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Packing for travel Posted on October 22, 2018 by everwright | Leave a comment

When preparing to travel, I suffer packing anxiety: what will the weather be? What sorts of things will I be doing, and what clothes will be appropriate for them?

For this trip to the Caucasus I have lots of meetings; dinners that will be of varying levels of formality; an excursion; and down-time with my daughter. The weather will be in the low 20s (centigrade) some of the time, but in the low teens other times. Theres a chance it may sink as low as 4 for a couple of days, but hard to tell as theres not a reliable forecast page.

My packing was also impacted by slightly running out of time at the last minute, due to worries about weight and wanting to take as much food as possible to my daughter. So of course at the last minute I didnt check my packing list and forgot a few items that I really wanted to bring my togs, my sunglasses, accessory necklaces.

Here are the clothes that I brought:

Tops:

Blue-grey ruffle-neck top
Red cotton square neck top
Navy cotton square neck top
White ruffle shirt
Pink silk sleeveless top
Navy velvet cami
Red lace overtop
Teal ISAK T-shirt

Bottoms:

Grey trousers
Maroon trousers
Jeans
Blue and red Kathmandu peplum hem skirt
Grey velvet skirt
Navy slip dress (Zambesi)

Top layer:

Pale blue jacket
Blue batwing cardigan
Grey/black blazer
Silver lurex cardigan
Navy merino jacket cardigan

Shoes:

Black flats
Nude flats
Brown boots
Silver Witchery flat satin sandals

Underwear etc:

Control underwear top and bottom
Cream thermal bottoms
Cream sleeveless merino undershirt
Purple merino tank
Nude, purple, red bras
Black x5 White x2 wool x1 underwear
Navy, nude, black tights
Black x2, red wool, in-flight, navy wool socks

Outer layer:

Pale blue hat
Eggshell scarf
Navy gloves
Raincoat
Down jacket (can be layered under the raincoat)

So the question is: which of these did I actually wear?

On the plane:
Grey trousers, cream thermals, navy square neck top, navy merino cardigan jacket, (dark grey) inflight socks, black flats, purple bra.
This outfit looked good but was not quite right in two respects:
1. I opted for the navy square neck top because its cotton and I was worried about getting too hot during transit in Doha. That was a fair concern, but instead I ended up cold and smelly. Assuming its thick enough to be decent when worn on its own, Id like something like this icebreaker merino t-shirt. I say something like because Id really prefer 100% merino. But the shape is right to wear under my navy merino top, and then I can still layer the navy merino cardigan jacket on top of that. Ill be warmer, and the merino wont get smelly. As it was, I only got round to washing the navy square neck on Monday morning, and being good thick cotton it took a while to dry.
2. The trouser situation. What I really want is a pair of good quality thick grey woollen trousers, made of knit but cut to look like workwear. I did try buying a pair of grey wool icebreaker pants on Trademe but they turned out to not be knit, and too big and made me look like a heffalump. I have not yet found anywhere selling something like what I want. On the other hand, the grey trousers are good meeting-wear on the ground and with them being light-weight, plus the thermals under option, it does give versatility on the ground.

Friday evening:
A cooler evening in the mountain village, first visiting my daughters school, then having dinner with her and her friends. I wore: purple merino tank, red square-neck top, navy merino cardi-jacket, red bra, brown boots, black socks, black down jacket. This outfit worked and transferred well from school to casual dinner, and the down jacket came on in the evening when it cooled down.

Saturday:
Cream merino thermal top, teal ISAK t-shirt, navy cardi-jacket, jeans, purple bra, brown boots, black socks.
This outfit also worked well for a casual morning wandering round the mountain village, then heading in to the capital city. It was warmer there, so once at our apartment I removed the thermal underlayer before we went out for dinner and a wander through the throbbing streets.

Sunday:
Day: Red square-neck top, red bra, kathmandu skirt, black flats, navy cardi-jacket
Another successful combo: the cardi-jacket (the real hero so far!) was a good layer that I put on and took off as the temperature went up and down.
Evening: I swapped out the skirt for maroon trousers before going to dinner. Also a good combination.

