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& God knows when the last time I sold out without giving any discount…!

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Recently in London, the weather is hot hot hot, reaching 25 to 30 degrees, every day. – It’s proving a bit hazardous for me, as last week, my chocolate tarts melted despite being in the shade of the tarpaulin sheet roofing. – So this week, I skipped making them, & concentrated on making more fruit tarts instead (x1.5 more than usual). This decision obviously payed off! – Phew!! Otherwise, what am I supposed to do with all them fruit tarts??
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I also didn’t make lemon tarts at all because of the eggy-cream which would spoil too easily in such a hot weather. And I made slightly less of the brownies too, because I recently noticed that people seem to lose appetite for gooey chocolate in extreme weather like today. Funny old thing about the relationship of hot weather & food is that even “I” wanted to eat healthily – opting for the veggie salad lunch from a few stalls to my right. I also bought a big bottle of water to keep hydrated.

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Today, MORE bloggy visitors came by – like the American lady from Berlin, mother & daughter who BOTH read my blog, & a Japanese lady. TTTTThank you!!
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Last week I finally changed my mobile, after using the last one for 8 years! (This time I got the fancy new iPhone. C’mon, I deserve it…) My old phone has many old text messages that I couldn’t bring myself to delete – for example, there’s one that was sent from my D when our first child was born & I had to stay over night at the hospital without him. – The one below is another that I kept – sent to me from D all the way back in ’01. I just love the way he spelt coffee! As if like Al Pacino in his gangster movies!!

(Image courtesy of Ms.M – I always had problems photographing my chocolate bird tart – but look how beautifully Ms.M shot it!)

(Image courtesy of Ms.M – Apparently these serveware (from Boleslawiec, Poland) are hugely popular with the Japanese crowd recently. I can see why! It is soo rustic-cute!)

(Image courtesy of Ms.M – And this is my new tablecloth. It is natural linen with blue stripes)

(Image courtesy of Ms.M – And look! There’s the new cheese cake!)

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More & more I seem to write less frequently here – I don’t know exactly why not, because I actually have tonnes to write about!

Like…

I’ve been wanting to write about how I came to perfect my new ‘Baked Cheese Cake’ by slightly adjusting it week-by-week, 10 grams of this & that one week & oops, let’s go back a 10 gram another week, until I finally settled to its best ingredient ratio (It took 6 weeks of tinkering to perfect the creamy texture). And I want to write about how my regular customer (body builder with heavy tattoos) have been buying these cheese cake slices from its week 1 debut. And about how he ONLY buys cakes from my stall…!
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And then I want to tell you about how I came to sell wooden rabbits alongside my cakes, &, &, &… the article I wrote for somebody else’s website about London, & about the little mention about me in a very famous weekly magazine… &, &…
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& as for this ‘Baked Cheese Cake’, now that it is publish-ably good, I’ve been meaning to post the recipe here on my website, but yep, you know me folks! There’s probably going to be a looo-ng wait ahead ’til we see that post…! (Just like how it took me 6 months to post the Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe!)
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Well… instead, I’m gonna tell you about my bloggy visitors. I’m starting to get a fair number of you guys visiting me at my stall now – it is so totally amazing! THANK YOU! There’s been Londoners, aswell as people from outside London – & quite a number of French people using the Eurostar, some Germans, & a few Americans! They all mention this blog & say that’s how they made a point of scheduling Broadway Market in their visit! THANK YOU! – If there are any readers who would also like to come to the market in the future, please come by the stall & let me know that you’re a reader – I’m always up for a chat!

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About a month ago, a Japanese blogger came by my stall (early in the morning!^^ な〜んてね!また来てね！) & took Ah-MAZING pictures. Seriously good. When I saw these images on her blog page, I thought to myself “I want these…”. So I asked for her permission to use it on here. I’m sure you’ll all agree that this Ms.M has huge talent!

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Ms.M used Nikon D70 for these but recently upgraded to D90. Since then I’ve been pondering on getting myself a SLR camera like hers (I currently have Canon G9 – & now & then sneakily use D’s D80 for my blog pictures). What sealed the deal for my shopping conviction was when Ms.T, another blogger, came by my stall & showed me her Lomo LC-A camera. I’ve been a huge fan of her nostalgic-looking pictures on her blog – & so my thought turned to getting Lomo LC-A instead of SLR which would be alot pricier at £800+.

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Also, the thought of going back to old-skool 35mm film made the idea twinkly romantic – it may be cumbersome to have to go get it processed everytime, but there’s that magical moment of getting the prints back – tangible, to hold in your hands, not the digital RPG representation on your computer screen.
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Then! (yes, the story continues!) My cheap-skate mindset got hold of me when I read on the interweb that Olympus XA2 is a good & cheaper alternative to Lomo LC-A.

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So from considering an 800 quid SLR camera to then a 150 quid Lomo, settling on a 10 quid 80′s camera from ebay (it should arrive next week!) …
… That, my friends, is how one can ride this recession…! I mean, I just saved myself 790 quid! (in principle…)

The thing about being a working mum is that some things end up being on a back-burner. Be it that towering pile of washing that needs folding or that strawberry plant (looking terribly sorry) which desperately needs watering. I look at these & think: “yes, I’ll do it when I get around to it”, but the fact is, I just about get around to it when it is soooo unbearable to look at, something has to be done or else…
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I think to myself, well, it’s alright, it’s inevitable, they are not nice to live with but I’ll get by. C’est la vie. (D might have a different opinion here…!) BUT! When it comes to spending quality time with my children – well, that shouldn’t get forfeited because of mummy working right?. Surely a breach of unspoken contract. I start every morning with that belief system, but recently… …:
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The other week my son asked me to put together a Thomas the Tank Engine cut-out. It looked really fiddly. I said, “Later, Love. I’m just washing the dishes”. He asked me again on another occasion – I said, “Maybe when baby S is having a nap because it’ll be difficult to concentrate if she’s around.” Then next it was “Maybe after dinner.” And then he’ll say “What about NOW, Mommy?!” I sigh “It’s too late now, it’s bedtime”.

