Primary Sunflowers and Mother's Day cake recipe

Got to the market late on Saturday. There were no flowers left except for these marvelous variegated sunflowers, sold by the man who brings the delightful honey. I used this bouquet on the table for my Mother's Day lunch. Mama's birthday is right before Mother's Day so this time of the year is extremely festive for my family ( my brother's birthday is a few days before Mama's and my grandmother's was the day before Mama's) as there is no shortage of Taureans in this bunch. Today I painted the bouquet on a 10x10 canvas. I call it Primary Sunflowers because the colors are restricted to mostly red, yellow, and blue. The greens and violets are there but are secondary. Also including a photo of the table at the end of the Mother's day party. I had quite a few guests and we had a lovely cold lunch. There is nothing nicer than sitting at a table for a few hours and eating, drinking, and talking with people you love! I was too pooped to paint the scene yesterday but I may attempt to paint it from the photograph. The cake in the picture is a Gateau Au Yaourt, which is simply a Yogurt Cake. This is one of the easiest and most delicious cake recipes I have so I am including it here. It is great for warm weather because it is an excellent compliment to fresh berries. So happy day to all - mothers and non mothers. To bid on Primary Sunflowers use this link.

Gateau Au Yaourt

1/3 cup vegetble oil

1 cup plain, unsweetened yogurt, whole milk

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (and don't even try the fake stuff!)

1 teaspoon rum

1 2/3 cup of all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

A good pinch of fine sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray your pan with PAM. I use an oblong pan but you can also use a 10 inch springform pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl whisk together yogurt and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add vanilla, oil, and rum, and whisk again.

3. In another bowl, sift dry ingredients together. Pour dry mixture into wet mixture and whisk to combine.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 35-40 minutes, until top is golden brown and a knife comes out clean. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Can be served warm or at room temperature. Bon Appetit!