Monday:
Day: Red square-neck top, red bra, navy cardi-jacket, jeans, brown boots, black socks ie a repeat of Friday evening.
This evening Id really like to be able to wear the navy square-neck with the maroon trousers, but the navy top wont be dry in time. Maybe Ill break out the ruffle-neck. Or could go navy or pink cami and red lace overtop.

Here are my planned outfits for the rest of the week:

Tuesday:
Today well be having an excursion. Ill go for the Saturday outfit ISAK t-shirt, cardi-jacket, jeans, boots, down jacket. Maybe even raincoat as well if rain looks like a possibility (it rained this morning but I wasnt in it long enough to think a raincoat necessary).
In the evening theres an optional brandy tasting, which Im definitely up for, followed by dinner. Will have to see what the weathers like, but Im keen to go maroon pants, navy top (better be dry by then! ruffle-neck or red I guess if not) and maybe the grey/black jacket just for a change from the cardi-jacket. Or the navy batwing? Will it be warm enough? Probably, the dinner venue is close to the hotel anyway.

Wednesday:
Actual meetings. With the heads and chairs in the morning, so time to crack a bit formal because Im really quite sick of them treating me like a student when Im 47 years old with a PhD. So:
Grey/black jacket. White shirt. Grey pants. Black flats. Maybe fish out the paua brooch (if I brought it) for a bit of colour. In the evening we visit a foundation, then go to dinner. The outfit should carry over.

Thatll do for now. Will edit later.

What I actually wore:

Tuesday night: more or less as planned maroon pants, navy top, navy batwing.

Wednesday: I put the grey pants on and they looked a bit baggy, presumably due to travel stretch, so I went with the maroon pants again, with the white shirt and the grey/black jacket, and black flats. I didnt attempt the paua brooch, it wasnt going to work.

In the evening I changed the tops: navy velvet cami and silver lurex cardigan, though the cami was hidden under the cardigan. The outfit was OK but a bit flat?

Thursday day: grey pants this time with thermal underwear which fills them out a bit and solves the baggy problem plus navy top again and pale blue jacket. I am planning to get the paua brooch out, but maybe later when it wont get in the way of carrying luggage. I still have way too much luggage.

Before we move on Im planning to grab my blue cardi-jacket out of my bag so I can wear it on route to Dilijan, and save my jacket from getting squashed by carrying my giant bag.

This evenings outfit will be determined by whether or not I have the opportunity to change.

ETA: its now Sunday so Im a bit hazier on what I wore. On Thursday I didnt quite have the time to change, but could swap my jacket out quickly; so thats what I did. As far as I recall I didnt change for dinner.

Friday: Grey jacket, red top, grey velvet skirt, nude tights, black flats. Again, no changing for dinner

Saturday: Pale blue jacket, blue ruffle-neck top, grey pants, black flats, and black socks because it was freezing.

Sunday: Back in jeans, ISAK t-shirt and cardi-jacket for the day. For the flight Im planning to wear cream thermals, blue ruffle-neck, cardi-jacket, grey pants, black flats, and bring flight socks plus down jacket in carry on. The blue ruffle-neck is less robust than I would prefer for a flight, but I got cold last time so Im not going cotton again.

Home now. Heres what I didnt wear:

Tops:

Pink silk sleeveless top
Red lace overtop
Teal ISAK T-shirt

Navy slip dress (Zambesi)

Nude flats
Silver Witchery flat satin sandals

Control underwear top and bottom

Pale blue hat

And I could have got away without the navy velvet cami (because it was invisible under the lurex cardigan anyway, though would have needed something in that space); and possibly with just the batwing or just the lurex.

If there had been a more formal occasion I would have worn the Zambesi dress, but thats probably more like congress event wear than council event wear.

A white version of the navy and red tops would also have been more versatile than the white frill-fronted shirt.

Equilibrium Posted on May 23, 2017 by everwright | Leave a comment

I am writing this down so I can remember it later. So I dont forget. So I can regain this position of equilibrium if I lose it.

It is just over a year since I last engaged with my mother. It was Mothers Day. In the year since then, I have had weekly counselling sessions to come to terms with my need to not have my mother in my life.

I think I have now done that.

My mother was not emotionally or psychologically equipped for motherhood. I dont know whether this was because of her own upbringing, or her own brain chemistry. It doesnt really matter: whatever it was, it wasnt her fault.

