Please don't snow!

I have a baking craving hitting me, and not wanting this crave to also hit my waistline, I really would like to be able to get into work tomorrow so I can experiment with the Cappuccino cupcakes and Espresso cupcakes this afternoon and have people around to eat them for me.

I will report on how they go later on!

And here they are... well the Espresso cupcakes at least. As the snow started to fall Sunday evening I wimped out on making a second batch of cappuccino ones to go with them (I can make those later in the week now).



I think they went down well again and had all gone by mid morning.

phew, luckily I didn't bake!

Well, it's a good job I decided to have a week off my baking challenge. Otherwise I would have been chomping my way through 20-40 (depending on how carried away I got) cupcakes because I haven't been able to get into work today due to snow.

So, I have been working from home and I have enjoyed having some time to really get stuck into some thinking for work. Although, I have found half an hour to bake myself a small helping of some chocolate based cake refreshment. I had to - otherwise I might have gone and punched the boy next door. Teenage boy, loud thumping music and trying to concentrate do not go together well. I am much calmer again now and settling down with tea and cake to work some more.

It is also lucky that this cake was "just for me" as being an eager beaver and not being able to wait to get into that chocolate cakey goodness I tried to turn it out of the cake tin too early and left half of it behind. It's not even fit for a picture.

Gingerbread with Lemon Icing

Thursday saw me taking Gingerbread with Lemon Icing in along with my collection tin. I split these between both Level 8 (where I am now) and Level 6 (where I used to be). They went down well and got me another £25 in donations! Hoorah. I put some little pink ribbons on them again (the featured cake in the picture is one of the last ones I had left to grab a quick snap of, the pink ribbon ones all got snapped up).

I think opinion is split over the favorite between Carrot Cake and Gingerbread.

I might have a quiet week on the baking front this week. And return with a vengence the following one. It's really hard not to get over excited and try out every recipe on my work collegues - perhaps the scientist in me should plot out the average weight of participants in the cake challenge before and after I have exhausted cake possibilities.

One thing is certain "Nigella: How to be a domestic goddess" is getting it's fair share of use. I love that book!

My First Pennies!

I have raised my first 20 pounds for Breast Cancer Care! I am so chuffed.

My Carrot cakes went down a storm on Monday, flying off the shelves by 11:30 in the morning. I had some very positive comments, 2 requests for the recipie and many dissapointed faces when I came in empty handed the next day.

Therefore, spurred on by this sucess I knocked up a new batch of Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese icing and bought them into work to take to my old department (I have moved levels at work) to taste test on them. These went down equally as well. What's more when I counted up the pennies in my collection tin and worked out what I was getting per cake (market research on pricing you see), despite being different cakes and different groups of people the average pence per cupcake was exactly the same to the nearest penny. Incredible! and I can report it was a very generous amount of pence at that.

I have also had some really enthusiastic feedback about my fundraising and offers of things for my stall and help with the fundraising effort. I am quite touched. I think the bringing cakes to work has plenty of legs in it still and so for the next few weeks I have my little baking projects to focuss on.

Ballons, badges and cupcakes.

My Parcel of goodies arrived on Friday. It contains pink balloons and a Breast Cancer Care banner along with some pink ribbon pins and a collection tin. I am ready to fundraise!


I have also had another bash at cupcakes.



Todays attempt is carrot cake with a cream cheese icing and little rolled-and-cut-out icing ribbons. I am much happier with how they are starting to look and after making 20 I am starting to see which ones look the best. I need to perfect how to get enough mixture in the case to give a nice big cake but without them growing like volcanoes in the middle. Some of them I chopped off (and greedily ate) the peaks in the middle so I could ice them flat, others I just left nice and big. I am going to take them in and try them out at work and so will be interested to see which go down the best.... do I go for visual perfection or rough and ready!



I also went and did " Market Research Part 2". I went along to Gargrave Flea Market in the village hall to see if I should hold a stall there. I think it could work. I have to pay a small fee to rent a table but they said they had around 300 people walk through the door on a good week, with Easter Sunday which I am planning for usually doing very well. They have craft stalls and general bric-a-brac so my ideas could fit in nicely. I sussed out that the village hall sells slices of cake for 60p (quite small peices too) but they wouldn't mind me doing a cake stall for charity.

Practice makes perfect!

hmmmmm... I think I am going to need to practice my cupcake baking skills.

On Wednesday I made a victoria sponge and some cupcakes. After a very successful first attempt the previous week (with free range eggs that my mum's chickens had laid), this week my cake was a bit of a flop. To make matters worse I sent it into work with James to share round. Doh! oh well not much of it came home so I guess it couldn't have tasted that bad.



