Feckin' Finished!

Just as happened on Friday, Saturday began with a baker’s disaster. I put a teaspoon of baking powder into the mix, instead of a tablespoon, so there is a big slab of edible rubber in the trash. Both cakes that I am making are new recipes to me and that is often a reason I err. I immediately baked another cake—the first of four that I must bake today—before taking Her Highness for our morning walk and going into the village for yet more baking supplies.

Yesterday’s two cakes were made by tiering four individually baked cakes. I was tempted to make a double batch of batter to make the process go more quickly, but I feared having another disaster, plus I’d have to weigh the batter to ensure that I got two equally sized cakes.

Part of my problem with these cakes has been using a recipe for which the cooking time is for cooking the batter in two cake tins, but I am cooking the entire mix in one pan, so it takes much longer to bake. I must check constantly to ensure I get a properly baked cake—too long in the oven dries the cake out.

Our sunny and bright morning quickly disappeared behind clouds, so the morning was cool and that suited me. I get very sweaty baking in the warm weather, and I hate that. Showering is not easy because I don’t yet want to get my wound wet.

At 10:00, the sun came blazing back, just as the third cake went into the oven. Why did I agree to do all this baking? At 11:00, it came out of the oven and I dropped it. I am cursed. But the glass didn’t break and the damage to the cake was something I could live with if I made that cake a bottom layer. I had one more cake to bake, frosting for the chocolate cake to make, and the cream filling and strawberries to layer on the white cakes. Plus, I had chocolate leaves to make to top the ugly frosting of the chocolate cakes. The I had to decorate around the bottom of the cake on the boards with fresh Salal leaves and dried blossoms for the strawberry cakes, and varnished salal leaves and dried blossoms for the chocolate cakes.

I just wanted the job to come to an end.

Dana and her daughter, Sasha, came to fetch the three finished cakes just past 14:00. They were thrilled with them. Once decorated with leaves and dried flowers, they presented well. Even I was happy with them. Primarily, I was happy to see this demanding project coming to an end.

All I had left to do was make the chocolate leaves for the German chocolate cake. It went very well. Usually, for every leaf that works, three or four don’t and so they go back into the pot to melt, and the job takes forever to do, but yesterday, every chocolate painted leaf worked excellently. Every leaf peeled off leaving a perfect chocolate leaf with the veins of the leaf leaving a beautiful design. Pete and Ali are going to the party, and they will pick up this last cake on their way to Dana’s.

Last night, I watched a bit of a crap movie and then wrote a first draft of a piece I’m writing for a publication that features the work of dysfluent people. And then I went to bed for the soundest sleep that I’ve had in ages.

Today is My Day. I shall water where necessary, go to Silva Bay for lunch, read and chill. I want to try to use the hammock but it scares me.

Yesterday late morning: Once cake finished )high up on the leaft.
It is a chocolate cake made with two cakes stacked. On the right
is the second chocolate cake in progress. There are three of the
white cakes that will form the strawberry cake.

The fourth white cake and the top of the unfinished chocolate cake 
in the top photo. Every time I made a cake, I had to do dishes to prep
to make the next cake. Plus the baking dish had to be cooled so that 
the butter and flour barrier to prevent ssticking would take.

The finished German chocolate cake. I made tw
of them. The leaves are varnished to make them
shiny.

The stawberry cake. I learned how to stabalize 
cream for this job and I value that learning. The
green leaves are fresh, unvarnished Salal leaves.
I made two of these cakes as well.

10,000 Steps in the Kitchen

What a disaster yesterday was. I made a double batch of batter in the morning and then baked two cakes. I had them on a board and I was carrying them when I had a sudden onset seizure that had me about to fall, so I dropped the cakes when I caught myself from falling by grabbing the handle on the fridge. Both cakes were toast.

I had to start over. I decided to use baking pans and not the cookie sheets for the second round; it was a good decision as it led to cakes of two layers instead of three, so I needed less frosting. Brent, the other party host with Dana, wanted frosting that I had never made before. It’s made with evaporated milk and so I don’t like it. I can smell it in the frosting and I don’t like the smell. I’ve never used evaporated milk before, and now I’m glad I haven’t.

I was so frantically busy, I had no lunch. But I did feed the pets all their meals at the right time, and I took Her Highness for two short walks. On the first one, she found some poop to eat. Luckily, I caught her and she only had a small nugget. And to think I love this girl and love having her on my bed at night!

I didn’t get the second cake into the oven until 16:15, so I was baking all day (except for quickly going into the village for more sugar and eggs). I was totally exhausted as I began the herculean task of cleaning up. And today I get to go through this again, hopefully and most certainly without having another seizure.

The second cake came out of the oven at 17:00. The first cake was still too warm to frost, so my baking was going to extend into the evening. I wanted to get both cakes stacked, filled and topped with frosting, but I ran out of evaporated milk and couldn’t make enough frosting to finish. The frosting is lumpy because of the shaved coconut, and it’s caramel coloured; it lacks visual appeal, hence my desire to add the chocolate leaves.