It was also not her fault that she didnt know she wasnt equipped for motherhood. Who would tell her? How would she know, at 19, newly married, that she wasnt going to be good at this? Or maybe she did know, but thought shed manage. Regardless: I am not responsible for her decision to become a mother, and I owe her no debt for making it.

With this realisation, I can feel sympathy for her for having got things wrong and done things wrong. It is safe to feel this sympathy, because feeling sympathy does not mean I have to have her in my life: I can not, and should not, have her in my life, because it is not good for me. I can and must protect myself by not having her in my life. She is dangerous to me and my wellbeing in a way that she may not be dangerous to other people, because she is my mother and the relationship between mother and child is inherently different to other relationships.

It is this latter part that it will be important to remember: having her in my life would be dangerous to my mental wellbeing.

This may all sound sad, but for me it is freeing. It means I can move on without ill-will, with sympathy for her and care for myself my own self, whole, safe and protected.

That was then, this isnow. Posted on September 12, 2016 by everwright | Leave a comment

I wrote in an earlier post about my childhood, and the many examples of awfulness it contained. I noted that I hate Mothers Day.

I have not communicated with my mother since last Mothers Day in May. She has not communicated with me either. I saw from my Uncles posts on Fussbook that shed been to visit her brother in Australia, which was something shed been talking about doing when we last had a full conversation, on her birthday in April.

I am having a difficult time deciding how I feel about this silence. If it were only on my end, I think I would feel empowered. But because it is double-ended, I have uncertainty: I dont know whether at some point she will attempt to contact me again. That leaves me with a certain degree of anxiety.

Childhood Posted on May 10, 2016 by everwright | Leave a comment

Oh, Trigger warning. All the triggers.

So, Ive learnt over the years that not everyone had a shit childhood, and when I describe mine I get looks of horror.

Also, Mothers Day has just been. Mothers Day is probably my most loathed day of the year. Currently I am thinking maybe I just wont do it any more. There is no rule that says I have to. And I think Ive earnt the right to not have to, to be honest.

I recall my very early childhood as happy. The first of my mothers partners that I remember was very sweet to me. I dont remember him much. I remember his saying it might be best if I didnt call him Daddy because my real Daddy might be upset. I remember thinking some three-year-old version of real Daddy? Whos that? and an emotion that I now interpret as why dont I get to decide who my real Daddy is?.

Anyway, that relationship ended probably when I was about five. Mum had some relationships after that, including a brief fling with the unit who later molested me, and then my main stepfather turned up.

I dont know if things would have been shit even if he wasnt there. Quite possibly.

The Shit:

Overloading and unrealistic expectations.

I was expected to do too many chores for my age. I couldnt do them all. There was no point in trying, so I mostly didnt try. So even now, when there are too many things to do I feel overwhelmed and give up.

One day when I was about six? five?   my mother left me at home alone for the day while she went to a neighbouring town. She left me with an extensive list of things I was to do while she was gone: sweep and mop the floor, wash the dishes, collect brush and kindling for the fire, I cant remember what else. I do know that I worked all day, and for the first and only time did everything on the list. When my mother got home in the evening she said Great! I should go away more often!

This made me wish I had not done everything after all.

My grandmother visited some time round then. She later said she saw me as a little Cinderella, with raggedy clothes and endless chores. Thats also about how I saw myself.

Neglect

As well as the home alone described above, on some other occasion round that time, my mother fell in lust with a prominent musician who came through the village on tour. She took off with him for a week, leaving me to look after myself. I managed for the first couple of days, but then got lonely and stayed with friends.

Of course, she did ask if it was OK, and I said yes, it was fine. What kind of mother asks a six-year-old if they will be OK to look after themselves for a week so she can go and get her end off?

The undermining

Me: I got 97% in my maths test.

Her: Whats the point of getting 97% in your maths test if you cant keep your room tidy?.

Me: I got the [prominent Maori former principal] academic scholarship to high school!.

Her: It should have gone to a Maori girl.

Me: I got a major scholarship to a prestigious senior high school.

Her: Are you sure you want to go? Dont you think youll suddenly find youve moved from being the big fish in a small pond to being a small fish in the big pond?

Me: Im not sure what I want to study.