I have had a first bash at the icing of cupcakes (I only made a handful of cakes). This needs a lot of perfecting and I am going to look into rolling out thick icing to loop over into pink ribbons rather than icing them. But as this is the first time I have really ever iced anything you have to start somewhere.

However, it has convinced me that I need to practice this skill. Especially if I am to be making them for the WI!

I have decided that my work collegues would be excellent candidates as taste testers over the coming weeks. Plus if I leave some in the kitchens at work with a collection tin and a note about my fundraising it will start to get the word out. Killing two birds with one stone.

I have contacted Breast Cancer Care and I have a fundraising pack coming to me which I am quite excitedly awaiting the arrival of. This will contain collections tins, banners, balloons, posters and pins. Everything a budding fundraiser could need.

I have also got a second event lined up in the next village. I can have a stall on Easter weekend at Gargrave flea market. Woo hoo! I am therefore going to be going to do "Market Research Phase 2" on Sunday to check out what goes on at these events and whether I will be able to make some money for the charity this way (I would have to hire this table for a small fee).

Feeling the pinch.

Owch..... my 2nd annual mammogram is now complete. I went earlier this week to get "evil" and "good" boob squeezed into impossible shapes no breast should be squeezed into. Just when you think the nurse can contract 2 plates together no further... oh, there you go a little tighter still. Combine that with needing to stand with your feet here, face your body here, relax you shoulder here and hold the other boob out of the way (;-D) here. All in all it's a bit of a giggle!

I go into clinic in a couple of weeks to find out the results.

Market Research

This morning I have been out doing some market research and schmoozing with the coffee morning crowd. It's been a very productive morning and I am all fired up and excited.

Last week I contacted the lady who organizes the village coffee mornings..... who contacted a lady from the WI who would be running a coffee morning in April..... who put it before the WI committee.... who decided to let me have a stall at their fundraiser coffee morning. Woo Hoo!

So I am going to be able to do a special Breast Cancer Care cake stall (I am thinking pink ribbon cupcakes and pink ribbon cookies). I had quite a great response from all the ladies I chatted to. I spoke to the lady on the cake stall to find out the best sellers and prices. I chatted to the lady on the hand-made card stall, who offered to make some cards for me to put out on my stall to sell too.

So step 1 has been taken and now I have to refine my stall ideas.

That time of year again.

My annual mammogram and check up appointments have arrived. So I will have to be popping in and out of work a couple of times over the next few weeks to go to these. Hopefully they should all be pretty straight forward; I am not expecting any nasty shocks - but then no-one ever does I guess.

Work is going really well. I am still doing 4 days a week, with Wednesday as my day-off. I am actually pushing myself quite hard and doing quite long days which actually feel really good and I am feeling really motivated about it all.

I am also getting back into exercising. What with the cruise and then Christmas it has all fallen by the wayside. But I am going to try to get out walking most days with some swims and Pilates thrown in for good measure. Saturday's should start working out really well. I can drop James off by the canal in Gargrave for his long training runs and then go off to the swimming pool to be finished for when James runs to meet me in Skipton. I am working myself up to getting back on the bike alongside him (I might have to look at alternative routes other than the canal for this first).

Happy New Year!

Well, it's 2009 now so I had better get started on my new fundraising challenge for this year.

The first steps have been taken. James has started his training and this morning he went for a long-ish training run along the canal. I went too, only this time I was simply a spectator and was in charge of taking a photo of him "in training" so he could set up a a running blog and a fundraising JustGiving site (links to the left).

Now I have to start thinking about the other part of our challenge; fundraising parties and other things. I have a few ideas in mind to start researching and throwing myself into for the new year. James and I are going to throw a big party (pink theme and date to be announced shortly). I quite like the idea of organising some kind of small-ish pink champagne and pampering event. Also, after the success of my macmillan cake making frenzie last year, I have made a contact in the local village coffee morning organising committe and I am thinking a mammoth pink cup-cake baking effort could be on the cards. So first things first I will have to take myself off to a coffee morning one Saturday and find out how these things work. I am also going to get in touch with breast cancer care to get some pink fundraising accessories and collection tins to complement any events I might do.

So I plan to put my best foot forward alongside James and match his effort in this fundraising work.

Home again.

Well, I am back now.

I am struggling to cope with being back in the "Real World" and am having Afternoon Tea withdrawals. I feel like I should be getting dressed up for dinner each night and I am quite put out that I have to pull my own duvet back in order to get into bed.

I also stepped onto the scales as well. The official weight gain from a 12 day cruise is 5lb. This was despite Swimming for 30 minutes on 2 days, Taking part in a Salsa aerobics class on 1 day and spending 30min plus in the gym on the bikes (which are much easier to control than normal bikes so I was quite safe) on 3 days! I am sure James won't mind me saying that he has had the same result despite running 5k almost every day (apart from the really rough days when the treadmill became quite a dangerous place to be). Phew, quite damaging.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole cruise experience.