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Thursday, Friday & Saturdays I work full hours +, so by the time I managed to stick together his Thomas was a shameful five days later. I know… I’m crap. And I’m not happy about it. Ever since my second baby is around, I’m just so extra busy, my son is getting less & less of my time. You might say it’s normal, but… when he WANTS TO LEARN how to use a chopstick, I SHOULD be able to spend some time with him to teach, not say “maybe another time…” like I do…

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I just don’t know how I’d cope as the children will need more & more of me as time goes. They’ll need help with homework & general guidance. And I can’t rely on their grandparents to look after them all the time. Something will have to give. Which reminds me of:
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A couple of months ago there were three shops/ restaurants asking me to start (wholesale) supplying cakes to them. Plus, I was invited to participate in a chocolate festival too. It really would have been a wonderful opportunity to expand my business. I’ve heard of success stories of similar beginnings. But HOW could I do it? I’m already up to my neck with everything – with cramming in work, parenting, & housekeeping. I could start employing someone for baking more, & a driver for deliveries. Maybe rent a bigger kitchen. I could even start another market too if I go down that road. I know exactly how to go about it. I could easily double my income. But no. It’s just too much. Too much. I can’t justify giving away anymore Mummy-time.
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These thoughts got me a little depressed at the time. Not sure exactly why. Maybe because it was a reality check that this is as far as it gets… Maybe I won’t be doing the market for long? When I see young families down the market, I occasionally feel wracked with guilt that I am forfeiting Saturdays (a family day) for my work. Maybe I ought to work at a supermarket check-out during school hours instead.
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Anyway, last weekend the side mirror of our car broke off (don’t ask how), & I’m transport-less to the market this coming Saturday.

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And, remember I told you that my brother lives in Paris? Well, it seems like he won’t be for long.

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So put the two together, the decision came about to take possibly the last opportunity to visit him there – with just my son, just the two of us, traveling on the Eurostar train that my son has been obsessively talking about the past two years (boys, eh?). We’ll be visiting Euro Disney! I’m planning on quality time with him all weekend!
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So, no trading this Saturday I’m afraid. Hope you understand…

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(By the way, have any of you been to Euro Disney? Any tips? Like, should I purchase the tickets in advance or just buy it at the entrance?)

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Update 06.05.09:

I just purchased the Euro Disney tickets online!

Update 10.05.09:

Just came back! Euro Disney was great!

Hi.
I ‘d just like to let you know that I won’t be trading this Saturday. Yes yes, I know, it’s the Easter weekend, & business would probably be great, but I’ve been steadily developing a cold since two Saturdays ago (the day that was cold & hailing). I’ve kept it under control since then, working through it nevertheless, but today, I’m seriously feeling under the weather. On top of that, there are other factors that add to my decision. – My parents are away & I have been paying for childcare whilst I work. Plus, D’s best-mate is coming to stay over this Easter weekend which would be totally fun, I really like the guy, but the house is a right old tip… & this cold is making me feel unmotivated to do anything about it…

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So anyway, hopefully I will be able to use this spare time at home to finally post the ‘Lemon Drizzle Cake recipe’ (with process pictures!) that’s been in the pipeline since last October. The cake is the same one that I sell on the stall, & have several self-proclaimed fans/ followers that come back week-after-week for a slice. Funny thing is, all of these customers are male – so my presumption is: ‘lemon drizzle’ is the one cake to make for male guests…!?

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I hope all of you have a fantastic Easter weekend! And I apologize if there were any bloggy-visitors who were planning to come to my stall this Saturday. Sorry, & I really hope to see you another time…
t xxx

HIIII!!! I’m just soooo excited! I just had to share the news with you…!

I just bought a hot chocolate machine online, & am going to start selling hot drinks from this Saturday…!!! It’s sooo gonna be the best – simply proper couverture chocolate, milk & double cream (no, not cocoa powder in sight). I’ll make it thicker than your standard kind, it’ll be like liquid ganache. Oooh, imagine… I’ll place the machine just next to my truffles & the chocolate boxes – isn’t that like, totally choccy heaven or what!?

Anyway, hope it goes well. I hope I won’t be stuck with gallons of chocolate drink at home time…! I feel giddy with excitement, but anxious with worry too…

Hello. I’d just like to mention that I’ll be back trading tomorrow! I know it’ll be FREEEZING, quite probably covered in snow… – I hope that the weather doesn’t put people off coming out, because I (as usual) have made more than I can sell… (do I ever learn??)

(truffles on display)

(my stall with two handsome chaps that work the French cheese stall behind me.)

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Howdy. Happy New Year.

