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To dearest blog readers, Merry Happy Christmas to you!!!! How are you spending your day? (or if you are reading this after-Christmas, how was your day?)
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For me it’s going to be the same-old really:
First thing in the morning, our children will see that “Santa’s” presents had “magically” arrived, & that the milk & biscuits that they left for him had been neatly finished. (… aka by me as I write this!) Then later on I’ll drag myself to the kitchen to cook up our Christmas dinner which we’d probably start from around 5pm. I’ll be roasting duck this year (much tastier than turkey in my opinion!) There’ll be lots of Christmas crackers & more presents to be opened before dessert.
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You’re probably wondering what the dessert is?? Well, it is ‘upside-down pineapple cake’! I was asked by my friend Rainbow to make one for her West Indian Christmas do, & I made two so that I could serve it at mine too! ;)
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It is ultra simple to make: arrange pineapples on top of caramel, then pour pound-cake batter above that! And when baked, turn over! Design-wise I stayed away from the cliché retro look of pineapple rings with glacé cherry centres. Instead I cut the rings in half & made a wave pattern, then arranged some almond slices like heart shapes on top. Later on I realized that, hey!, the pineapple halves could look like rainbows!? Just like my friends name!
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Anyway, I leave you with a Christmas quote, just like how I do every year. This year, it is a scan from the most fabulous Christmas Card we received this year sent & designed by our friend A. – So clever with the nectarine peel! Soon as I saw the card, I fell in love.

Finally, may I once again wish you a very Merry Christmas to you. I was telling a friend just the other day that if it weren’t for this blog, I probably wouldn’t have carried on with the stall as long as I have. And that is the truth. So thank you for all your support.

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Best wishes to you all with love from Tamami xx

(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

(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!