Day 12 - Last Day at Sea.

For our last day James had his final talk to give and then we went for a celebratory pub lunch of fish and chips. Yum. As it was the last day we made sure we made it up for afternoon tea and I stocked up on cake products.



As this was to be our final meal we went for Champagne and Canapes in the commodore club with our fellow table guests.

Day 11 - At Sea

James had another talk to do today and it went very well again.



I haven't any photo's from dinner this evening. We tried something a little different and went to the Alternative Dining Area for their Indian night. We were so excited by the posh Indian food we were brought out that I completely failed to take any photos. What made it all the better was that we had tried to go the previous day and it was booked out, but today we went with George and Lois (the other onboard speaker and his wife), who knew a man and got us in. Result. It was curry, Cunard style!

Day 10 - Malaga

The weather in Malaga was a bit rainy so we stayed on the ship in the morning. However, when it cleared up and turned sunny later on we hopped on shore for a quick beer/coffee in a cafe.

Dinner tonight - semi-formal. We started it off in the Chart Room bar, I had the cocktail of the day "Berries Delight" - slightly dissapointing after the Martini's I have sampled previously.

Day 9 -AT SEA

A lie in! This cruise lark is quiet intense you know! I had visions of sitting for hours reading lots of books. In reality "Ship's time" passes seamlessly from one meal to the next with barely time to catch a talk, read a page or two or grab a swim before moving on to the next meal or snack location. Today has been pretty much just that!

Dinner this evening; Formal, started off with a martini (well, 2 actually ; watermelon followed by a pomegranate one. Neither quite as fabulous as the first raspberry martini I had earlier on the cruise) in the Commodore club with our cabin neighbours George and Lois.

Day 8 - La Goulette

My first experience of Africa. We went on a tour of Tunis, through La Kasbah markets and into a rug/carpet shop for local mint tea and a rug demonstration - before coming out with a nice new red rug!

When we got back on board, James needed to do some more work - so here we are, working hard!

After I grabbed a swim in the outdoor pool we dressed for this evening's semi-formal dinner, after joining our table for Gin and Tonic's in the bar before hand.

Day 7 - Valletta, Malta

Weather in Malta was very nice indeed. James and I got to wander around the streets for an hour or two before (yes you guessed it) having a beer/coffee in an open air cafe before heading back for lunch onboard.

Tonight's evening attire; Semi-formal.

 

Tonight was an extra special night for us as we booked into the posh restaurant (surchage required) for this evening's dinner for two. It was two years to the day since we were waiting for me to go into hospital for "lump overboard". We therefore splashed out on a bottle of champagne in the champagne bar (with strawberry nibbles). OMG, i didn't think it possible to feel full as continual grazing has stretched my stomach, but this was something else. I couldn't manage the chocolates with the coffee and had to take them home with me.

Day 6 - At Sea

Well, Today was fun!

Gale 12, 6m waves - reaching a peak while James was up on stage giving his second lecture. Everything was swaying so much, especially the stage curtain's. At one point there was such a tilit that James lost his footing and a lighting rig crashed to the ground behind him. The show must go on and continue he did.

He had a really big audience of around 400 people who all staggered out slightly green and holding on to whatever wall or pillar they could find.

Dinner this evening was a Semi-formal affair followed by a show (comedy piano duo) in the royal theatre (we chose a box tonight) and a night cap cocktail in the nightclub for Abba night (with a lot of dad dancing around us).

Getting used to this...

Day 5 - Wednesday - Dubrovnik.

Today we got off shore and went into the old town of Dubrovnik to walk along the town wall and through the red-roofed streets. Dubrovnik was very pretty even on the overcast day we have had today. After a quick beer/coffee we headed back to the ship for lunch (Puttanesca pasta made in front of your very eyes). And some more relaxing for the afternoon before James had to go off to be filmed for the ship's telly. (His first talk is already being looped on the Cunard Insights channel and people are starting to recognise him. What fun!).

So anyway, I have definitely got the hang of this whole cruise thing. It basically is just a big floating restaurant and the excitement is planning what meals you fancy partaking in today. The choices consist of;

Continental breakfast 4am-6:30am

Breakfast 6:30am-11am

Lunch 11am - 2pm

Afternoon Snack 2-6pm

Dinner 8:30 pm

Late snack 11pm-4am

add onto that the possibilities of getting a pub lunch or room service at any time of the day or night you can start to see why all my posts are revolving around food! Today I have just got back from afternoon tea of a nice cup of Earl Grey tea with chocolate cream eclairs and scones with jam and cream.

Day 4 - Tuesday - Katakolon, Greece.