Are you enjoying your holiday? Me? Well…, I WAS thinking;
“yay! no more work & no more Xmas dinner mayhem! Tis the time to slow pace & rest!” … But instead…, my body decided to go in to ‘rest’ literally & got me bedridden with the most drowsy flu for three days. It was the “achy-everywhere with heavy-head” kinda flu, & not the fun “stay in bed & catch up with a spot of reading while partner-brings-hot-milk” type.

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Well, if I tell you that I made twice as much as usual on the last Saturday (20th) at the market, maybe you’ll realize that I put in twice the workload for it. Hence it is maybe not much of a surprise that my body thought it best to stick me in a bed to re-energize before the New Year’s Eve wake-up-athon (which this year’s lasted til 3.30am, hick!).

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I sold:

32 boxes of assorted chocolate truffles, 16 flourless chocolate cakes, 3 lemon drizzle cakes, 14 eight-inch tarts, 12 five-inch tarts, as well as the individual heart-shaped ones & the usual tower of brownies.
That is, in ingredients terms, I used about 12 kilograms of chocolate, roughly 8 kilograms of sugar & 6 kilograms of butter.

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It truly was the record mega make-athon ever. When I list the things I’ve made like this, even I must say, it’s unbelievable. When some customers ask where I make it, & I say at home, with a standard home-oven, they’re surprised that I can produce so much, & as D puts it, at this rate, one-day, the oven is gonna go caput…, quite possibly soon.

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I piped, rolled & coated over 500 chocolate truffles. Remembering my lesson from previous years’ Christmas market day, I pre-packed 20 boxes on Friday night. I think I finished around 2.30am.

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Come Saturday, I asked D to drive me & the goods to the market earlier than usual to set-up. THIS day is THE best sales day of the year for a cakes & chocolate stall like mine. As I’m going to take all of January off, tis the time to do as much as I can.
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The chocolate boxes went one by one. But hang on? Isn’t the pace a bit slow? My sleep-deprived head spun thoughts of “Oh no…!?”‘s… The cake sales were slow on the up-take too. Afterall, it was a gappy 5 days more to go til Christmas, & then there is the purse tightening credit-crunch… It felt as though there were less visitors this year.
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Nevertheless, eventually I sold out on the truffles. The last 4 boxes went to my dear regular customer E who also bought 4 boxes last Christmas. She tells me that it was so popular with her folks last year that she’s back for the same! Bless…
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I glance at the wall-clock in the burger shop situated opposite my stall. Truffle sell-out time this year was 1:30pm. In Year 2006, I finished selling truffles at 11:30am, then Year 2007 was at 12:40pm. It’s taking longer to sell every year it seems, but then again I’m making more & more every year so maybe these numbers don’t really mean a thing.

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I should somehow make like 700 truffles next Christmas market… (Although, the Saturday will fall on the 19th – 6 long days til Christmas Day… hm…)
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Eventually, with a bit of struggle (shouting “saaale…!”), the cakes went too. Huuuge relief, that, especially when I think back to what happened on:
The previous Saturday (the 13th), it was the complete opposite. It wasn’t my worst-ever sales day to date, but it certainly belonged to that end of the spectrum.
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Double rain drop sign was a permanent show on the weather forecast that week, & no surprises, that Saturday started with pouring rain. The tarpaulin roof cover had holes & some of my chocolates & cakes were rained on. I was furious & frustrated. I urged the market-boys double up my roof cover. They eventually did a good job.
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Half the market stalls decided to not show up (or went home in the morning), & the customers certainly had better things to do than do shopping in such a horrible rain. Only the hard-core locals were there & I stayed til 5pm, but I still had loads left. Me & my damaged goods went back home pretty sorry for oneself…

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So anyways, I was one ultra-happy-woman to do so well on the 20th. I took in record sales too. Well, only a £2.90 more than the previous years’ actually! But hey, a record is a record right? ;-)
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Like I mentioned earlier, I’m taking all of January off. My first work-date of the year will be February 7th, in time for selling chocolates for Valentines Day. Hope to see you romantics then! t xxx

(Santa’s presents set up in the fireplace as if he shot it down our chimney… yeah right, how imaginative mum… And notice the unsightly Christmas tree which got mangled by our 5 year old boy… The decoration swapped around, the bead strings yanked… It used to have 10 beautifully iced heart-shaped ginger cookies, of which there is now 1 left… Sigh, how I wish for my beautiful Christmas…!!)
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Merry Christmas everybody!!!!!!

Are you having a good time? Or if you’re reading this post-Christmas, did you have a good time? What did you get up to? Enjoying the holidays?
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Here I am, writing this at 5am, after getting up from bed to set up Santa’s Christmas presents for the children to find when they wake up. I’m still stuffed from last night’s party food. I also ate too much of the truly wicked Sticky Toffee Pudding that our neighbour brought around. It was sooo delicious, I had seconds & thirds. As the proof, my body weighs heavier I’m sure of it… They do say “a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips”… but I don’t have the ears to listen to that.
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Mind you, the good thing that came from this belt-loosening experience is that I have found the next item that I would want to sell at the market. Yes! Sticky Toffee Pudding! Yum! I’ve already got the recipe from our neighbour. It’s a recipe by Simon Hopkinson, the acclaimed head chef of Bibendum in London. I’m gonna try it out, maybe change it here or there, & look in to how it is shaped, ie: is it baked individually in a pot? or shall I slice portions from a big cake, & so on.
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Anyway, right, off to bed again now!
I’ll write about how my last two markets went next time alright?

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Sweet dreams…

t xxx

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Hello〜!

