought in their sale and most of them were stocking fillers for next Christmas so I guess I have started my Christmas shopping already!

After school I set about dealing with the 7 over-ripe bananas in my fruit bowl. I always have bananas in my fruit bowl and usually my eldest takes one to school every day. Somehow I had not quite got it sorted in my head and had ended up with a bowlful of school bananas at the beginning of the Christmas holidays. Bananas, sadly, are somehow not at all festive so they had remained in the fruit bowl for two weeks whilst people snaffled satsumas from around them instead. So yesterday I bought a tub of buttermilk and decided to make a batch of banana pancakes this afternoon. Yes, pancakes and it's not even February!

With the remaining bananas I tried a banana and chocolate cupcake recipe so that I could use up the remaining chocolate butter icing that had been in the fridge since I made the chocolate Yule log.

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes (makes about 30)

125g caster sugar

125g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

1 egg

2 small over ripe bananas, mashed

120ml warm water

4 tablespoons milk

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

+ chocolate butter icing

Preheat oven to 180°C, gas 4 and put paper cases into a cupcake tray. Put the sugar in a large bowl and sift in the flour, cocoa, raising agents and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, bananas, water, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix the wet with the dry then spoon into the paper cases and bake for 20 minutes until well risen and springy. Cool on a wire rack then dollop a little chocolate butter icing on top.

As I was making these my eldest came in the see what I was doing and immediately made herself useful with the sifting whilst I made up the wet ingredients. Then she spotted the tube of Cadburys Mini Eggs on the cake ingredients shelf in the food cupboard (left over from last Easter, I hasten to add). So she asked if she could decorate the cakes with mini eggs when they were cool. Well, after the weird day I had had why not!