Her: Maybe you shouldnt go to university. You might find it too hard. Better to go to a polytech and learn something useful.

On Mothers Day, she said she always felt so proud when she heard my name in the media, doing my (currently prominent) academic work. Excuse me while I seethe inside.

Abuse

When I was little I was smacked regularly. Smacked for talking out of turn. Smacked for crying. Hit round the head for whatever. Once, having heard from my friends of the dangers of being hit in the head, after she hit me I cried out you could have killed me! She laughed. Hilarious.

She didnt smack me so much when the stepfather was in the picture. He was Scandinavian and generally didnt think hitting children was a good idea. But.

When I guess I would have been seven or eight, the stepfather and I had an argument, I forget what about. He said Im going to go for a walk (to cool down). I shouted Yes, why dont you, I wish you would. He pushed me to the ground and kicked me. My mother threw her cup of tea over me.

The incident

When I was thirteen, and my little brother was a baby, she asked me to take him for a walk. I didnt want to. I said so. She picked him up and started swinging him over the balcony on the back deck, threatening to throw him over if I didnt agree to take him. I was paralysed, terrified, crying no, no, no!. She put him down and said right, Im going to ruin all your stuff then.  She went into my room and pulled out all my drawers and emptied their contents on the floor. She picked up a chair and started bashing it at the television. I tried to stop her and she punched me in the face.

I ran. I ran two suburbs away, to the home of a woman who I knew knew my mother was having problems. Even then I was trying to protect her reputation by not going to other people who I would then have to tell.

I went to school from there. The principal called me to his office. Eventually I had to go home. There was some half-assed attempt at counselling, which basically consisted of me being told that mum was sorry, and therefore I had to go home and suck it up.

I closed myself off from her after that. I knew I wasnt safe with her.

The truly revolting

Paedophiles are manipulators. Even good parents can be deceived. Although paedophiles pick their victims, and I had been set up to be a prime victim by all the above (except The Incident, which happened after), I cant really blame my mother for my sexual abuse. Thats on the paedophile.

However, after my mother knew about the abuse, she asked the paedophile for a loan. He gave it to her. I dont know the terms of the loan. I just know that when in later years I reported him and the sexual assaults to the police, he wrote to her asking for the money to be paid back. I told her to pay him back, because I felt like shed pimped me after the fact. She said that was between him and her. She didnt pay him back. She tried to justify it to herself by suggesting she could give me part ownership of her house at the amount of the loan. I declined.

Naturally, theres more Shit. These are just the most extreme incidences, but theyre all Ive got the energy for at the moment.

If I could order ahouse Posted on October 18, 2015 by everwright | Leave a comment

We are house-hunting.

To be truthful, I am a Real Estate voyeur. I dont know if theres a twelve step programme, but if there isnt, I dont want it, because to want to change you first have to acknowledge that there is a problem. It seems a pretty harmless vice to me, given the alternatives.

But now my voyeuring has turned into firm wanting. I cant bring myself to say needing, because Im probably a 1%-er. Well, 2%-er anyway, by world standards. And we have a solid house with more space than lots of people in the world. Its warm, well-insulated and easy to heat by New Zealand standards (admittedly not a high standard). And weve chosen paint and finishings to our taste, and weve lived in it for twelve years now, so it has history for us too.

But our children keep getting taller, and having firmer views about privacy, and so, in our over-privileged world, we find ourselves hankering after a second bathroom. Also, our childrens rooms are quite small: things like desks and decent storage wont fit in them. We looked at extending, but the cost would have meant solid over-capitalising, so we decided to not.

The problem is that I have been a Real Estate voyeur for a long time. And Ive been an environmental epidemiologist specialising in housing for the most recent 10 years of that. So I have very firm ideas about what were looking for.

So far, noone seems to be selling it.

I thought Id put it out to the universe in the hope that the universe will listen.

First, where it should be, location.

We like Newtown. Weve lived in Newtown for over 15 years. If I could get what I want in Newtown, I would be very happy.

I would also be happy with Mt Cook, or Mt Victoria, or Te Aro. Weve looked at places in other areas that in theory we might settle for Brooklyn, or Hataitai, for example but just cant quite talk ourselves into them.

It also cant be on a busy road, nor near a major arterial route, because noise and air pollution.

