Company Weekend in Lille, 20th-22nd September

We drank a lot. We walked a lot (hungover). We loved some food (mussels) and were disappointed in others, namely the animal-bone-meal & the bread breakfasts (if you're Adam). We were out til 4am each night. There were a lot of comedy moments, some of which ought to be forgotten.

Eurostar entertainment

Hotel Bar

Beer tasting

Drinking games

hangover cure

some kind of animal bone accompaniment for steak 

French delicacy lost on us?

of all the beer sampling achieved, we loved the CH'TI 

streets of Lille

4am, in between Clubs..

4th floor lobby, early hours of Sunday.

Cake Monday 9th September

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? because we like cake.
Who? everyone in the office. No one gets out of it.
When? 1st Monday of the month.
The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague.

'Jamie's Fabulous Fruit Cake Mark 1'. This is Jamie's first submission to Cake Monday and we got the impression not all went to plan. The fruit cake was packed full of fruit and almonds and a lot of work had gone into the making of this cake. Eggs were separated and whisked and the dried fruit had to be chopped by hand (really?). However, 2 principles of fruit cake were ignored; soaking the fruit the night before & adjusting his oven temperature setting for a fan oven. We've seen this oven error before with Jess's cakes and with similar outcome: a dry & slightly burnt cake. 

The Verdict: The flavours were there and it tasted okay. It sounded a difficult & time-consuming cake to make & it was a good first entry to the competition. Sadly, its consistency was more of a rock cake than a fruit cake, and no one likes that chopped candied orange peel you get in fruit cakes.

'Jamie's Fabulous Fruit Cake Mark 1' Average Score: 5.7

Next time: Ellie's up with her first cake. 

A David Mitchell-ed Desk & Accessories

George likes TV programme 'Would I lie to you'. She also likes David Mitchell who is in the programme. George had forgotten that she mentioned this a while ago to Jess and came in this week to find her desk and everything on, around, and within it (including food snacks in her drawer) plastered with David Mitchell's smiling face. This photo doesn't do Jess's work justice. Several different photos of David Mitchell were used, spanning different eras of his time on British television. Her desk phone also had his face on the inside of the receiver. Shocking, perturbing and slightly stalker-esque, George quite likes her desk's new look. Jess meanwhile has gone on to pursue art & design at university.