Rain + credit crunch = bad market day
(All of the lemon tarts sold in no time despite the bad weather. Lemon & rain… People must subconsciously connect the two!?)
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It was the school holiday week & there was Halloween landing on the Friday. My friend A (with beautiful Martha Stewart-esque house) had organized a proper Halloween party for our children. There was to be fun dressing-up session, then the “trick-or-treating” tour at night, Halloween-themed foods & home-made pumpkin soup for dinner, then the grand finale with fireworks…
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I was dying to go. My four-year-old son would love it & I wouldn’t miss it for the world to see his first-ever “trick-or-treating”. – Y’see, a four-year-old is so much fun to be around, it is lovely! They understand reason compared to a three-year-old, but yet still genuinely pure at heart. Some of the stuff they come up with gets me smiling from ear to ear. For example, the costumed children all thought they were Draculas, Mummies, & Ghosts. As they were walking the “trick-or-treating”, they said “Don’t act Human! Otherwise people will find out!!” Cuuuute…
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I decided to do the market & also attend the Halloween party. To do so, I pretty much made the usual amount in just a day & a half instead of two, which is a silly attempt because I’m already at my limits, pushing myself hard to create as much as I can in the usual two full days. Y’see, every extra bit of chocolate & cake I can make & sell reflects on to my earnings. I have it in my head that, if I am to justify the time spent away from my children (at a time when they are the cutest & need me most), I want to earn as maximum as possible to make it worthwhile.
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I really felt more than tired… squishing my schedule like that, but…, my friend A’s party was superb (it really was Martha-esque!) – I’m glad we went.
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But… the stupid weather forecast who told me to expect interval drizzles that Saturday disappointed me again. It was a downright pour from lunchtime onwards. Come on weather-man, how wrong can you get every flipping time?! The chocolates & cakes didn’t sell well. Actually, to tell you the truth, I had to take home so much unsold stuff… I’d never-ever taken so much home, EVER. I felt so tired, so annoyed.
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And you know what, this Credit-crunch thing is spooking people out from buying. Especially the chocolates which they consider as “luxury” = something to cut back on in these hard times. I’m not sure what kind of sales to expect anymore… hopefully I’ll be alright when the Christmas season kicks in & people start throwing dinner parties, & give chocolates as presents. As for this coming weekend, people might be doing Bonfire parties…
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So, if you ever want somewhere to go on a rainy Saturday, please come to the market & help me get these cakes a home to go to!!
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ps: Oh flipping ‘eck… the weather forecast is rain AGAIN this coming Saturday…
Really, at this time of year, in that place, rain is pretty much a given. I moved from London to Washington state in the U.S., (the Seattle area) and I must say the weather certainly helped keep me from getting homesick…(not especially a ‘good thing’) I stayed there whilst raising my family, then a few years back, being terribly tired of the rainy, dark weather, moved to Arizona. I now admit this was a mistake, and am thinking of moving back to either Washington or England. I’m not so much missing the weather as I am missing the green…in everything. In Washington I had huge gardens, here it’s too hot, and the earth basically unresponsive to me, to grow all the veggies and flowers I so love. I guess the point is, one must accept the rain, as that’s why there are such lovely things growing. The economy, on the other hand, is much the same everywhere. Maybe things will change, at least here, after the election. We must simply wait and see. I do hope the holiday season will see more business for you. If I DO move back to England, I will make a point of going to the market and looking you up. I’d love one of those lemon tarts right now myself.
Comment by Carolina - November 7, 2008 5:57 pm
Hello Carolina!
Thank you for leaving a comment!
You’re right, I shouldn’t moan too much about the rain I guess. I like rainy days when I’m inside my house, listening to the rain drops, when no one is in the house & it is quiet. There’s a brief moment when it’s rather ‘Other-world-ly’… if that makes any sense…!!
