The Falkland Islands [aka] Islas Malvinas

Where in the world are The Falkland Islands?

About 300 miles away from Argentina...just above the Antarctic Peninsula. 

The Falkland's Islands are self-governed and under U.K. rule since 1833.

Argentina doesn't think so... and continues to maintain its claim to 'Islas Malvinas' even today, asserting that the British occupation was illegal in the first place.

In 1982, Argentina invaded, Britain retaliated
and The Falklands War ensued.

Sadly, 72 days later, 649 Argentine military, 255 British military, and 3 Falkland Islands residents died in the conflict.

The plan was to visit a real-live Penguin Colony.
Our driver, while in The Falklands was a wealth of information...

There remain some 20,000 un-exploded land mines surrounding The Falklands.

Buried by Argentine forces during their brief occupation in 1982, the mines remain 'live'.

Affected areas are well-marked but on occasion there have been incidents of 

unsuspecting cows vs. land mines. 

The entire population of the Falklands are almost 3,000 people.

2,100 live in its capitol city of Port Stanley.

Fish & Chips (of course), a pint of beer and the warmth of a British Pub.

The Stamp Office (The Philatelic Bureau)

Stamps created by Tony Chater, a local artist (and our driver)

 Primary schools (K thru 8) are located throughout The Falklands.

Teens board in Stanley to complete their Secondary (High) School education.

College & University is completed in The U.K. and are paid for by The Falklands.

Q: "With such a small population, how do you find partners in life?"

A: "The Military helps - they come in frequently, and if you go away to school, that helps too."

Gentoo Penguins

 
 
 

The Falkland Islands are remote but,

 inexplicably remain close to my heart.

Hello Cupcake!

• My birthday is tomorrow
• Cupcakes are a good alternative to Birthday Cake
• My brother-in-law gave me the recipe book, “Hello Cupcake!”
• My first attempt at making artistic cupcakes should not prevent me from trying again

And then the memories came flooding back…

My “Hello Cupcake!” book featured a recipe and directions for making the cutest “March of the Penguins” cupcakes. From the picture, it wouldn’t require Julia Child to whip these puppies up. They’re cupcakes for pete's sake - What could be so difficult?

My plan was to take them over to K&B's that afternoon as their nephews were visiting from Colorado and I thought they might like a cupcake or two.

The penguin recipe included white frosting, chocolate frosting and black food coloring. That is when I really should have applied the brakes.

Finding black food color was a challenge but I was committed to this little project and eventually tracked some down.

A word of warning: Black food coloring is pervasive and disgusting. It gets on and into everything. After using it, my fingernails were dyed black/blue (not so appealing when you are in health care) so I ended my cupcake-cooking day soaking my hands in bleach.

Oh, by the way... if nothing else, I consider myself to be a 'trooper' and once committed to a project, I will see it through to its bitter end.

This project started at 8am and ended at 3pm.

Other items necessary but that were not so easy to find were, plain donut holes (for the little feller’s heads) – no luck. I compromised by using glazed donut holes.

Plain mini donuts were to be used as penguin tummies but again I had to choose an alternative – powdered sugared mini donuts were used. Have you ever eaten one of those? They are repulsive - but they were my only choice and by God – I was making the penguins if it was the last thing I ever did.

You would have thought that after traveling to multiple stores, all in the name of short, fat penguin cupcakes, I would have called it a day. Not this cupcake-baker.

Muddling on and several hours later, I had made a royal mess of the kitchen, myself and Duke, my yellow lab mix. Who knew he would snag a freshly frosted black penguin from the kitchen table when my back was turned? Not pretty.

FYI: Other penguin parts included marshmallows cut to create the white ‘apron’, "Beaks" were Starburst fruit chews. "Wings" were made of chocolate wafers/ "Eyes" were created using white frosting with mini chocolate chips.


My penguins were not quite marching - maybe it was the look in their eyes, but they looked drunk. It was time for their debut.

Carefully, I transported them to K&B's.

Proudly, walking up their driveway with my penguins neatly arranged on a tray I promptly tripped, leaving a few of the little guys headless, on the asphalt.

I was beyond caring.