Second, but only just second, orientation.

The property MUST be well-oriented for the sun. That means the private outdoor living space and indoor living areas must be oriented to a compass-point somewhere between North-north-east and due West. The kitchen is allowed to be oriented to the East, but not the rest of the living area.

Third, access.

We both have ageing parents, and wed prefer to age-in-place ourselves when the time comes. That means level access from footpath to the front door. A few steps is OK, but really no more than 4, and it must be possible to make it wheelchair accessible if necessary. That also means that ideally its single-story, but if theres more than one story, there must be a bedroom on the entry level.

Fourth, size.

The house should have three good-sized bedrooms, two bathrooms (only one needs to have a bath; both must have a shower), a kitchen/dining area and two living areas. One of the living areas should be able to be closed off so that on the rare occasions people come to stay they can sleep in there; and also so that we can have the piano and the television in separate spaces though that could be achieved in some other way. All up that means that the house is going to be at least 150m2.

The house also needs some outdoor living space with dirt (rather than just a deck, for example).

However, the house doesnt have to have all these size-related points right now, so long as its possible to add them on and the value of the house will carry it.

Fifth, price.

Um under NZ$1.2million please!

Experiments with cake III: Martha Stewarts orange-almondcake Posted on August 18, 2014 by everwright | Leave a comment

Since the previous efforts with the white chocolate orange almond mudcakes werent entirely satisfactory (sunk in the middle; overly sweet), I thought Id try something else: time to abandon the chocolate and just try orange-almond.  Ive started with Martha Stewarts version (http://www.marthastewart.com/343647/orange-almond-cake) even though it only reviews with 3 1/2 stars, because it seemed like a good place to start.

Im not doing the candied orange topping, because its for a wedding cake, and Id only bought 3 oranges at the supermarket, so I put a mandarin in as well to be the other orange half.  That did seem to produce the required 3 cups of orange pulp, so all good there. The rest of the recipe was pretty straight-forward. I used golden caster sugar rather than plain sugar, and I used the eggs I had, which were probably on the smaller side of US large.

Its now cooked. The recipe said about 1 hr. I put it in for 50 minutes at 180C on Classic Bake. I suspect it may be slightly overcooked, as just as the timer went off I smelt the start of a slightly burnt smell.  Well see if thats actually the case once its turned out.

Later

Ive turned it out. It is a bit browner round the sides than ideal. Next time, I dont think Ill use classic bake (actually, when has it ever given me a good result?) and just stick with fan bake, and check it earlier.

Later

Ha! When I went looking for appropriate icing for this cake, I found its not the version she uses for wedding cakes.  Oh well, Im sure welll enjoy eating it anyway!

Experiments with CakeII Posted on February 25, 2014 by everwright | Leave a comment

I have enrolled in the cake decorating course (beginners).  We had the first session last week, at which we made cupcakes, and watched the instructor make buttercream icing.  Tonight well be making buttercream icing ourselves (eww) and using it to ice a cake.

To ice a cake, we must bake a cake in advance, preferably 20cm.

Therefore, I decided it was time to try out the second attempt of the White Chocolate, Almond and Orange cake described in my previous post.

While making the cake, I discovered I had made an error in the previous attempt, which would explain why it was so sweet.  For some reason, although Id reduced the sugar by cup volume, I made an error in calculating the sugar by weight I used 3/4 of the original recipe, rather than 3/4 of half the original recipe.  That will explain why it was so sweet.  So my attempt 2 version in fact has the weight I should have used the first time.  Well see how that works out.

I wont be tasting the cake proper until I cut it with my workmates tomorrow: Ill let you know how it goes.

However, I did have some white chocolate left over, and some orange zest, so I decided to try making some mini cupcakes using the same recipe.  I will get to taste those today!

Later

Now that the cakes are cooked, I can report that they are sunken in the middle.  BBC good food (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-make-cake-top-10-problems-fixed) tells me that this is either because the oven door was opened too soon (nope), or the cake didnt go in the oven as soon as it was ready (it did, though arguably there could be something in this) or there was too much rising agent (?!).  The last one is possible, since in adjusting the amounts of self-raising flour and almond meal, there would have been more rising agent than in the first attempt (which also sunk in the middle, though that could have been due to opening the door).

