Friday, October 30, 2009
I was up till 3 this morning baking away. Sometimes you have good baking days and sometimes you have bad baking days. Last night was one of those bad baking days. It started with being unable to get the can opener to work (should have known better than to buy from the Euro store). I called in assistance from Zach, and he was also unable to get it to work. After awhile, he did manage to get the thing open enough with various instruments so that I could scoop the pumpkin out (being sure there were no metal shards in the puree). The rain had kept up (as well as the loud students), so the air was a bit humid. The cakes did not seem to be baking properly. The middle was not cooking as fast as the edges, which were beginning to pull away from the pan. When they were finally done in the middle – checking many times, I tried to get them out of the pans. The first fell out with the bottom still in the tin. I designated it the sample loaf and tried to get the others out. It was of no use; they all had the same problem of sticking to the pan. I called mom and she said that it could happen sometimes if it was really humid. If the cake hadn’t cooled all the way sometimes you could stick it back in the oven as long as it wasn’t in danger of burning. I decided that was of no use and counted my blessings that they were in aluminum tins. So I decided to sell them along with the loaves - still for 3 Euro. The chocolate chip cookies were seemingly going to be the same way. The first batch was designated for samples, but thankfully the rest turned out shapely and delicious. There was never a problem with the taste of any of the items, just presentation – which is much easier to fix. I finally got in bed still with the hoodlums carrying on outside my window. As I was about to fall asleep someone set off an alarm that continued for about 10 minutes, so I listened to my ipod for a bit.
This morning when I went down to Teresa’s at 11 she was there instead of her son who turned out to be sick and stayed in bed. It was pouring rain this morning and business was slow. I made one sell early on of a bundle. The neighbor who requested more bought the two loaves and an additional two dozen cookies! He was heading on a trip to Poland and wanted to take treat with him. So now my goods will visit Poland as well – I’m going international!
Mr. Kester stopped by to tell me that he and Karen had thought about it and would like to offer their apartment to us the week he will be in Singapore on business ( so in two weeks). He said we could have all the internet and television we wanted and were welcome to sleep there for a change of scenery. I told him we were very grateful and that we may not sleep there, but would likely take his offer for use of the amenities!
The day started out slow with few customers because of the rain. I read in my Irish ghost stories book and chatted with Teresa. She said today was one of the slowest days she’d had in years. I feel bad that business seems to be so different from what it used to be. She talked about the benefits and downfalls of having a little shop where customers because so personal and eventually brought me a tea again this time without my consent, but I was glad she did. It was colder than the day before and I love how she fixes the tea. It’s so simple, so I don’t know what she does differently, but it’s good. I told her that if she needed to run out for a bit since she was supposed to have the day off I could try watching the shop since everything was priced. She thanked me and said she appreciated having the company and I was like extra security for her with people being less likely to walk out with something. When I was down to my last loaf around 2pm she asked if I wouldn’t mind running two errands for her just around the corner. I said I wouldn’t mind a bit and set off to deliver a left umbrella and purchase some vitamins for her while she watched my table. I was glad to be of some assistance since she doesn’t even realize it, but she had allowed me to have a dream come true. I have to admit though, selling my treats is fun, but a bit taxing. I had a dream last night that someone cut into a loaf and all the contents spilled out like a liquid! Crazy, but you just don’t know sometimes.
I was about to pack up with a loaf left for myself at 2:30, but a lady came in at twenty after, tried a piece and bought it just like that! I sold out again. The cookies went fast. I had five loaves and six sets of six cookies (2 Euro each set). I was out of cookies when I was down to two loaves. Zach had put the meatballs I made the other night on some Tiger bread with cheese and sauce, so I had some of that for a late lunch.
I was to be at the Gaf around 7 and remain there till 10 to help clean up. I threw my costume together at about 6:30 and rushed out the door.
I was thankful I went with the less makeup intensive pirate for this night because when I arrived only half of the kids were in costume and those with them were not very elaborate. The attendance was lacking as well. Since it was not raining I was told most of the kids were probably in the square drinking. I was put in charge of face painting…I did alright. I painted three faces and each person was satisfied with the result. In my boredom I also painted my own hand and had another volunteer paint the other hand with tattoo like swirl I was very proud of. They added to my pirate costume. I was told I could go home early since there wouldn’t be a lot of cleaning.
I stuck with the pirate costume met the rest of the group at The Skeff. It is the multi-level pub designed like an old mansion and when it was decorated for Halloween it felt like we were really in a haunted mansion! Monica was a cat; I was a pirate; Marta, Paula, Roberto, Jordi, Marcia and Shin were all dressed like versions of the Addams Family. Kathleen and Erynn made an appearance as a zombie and a pirate. We stayed there for awhile and then walked around the streets looking at other costumes. Not as many people were dressed up Friday night as there were Thursday night, but it was still fun to see.
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