Thursday was unusually busy

There is busy and then there is frantic. This was a beyond busy day. Folks were coming for an evening event so things needed to be done. One of the group is a man that Lee is very fond of (and who has done her favours in the past) and who is a great fan of chocolate. That was the motivation. Between sorting, reorganizing the living room and finishing the gift bags for the judges for the Halifax Show, a chocolate event took place. Have you seen the multi layered chocolate mousse cakes on display in high end restaurants. Well, guess what - you can make those at home if you have a lot of enthusiasm and time, your pantry is better than Sobeys and you have very little good sense. Ken groomed all day - better to stay out from underfoot he decided. Billy and Rocky look great.

The kennel is busy for February and the dogs are settled in. Sophie is delighted beyond words to have Lola and Charlie to manage. Lola is still able to go out her run door but cannot possible go through it the opposite way - it is a one way door and will remain so from Lola's perspective. She gets walked back into her 'room' and she likes that. Charlie has agreed that the door goes both ways, only it has to be a different door. He goes out his door but goes back in Sophie's run to get to his. Sophie says that it sort of ok as long as he doesn't touch her toys. So we hear Sophie's direction to Charlie "don't touch the toys don't touch the toys" as he goes through the door ahead of her. Mischka is doing well, loves his run but is adding bedding to his double room at a great rate. He is not young any more and likes his comforts. Ruff is happy to have his big yard and enthusiastically takes anyone who will move him to the door to get to the yard for a play. Winter exercise abounds.

The housedogs watched in amazement as doors opened and closed and Lee flew through, giving them a pat and encouraging them to manage the house while she worked. Fortunately that mousse cake is time consuming and keeps a person in one place (generally over the stove) for long periods. The Norwich who prefer sitting on Lee's feet, like that. the pantry door was open a lot - the Australian likes that. Lee had the Sirius radio tuned to jazz, the Airedales like that and the activity level was high so the Welsh were happy.

Dinner was a chicken stir fry with rice. Later in the evening the multilayer chocolate cake materialized. All were impressed. It is a dark chocolate bottom layer anchoring the cake. The binder is egg yolk added to the melted bittersweet chocolate, the only layer that is cooked. The middle layer is more a chocolate mousse - lighter in texture and colour and dependent completely on timing to be spreadable at just the right consistency. Then comes Lee's worry, the top layer is white chocolate - a cross between a mousse and a ganache. White chocolate is never easy to work with and the Callebaut is lovely but no exception. However, all came together reasonably well and the end result was fabulous. The guests were somewhat uncertain in some cases of the offer of latte all around but once sampled, all seemed highly appreciative. Lots of laughter and good company made for a successful evening. And it's on to an equally busy day tomorrow.