Icing them will still be OK, because you just cut off the bits that arent flat.

Experiments with cake Posted on February 2, 2014 by everwright | Leave a comment

So, Ive volunteered to make my sisters wedding cake, in January 2015.

Ive decorated a few birthday cakes in my time, and my mothers wedding cake, and Ive signed up for an eveving cake decorating course just to get some better technique, so Im feeling confident on the decoration front (famous last words).

So, the things I want to figure out are:

1.  What cakes to use

2.  How much cake I need

3.  How I want to decorate them.

Actually Ive just chucked 3 in for fun.  I mostly know how Im going to decorate them, after a bit of consultation with the bride.

First, Im hoping to avoid the whole cake stacking exercise by using a tiered display stand instead, most likely this one:

which is available from fishpond for just under $100.  My only concern about it is that the sizes of cakes for each layer are, respectively, 10, 8 and 6, or, for those of us who are more sensible and work with metric: 25cm, 20cm and 15cm.

Now, I made a 20cm cake last night (well get to that) and its quite small.  Even if it were tall it would still be small.  And 25cm isnt particularly big either.  The cake serving guide so kindly provided online by Lark Cake Shop (larkcakeshop.com/CakeServeGuide2.pdf) (the answer to number 2) suggests that even if you cut really mean event style sized servings, those three cakes would only serve 71 people, and Im pretty sure therell be 100 people at the wedding.  I found a useful discussion of how many servings to make which suggested you should cater for 60% of the number of people invited, but my impression is that my sister will have a much higher response rate than that, and that if some people cant come shell have a backup list to fill it in the list is restricted by the venue rather than by available friends and relatives.  So I think 100 is likely.  Which would make 71 mean pieces mean catering indeed.

Ive contacted a local wrought-iron artist to see what hed charge to make something.  I suspect it will be a lot, but ordering one the right size from overseas wouldnt be cheap either (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Outstanding-Wilton-Garden-Wedding-White-Enameled-Metal-3-tier-Cake-Stand-/161204236268?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0hash=item2588856fec) so its worth asking.

Anyway, on to the cakes themselves.

Theyll have white slightly rusticated icing, each with a flower on top something like the following (from Cakestar, by Jade Lipton, available at http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Cakestar-Jade-Lipton/9780143565819).

Not sure yet what colour(s) the flowers will be on each cake, but Id aim to have them smaller than the diameter of the cake, unlike the one in the picture, which is larger.

Round the base of each cake therell be some hessian ribbon, with lace ribbon over the top, something like this:

So on to the first question: what cakes to make.

First, wedding cakes need to be able to keep a bit.  If theres cake left over, people need to be able to take it home and eat it over subsequent days.  And even before then, the cakes need to be able to be cooked in advance so theres time to decorate them, and not have to cook and decorate them all in just a day or two, which would be stressful.

The all-knowing internets tell me that mud cakes keep well.  My best friend and her mother, both accomplished bakers, tell me that nut cakes work well.  So for a start I thought Id try the two things together, and make a white chocolate orange and almond mud cake.

I used the white chocolate mud cake, made with almonds, at http://www.aww.com.au/food/recipes/2013/4/double-decker-chocolate-mud-cake/ , as my starting point.

I only made half the recipe (the half without the cocoa powder) as it was a test cake and I wasnt planning on layering things up.

I also reduced the amount of sugar, as comparison with other mud cakes and reading reviews suggested that otherwise it would be too sweet.   And I added 1 1/2 tsp of orange zest for the orange flavour.  So the recipe I ended up with was this:

White chocolate, orange and almond mud cake (attempt 1)

125g butter
90g white chocolate, chopped coarsely
3/4 cups (330g) sugar (we were out of caster sugar)
1/2 cup (125ml) milk
100g (7/8 cup = 220ml) almond meal
92g (5/8 cup = 155ml) self-raising flour
1 egg, beaten lightly
1 1/2 tsp orange zest

1. Preheat oven to 160 °C (140 °C fan-forced). Grease one deep 20cm-round cake tin; line base and sides with baking paper.

I preheated the oven as instructed to 140 fan-forced, but on later inspection it was probably more like 135, which may have been partly responsible for the later sinking.  In any case, I think the pre-heating for my oven should have been 150 fan-forced.

