What A Difference A Year Makes

What A Difference A Year Makes

Remember the blog entry about the Melting Cake??? Well it's been 12 months since Mother Nature played her cruel joke on me, simultaneously baking Sydney and melting my cake!

What a difference a year makes Old Woman .... My eyes are clearer, my cakes are better (and firmer) and your getting soft in your old age. Or is it just that your plans for 2014 don't include breaking any records in Sydney this January??
I shouldn't antagonise the beast. There's many a cake still to be made this Summer. I can laugh about it now ..... Still wish I had seen a photo of that melted cake though :)

So last week, as promised, I delivered a miniature version of that fateful wedding cake to the door of the most understanding Bride of 2013.
It was my absolute pleasure to do this as a first anniversary gift to the lovely couple.

Grabbing my car keys and walking out the door with cake in hand, a wash of panic came over me as I saw the Frustrated Painters car and realised he was well on his way to QLD in MY car with HIS car keys!!! Are you kidding me?????

His suggestion when I called for help ..... silence ....... then "there is a spare key in the drawer, it's not broken, just bent and twisted. Get a hammer and try to smash it flat"!!!!

I did and then delivered the cake.

X Nadia



Sent from my iPhone

Nothing is as simple as it seems

I love going to work, I really do, and I am one of the fortunate ones that loves their job! I am paid to play with food, bake cakes and make things out of icing. If you reread that first sentence,  you'll notice that I place particular emphasis on the word "going!"  The act of physically and mentally leaving one's home, getting in the car/bus/train and travelling a distance to one's workplace. This, I love. But with four kids, there is a hell-of-a-lot-of behind the scenes that goes into making that happen.......

So last Wednesday night, after 5 hours of Baton twirling training with 11 kids to yell at, a further hour of general preparation for the following school day ahead and then another 4 hours of fiddling with cake pops, I finally got to bed.   With roughly 4 hours sleep under my belt, I dragged myself out of bed at 6:30am and hit the ground shuffling for a long day ahead.
The Frustrated painter was on school drop off duty, which allowed me the luxury of simply going to work. Rephrase that....... there is no "simply" anything when  kids are involved. The preparation, to allow me this luxury, was anything but simple, but in the end, simply walk out the door I did.

I arrived at the Studio a good hour and a half later, scanning for somewhere to park my beast of a car as I drove up the narrow, already car-lined street. I have to admit, I must be a sight, turning up to inner city studios, where there is limited parking, limited road size and more often than not, height restrictions as well. I drive a 100 series, Landcruiser with 33 inch mud tyres, a 2 inch lift, heavy duty roof racks and and a candy cane aerial made for the CB and UHF that seriously is, taller than my kids. I don't look like I'd have the strength to carry my boxes, let a alone manouvre a car like the one I drive!!! . I left my car parked across the studio driveway and wandered into the studio,  politely asking the photographer if there was somewhere close by I could park OR if I could park in here (with the other cars) Something tells me, the next part of the conversation did not go the way he imagined. "Could you have brought a bigger car?" he commented. "Well that is my car. I don't have a smaller one," I replied.  He went on to say "You can leave it in here, but I have to fit in 6 cars," as he put his hand out for my keys??  I think my puzzled look and refusal to hand over my keys confused him. "You don't trust me?" I questioned as I eyed him, sizing up my car and the size of the entrance to his studio, the 4 cars I had to move around and then me! "It's my car, I drive it all day everyday, I can park it myself!!" I didn't mean to be rude and I certainly hope he did not take offence. I just spoke the truth. He reluctantly agreed that I could move my own car and  watched me like a hawk, as I used my best precision driving skills..... I missed all four cars, both side walls, his garage door and parked as close as humanly possible to the car in front to allow all the other cars he was expecting, a parking space of their own. With all that done.....I could finally get on with my job :)
It seems its just as hard to get into the Studio as it is to get out of my own house!!!!

This is how my every day starts!!! Coffee :) 

Just another busy day at work! This time from Gloria Jeans at Cronulla .....

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Ready Steady Cook and the video clip

One of the advantages of so many children is there is always one of them around, usually asking me for something, but nonetheless, there is always one right by my side. An added advantage is this generation of kids are coputer savvy, ipod able and technologically gifted. Put these two together and you have an 8 year old that can film a video clip of me decorating one of my cakes, add special effects and upload it to Youtube.

So here it is.......

This was the cake that I was asked to make for the filming of the 1000th Celebration show for Ready Steady Cook. This is one of the many parts that no 3 filmed and the part that she gave me permission to post on my blog. I hope you like it.

X Nads