a perfectly imperfect day

Last weekend I made  my way out to the suburbs to spend a glorious day of baking with my new friend Gaiti that I had first met about 5 years ago soon after she was first married. She has an adorable active son and an amazing business where she gets to do her favourite thing…baking for ” The Cupshoppe ”        www.thecupshoppe.com

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I packed up 2 year old Maddie in the car and stuffed some favourite pans and fresh cream in my bag. As I pulled in front of the house, Maddie threw up all over her twirly purple dress. After pulling everything off except her diaper and shoes we were able to locate some large sweat pants and a dinosaur shirt to clothe her. She was remarkably compliant and good-natured in spite of it all. Gaiti’s 4 year old son Ayaan and Maddie spent much of the day staking territorial claim over everything in sight and at one point Maddie yelled at the top of her lungs in a glass breaking volume that was truly impressive. Ayaan ever the charmer wooed back her affection with a peace-offering of a talking Elmo.

In the meantime Gaita made the most amazing chicken curry full of ginger, tomatoes, and amazing spices. I am still dreaming about it. We ate it so happily that I forgot to take a picture until only a small serving was left. We also poured over recipe books, wedding albums and life in general.

After lunch was cleared away we were finally on to the task of creating the Creme Brûlée tarts. The pastry was perfectly yummy and flakey (if not beautiful) but the creme needed time to cool. The day had sped by and we divided up the 8 tarts and I packed up the car. The sink-washed twirly dress had dried on the line and Maddie was once again princess worthy and the two kids had become happy companions.

An hour later, I poured the runny creme into a tart shell, dotted it with raspberries, skipped the sugary topping and ate it prematurely…( also eaten too fast for a picture). Perhaps it would have set if left for 3 hours or better yet overnight, but sometimes delayed gratification is over-rated.  Running and dripping all over the plate, it was the perfect way to enjoy the end of a lovely old-fashioned sort of day.

For an expert approach to creme brûlée baked in a traditional way check this out

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