Quickie note to remind you that there are only two more Saturdays (13th & 20th) this year before the Christmas break! The market itself will be closed on the 27th, & then back to usual trading on the 3rd of January 2009.

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Although…, I’m thinking of not working throughout January, so if you wanna sample Coco&Me goods, make sure to visit me this side of the year!!

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Last Saturday, the Christmas season had finally begun (yay!) & the chocolate sales was marvelous (woo-hoo!) & the big 8-inch cakes sold pretty fast too (yesss)! – With that as the indication, I’ll be making loads & loads more the next two weeks. I’m hoping that it’ll be just as mad as last year’s Christmas rush (read about it by clicking here) when all the chocolates sold by mid-day!

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I’m sure to post more on this blog when I have more time after the 20th, so in the meantime, here’s a sneak preview of the picture of a Coco&Me wedding cake I’m hoping to write about. ‘Til then, ciao!
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(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…

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Last Monday I was invited to a Heston Blumenthal event held by The Sherry Institute of Spain. I spent the evening sipping five types of beautiful Sherry, nibbling on small but very tasty Heston canapés – all in the name of “finding the perfect food pairings with Sherry”.

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((Heston Blumenthal is the chef & owner of The Fat Duck, a three Michelin starred restaurant here in the UK. He’s most famous for his scientific approach to techniques & flavours (coined molecular gastronomy) & pushing the culinary boundaries. – For example, he makes ‘aerated chocolate soufflé’ by use of a vacuum jar to increase expansion of bubbles during food preparation…!))

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I was expecting a lecture-like situ, where we all sit down facing one direction. But instead, it was like a party. After an hour of drinking Palo Cortado Sherry (the best tasting one of the evening in my opinion), topped-up with more & more Sherry (bring it on waiter!), Heston gave a speech for about five minutes, then one-by-one, different types of Sherry & suggested foods were handed to us with accompanying notes – for us to critique. Although me & my girl-pal “L” found it all a bit giggly, because the glasses & glasses of Sherry were an intoxicating 20% alcohol content, &, coupled with accompanied by “L” that I haven’t seen for a while, it became a rather merry evening!
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The Sherry & food combo’s were:

• Oloroso – paired with – Smoked mackerel & coriander seeds rillettes. – The aroma notes of prune, hazelnut, molasses & figs balanced the smoky & oily flavour of the fish.
• Fino – paired with – Gruyere fondue & ground cloves. – The stone fruit element in the wine worked well with the cheese.
• Manzanilla – paired with - Crab with paprika on toasted country bread. – Unripe peaches & green apple aroma. Crisp acidity.
• Amontillado – paired with – Pata negra ham, peaches, balsamic vinegar, rocket & marcona almonds. – Woody & spicy aroma with balsamic note.
• Pale Cream – paired with – Scotch quails egg. – Nutty, meaty, smoky, fruity aromas.

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In all, the flavours of the foods were perfectly extended by the Sherry. We were very much impressed with it all, & were hmm-ing & ahh-ing with every one of them. Undoubtedly, eating a three Michelin starred Heston food (& in his presence) was exciting, & every plate was indeed “perfection”, just like his book title.
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The most notable by far was the scotch egg. Firstly, I looove scotch egg. And this one had quails egg which I dig more than chicken egg too. AND I don’t know HOW, but the egg was still “soft-boiled”, gorgeous yolk still oozing. Pork sausage meat juicy n’ bouncy. Ahhhh-mazing.

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So I guess you’re wondering what the purpose of the event was & how I got to be there. Well, it was all about debunking the myth that Sherry is only to be drank at Christmas, & that it can be enjoyed with simple dishes that can be made at home, all year round. – And indeed, it was a definite eye opener for me. I really enjoyed drinking it, & if you can handle the alcohol, why not have it with your dinner? Count me in to the ‘convinced’ vote. – As for why I was invited, they think food bloggers can spread the word just like journalists can. Well, if it’s a fab food event like this, please invite me again – please.

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“L” & I sat comfortably on a sofa in the corner of the room all evening. I guess we ought to have mingled, but, it seemed to be full of industry-types, & what am I going to say to them? Hi, I’m just a market stall holder? Anyway, we left when it was starting to get uncomfortable – it is a PR exercise afterall. Not for two (tipsy) girls to giggle about at. There were to be two more dishes, apparently eccles cake with stilton and Sherry butter, & then a Sherry custard cream trifle with even more Sherry tastings – but any more Sherry would’ve been a bad move anyway – I’m surprised as it is that I got home without sleeping on the train! (I nearly did…)
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(We kept forgetting to take photos… because we were hungry eager beavers & needless to say, a little tipsy…)

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(New cakes in the line-up! WINTER FRUIT TART & LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE. – The winter fruit tart was a slow burner despite it being the most delicious of the lot… And healthiest too, as it uses honey to caramelize the nutritious dried fruit & nuts… But on the other hand, the lemon drizzle was a hit! I made two cakes, one to sell as slices, & one to sell as a whole. The ‘whole’ one went in no-time while I was still setting up the stall in the morning. – I’m going to make one more next week. )

(Tower of luxury brownies: for the recipe read my past blog post!)
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Last Saturday I returned to work. And it was… fantastic! I’m still buzzing from it!

