Not What I'd Planned!

Alas, my job in the cafe has been short lived and I have left, not without some regret that it wasn't for me, but definitely knowing I have made the right decision. I mastered the oven and was turning out up to 40 large cheese scones and 40 fruit scones each day I was working, filling the freezer for days when I wasn't there. I've made soups by the gallon (literally) and everything has been greeted with enthusiasm by customers... one or two have even asked to meet me to comment on the scones... the best they had tasted apparently. I didn't mind working hard, some days for up to six hours on my feet before I managed a break, without so much as a cuppa.  I didn't mind taking over the dishwashing when the cafe staff were too busy, nor did I mind spending time on my days off finding soup recipes and sending in shopping lists.

But up until now there has been no other cook in the kitchen when I wasn't working. I have been one half of a job share but with no-one else to share it with! Then last week the manager took me aside for a quiet word... outside the back door of the kitchen in the midst of storm Doris blowing a gale, me in just a tee shirt (it's hot in the kitchen)... to tell me that they had hired someone else but she wanted full time work so that's what they had offered her. So maybe...in a few weeks time...  possibly... not that they didn't appreciate me of course... I wouldn't mind working just one or two days a week... or perhaps we could sort something out? At the time I said okay but overhearing snatched conversations from the manageress about how good it would be when the "proper" cook arrived and they could serve "proper" food made me rethink. There seems a fine line between being appreciated and being taken advantage of. There were other things too that got me thinking I was better off out and then it just so happened last weekend I got four big cake orders in one day and I decided that I'd rather be working flat out for myself than flat out for someone else.

So this week has seen a return to some baking for the farm shop, ordering in supplies for my business not someone elses, and planning some lovely cakes for the weeks to come. I've spent a happy afternoon boiling up citrus peel I had been collecting in the freezer to make my own candied peel. I actually loath the stuff you buy in the supermarkets and never put it in cakes or buns, but this homemade stuff is something else... it might be a long, laborious and somewhat sticky process but it was well worth it. It is amazing and I'm having to stop myself just eating it from the jar. Anyone about to mention "healthy eating plan" can stop now... they are oranges okay! And as a bonus I have a bottle of the most intensley flavoured orange syrup to use in cakes and bakes.

And just as I was feeling all energetic and enthusiastic about baking again... I went and kicked a chair. Not deliberately I might add. And this happened... (apologies for pictures of my feet in the same post as food)

One broken toe which is currently strapped up and elevated in the hope it will get better soon... because currently I can do little more than hobble around the house.

And I am supposed to be training for a long walk in ten weeks time. I won't be doing my four miles today that's for sure, and my five miles on Sunday is looking unlikely so it will be another quiet weekend for me at this rate. Best laid plans and all that...

I hope your weekend goes according to plan... have a good one!