Cake report: Part 2 of 3

Well first up there be good news, my marble cupcakes weren't a complete disaster.  The chocolate part is still extremely bitter, but the vanilla does balance it quite nicely, so if I advertise them as Vanilla & Bitter Chocolate cupcakes I should get away with it :)

Anyway, part 2: Blackberry and cornmeal cupcakes.  I haven't tried one yet (they're cooling as I type), but they look absolutely delicious!  A lovely golden colour, just slightly browned off where the sugar topping has caramelised.  I really can't wait to try one!

Plus there's a bonus!

This Martha Stewart cupcake book always gets the measurement a bit off, so you end up making more cakes than the book says, and these were no exception.  Unfortunately the blackberries were the only thing which there wasn't a surplus of, so further blackberry/cornmeal cakes were out of the question.  So I thought "I know, I'll put in raisins instead, so they're raisin cornmeal cupcakes", then I thought "oohm wait... rum & raisin cornmeal cupcakes!".  So I mixed the rum into the remaining batter, went into the cupboard and... no raisins!  Well I've done enough shopping trips for these things, so I just left them as is.  So there is one small batch of experimental Cornmeal Rumcakes!  I hope they come out alright, but only time will tell!

So that's stage 2 done.  At this point I've got enough cakes for everyone at work, but I think I'll still go ahead with the citrus cupcakes, because they just sound too nice to leave out.

Cake report: Part 1 of 3

First batch of cupcakes are finished, and may I wish a plague upon the house of Martha Stewart.  The marble cupcakes are an absolute disaster!  I would blog more, but I have to press on with part 2: The blackberry cornmeal cupcakes.

I have not lost heart in the slightest though, the marble were the most complicated, so there's still all to play for :)  Back later!

Clothing success

I have, for the last couple weeks, been slightly preoccupied with thoughts of what to wear to my leaving do next weekend.  Yes, it's a scary thought, but in a week's time I'll be away from the hospital and celebrating with a good old (alcohol free) knees-up in town.

Well I despertely needed new jeans and new boots, so I got both of them just over a week ago, but I have been struggling somewhat with tops.  I do have many t-shirts, and many hawaiian shirts (which I love dearly), but I did fancy something a little bit snappy, yet still casual.  So over the last 2 weeks I have been searching in vain for a casual waistcoat, and a shirt that works nicely with it.  Well today my search is over, for in the H&M sale they had... no waistcoats!  Okay, that doesn't sound particularly triumphant.  But they did have in the sale a very nice, lightweight but long-sleeved white shirt, and outside of the sale they had a plain, black casual waistcoat, which was significantly cheaper than its more ornate counterparts.  Now I like cheap (cheap = good!), but I won't go for clothes just because they're cheap, I'd rather spend a few extra pounds for something I really like, especially as I buy clothes so infrequently as and such get a lot of wear out of what I have.  But this plain, unornamented waistcoat was a hundred times nicer than any of the other ones, so it won hands-down in every respect.

So now I have new shoes, new jeans, new shirt, and new waistcoat, and I'm ready to dazzle next Saturday :) Also I think I'm just about done with clothes shopping for another couple of years lol  Except perhaps for finding one or two more plain shirts that go with my new waistcoat.  It'd be a bit frustrating if I only ever got to wear it with the one same shirt.

Okay, clothes babble over.  Thank you for putting up with it folks, I shall try to make the next post extra-manly to make up for it.

...actually I've just thought, my next post will probably be about my cake-baking.  Perhaps not so manly then.



Why did the blonde walk around with her purse open?

Because she'd heard about the change in the weather!

But seriously though, what a change!  It was just over a week ago that I was spending my lunchbreaks sunbathing in the hospital garden with friends from work.  Now it seems like an age ago, both in the temperature drop and in the fact that I wouldn't want to be spending my lunch with some of those people.  Not all of them, there are still a few friends left there, just not as many as there were a fortnight ago.

