Valentine's Day and the Lone Wolf

J and I make a pact each year to not celebrate Valentines day. I think it's kind of a corny holiday, and I sympathise with the ridiculous amount of pressure most guys are under to make it the most romantic day of the year. The overpriced bouquets of flowers, the prix fixe menus, the obligatory box of chocolates, and all the damn pink and red - just ugh.

So it's pretty funny that I ended up with flowers and chocolates by happenstance. J had to go to Geneva for work last week, and he brought me back some frighteningly good chocolate. It's not like you can go to Switzerland and not buy the chocolate. 

I've been actually scared to eat this chocolate since I don't feel worthy, but I finally worked up my nerve so that the box is currently near empty. I guess I got over that real quick!

And we also picked up some orange roses on our weekly grocery run on Sunday. Major score, and without having to pay a 900% markup! 

They really perk up the flat, especially during the wettest winter on record. It's rained pretty much every day since November, and the winds have been so bad that Heathrow flights have been cancelled this past weekend. Absolutely nutso. It doesn't help that our boiler has been on the blink lately. I'm just grateful for hot water bottles and fireplaces until we can get the boiler sorted.

We did have one sunny day, and everyone was out and about. Who knows when we'll see sun again?!

School has been going fine, but I did have a bit of a meltdown last week during our practical for an exam dish, the genoise a la confiture de framboise. In plain english, raspberry sponge cake with French buttercream. Chefs creation:

It was this ridiculous comedy of errors where someone accidentally took my cake, so I ended up accidentally taking someone else's cake and not realising it until I was nearly done icing it. Then I had to scrape all my icing off and start again with my actual cake once I sorted out who had taken it. And I had to make 3x of everything between my partner and I because someone didn't have a partner, which slowed everything down considerably so I lost the time I had gained doing all of my individual tasks ahead of schedule. Argh! I was so disgusted with everything by the end of class that I just got out of there ASAP before I scratched anyone's eyes out. 

I was so irritated with the whole debacle that I remade the dish by myself once I got home, and it turned out wonderfully. J didn't like the cake I brought home from school, but he loved the cake I made at home. It not only tasted better, but it also looked a million times better. I'm still annoyed, but I no longer feel like punching walls. It's ironic that I usually get top marks in teamwork, but I absolutely hate it with a fiery vengeance.  Hear this lone wolf howl!