Basket Head Score Board

Leader board:

Adam - 7 /7

Jamie - 2 /4

Callum - 4 /8

Rhys - 5 /10

Greg - 1 /3

George - 1 /3

Sue - 0/1

Dom - 2 /8

Katie - yet to play

It's Chrisssssstmaaasssss!!

Secret Santa, Christmas Jumper Day (in aid of the Hospice), AND Katie's birthday:

Sue's annual Christmas bake

Yet to do a Cake Monday, accomplished baker Sue tends to bake a festive treat for us in December and this year she chose to make a Stollen Wreath cake. It is amazing. Thanks Sue (and keep them coming!!).

Christmas Meal out

By popular demand, we chose to return to Porters for our 'Christmas Do' this year and the food as usual did not disappoint. Most of us chose the Duck & Venison Pie since Porters are known for their pies, but actually it was those who opted for the Christmas Turkey that lucked out. Fortunately, not everybody could finish their meal, so the Christmas dinner did find its way to Adam as planned.

Rhys's lunch is cheaper than Katie's coffee

Turns out the secret to running 100m in under 11 seconds doesn't need to involve a good diet, this is what Rhys chose for his lunch today....6 hot-cross buns (consumed without jam or butter).

Steadfast-Sue we call her

It's been musical chairs this morning with everyone having moved down one end of the office to allow for the refurb to take place. Not without its problems (cables mainly), we've got through it. Only Sue remains, loyal, and routed to her carpet space whilst the workmen spray glue (all above board, we don't call her glue-sniffing-Sue), work under desks, and generally create noise around her. Not once has she complained, although she has become somewhat light-headed.

From red to grey-blue

New carpet! Chaos, what chaos? To be fair, the carpet fitting is fine, it's the new security door implementation that's causing havoc across different companies within the building!

Cake Monday - December 2016

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. When you have baked 3 cakes, you are out of the competition for 1 year.

Chocolate Brownie by Dom

Fully expecting Dom not to have made his cake over the weekend, scepticism was on red alert when he brought in his cake this morning, particularly as it looked quite tasty....

So anyway, Dom melted dark chocolate with butter over hot water. Placing sugar in a separate bowl, he then folded in the melted chocolate. Eggs were whisked and added into the mixture, as was sieved flour and crushed white chocolate. The mixture was poured into the tin and baked for 45 minutes. He dusted some icing sugar over the top "for Christmas". 

The Verdict:

Considering we were expecting a packet-mix, the cake tasted decent. Everybody liked it and the general consensus was that it worked; it was nice and gooey and sweet. It was a bit heavy for Sue, and a bit too sweet for George and Greg, but Jamie was inspired and reckons he might make it at home for the kids (Jamie loves a cake that doesn't need to rise). A very solid first attempt for Dom - he secured the highest marks people felt they could award given the simplicity of the cake. 

Chocolate Brownie Average Score 7.25

Next time: he doesn't even like cake. Adam will be baking, but this will be the last time for a year.