As for the economy, I hear that things will be bad for the next 2 years… Like you say, lets wait & see…! xx
Comment by tamami - November 7, 2008 9:56 pm
I wish I were there to help you out… those lemon tarts look fab. :'(
It’s raining in Chicago too, if that makes you feel any better!
xx
Comment by Rachel - November 7, 2008 11:37 pm
Hi Rachel! Many thanks!! I just checked the weather forecast & they have now changed the “icon” to cloudy, and with a 12 noon rain apparently… Let’s wait & see… Well, have a nice Chicago Saturday Rachel! xx
Comment by tamami - November 8, 2008 12:23 am
Gorgeous little tarts. I loved them! I know exactly what you mean about sharing time between work and your children and the frustration of a bad day of sales in a cold wet market.
Can’t wait to visit you in London one of these weekends and cheer you up a little.
Please keep us foreigners informed!!!
C.
Comment by Claudia - November 8, 2008 7:51 pm
Thanx Claudia!
I’m writing this reply on Saturday evening, after my day at the market. – the weather was horrible… really awful. If you do visit Ldn, don’t come in November!
By the way, the “Manhã De Carnaval” Astrud version playing on your blog – very beautiful. I heard the song ages ago, but its lovely to encounter it again. I’m now gonna get it on itunes I think! Many thanx!!
Comment by tamami - November 8, 2008 10:30 pm
Hi Tamami,
Lovely to see you on Saturday.
Your cakes are amazing! and website is lovely.
My 2 favourite things cakes and nice photos.
I saw the photo of your beautiful baby girl, very sweet.
Mai-ling x x
Comment by Mai-ling - November 17, 2008 11:26 am
Wow, hi Mai-ling!
Great to hear from you. Thanx for checking the website out! :)
The picture of Sakura on this blog was taken when she was just 2 days old – & now she looks sooo different!
It’s amazing to know that we both have similar aged children.
Hope to catch up with you again down at the market!
T xx
Comment by tamami - November 17, 2008 5:42 pm
given that people have less and less disposable income to spend on, you might think of using less expensive ingredients. that does not mean that you will necessarily have to give up on quality or completely forsake it. it just means that you reajust to a new, less prosperous reality. your challenge will be to offer the best quality possible at low, competitive prices.
Comment by leo - November 18, 2008 10:16 pm
Hello Leo.
I know what you are saying! :) I’m always looking at prices…
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Most of the ingredients that I use are all from the wholesalers so I won’t find much cheaper elsewhere though.
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Obviously there’s ingredients that I can go cheaper on. Such as the eggs that I use about 120 per week. I always buy FREERANGE which are about 22 pence each. A battery farmed egg is 10 pence each. – But y’know, it’s a choice that I can’t bend on. That’s £14.40 more per week for that choice, but,oh well…!
Comment by tamami - November 19, 2008 6:54 pm
Hi,
I name is Evelyne and I am from Montreal, Canada.
I found your site while surfing the net and really enjoyed it. I love the articles and quality of your site. I linked your site to my food blog.
This coming March 2009 I will be celebrating my 2nd year of a dinner group I created. Its called Cheap Ethnic Eatz…well because we go to relatively cheap ethnic restaurants.
Not long after its creation I started a blog to do reviews of places we have discovered and I also write the occasional article on food or cooking. I also built and am currently writing a website on World Ethnic Food DOT com.
I would very much like for you to consider adding my blog or website to you blog roll.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
http://cheapethniceatz.blogspot.com
Thank you!
Evelyne
Comment by Evelyne - December 8, 2008 8:39 pm
Hello Evelyne,
thank you for your lovely comment.
I don’t add new sites on my list at the moment… sorry… – Currently, I am so busy that I don’t have the time to browse other lovely sites like yours – so I can’t exactly justify recommending it to my readers when I don’t read ’em myself, right?!
Anyway, good luck with your websites, I’m sure your foodie devotion will take you far!!
T xx
Comment by tamami - December 8, 2008 9:38 pm
Hi Tatami,
Browsing through your webpage always puts a smile on my face…a big thank you = )
God bless you,
Pris
Comment by Pris - December 12, 2008 11:37 am
Hello Pris! Wow, a bigger thank you back to you!!! Your comment’s made me smile too! xx
Comment by tamami - December 12, 2008 2:44 pm
How could anyone resist these lemon tarts?
Comment by Eileen - January 22, 2009 2:51 pm
cheers Eileen!
Comment by tamami - January 23, 2009 9:50 pm