Annoying things.

1.  It took me nearly an hour to get to work this morning because of a) the weather and b) the stupid roadworks at Moseley causing as much chaos as humanly possible.

2.  The stupid frelling BCC internet connection ate the entry I wrote earlier.  Not that it was particularly interesting, but it's the principle of the thing.

3.  PEOPLE TAKING MY BLOODY WORK WHEN THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO NEED IN THE SLIGHTEST!!!

4.  People beeping their horns for the attention of other people, seemingly right as I walk past them, thus scaring the shit out of me.  Especially when I'm crossing roads.  Bastards.

5.  Neanderthal Man in Home Zone whose idea of a chat-up line is "Hello gorgeous, you're looking extra gorgeous today."  There are several things I could have said back, but didn't, because I am a polite member of society.  One of those things was "Learn another superlative, you idiot."  Another was "You don't know me, so leave me alone."  Another was "If I wan't so exhausted I would kill you."  Possibly the most appropriate would have been "Fuck off."  *sigh*  Perhaps phrases like that work in cavemanland, but when I am trying to buy lightbulbs and it's all I can do to keep my eyes open, the last thing I need is a 30-something man in a tracksuit who thinks he's God's gift to all women trying to get my attention with crap flattery.  Bugger off, you horrible stain on society.

6.  Having to do the bloody washing up in addition to the baking tonight (and all the washing up that produces), because someone forgot to do it last night.

However, there are some good things to make up for it...

1.  herringprincess and I beat our metres from last week (although we only started measuring last week anyway) - 135m, compared to 80m last week.  If we have a week off due to illness or other engagements, the goal is to achieve the same as before.

2.  Recent comment tennis with thefleshfailure is providing just the right level of silliness (and swircle-mentioning) to keep me amused and non-homicidal.

3.  It's nearly Friday, and hence nearly the weekend.

4.  Home at 5.30 today, so I have lots of time to cook things.

5.  There's another bank holiday in a week.

And that's it.  This entry is possibly slightly more interesting than the one that got eaten.  I will now check my f-list and then start cooking.  Possibly some photos later, depending on aesthetics.

Hmm...

Possibly, my idea of getting both the parfait and the cake done tonight was a tad ambitious.

It's taken me an hour and five eggs to get the meringues right.  Previously, my meringues were made from 1 egg white + 9oz icing sugar, whisked together, spooned onto a plate and put in the microwave for 30 seconds (courtesy of someone on Ready Steady Cook), and hence I've never tried to make proper take-an-hour-in-the-oven meringues.

They are simple enough - unless you're me.  Put two egg whites into a bowl, whisk until 'stiff', add 100g of caster sugar and whisk some more, then spoon onto a greased baking tray and bake for 1 hour at 130^o.

The first attempt went wrong because I didn't whisk the eggs long enough so they were all runny, and would have resulted in flat meringues.  The second attempt resulted in some stray egg yolk ending up in the bowl because I seem to have forgotten how to crack eggs again.  Finally, after looking in my good ol' fashioned Marguerite Patten cook book to learn what 'stiff' meant in terms of eggs ("so stiff that you can turn the bowl upside down" may have been overstating it a tad, but it gave me the right idea), I managed to whisk the eggs long enough and make something resembling three-dimensional meringues.

I am now grilling a burger and some hash browns for my dinner, as I can't cook anything in the oven.  I should've got something instant and microwaveable for tea, really.  Or McDonalds or something.

Anyway.  About 40 minutes left on the meringues and then I can do the fun bit with blitzing strawberries in the mixer.  Yaaaay, fruit carnage. :D