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First, the weather was sunny & beautiful. Last month was super-rainy, like almost everyday, so this weekend, loads of people were out to enjoy quite possibly the last bit of sun for the year. Someone told me that the park situated at the end of the market was just simply a sea of people! No doubt armed with goodies purchased from the market. Fantastic.
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Though, it soon became so hot, that I started to get worried about my chocolate truffles. (Would it melt? Would people want to buy chocolates in the hot weather?) But, here being England, the land of chocoholics, I needn’t have worried, because by the end of the day, I managed to sell all except for 2 boxes! (One went to my neighbour who always gives us his allotment goodies. The other box, I’m munching on as I write.) I sold ALL the cakes too. Fantastic.
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During the afternoon, when I was (unnecessarily) worrying about my truffles sales, I decided to cut some of them up as tastings to offer to potential customers who stop by. I cut about 10 ‘bits’ from a truffle, & I would say I manage to get a sale at a 5:1 ratio. Quite good going I reckon. Y’see, I thought, if I was going to have some left anyway, I might as well use it up. And besides, even if the people didn’t purchase anything, you never know, they ‘might’ one-day come back to my stall because they remembered. So that’s the future sales sorted, right?
- – Mind you, it’s a funny old thing, because the act of offering ‘tastings’ is actually an art form. Especially at a food stall market. If you leave the plate at the front, it’ll easily be wiped clean in nano-seconds & crucially no sale. I once had a young lady literally cycling past & grabbing in non-stop action. Quite amusing, but rude, I thought.

- – Since then, I whip out the plate from behind the cakes only when people stop by for more than 3 seconds. Most times, this seems to pleasantly surprises them. I then look at them in the eye while they taste, & sometimes ask what they think. Most people come back with: “ahh, lovely”‘s & “oooh, it’s nice”‘s. Now & again, I get a connoisseur-type who’d give me a paragraph. The fact is, this is great. I’m genuinely interested in what they say. And if it turns in to a sale, double great!

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Through the day, there were some people who came by my stall mentioning this blog & one that came by because she read that I’ll be back. Sooooo touching! Thank you! - Loads of locals stopped by for a chat too. It’s good to know nothing’s changed. Still the smiley people that they are.
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I love Broadway market. I love the locals, I love the type of customers it attracts, & I love my fellow stall holders. Being back is great.

(& about my Birthday trip to Lewes)

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Hello there everyone! I’ve been away from posting on the blog for sometime haven’t I…? Sorry (tell me you missed me) ^^.

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It’s because I haven’t had any exciting desserts to post about!

Since I gave birth, I’m feeling just plain flabby. I hate hate hate it (I can’t even face looking at the full-length mirror), & so I have been staying away from making & subsequently scoffing sugary desserts. Call me vain, sometimes vanity overrules appetite, even if it’s for my passion for cakes! Hope you understand…
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Wednesday two weeks ago was my birthday (32!), & so in that following weekend, we decided to drive to Lewes (a small town in SE England) to stay over at our friends L & W’s place as a special birthday treat. Loyal blog-readers would know that I tried & miserably failed to reach Lewes last year, but hurray! this time we managed to get there no problem, & in just over 2 hours!
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Our friends L & W has a beautiful daughter who has serious allergy to egg & nuts. If she were to accidentally eat any of these ingredients, it could be life threatening for her. It must be tough for the whole family when you ALWAYS have to check the ingredients list on the back of products, & to tell your toddler that some products are not for her to eat, when other kids can.

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I made the mistake of boasting to the family about my son’s wonderful strawberry toothpaste, that it is the only one my son likes. Their daughter wanted to try, & we were about to let her, when our friend spotted that the toothpaste has horse chestnut listed in its ingredients… It was a total shock, & then horror moment for me – that a toothpaste had nuts as an ingredient, & that I could have made their little girl very ill.

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It didn’t occur to me that a non-food product could also be dangerous for her. I was then told that even a small amount of nut-oil that happened to be hidden in the hand moisturizer that her mummy was using would swell up the little girl’s hands by contact.
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So it is no surprise that her house is a ‘egg & nut free haven’. And that we were treated to foods under that rule.

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Soon as we arrived, L made us beautiful lunch – & while we were eating it in their country-side garden, L had a chocolate cake baking in the oven. The delicious smell wafted & lingered in the air. Ahhh…, I love home-baking. Nothing like the excitement of straight-from-the-oven cake for dessert. But when L told me it’s Vegan, & that it uses vegetable oil & vinegar as replacements to butter & eggs, I felt a little wary & my excitement deflated. I felt deprived of “the real thing”. Butter & eggs gives cakes flavour, so replacing them didn’t sound at-all apetizing.

(The science: Mixture of vinegar & the bicarbonate of soda creates carbon dioxide gas & raises the cake as it tries to escape out. (you can inflate a balloon this way!) And as for the inclusion of vegetable oil: it is 100% fat in replacement of the fat from the butter that you would’ve used. Butter has atleast 80% milk fat.)

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BUT to my surprise, it was totally TASTY! It was super moist & airy too. And you know what? I can even go as far as to say that I rate the “moist-ness” better than any other chocolate cake I’ve tasted in years (except for my very own ‘Moist Chocolate Cake’ from my stall ofcourse! ^^). And that is a big statement coming from a cake-fanatic like myself. I must say though, that it lacks in the depth of chocolate flavour, but eating it with the ganache filling sorts that problem out.
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So here is the recipe that I scribbled from L’s copy of “Allergy-free Cookbook” by Alice Sherwood. (The recipe book gets a big thumbs up from L who says every recipe in it is really good.) I took the liberty of changing the measurements around a bit to make it slightly more chocolatey, & less oily. I replaced the castor sugar it suggests to light brown sugar for the molasses flavour. Oh, & converted the there-abouts ‘tablespoon & teaspoon’ measurements to proper & precise grams n’ milliletres!

