Surprise Parties

Have you ever organised a surprise party?  If you have, you will know what it is like.  The sneaking around, organising of diversionary tactics, the hoping none of the guests give the secret away!

Over the last few weeks I've been involved on the edges of the organising of a surprise party for someone who is almost impossible to surprise.  Sneakily we have sourced photos to create a photo book present.  People have been invited, games have been arranged, catering organised.  There have been elements of danger, such as how to involve the people who we know absolutely cannot keep a secret.  There has been complications such as the fact everyone is working really hard and has hardly any free time.

But people have been amazingly helpful.  Friends offered their houses as staging points.  Others are providing food (including the most amazing custom birthday cake) or transport or any number of the other elements you need for successful party - let alone a surprise one.

And in the end, we managed it.  I don't quite know how, but it all came together in the end. What a brilliant success.

The recipe for success

Do you have an old faithful recipe?  Something you know is guaranteed to work out, a crowd pleaser that always gets you compliments?

Tonight I have a dinner with friends and have been charged with bringing dessert.  The added complication was that there is no time to prepare something after work today and due to the busy nature of the week I had to be able to make it a few days in advance which ruled out lots of my recipes with fresh pastry or fruit.

After a bit of serious thinking I suddenly thought of my old faithful Tia Maria cake.  It looks impressive, is rich and decadent and best of all, actually improves after sitting quietly in the fridge for a couple of days.

I haven't made it in ages, goodness knows why because everyone loves it.  It has such a reputation that recently I ran into someone I went to high school with (now a considerably long time ago) and she asked if we still make it because she remembers it so fondly.  There are lots of funny stories associated with it.  Like the time a half eaten one slid off the box it was resting on, crashing into me bending below it, depositing the cream onto my lap but managing to stay on the plate so that we could finish eating it.  Or serving it to my teenage friends who got "drunk" from the tiny bit of alcohol in it. Or making an orange flavoured version of it in my friend's tiny kitchen for their housewarming.  So many memories.

So it is sitting in the fridge ready to go and tonight it will make its triumphant (I hope) return.  Here is the recipe, I think it was from a Family Circle or Women's Weekly cookbook originally.

Fudge-mint Torte (also known as the Tia Maria cake)
300g (10oz) cooking chocolate, chopped
250g (8oz) butter chopped
1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ cups sifted plain flour
2 cups thickened cream
¼ cup green Crème-de-Menthe liqueur (or Tia Maria, or any other flavoured spirit you like)
2 tablespoons icing sugar
grated chocolate to decorate.

Grease two 23cm (11”) round cake tines, line bottoms with greaseproof paper, then grease paper lightly.
In a small saucepan, combine chocolate and butter. Stir over very low heat just until melted and combined. Remove form heat.

Transfer chocolate mixture to large mixing bowl; beat in the brown sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined, then beat in flour until well blended. Divide batter equally into tins.

Bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl, beat together cream, liqueur and icing sugar until very stiff. Stack and fill cake layers on serving plate. Decorate with grated chocolate. Refrigerate until required.


Note: You can use any liqueur in it. While the original recipe specified Creme-de-Menthe, we have never made that version, we usually use Tia Maria.  I've also used cointreau for a choc-orange version which was delicious and equally think Frangellico for hazelnut would be great but you can really choose any flavour you like.  

Make sure you have a long knife or something to smooth the top because it looks really professional like something you get in a cake shop all smoothed.  The cakes are quite thin, so be careful when getting them from tin to plate, but don't be fooled and serve large slices, it is extremely rich.

It is definitely better after being left in the fridge for 24 hours as the cake absorbs some of the moisture from the cream and goes deliciously fudgy as well as it all sticking together better.

Snug as a bug in a rug

It is properly cold tonight. According to my car it was 4 degrees as I drove home which means there is a decent chance of slipping well below zero and the first real frost of the season.

All of which makes me so grateful for my thick fluffy doona and electric blanket. I'm tucked up in bed as snug as a bug in a rug and feeling very comfy indeed.

Finishing the chores

I have just collapsed into bed, bone weary. It has been a busy day with a full on evening of activities however at the end of it I have crossed all the jobs off my list.

I have cooked, cleaned, washed and folded. I've done shopping, run errands and picked things up. At the end of the day it is a great feeling to know I've achieved what I set out to.

Playing games

Before I met S I hadn't played board games in years.  Board games, I would have said, are just for kids.

S loves board and card games though, so when we started dating I found myself playing them and to my absolute surprise, I found I actually enjoy it.  There are so many interesting games and while I'm really not competitive and don't care if I lose at all (although it is always nice to win) I like all the strategic thinking you need for them.

I have also been introduced to the amazing underground world of board gamers.  They meet up in clubs and restaurants toting massive bags of games and are quite serious in their enjoyment.  Who are these mysterious gamers you may ask?  Before my introduction I had the image that you probably do right now of socially awkward, geeky types. But they are just normal people who enjoy the escapism of a game.  It is much more interactive than a couple of hours in front of the telly and requires a whole lot more serious thought.

I can't imagine that I will ever be truly addicted to gaming, but it is one of those things where you realise that there are whole other worlds hidden right under our noses.

Making an artful point

Art often has a message, a story to tell. I'm a great art lover but my favourite genre has for a long time now been the art that has been specifically created to convey a message, to tell a story and most importantly to sell - poster art, especially from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

However there is another similar art form which often captures my attention through it's ability to convey a message and story exceptionally concisely and that is cartooning. Like poster artists, cartoon artists' ability to make us laugh or think with often simple drawings and a few words is an amazing skill.

Today a cartoon about climate change popped up in my Facebook news feed. It is one of the best arguments for action on climate change I've ever seen and is so simple and concise you wonder why everyone can't understand it this way. I hope you enjoy is as much as I have.

A Joel Pett Cartoon, courtesy of http://greenmomintheburbs.wordpress.com/

Being Spoilt

Being spoil, tis there anything better? This evening while lazing in front of the telly S has been spoiling me. He has fetched me delicious food, cleared spaces for me to stretch out and covered me up with a snuggly doona. I've done nothing except be waited on hand and foot. What a great evening.