An eventful mid semester break.

Mid semester holiday ends tomorrow. It's labour day today...and we get an extra Monday off! Yay!
I would consider this off week for me to be fairly productive. I've done lots in the kitchen in terms of more time consuming recipes (will blog about them soon) and have been working lots on cake orders I have had piled up for the week. Unfortunately... I haven't been able to work much on my assignments...or study for that next exam I have on Monday *sigh*... I will tonight. Uni breaks are never quite long enough huh? *giggle*
So ... what have I been up to outside of my kitchen this week? Well.. I had a relaxing weekend away from hectic ol' Sydney at Stanwell tops, about 50 minutes south of the city. It was fantastic.. I had a chance to unwind.. forget my worries..and have nothing to do all day; but watch DVD's and cable TV. *mmMMmm.. the spa baths were good too! Might blog about my trip in a couple of days.I have also been out exploring cultures at the Korean festival at Darling Harbour in the city last weekend. I heard the Spanish/Latin festival and Chinese Mid Autumn festival was held there too! There's just so much to do on weekends in the City. We even played with paper lanterns to celebrate the mooncake festival!... We now have to replace my kitchen's fire extinguisher...*laughs* lets just say, ...plastic pails aren't good with flames.. and yes.. that I'm an idiot when I forget to use my silly ol' brain sometimes.
The excitement from having fun is too distracting! it's so hard to be mature and responsible whilst in "PLAY" mode. *laughs*

Just last Friday; a dear friend Aivy, celebrated her 19th birthday at her place just down the street from mine. The party theme was "A "for Aivy. We were to dress up as something starting with the letter "A" and my housemates and I turned up in matching angel costumes! Angels with little wings and alcoholic beverages *laughs*
The party was pot-luck...and I contributed a strawberry+ cookie tower from our household to add to Aivy's mom's delicious spread of party treats! It looks pretty impressive huh? It's actually easier than it looks.The basic idea is...
Prepare a freestanding Styrofoam core.. I used a cone.
stick toothpicks or skewers into it..
stick the fruit onto the skewers!
Stack with flowers into a pretty tier..
Done!oh yes...and of course.. I arrived with cake too!The cake was designed to be fun~ extravagant and exuberant! just like the Birthday girl! She loved it. And so did everyone else who had a slice of the green-tea and red bean layered cake. The first time I met Aivy; she arrived at our house party...eye-ing a cute little bee sitting on a cake display. She pointed at it and asked if she could have it. I assumed she wanted a slice of cake..and said "Of Course!"... with a mischievous scoop; she picked up the bee and popped it in her mouth. *laughs* I made her many many bee's this time *wink*