Let the bake-off begin!!

Do you remember my delight at discovering that my local florist was changing into....a German bakery??!

Well, looky looky looky what just opened:



There was a long line of people waiting in front of me. If everyone looks like they have just come from a dip in the pool or the ocean...then that's because they probably have. You see, today is so damn hot that the mere idea of a bakery oven makes me feel sick. Not that the heat could EVER stop me from purchasing my German jewels.

There were about 10 people serving behind that never-ending counter, and each one spoke with the most darling little German accent. Can you see the two men holding the trays above their heads? Those trays were carrying freshly baked goodness, straight from the oven. The woman in front of me already had her money out, and she was beginning to sigh and tap her right foot impatiently while staring with annoyance at the 10 people still in front of her in the queue.

Each pastry had a label in German, with English translation. Here is the Cailler gipfel. Sigh. The young woman serving me said that each croissant is geffulte mit an entire Cailler chocolate bar.

Here are the zimtschnecke and apfelstrudel, but look..... the schoko vanille plunder is GONE people, SOLD OUT.

Here is the Commentbox Family Selection of German Goodness.

This morning, we had fruhstuck..........Eurolush style!!!!!!!!!

A bag of tricks, part III

My neighbourhood florist moved to a new location a couple of months ago, and ever since then the shop on the corner has stood empty.



Every time we walked past the empty shop we would wonder who would move in next.



Now we know....



Just look at what my bag birds brought me:



I expect Frau Mueller's van to show up outside my front door any day now.

A bag of tricks, part II

As I walked down the steps towards my destination the two little bag birds tweeted sweetly on my shoulder. Much to my relief I saw the "cafe open" sign. Phew. Sydney gals don't like to go anywhere that doesn't have an adjacent cafe. Libraries, bookstores, pools, beaches, supermarkets, schools, parks...and here, a cafe with deck chairs overlooking Blue Heaven. How handy.

You see those chairs in the left corner of the deck, they have a big sign next to them which reads "Reserved for bloggers. Please enjoy at your leisure, and thank you for filling in your comment box as you exit."

I walked in, paid my $5.70 fee, hehehe, bar-gain, took 4 strides forward and looked to my right. Sculpture!! Art!!

Looked straight ahead. Jetty!! Fisherman!!

Looked to my left. Blue Heaven!! Botanical gardens!! Navy ship!!

The bag birds immediately took in the remarkable view, basking in the sunshine. Their tweets sounded a bit Germanic all of a sudden, and they seemed to be saying "Ja vol, sunshine oon Yanuary very very gut." (Ok, I don't know ANY German, don't judge me).

Then I swam. Twenty laps. Which is a hell of a lot for me. As I swam I chanted "I glide through the water like Miss Fish. In fact I AM Miss Fish, Miss Fish and I are twin fish slipping through the water." Then an elderly man swimming breaststroke overtook me. There's a lot of training ahead of me before I can join the shoal. Dammit.

But the bag birds didn't seem to notice.



They were too busy sun-baking while reading the paper.

A bag of tricks

Miss Commentbox needed a lift to the city early this morning. She had enrolled herself in a course in preparation for the HSC (Higher School Certificate). I said to her "Darling, why are you so serious about your studies? Why do you need to take extra courses at the university during your summer holidays? You need to get your priorities right. You need to stay home and bake us more cupcakes."

Miss Commentbox's cupcakes are LEGEND.

Here are the mini cupcakes she made for the inaugural Sydney Bloggers' Event. Butter cake with white frosting and delicate, pastel-coloured sprinkles. Miss Commentbox even has a special carrying case for them, because we don't want any of the perfect frosting peaks to be ruined by any accidents on the road.

So I had to wake up very early to give Miss Commentbox a lift.

But I slept through the alarm, so I was very late and Miss C was very upset with me. I raced to the car without washing my face or brushing my hair, or my teeth. We made it just in time thanks to my superb driving skills, and then there I was, in the middle of the city, still half asleep. Had I even brought my bag with me? I couldn't remember. I checked the boot:

I had my beach bag there, left from that day a while back which held a promise of a swim. But what was that IN the beach bag? Why, it was my CITY bag, but I didn't remember bringing it along!!!

The two little birds on the bag seemed to talk to me in tiny, cheerful chirrups. They were hypnotising me. I returned to the front seat of my car and drove, following their PRECISE directions.

Here is where the bag birds told me to park. The red car is mine, I like to call it my "Noddy Car".

I put the bag over my shoulder, and the birds told me to walk up a block and then stop RIGHT HERE:

There was a line all the way out the door of the bakery. But at least I didn't have to feel self-conscious about my unbrushed hair.

This is what the birds made me order, and we sat together at a pavement table and slowly started to wake up properly. The coffee was very good, even though they misspelled my name.

The couple sitting at the table to my left were ultra-cool. One of them was filling out a form for a course at the local film school.

Soon, the birds beckoned and I followed. They told me to drive straight, and then left, then right and right again. Then we parked, and this is what I saw:

I'll tell you all about the continuing saga of the mysteriously hypnotic bag birds in tomorrow's post.

It was THAT great!!!!