Birthdays and All That

Time flies. And it drags. Really depends on the day. The last ten days or so have flown by, but the week before that absolutely dragged.
There were lots of reasons why, I wasn't feeling great, was frustrated about getting back into work (every time I travel my schedule gets upset and it takes me about two weeks to rewire and come back to some semblance of normal), and my birthday was coming up on the weekend (March 27th) but due to work and church commitments we weren't able to get together that weekend and the next weekend was iffy and the one after that was definitely out. Week nights don't work because Matthew works every evening. We are a very difficult family to schedule. So, I was just generally bummed out. And stressed. Cause of the whole bakery business thing. It is hard not to put all of ones hopes into one basket.
But last week, well, that was a different story. We got the birthday thing sorted out so we had a party at my place on this past Saturday. I got my perspective at least temporarily straightened out about the bakery and I got back into a semblance of a schedule, which makes me feel better in the end. I also got a little more on track diet wise. I'm trying to lose some weight, and every time I get off track and then get back on track I rediscover that carbs make me feel tired. I just do much better physically if I am eating less carbs. But of course, comfort food=carbs. :| And working on new recipes for the bakery doesn't help. I've been developing my croissant and puff pastry skills and um, well, of course I have to taste-test! (speaking of which, I really need to remember to take some pictures of those--let me just say, they are FABULOUS! And yes, I DO say so myself, which is pretty rare. Most of what I bake doesn't suck me in, but croissants...oh help! They are incredibly difficult to resist. Well, my croissants are, not the crap ones that you can buy in grocery stores here. Mine melt in your mouth and are just beautifully buttery and rich and delightful. *melts onto the couch)
I have to say, once we finally got my birthday all together, I had a blast! I made everyone come to my house (my birthday is the only celebration that I can really claim--being as I'm the only single one left, so I had to make the most of that). We had Cajun Shrimp, recipe thanks to Sarah and Bill, and homemade hummus with veggies and bagel chips (made by me, not from a package). And then cake. Of course cake. Well, torte actually. A beautiful, lovely chocolate mint torte. Although the mint flavoring was a little mild (I was afraid of making it too strong). It had three layers of white genoise, soaked with mint syrup and layered with creme freche. First a layer of cake, then a layer of chocolate creme freche, then a layer of meringue, then a layer of plain creme freche. Another layer of cake, a layer of creme freche with chocolate pieces, cake and then creme freche on top. To decorate the outside I made a chocolate wrap and wrapped the whole thing in chocolate and then made chocolate fans to put on top. It was fun. :D Pictures to come.
I also made a cake for my small group. Same general idea as the chocolate one, but instead of chocolate I used apricots and apricot syrup. So, all the same layers, only flavored with apricot instead of chocolate, plus a layer of apricot halves. For the outside, I did a marbled chocolate wrap and put mini meringues on top. I actually liked it better than the chocolate cake. And it was all eaten up at home group. :)
Unfortunately, one of the eventful things that happened during the making of the first cake was that I sliced my finger open (I was cutting chunks of chocolate off a brick, with my new knife). My pinky on my right hand. :( It was on the verge of an ER visit bad. But eventually, I managed to stop the bleeding (by holding my hand over my head for an hour while laying on the couch) and now five days later it seems like it is healing up pretty well. I don't think they could have done much except glue it together. But that has slowed my baking for this week. And pretty much everything else. It is amazing how much you need your pinkies. It is also amazing how accident prone I am. :| On the up side, being forced to take a break from baking is helping me to get my routine back together a little, which does relieve stress. Speaking of which, I should really get back to work. I'm trying out danishes today and making a larger sized croissant too (I prefer the small and mini sizes because they are so rich, but I was asked about a sandwich size, so...). Plus, I need to do some more editing/writing on the Facilitator's Handbook before I go let myself play...I mean work! work! yes, it is work--definitely work in the kitchen. :| *whistles innocently