A streak of fails and a cake that's gone well to break the spell

Things here are verging on the chaotic. As we're breaching countdown to take off on our Summer vaycay, we decided to tackle on a project that has been on the backburner for a while. Let me put you up to date. A couple of years ago we painted the hallway and our son's room to lighten those rooms up, and because they really needed painting. The chosen hue was a bone coloured off white. While we were at it, we decided painting the living room as well, from the horrid lemony white it was when we bought it to a light blueish grey that went so well with the burgundy accent wall we already had painted when we moved in.

While we were at it, we decided to start on our own bedroom as well, which had an accent wall in a violet blue hue behind the bed. The rest was in a cream colour which, with time, had become darker, yellowish, in need of repair. We thought the light grey we had used in the living room would be perfect for the bedroom as well, because it was a light, relaxing colour with a blue undertone to it. We would keep the accent wall, and go for the rest, and so we started. We managed to get two walls done, but the paint was not enough for the third wall, and as we were leaving for our hols, we thought we might as well leave it for September, where we would buy another bucket of paint and finish the job.

 It would be our next project, something to look forward to when we got back. As it happens, things with us have to be done straight away or not be done at all, sadly. When September hit we had a lot of financial stresses and problems and we couldn't afford to buy the single bucket of paint, as there were a lot of other things to handle. It took the back burner, the painting of the bedroom, and we went on with life, now with a three toned bedroom, that, though it got a bit on my nerves, was not a serious issue. It would be alright, we would do it the next Summer, we thought.

Next Summer came and we were all for it, we were painting the room before going on holiday. It so happens that just days before we took off, my husband injured his back quite badly, and although we were able to go on vacation, he couldn't exhert himself in anyway. When we returned, his back was better but the doctor had advised him to be careful and not push himself, so we decided to leave the rest of our bedroom for yet another time. We thought about doing it in the Spring of next year, and then Spring came and we couldn't be bothered, so we thought we might do it in September, and so we left it at that. But then my bedsidetable broke.

And that's when I snapped. After a month of living without a proper bedside table, and the rest of the room in total disarray, I snapped. I couldn't bare to be inside my bedroom, it simply depressed me, so finally my husband caved in - he has to do most of the work, you know... - and said we should just paint the room and reassemble the bdesidetable (it's a shelve on the wall). So off we went to get the paint and all the necessaries, and so this last weekend we got a start on it. Now, I hate going to that kind of shops where you buy paint and tools and... there's too much testosterone flying around and it makes my own testosterone peak and all I wanna do is brawl with people! So whenever I go there, I try to hurry as much as I can, but my husband, being a man, loves to linger in that kind of store... much like me inside Zara or Ikea or Taróca...

Finally, we had everything we needed, and made our way home, and started on the task, by pushing away the mamoth wardrobe and washing them walls, and then setting the paint. As I was starting on my side by the door, where we had managed to get half of that area covered in grey when we had first done the room, I started noticing that the colour I was now applying seemed slightly different, slightly darker, more metallic. I mentioned it to my husband, he put it down to the paint always looking lighter after it has dried completely and to the fact that we were painting in an area of the room where light was scarce. I let it slip, but after the first coat was dry and we were going for the second coat, I still felt something was not right, so I dug up the old bucket of grey paint to realize... the colours weren't the same!! I had originally used grey, and we were now using steel grey!! There was nothing to be done, the new colour would be slightly darker, so we kept on.

Now we're one wall to go, and it will be done during the next weekend, when I should actually be packing, I think... still, it will have to be like that, and if we leave a couple of days later for our hols, well, can't be helped, at least the room will be looking fine! It kind of called for cake, to celebrate, right? And with all the fails I have been having lately, it was only fair that I would bake a cake that was such a hit, such a huge success, I now have my son begging me for a repeat. I have been wanting to try out a beetroot chocolate cake for a while, and have finally decided to give it a go. It is a very strange textured cake, and the flavour is different from anything I have ever tried, but it is not a bad cake, not at all. Not too sweet, but dense and moist and filling, it hits the spot. I used very little chocolate, actually, because it was all I had in the house, but next time I will try with a different kind of chocolate and I will see how it goes.

For this cake I used:

• 2 medium sized beetroots
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup rye flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 80 gr mik chocolate with hazelnuts

Turn on the oven at 180º and line a cake tin with baking parchement. Set aside. Peel and grate the beetroot. On a bowl, add the sugar, the flour, the baking powder and the oil to the beets and mix thoroughly. Add the eggs, one by one while you melt the chocolate - easily done in the microwave! - which you should now add to the rest of the batter, combining well. Pour the batter into the tin and bake in the oven for about 45m, or untill your skewer comes out clean. Let it rest on a cooling rack and you can serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice for added sweetness. Let me know if you liked it!