We went to see Quantum of Solace last night.. it was awesome. I’m really liking this Bond, gritty, rough around the edges, he can bleed and he has emotions.. ok at the moment mostly hate and angst but he can feel.

Add the doses of gun fights, chase scenes and all those usual James Bond goodies and you get a good film! And Judi Dench was brilliant as always as M.

Film aside it was a good weekend. I was on the search for some new shoes for school.. the ones they gave me, while protecting my feet, were doing nothing for comfort, especially given my daily walks to and from the bus stops. I wanted to go have a look at the ones a lot of the Chef’s at school were raving about – Birkins.. They were awful! I cannot see the appeal.. they’re basically crocs only looking slightly less like an escaped mental patient. The sole gave me no confidence as to it’s non-slip abilities and it’s thin plastic, if I dropped something on my feet it would do nothing! They weren’t even particularly comfortable! We had a look at some of the other ‘work’ shoes they had there and decided that they all would do nothing to protect my feet.. I want protection and comfort! DmentD reccommended a brand of shoes he wore, so we trundled along to the sports shop and had a look.. technically they’re men’s boots, but they’re comfortable, they have reinforced toes and anti everything soles, even in oil I should stand a chance of keeping my grip.. and they were half the price of the work shoes we had been looking at. I’ll be wearing them for the first time today so we’ll see how they cope.. but I think they’ll do well.

I made a bread pudding on Saturday, we soaked some raisins in brandy and added them in, and then DmentD made a caramel rum sauce which was delicious to go with it.. heaven in a bowl! *grins*

Friday at school went well. My bavarian for the exam turned out nicely, I’m glad we were able to make two as I overheated the ring on one of mine as I was trying to loosen it and I melted the bavarian a little. I lost a few points for my glacage not being even and for it having air bubbles, but I got 106/100 for the written test so that balances out! We also got to unmold our Three Chocolate Bavarois (bavarois is the plural of bavarian) and try some of that which was so delicious words can’t cover it! I’m thinking of making it for Christmas maybe to share with others.

This week we’re finishing up custards. I think we have a few ice creams this week and then our exam on Wednesday before the long weekend for Thanksgiving. Next Monday we’ll do the last day of custards before moving onto International Cakes.