2 Combine butter, white chocolate, sugar and milk in a medium saucepan; stir over heat, without boiling, until smooth. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; cool for 15 minutes.

It got to cool for longer than 15 minutes because I was doing other things at the same time.  Im not sure if that mattered or not.

3 Whisk almond meal and sifted flour into white chocolate mixture, then whisk in egg and orange zest. Pour into one of the prepared pans. Bake cake for about 50 minutes or until cooked when tested. Stand cake in pan for 5 minutes; turn cake, top side up, onto wire rack to cool.

I baked for 50 minutes in a 20cm tin and it was nowhere near cooked.  It needed another 20 minutes on top of that, and arguably could have had another 10 after that too.  At the end of that time it was a bit sunk in the middle, and the edges had shrunk away from the tin.

My learnings from this are;

1.  The cake is just slightly too dense and oily.  Next time I would reverse the quantities (by volume rather than weight) of almond flour and wheat flour.  The increased wheat flour should probably be plain flour rather than self-raising, to ensure it doesnt rise too much.

2.  It needs to be cooked longer than the recipe says and/or at a higher temperature.  Next time Id go for an hour at 150 fan-forced.

3.  I need a better 20cm cake tin for it.  The one I used was old, with a loose base, and I had to put the tin on a silicon tray to stop the batter from leaking into the oven.  I took this out quite early in the cooking.  Taking the tray out early in the cooking was probably a mistake as it likely contributed to the cake sinking a bit in the middle.

4.  Going for 3/4 of the sugar was still too much sugar.  Id go for half next time.

5.  Id add the orange zest earlier in the mixing next time, to reduce the likelihood of over-beating.  On that front, I wonder, if the melted chocolate/milk/butter mix was cooled enough, whether it would be possible to add in the egg before the dry ingredients.

6.  In spite of all the above, the cake tastes really good, and will have a good firm surface for decorating and density for cutting, and is definitely the right direction for the wedding cake.

My revised recipe, for next time, is:

White chocolate, orange and almond mud cake (attempt 2)

125g butter
90g white chocolate, chopped coarsely
220g (1/2 c) sugar (we were out of caster sugar)
125ml (1/2 c) milk
76g (5/8 cup = 155ml) almond meal
110g (7/8 cup = 220ml) self-raising flour
1 egg, beaten lightly
1 1/2 tsp orange zest

1. Preheat oven to 150 °C fan-forced. Grease one deep 20cm-round cake tin; line base and sides with baking paper.

2 Combine butter, white chocolate, sugar and milk in a medium saucepan; stir over heat, without boiling, until smooth. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; cool for 15 minutes.

3 Whisk orange zest into white chocolate mixture.

4  Whisk almond meal and sifted flour into white chocolate mixture, then whisk in egg. Pour into one of the prepared pans. Bake cake for about 60 minutes or until cooked when tested.  Dont test too early. Stand cake in pan for 5 minutes; turn cake, top side up, onto wire rack to cool.

N.B.  If you want to try this yourself, and you want to make a proper cake, youll likely want to make two of these and sandwich them together with ganache or similar (I think raspberries in the filling would make a great accompaniment, but YMMV).  If you do try it, let me know how it goes!

And a little something formyself Posted on July 13, 2013 by everwright | Leave a comment

Since Ive now bought more fabric than needed for Daughters dress, and cant make it yet anyway, I thought Id practice by making something for myself.

Naturally, that means starting with the shift.

I had that striped linen left from before, only used to attempt a blackwork manuka.  I bought another half metre of it given its about 3m wide, the price isnt as extortionate as it would be otherwise and am now in the process of making a shift for myself, to the same pattern as Daughters.

The only difference from Daughters pattern, apart from size, is that I want a high collar.

The smock pattern generator at elizabethancostume.net (Dreas) only covers square-necked smocks, so no luck there.

The Tudor Tailor, a copy of which I finally bought from the authors (to save myself accruing yet more overdue fines for it at the library), has mens shirts and womens smocks.  The womens smock has a high collar option, but is made to a slightly different pattern to Dreas (the shoulders are cut in at the same angle as the gores).