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The book gives you a choice of either spreading chocolate ganache cream or chocolate buttercream (both dairy-free). Both cream recipes are at the end of this post. The chocolate buttercream was a bit too sweet for me, but it was popular with children. The amount of sugar together with the sugary cake scares the heck out of me though… – I suggest if you’re going to serve this cake to grown-ups, go for the ganache.
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Please bare in mind though that if you’re going for the ganache option, nut-free chocolate may be hard to obtain. Most Confectioners use nuts in many of their products, & they might be using the same production-line to make products without nuts in the ingredients. This is where the problem for people with nut-allergy lies. Pretty much all the chocolate bars on the market may have traces of nut, or nut-oil.

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Thankfully there is a UK-based company Kinnerton who produces guaranteed nut-free chocolate products. It is apparently sold in selected Sainsbury, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons & Waitrose stores. Or you can buy in bulk directly from them too. Kinnerton has really gone the extra mile to manufacture nut-free products by allocating nut-free zones, as well as following strict safety measures to keep it nut-free. Read all about how they did it on their website.
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There are a few moderations I’ve made to the recipe:

• Vinegar is to be added as the very last ingredient. – It’s to delay it reacting with the soda. You should get the maximum rising-power out of it that way.
• I’ve included cherries & jam. – Our friend L spread fruit jam in-between the layers & mixed cherries in to the cake, which I thought really made this extra special.
• I propose using apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar as the book suggests. – Apparently the concentration of acidity is stronger, & without any scientific background, I’m hoping it’ll react even more with the soda & produce a fluffier sponge. – It’ll add a tiny bit more flavour to the cake too. And did you know that cider vinegar is good for treating sore throat? – Hey! A cake that’s good for illness? Now we’re talking!!
• And optionally, you can add a splash of Kirsch cherry liquor in to the ganache to add to the cherry theme!

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Egg, dairy & nut free chocolate cake Recipe:

(serves 10-12)

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Ingredients for the sponge:

• 330g of plain flour
• 400g of light brown sugar
• 12g of Bicarbonate of Soda
• 65g of nut-free cocoa powder
  

  (Note: check the back ingredients list to make sure it is nut-free. Cocoa powder is often made in chocolate factories that also handle nut products.)

• 2g of salt
• 450ml of unsweetened soya milk
• 90ml of corn or other nut-free vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
  

  (Note: don’t use olive oil as its flavour is too distinct)

• 23ml of white vinegar
• 7ml of vanilla extract
• A large tin/ jar of pitted cherries
• Fruit jam of your choice (cherry, apricot, strawberry, raspberry, etc)

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You’ll need:

• 2 x 20cm (8 inch) round baking tins

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Method for the cake sponge:

• 1. Pre-heat oven to 180C (350F, gas mark 4).
• 2. Grease both tins with oil. (No need to line it with grease-proof paper. The oil on the tin & the oil from the cake is sufficient enough lubricant for de-moulding the cakes.)
• 3. Sift together the dry ingredients in to a bowl: flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder & salt. (The light brown sugar tends to clump, so please don’t skip sifting!)
• 4. Mix together the wet ingredients in another bowl: soya milk, oil, & vanilla extract.
• 5. Mix wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
• 6. Stir in the cider vinegar.
• 7. Divide mixture in to two greased tins.
• 8. Spread evenly.
• 9. Evenly scatter the cherries on top of the batter. Here make sure you don’t place any cherries in the centre – this way you’d be able to cut a clean slice with a straight angle when serving.
• 10. Bake for 40 minutes, until it rises, & is firm to the touch.
• 11. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, & then turn out on to a wire cooling rack ( – I like to cool it upside down, so that the domed top becomes flat surface perfect for icing). Cool completely.
• 12. Make the dairy-free ganache or the chocolate buttercream using the recipe below.
• 13. Place one sponge upside down on the stand/ platter on which you’re going to present on.
• 14. Slather jam of your choice.
• 15. Use spatula to spread 5mm thickness or so of the ganache/ buttercream.
• 16. Pop the other sponge on top.
• 17. Artfully (painterly) slather the rest of the ganache/ buttercream on the top & the sides.

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Ingredients & method for the dairy-free ganache:

• 150ml soya cream (in place of double cream)
• Nut-free & dairy-free dark chocolate 200g
• 100g castor sugar
• 7ml Kirsch cherry liquor
  Method: Bring soya cream & sugar to simmering point & pour over the finely chopped chocolate. Mix gently with spatula (If the chocolate has not fully melted, zap it in the microwave 10 seconds at a time until melted). – Use immediately.

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Ingredients & method for the dairy-free chocolate buttercream:

• 175g dairy-free spread
• 400g icing sugar
• 90g of nut-free cocoa powder
• 10g of vanilla extract
  Method: Cream the dairy-free spread to thoroughly soft. Add vanilla extract & mix. Slowly & gradually add icing sugar & cocoa powder until creamy and smooth in texture. Use immediately.

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(In Lewes, we visited Southover Grange gardens. I was extremely happy to get a proper porcelain mug (& not the usual paper throw-aways with plastic lids) for my Rooibos tea from their kiosk! And how wonderful that everyone dutifully returns it to the kiosk when they finish! (if this was a park in London, more than half would probably disappear I’m sure…) – It reminds me of drinking Glühwein from a porcelain mug at a German Xmas market, but only you’d have to pay extra first, & you’d get a little money back if you return the mug!)

