Day TWENTY TWO. Flawed and Free Lunch.

Day TWENTY TWO. Flawed and a Free Lunch. This morning at 8 am was our cooking class where we made the exam dish that we had seen made Wednesday night (the Genoise with the wickedly smooth frosting). Going into it I thought this will be easy, it's cake! I can do cakes. Ahh...not this kind. My sponge (cake) was excellent. The buttercream was nicely made, but frosting the cake was the hardest thing ever. That wickedly smooth frosting was equally wicked to use. It is so light, it was not forgiving. If I were actually doing the text on this dish, I would have failed, going over time by thirty minutes. The chef actually had to finish frosting my cake to get me out of there) she masking/frosted two others so I didn't feel like a complete idiot. I did the top decor, and one of my S shapes turned out more like a Z and they need to all be curvy. I was pretty down on myself on my little flaws on the cake. We had another class at 630pm, I was determined to stay around school, so I didn't have to go home for the seven hour break. Essex, another classmate, told me about this museum a few blocks away from school. I decided to go there to do something before I started my studies somewhere. It was the Sir John Soane’s Museum. I had no idea what I was walking into. Literally. For the outside, it looked like a house in a long line of tall row houses. I thought this is nothing special, but was I wrong. Sir John was an architect, who bought the adjoining two houses and made it a mueseum for "for the benefit of ‘amateurs and students’ in architecture, painting and sculpture." I asked a curator what his favorite piece I the house was, his snobby reply, "there are fifty five thousand pieces in his collection, I haven't seen them all." That's right fifty five thousand pieces of art, sculptures, books, drawings, paintings. The house was a zoo of architectural design. I didn't know what I was looking at, didn't do any research on this place before hand, so my hour admiring this inquisitive place is worth another visit. Go to slowness.org for more info and photos. No cameras allowed. After that I was hungry, I sat across the street in a park, and ate an apple. It was a lovely afternoon, so many people were out enjoying the amazing and unusual warm weather. I decided I needed more than an apple. I walked by come eateries, and kept walking, not being able to decide on a single place to eat because my tiredness was getting to me. I needed a nap. Bad. I went back to school, got my cake to take home, and headed to a sandwich place for a quick bite for the train. I walked up to the counter with my grab and go sandwich and cake carrier in hand, and the cashier said "oh you are so kind! It's not even my birthday, and you are bringing me a cake!" My instant reply was "you can have half of it if you like." He was shocked, excited and very happy. He insisted on giving me a free sandwhich in exchange for half the cake. I wonder what I could have gotten if I gave him the whole cake. With the hustle of other customers, I took priority, three cashiers huddle around, and in awe that I was giving them half to eat. I wasn't going to eat it all, so I was glad to share. the manager came over to see what all the excitement was about. It was funny watching the cashier not want to cut the cake as he thought it was too beautiful. He didn't see the flaws. They were all so happy. I was glad to give someone a smile. I went home, instagrammed, found a quote on flaws to post with the picture, "I myself am made entirely of flaws stitched together with good intentions" Augusten Burroughs. I was able to take a little nap knowing that flaws are okay, and people are still happy to eat cake no matter what it was supposed to be, but what it actually is. That night we had a class on how to make Black Forrest Cake. It is drenched in alcohol and cherries soaked in kirsch, more alcohol. Cherries are not on the top of my favorite fruits (sorry dad). I knew this cake would be one to give to the dishwashers right away. There are a lot of steps that go into 8" round sponge cakes with cheeries and whipping cream layers. A lot of work goes into simple things. At least I made someone's day with cake