Day 4 we arrive in Katakolon, Greece. A little tourist village on the coast. James and I decided to let the hoards go off to Olympia and relaxed on board in the Winter Garden with laptop (James) and a book (Dawn).

Just before lunch we went ashore to grab ourselves a Mythos beer before setting sail again mid afternoon. A late lunch meant I missed out the afternoon tea today (it requires so much will power), and to be especially good I attended a Salsa aerobics class so I could have the full 3 courses at this evenings semi-formal dinner. After dinner we caught the comedian giving a show in the theatre.

Tonight was semi-formal - am I getting good at this posing around ship for the camera or what?

We return every night to find our bed turned down and a pillow chocolate left for us.

Day 3

Out and about in sunny Sicily......

(yes despite having all the free food you could possibly desire on board, we still had to sample the Sicilian pizza's)

Formal night for dinner followed by Martini's in the commodore club.....

full photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=73249&l=1424f&id=532416061

Setting sail on the high seas.

Well where do I start? There is so much to explore and talk about after just a couple of days at sea that I think the best place to start is to base it around the main thing we have done since getting onboard..... and that is eat! 

Day 1

Our first night onboard was an Elegant Casual dining experience. Dinner was a lovely 3-4 course meal (depending on your hunger levels) which we finished off with cheese and coffee. We had made it successfully onboard in time to catch the late dinner sitting (delays on flights due to freezing fog had left us slightly uneasy about whether we, and more importantly, our bags, would make it onboard). Dinner was very lovely. Just as we were finishing off dinner the Captain made a special announcement, proclaiming that the weather was going to get a bit choppy on our departure and there was a high chance that the boat would list -  go secure things in your room! What an introduction to life on ship. The winds got up so much that try as it might, the ship could not move us off from the jetty. Several tugs and the rather big ship engines couldn't go against the gale force winds. We weren't going anywhere. So after a night cap it was off to bed not knowing whether we would wake up still in the port of Cittavecchia, Rome or in Naples. 

Day 2

At 8am the next morning we received a wake up phone call. We had made it to sea overnight, however due to rough weather we had aborted our trip to Naples and were heading straight to Messina, Sicily. It was to be a day at sea. Would James be able to do an extra talk at 10am? Yikes! Panic stations. However, he did it wonderfully and I was so proud. I even got in on the act as his "glamorous assistant" who grabbed a mike and made her way through the audience during the question session. Once that was over we headed up for breakfast and an exploration of the ship. 

My highlight of today (after James's talk of course) was discovering the afternoon tea! cucumber sandwiches (crusts removed of course), cookies, cakes, scones with jam and cream. This is the big advantage of having the late dinner sitting... you have room for an afternoon snack.

Evening attire this evening was changed to the Formal Black and White ball. And so we started the evening with champagne in the room (while learning to tie a proper bow tie), followed by the champagne welcome reception with the captain. 

The highlight of James's day was discovering the late night snack options, so after consuming brunch, afternoon tea and a 3 course dinner, the sheer delight on his face when he discovered the hot dogs cooked to order after we made our way back from the onboard night club was a sheer pleasure to witness! (I had to join in with cheese and biscuits of course) 

full photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=73249&l=1424f&id=532416061

Brrrrr it's cold outside.....

I could do with a break in the Mediterranean......

Well, what a streak of luck - that's exactly where I am going on Saturday!


James and I are off on Cunard's Queen Victoria for a 12 day cruise round the Med. I am so excited. James has been invited (with guest, me!) as a Royal Astronomical Society speaker on their Insights Programme for guests. He will be giving 4 talks in their on-board theatre on various subjects of his choosing (The Northern Lights and some space stuff) to anyone who wants to go along (I will be!).

So this is our itinery setting sail from Rome;



I am most excited by the Dress code for dinner each night;

Formal (4 nights) Black and White Ball, Masquerade Ball, Big Band Ball and Royal Ascot ball:
Black tie or formal dark suit for men. Evening dress or other formal attire for women.
Semi Formal (5 nights):
Jacket and tie for men. Cocktail dress or trouser suit for women.
Elegant Casual (3 nights):
Jacket, no tie required for men (no jeans or shorts). Dress, skirt or trousers for ladies.

So I have stocked up on my posh frocks, borrowing from friends and going on a bit of a splurge in debenhams last night. I hope to be able to upload pictures of my evening attire while sailing. We will be in an outside statesroom (with a window!). I am also looking forward to the nightly bed turndown service and pillow chocolate!

Champagne Hangover

oooooh I have got a headache today.

I met up with my breast friend Sarah for several glasses of champagne and a bottle of wine (not all of it to myself) last night. She has just slogged her way through her second round of chemo and radiotherapy - what a trouper. We had a lovely time over the champagne and a curry, but being a lightweight these days I am suffering slightly today.