(From left: Me, L, cutie girl I, W, & my boy upside down. And in the right picture, my daughter S asleep.)

(Ready to face the world with fighting pose!)

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On Tuesday 18th of March, in the early hours of the morning, the baby decided to ‘knock on the door’ to let us know that she is ready to come out & face the world.

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With that, we got up quickly & changed from our PJs. The curious thing was that I was the first to get ready. I tried to maintain calm but I must admit, I did shout about ordering people:

“What ARE you doing!? There’s no time to brush hair or brush teeth!! COME ON! COME O-N!” I mean, it doesn’t take much time to put your trousers & then coat on, right??

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The good thing was, Lady Luck was on our side. Since it was way before the morning rush hour, the ride to the hospital was super smooth, with no traffic to stop our way. Honestly, thank Goodness it didn’t take long, because the labour pains were kicking in pretty fast during the ride & I was growing anxious by the minute. – I still shudder with the thought of what if this had happened during the day? The car ride could’ve easily have taken as long as an hour…! Or what if D or my father happened to be not by me? Who would’ve driven me in then??

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Once at the hospital, things were happening quickly, & at 9.28am, she was born – instantly filling the room with a fantastic cry. The nurses straight away commented on what good lungs she has!

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I got to hold her straight away. My first sight of her was a bit blurry what with my eyes gone all watery with emotion, but I could see that she was perfect in every sense & I was soooooo happy. I think I was muttering “thank you” repeatedly.
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(She’s half-German, half-Japanese. But she’s definately inherited my Japanese almond-shaped eyes! The forehead & hair is D’s.)

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So, the name:

After a week of calling her “the baby”, we settled on naming her SAKURA. It means ‘cherry blossom’ in Japanese. But for the kanji symbol, rather than using the kanji for ‘cherry blossom’, we decided to spell it like this: 咲良, made up of two symbols, as it sits better with her European surname. Not only does the first kanji means ‘to blossom’, it also means ‘to smile’ in ancient Chinese. – May she be blessed with good smiling people surrounding her, herself always smiling. May she be as beautiful as the cherry blossom, that warms everyone’s hearts with messages of Spring’s arrival.

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Yup! Another (!) quick note to say that I’m taking a six month break from the market, starting now.

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May I take this opportunity to mention a BIG THANK YOU to all the customers who had visited my stall the last two & a half years. I cannot express my gratitude to you deeply enough. Each one of you have changed my life in a multitude of positive ways. I really can’t wait to get back come this September/ October & see you all again!! – Also, I’d like to express a big thank you to the market team. I understand there’s no such thing as a maternity-leave for street traders, so I am very grateful that you have agreed to secure my slot & have me back in six months’ time. I am so lucky to be trading at such a lovely lovely market.
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Time flies by so quick – I’m expecting to give birth end of this month!

We’ve started to get things in readiness for her. – We went to buy her first ever garment (from a Swedish shop called Polarn O. Pyret) this weekend, & D has brought down the cot-bed (that our first child used) from the attic & gave it a good wipe down.

The pram, the carry-cot, the baby bath tub, the baby car seat, the baby alarm, the bottle sterilizer, the changing table… It’s wonderfully marvelous to think that this time we have all these things already to hand – I remember first time round it was very time-consuming, stressful & tres expensive having to go shopping for all of these!

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Anyway, I’ll still be posting stuff on this blog, so please stay tuned!
t xxx

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Hi – just another quick note to say I will be at the market this Saturday!! :)

Hope to see you there!!

t xxx

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Hi – just a quick note to say that I decided to not work this Saturday…
My stomach is very tight & the discomfort is way too much, I am not sleeping very well. I feel so tired & my feet is swelling. NO-WAY can I work like I want to.

If only you could see me right now, with wacking bags under my eyes…, the face expression-less, walking up the stairs so slowly & uncomfortably, I sure look like an extra from a zombie movie. D might also be able to confirm to you that I’m recently a bit short with the people around me, which is probably not a fantastic state of mind when you’re in a serving sector…!
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I feel so down about going back on my words. I really want to work. I told loads of customers that I’d be there…

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I feel ‘defeat’… I really hate myself when I’m like this… I feel so blue… sob.
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ps: The baby is moving & kicking ALL THE TIME, which is absolutely wonderful, it’s a sign of life, that she’s healthy & active. So I’m not worried. The doctor says that all this movement signifies the baby’s active personality already. So maybe I’m carrying an Olympian Netball Captain or a female Kung-fu Master. – Although the only complaint is that my stomach feels bruised inside with her full-on punches & kicks. Just very uncomfortable all the time…

(Don’t forget! It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow!)

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Saturday 9th of February:

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To be honest, I nearly didn’t do it.