Had a decent evening last night - Friday Night Magic with Rich (aka Mr. Anderson).  Lost 4 games and won just one, but that one was won in such spectacular fashion - swinging for 38 poison counters with Trample in a single turn.  If you don't know Magic: The Gathering then that won't mean anything to you, but those who play it will know that was a truly incredible feat.  It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Anyways, the weather.  Sweet monkey Zeus it's frikkin' freezing!  Most definitely time for 2 blankets on the bed, and very nearly time to add a hot water bottle into the mix.  I do need to psyche myself up to get out of the house though.  I want to pop into Sutton to see if the H&M sale has started, and if it has, do they have any waistcoats on sale?  And secondly I need to get myself up to Asda to get my ingredient shopping done.  Would Mr Kipling be a cheaper/easier option?  Yes on both counts.  But I've decided I'm going to be the better man in this hellhole of a workplace, and I'm going to make cakes for everyone.

In lighter, staying-in-bed news, the weekly SkyPlayer (Sky Go) update has been a good one!  Sadly District 9 has dropped out of the listings, which I really wanted to see, but in its place we now have Rules of Engagement (back from before Samuel L. Jackson appeared in EVERYTHING!), and two films I've always wanted to see but never have done: American Beauty, and Girl Interrupted.

Anyway, this blog entry is actually me procrastinating and refusing to get ready to leave the house, so I'm going to sign off, get dressed, and venture out into the arctic wilderness...




Oh and I must watch last night's Masterchef Australia!  Om nom Dani nom ;) lol  Seriously though, it's an awesome show, so much better than UK Masterchef.

Weekend baking challenge

With my final day at the hospital looming, I turned my attention this evening to the important matter of cakes.  Obviously taking in cakes on my final week is mandatory, the only question is whether to do a spot of homebaking or just buy a load to take in.

If you've read my last couple of blog posts you'll know that I'm not entirely enamoured with work at the moment.  It's completely doing my head in, as are many of the people there, and so the idea of slaving for hours to make cakes for 50+ people seems a lot of uneccessary effort.  On the other hand, I do enjoy baking, and purely from an ego-stroking point of view it'd be nice to dazzle them with some homemde cakes as I leave that place forever.

So this evening I sat down with my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book and picked out 3 recipes, which should be enough to make 50 cakes.  I say 50, but this book always underestimates, so I expect the actual number to be around the 70 mark.  I've selected 3 recipes:  Marble cupcakes (a swirl of chocolate and vanilla), Citrus cupcakes (lime, lemon and orange in the cake, with a topping of lime frosting), and Blueberry cornmeal cupcakes.  They're 3 recipes I've never tried before (which is all the more fun!) and the do look absolutely delicious.  However, I have now compiled together a combined ingredients list for them all, and ye gods!  Not only are these going to take hours to make, but they're going to cost me a small fortune to buy the ingredients for!  Adding onto that the fact that I'll have to catch the bus into work because all of those cakes will never fit on my scooter, and it's becoming quite the colossal task.  I mean even if I was completely devoted to this job, it'd be a lot to do, but in my current mindset I'm not entirely sure I'm up to the challenge.

Stay tuned, and in a few days there'll be either a tale of triumph, or a trip to the supermarket to buy a few boxes of Mr Kipling cakes!

Counting down the days...

Now that Tuesday's over I've officially got less than a week until I leave the Hospital for my new job.  I can't express just how much I'm looking forward to seeing the back of that place, severing all ties and never looking back.  City hospital's caused me nothing but misery in recent months, and soon I can finally start putting that episode of my life behind me.

And then I go into my first ever management role! Scary!!!

Well well well. 7 months

So here I am, back again on the dusty old blog.  I guess I haven't had much to say the last 7 months.  I only really blog when I fancy a ramble or if there's something I need to get off my chest.  Well in this case it's the latter.

I learned something today (in the South Park style).  It's a lesson I get slapped with a lot, but it never seems to take hold.  Never trust anybody.  If you put faith in anyone, you will end up getting burned for it.  Maybe in a week, maybe a month, maybe a year, but they'll always prove you were wrong to let them in in the first place.  I'm very much hoping the lesson will stick this time.  I did perfectly well for a long time with no friends to put hopes in, and subsequently no one to let me down.  Maybe it'd be easier going back there.

Don't know what the hell I want right now.