5 Observations from a day off

5 Observations from a day off

My NZ friend, Ms Snooz, was turning 50 and in Hobart for the occasion. I’d offered to make the cake. When she told me what she wanted, I knew I’d need to take the day off before the party just to cook.

So I traded a day at the computer for a day in the kitchen, but not before some other adventures.

Cleaning your teeth is like meditation

After bemoaning the pain caused to a left tooth from Caramello Koala bear consumption, and the occasional Peppermint Freddo, my dentist advised me that no cavity was my problem. Instead, I clean my teeth like I live my life, frenetically. My exercised brushing had removed the enamel. Apparently you’re meant to clean your teeth slowly and gently. Or stop eating Caramello Koalas. Cleaning my teeth is my new meditation.

Cake making merchandise has gone off

My dentist is located in Sandy Bay so I decided to get the rest of my cake making supplies from the local Woolworths. I discovered a whole lot of baking merchandise I hadn’t seen before. It’s true that shops are stocked differently in different suburbs. It’s some socio-demographic profiling which often gets it wrong. It was a mission of unexpected discovery and now I'm up to speed. There’s plenty of cake wrappers and decorations which are affordable and accessible.

What the hell! Try the local cafe

I rarely eat in Sandy Bay, mostly because I'm not usually on that side of town. I decided to give The Duchess a work out. I chose the ham, cheese and corn relish toastie. I wasn’t overly inspired by the meaty menu and didn’t feel like muesli. The toastie was tasty enough but I must confess my own classism. I just found it a bit Sandy Bay for my comfort zone and the food wasn’t so good that I’d make an effort to return. To be fair, on my visit The Duchess had a constant stream of customers and it is a decent option in a suburb with few decent breakfast selections. If you're in the area, give it a whirl.

Negronis are very alcoholic

We found ourselves amongst fabulous women friends at The Pumphouse that evening.  The Negroni was the Friday night special. It would be rude to count but let’s just say they went down a treat and it made for an early night.

The Negroni is a very sophisticated drink but it is pure spirit. Be warned.
A new kitchen utensil and the final word on cakes

Of course the cakes got cooked. The Dobos Torte benefited from my new palette knife which saved my life in the smearing of hot toffee and buttercream.

Note: A Dobos Torte is a six layered sponge filled with chocolate coffee buttercream with a toffee crust.

I then went on to make white chocolate and blackcurrant port marinated blackberry cupcakes with lemon icing. They were packed up in the car and off to the party location by 4pm allowing just enough time to do about 14 sink-loads of washing up and the cleaning needed to remove the sugar, almonds and chocolate smeared from one end of the house to the other.