I waddle-walk like a penguin, can’t bend over to pick things up, & I’m very S.L.O.W. at everything I do. All the typical pregnancy discomforts present, staying comfortable becoming a challenge. I really worried if I could ‘do it’, standing in the kitchen for 2 whole days & then standing/ selling outside on a winters day…

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But, my pal A (who’s the girl that started this business with me initially) offered to help me out at the stall on Saturday. If this was anybody-else, maybe I would’ve been weary, but we’re talking about Ms.A, who’s done it before, & I trust her completely. And I also looked forward to spending time with her – so much girly catch-up to do!
She’s a good woman, that A. She was even there waiting at the stall before we arrived, & helped with the setting-up, which I feared would’ve been the most strenuous task for me. (THANK YOU A!)
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The day itself turned out superbly so – I realized once again that the market-life gives me so much pleasure. There were countless “You’re back!!”‘s & “I missed your cakes/ chocolates!!”. So heart-warming. Plenty of “How have you been?”‘s which develops to lengthy chats, exchanging new news. It was exceptionally sweet when the two girls (sisters) who have been regularly spending their pocket money on me the past 2 years, came up & excited said: “We didn’t know you’re pregnant! Really really REALLY happy for you! Wow! Congratulations!! Soooo happy!!!”. They showed true happiness & radiated smiles so natural that only children can do. – it was positively infective.
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Perfect blue sky brought outside many many people & the market was totally buzzing. Thermometer reached 16.6c apparently, & it was the warmest day for this time of year in over a century. The cakes & the chocolates went quickly, & I sold out except for half a dozen raspberry truffles, which got munched to non-existence on the way home.

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Two blog readers came to visit my stall too (seperately). I was so happy to see them! Thank you for coming by guys.

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- Ms.J came to buy a tart for her neighbour (how nice are you!?) & then came back to the stall again later on to buy a brownie! (It was great chatting to you, & I hope to see you again for another chat!) – Ms. J has just excellently written a report on her visit to Broadway Market. Check it out on her blog!
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- And then there was Ms.R in the afternoon, who kindly gave the baby on it’s way it’s FIRST EVER PRESENT!! It’s a very very sweet Miffy book about dreams. It was so pleasantly unexpected & I was lost for words (for once)! THANK YOU! – I made Ms.R sign & date it. It’s gonna be a family treasure!
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(With so much going on, I didn’t get to photograph the market & it’s beautiful weather, so here is a picture that D took on our way home, just before 5pm, near where we live. – As some of you know, we moved to a new area recently, & as you can tell from the picture, it is on a hill with amazing views across London. (Although our house does not have a wonderful view like this, instead look on to a block of flats…). We are in love with our new area, we often talk about how it’s like KIKI’s town, what with a church at the end of the road just like the film!)

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i’m scheduling to work for another 3 weeks at the market, so I hope to see you there! t xxx

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Hello! You got any plans lined up for this coming Saturday?

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Just a quick reminder to everyone that I’ll be trading at the market this Saturday. It’s going to be one of the few times that I’ll be there (for this half of the year atleast…), so can I tempt you to hop along?

Tamami xxx

(Christmas Time! I displayed my newly purchased Christmas wreath from Sally Bourne Interiors (I like it because it makes me think of Dragon scales). I also had twigs of Mistletoe on my table, given to me by a neighbouring stall holder.)

(This week’s star product was definitely the chocolate assortment box! All the boxes sold out by 12:40pm!!! – - The truffle flavours were raspberry, hazelnut crunch, classic & caramel.)

(My stall & my bump.)
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Saturday 22nd at the market was Madness.

The chocolates were flying off the stall with mesmerizing speed. It was very stressful to keep up with the demand. – Despite pre-filling some of the boxes late Friday night, those filled ones got sold so quick, I was having to fill more boxes while customers waited. Some waited for 20 minutes, while I had to pack the back-orders that kept piling up, & I felt terrible. – And so it was around 12:40pm when I sold-out on them that I finally relaxed, & ripped myself away from the stall table to buy a pain-au-chocolat (from the De Gustibus artisanal bread stall) for breakfast, & pour myself some Rooibos Tea from the thermal flask.
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The second best-seller of the week was the ‘Flour-less Chocolate Cake’. They also quickly disappeared off – & was sold out by 1:30pm. I wish I had made more of these cakes & the chocolate truffles… I could have sold a lot lot more – possibly double as much – the opportunity was there – but as D puts it, I’d be crazy to increase work-load as I was at my limits already (more like ‘past’ my limits actually!).

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Many customers asked questions on how long these cakes last, as they wanted to serve them on the 25th. Three days is a bit of a big gap for leaving cakes around, especially the ones with fresh fruit like raspberries.

- I know this is gonna sound like I’m a dim-wit, but I didn’t know until I started doing a market stall that every year the week-day goes one forward:

ie: If this year’s Saturday is on the 22nd, next year’s will be on the 21st – although there’s the exceptional years when a February has 29 days (leap year), then it jumps two days forward.

Next Christmas (2008) is such a year & will lie on the 20th. FIVE DAYS away from Christmas Day is a huge gap – I do wonder if it’ll dent the sales… We’ll see I guess…
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What are you doing this Christmas? (Or, if you’re reading this post-Xmas, what did you do?) Tell me! I can bet it’ll be better than mine, as…:
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The new UK government guideline suggests pregnant women abstain from consuming alcohol completely – so, for me, this Christmas would be spent sober – while everyone around me would be merrily drinking themselves silly…

When I was pregnant first time round (back in 2003), the guidelines were that women can drink one or two units of alcohol (the equivalent of a single glass of wine) once or twice weekly. But this year’s Christmas, I’ll be pulling the crackers & putting a stupid paper hat on rather straight-headed. Oh Joy…
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Christmas Recipe:

- Combine loads of good wishes,

- whisk together heart full of love & armful of hugs.

- Sprinkle with laughter & garnish with mistletoe.

- Top off with presents.

- Serves everyone!