When I finally quit to have dinner and watch a movie, it felt so, so good to finally stop moving. I was exhausted, hungry and worried about how much more work was ahead of me. I must make more of the awful filling for the second cake, wash, dry and de-stem the strawberries, and make two more cakes and the cream filling, so last night, while I watched TV, I was working on the strawberries. 

•

It’s Saturday morning and I wish it was Sunday morning and all the baking was behind me. I’ve another busy, busy day ahead of me and what I want to do is nothing. I wish I’d never taken on this baking task, but now I must see it through. Sigh.

We’re back to eternal sunshine, but temperatures are predicted to stay in the high teens or low twenties, so that’s a plus. However, the weather is irrelevant today because I’ll be indoors all day baking. The oven calls…. 

Healing!

Yesterday I rose on the twelfth day since my fall and getting the wound in my arm. It was the first morning since I fell since I rose to a dry sleeve. I finally had a scab over the entire wound that can hold through the night. That’s significant progress. I’m not impeded in any way by the injury, but it hurts all the time.

I had a lot of chores to do yesterday morning. I wanted to tidy up and clean because Dana was coming at some point to deliver the boards that the cakes will go onto for transport and presentation. I had let things go because of my painful back, foot and arm, but it was time to re-establish order.

I vacuumed, sorted recycling and put the garbage out for collection, washed dishes, did a laundry and hung it up to dry in the house (and lit a fire), and spent a good deal of time attending to Freddy who appears to be feeling poorly. At 7:30, I took Her Highness walking.

As we concluded our walk, it began to drizzle and soon there was real rain falling. Hooray! And perfect timing as I have a lot of things to do for the cakes and I wanted to make another asparagus salad. So, we went into the village to shop after our walk and then we came home so that I could prep all my materials for making the salad. That kept me busy until it was time for my 10:00 o’clock Zoom with my fellow UK neurogenic stutterers.

Just before my Zoom call, I was euphoric. It was raining so hard that I heard the welcome sound of rainfall thundering on my metal roof. I was relieved not to have to think about watering the garden beds at all today. What a break, and what perfect timing. I’ll be able to get crakin’ on the first cake right away this morning without having to first water the beds.

Dana brought the boards at 14:00. I was making chocolate leaves for the top of the German chocolate cake. It was not going well, but I have more time today to make some more. It’s not easy peeling the real leaf off the chocolate that I paint onto the surface. I hope I can make enough to make a decent showing on the two cakes.

I spent the majority of the afternoon trying to make chocolate leaves. At 15:00. Her Highness and I went walking because the rain had slowed to mere mist. But what a wonderful day of real rain we had! I don’t think it’s rained like that since early Fall. We had the driest Winter that I can remember this past season. We go back to eternal sunshine today, and that means back to watering. But not until tomorrow before I start on the other two cakes. Two today, two tomorrow.

Last night, I watched The Sheep Detectives and I absolutely loved it. It’s a very clever script and it’s much more than mere entertainment. Great actors do the voices (I loved Chris O’Dowd and Bryan Cranston in particular) and the CGI sheep are fabulous. What a great movie! If you liked Babe, you’ll love this movie.

And now, I bake. I must bake and decorate two German chocolate cakes today and, at the end of the day, Dana will come to fetch them, and she’ll be dropping off two kilos of strawberries that I’ll need for the two cakes that I am baking tomorrow. Then, with that job done, I will have a break until Wednesday when I start paid work with SPACE.

My arm is much less painful today. I am very happy that my wound is on its way to healing. I’m sick of pain. Soon, I plan to see Jennifer my NP to ask her about a referral to a private clinic for the procedure that may lessen the pain in my foot. 

To the oven!

Just Another Day

I said that I’d never make the asparagus salad again that I made for my guests last Saturday because it took so much work to make it. Well … today I bought all the ingredients to make it again. It’s that delicious! I plan to make myself another one today. I also will be shopping for supplies for the epic weekend of baking: four cakes for Dana and Brent.

Yesterday was glorious but cool. I was glad that I lit a morning fire; the house stayed warm all day as a result. We all had an early lunch after a short walk, and then I read sitting in the sunshine for a while. I loved the warm sun on my skin and particularly on my wound. But I didn’t last long. The sun exhausts me. I can’t take much more than fifteen minutes. I came inside and had a nap.

Then I watered. In this cool windy Summer weather (18° in the afternoon), many plants are wilting even though I watered thoroughly on Tuesday. It’s going to drive me crazy, all my watering, but it’s vital work. When I was done, I went over to Pete and Ali’s to give them some lemons to replace the ones Ali lent me last week. (Nester’s still has no lemons.)

And then it was time for our regular evening routine. But there was a bonus: My back is recovering, partially due to the efficacy of Ibuprofen I suspect.

Up at four this morning. I have a lot on my plate today. I Zoom with my UK support group, I make an asparagus salad, and I shop for two epic days of cake baking. And poor Freddy is feeling poorly. That’s a first. I shall be very attentive today. We have no vet on the island anymore, so it will mean finding a new vet if he needs medical help. Sigh. I love my boy!