Raspberry Cake and Jam

It's been an emotional weekend here - the results of IBO 2017 are more than excellent for our modest team - gold for Dimitar, silver for Gaby and bronze for Maria, the best ever results for the Bulgarian Biology team. The contestants and teachers arrived last night and we had a small family celebration with a home-made raspberry cake:

The team in Warwick University before the award ceremony:

Silver medalists:

The team on arrival:

And more raspberries - we love raspberry jam!

My latest most favourite recipe:

• 1000 g clean raspberries
• 750 g sugar
• 5 g apple pectin
• 5 g citric acid

Clean the raspberries, cover them with the sugar and leave over night in the fridge. Add the apple pectin and cook at average heat for 45 min. Add the citric acid, cook for another 5 mn. Pour the jam in clean jars while boiling hot, close with the cap and turn over until the jars have cooled. No further treatment of the jars is necessary, store in a cool and dark place and consume within a year.

I love it with pancakes!

IBO 2017 Coventry UK

This year for the second (and last) time Gaby takes part in the International Olympiad in Biology, held in Warwick University in Coventry, UK. The team started off early this morning. They all have been preparing for this Olympiad so thoroughly and conscientiously, I hope they manage to show their knowledge and skills to the fullest.

This year I have a small contribution to the team  - I made the accessories for the opening and closing ceremony - belts

coin necklaces

and forehead bands.

We bought the traditional bucks, coins, chains, motif bands and red satin bands and I assembled the accessories.

The forehead bands are also lined and adjustable with velcro.

Probably the most time-consuming but entertaining job - assembling the traditional triple coin necklaces out of chains, rings, coins and fasteners.These are meant for the closing ceremony.

Three sets of each for the three girls:

Printscreen shots from the life stream video of the opening ceremony. The team was lovely, they made me so proud! And a big bravo to the organizers, I loved the ceremony and the key speech by Nobel Prize Winner Sir Paul Nurse was so inspiring, it made me want to be a young scientist :)