So, I went looking online to see what I could find there, and encountered a conundrum.  Mens shirts are all made with neck gussets.  Some women have included neck gussets, and some havent.  The Tudor Tailor womens pattern doesnt include neck gussets, and goes for a rounded cut neckline.  The womens smock in the museum at Bath apparently does (I cant find any detailed photos online), though theyre not obvious in this reproduction:

(http://www.kostym.cz/Anglicky/8_Krejcovstvi/01_Catany/VIII_01_70B.htm)

as does the one at the Victoria and Albert

The VA smock appears to have a straight-cut neckline; the reproduction Bath looks like its rounded.

I consulted the good folk at the Elizabethan Costuming group on facebook, and they also endorsed the use of neck gussets.

I like the voice of experience, so my next question was: What size should they be?  I suspect that the 2 sided right-angled triangles in The Tudor Tailor mens smock would be too big for a fine-boned frame like mine.

Time to try a toile or muslin as a test.  I got a bit of the Sally Army sheet set, and cut a slit in the middle and down the front of a guess at the appropriate length subsequent reading tells me the front slit should be longer, to reach about my breast-bone.

I then put it over my head as is, to see the result.

(Apologies for the blurring in the first photo)

1.  As you can hopefully see (despite the blurring. Son was somewhat unenthusiastic about acting as photographer) it doesnt sit well.  It is about two cm wider on each side than the finished shoulder width of the actual shirt, but still, those shoulders clearly want to stick up rather than sitting along the shoulder line, so thats one thing to deal with.

2.  When the neck is closed, it sits high on the throat it really wants to sit higher still than in the photo, as visible in the creases coming out from the side of the cut, but the width of the cut prevents it.

3.  The side view shows just how poorly the whole thing works.  Its the old Cartesian problem: how to get straight surfaces to adequately match a curved surface.

4.  If it were a different project, a solution might be found through something like this (or the alternative, which is taking fabric out at the shoulder line), but thats not going to work with this project.

:

None of these photos on their own helped me much with the question of how big to make the gussets, but they did give time for my brain to perculate, and I came up with the following:

If I measure my neck around, it comes to 36cm.  That should be 18cm at front and 18cm at back, but I suspect theres more at the front really, and indeed when I measure from one side to the other across the back its more like 16cm, which leaves 20cm at the front.

If I look in the mirror and measure the straight horizontal distance from one side of my neck to the other, its 13cm.

Back neck: 16cm 13cm=3cm, /2 (to see how much each side)=1.5cm

Front neck: 20cm 13cm=7cm, /2=3.5cm

So I think ideally the gusset would provide an extra 1.5cm each side at the back, and an extra 3.5cm at the front, for a total of 5cm each side (or 2 in imperials).

However, I doubt its possible with my limited skills to arrange it so the gusset width sits more at the front than the back.  Also, the front corners are going to need to be cut away somewhat so that they sit against my neck and not against my throat I dont know that gussets would change that problem.

And even if the width (or rather, that side of the triangle) is correct (dubious), it still doesnt tell me how long to make the other two (identical) sides.

Time for some more guesswork.

The Tudor Tailor womens pattern takes a curve out at the back (1 less at the centre back) to is 3.75 from the centre.  If I draw that on the toile I can see it would take the total measurement of the back of the neck to wait for it 16cm.  The front is cut down 2, making the total front neck measurement 20cm.

This is such a tidy match that I think Im going to have to try it. .

And indeed, it suddenly sits a whole lot better.

However, I think some small gussets would still be a good idea, mostly because although it sits better now, I realise that its going to need at least a little seam allowance at the front for the hem on the front slit.  Thats going to pull the sides in by about 1cm each side.  Though I suspect a better way to deal with that is to put a little pleat in the back to match the seam allowance at the front, and move the side seams out a cm on each side.

Slow and steady Posted on May 29, 2013 by everwright | Leave a comment

Ive completed the bumroll, and bought the last hose joiner for the top hoop in the farthingale, but I need my model in order to arrange and pin the pleats, before I can put the waistband on and attach the bumroll.

Now debating what to do about the open sections of hoop casing on the farthingale. If I sew them completely closed, there will be no chance of making any adjustments to the hoops. But if I dont, they look nasty. I think I just sew them closed, and if I need to open em up again, well, thatll learn me, wont it!

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