STRATHFIELD SPRING (NOT) FAIR 2010!

*Sigh*...so where should I start?

Yes, the weather forecast:

• Friday 22nd of October -  Warm & sunny with a late change in the evening & possible thunderstorms.
• Saturday 23rd of October - Showers temperature down to 20 degrees celcius.
• Sunday 24th of October (Spring Fair Day) - Cloudy with the occasional patches of rain.

The weather person was quite accurate with the weather report. What was predicted all occured...HOWEVER...a day later.

I had visioned a day of warm sunshine, a sea of excited locals, loud music, children with smiley faces excited by the carnival rides & Hi-5, a family day out, scrumptious food, but came to the realization as we were setting up early morning...it was not to be.

Setting up the stall with Amy
(see the puddles of rain on the wooden tables) 

I prefer the bitter before the sweet so will report the bad first.

Due to the miserable cold & wet weather:

• I couldn't vblog the fair. Wanted to capture the carnival atmosphere & the day's events for those who are unable to attend  (a special "Hello!" to local Aussies, my blog visitors from America & friends in Hong Kong)

So wet!

• I couldn't erect all my sweet treats displays. We minimized it to the Christmas tree macaron tower (you can read about it here) but the rain got to it too & "O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!" died in the process. The macaron shells fully soaked with rain, externally bleeding with thin streams of red & green blood (that visual would have been adequate to spook for a Halloween post!)

O Christmas Tree! may you rest in peace

• I couldn't have more signage for our stall & descriptions of my sweet treats
• many stall holders had packed to leave within the first hour of setting up as the rain grew heavier with only a handful of stall holders (including us) staying to the end
• restricted more local residents to attend the fair & taste my sweet creations (take comfort in knowing any sweet treats not sold all went to good homes after closing of the fair).



A box of White Rabbit's Carrot with a sugar carrot on top


Now that I have the bad out of my system, it's time to report the good!

• despite the cold & wet conditions I take comfort & give thanks to those who braved the weather to visit the stall
• close family & friends wanted to be customers to show support & wishing me an auspicious venture

Thank-you for coming!

Mr Petite attending to a customer

• parents making the effort to take their children to the fair for a quick outing wearing raincoats & umbrella in hand, & making the trip a little more memorable with a sweet treat from our stall (& also Amy's complimentary colourful toffee candy!)

So cute witnessing kids licking off the frosting on their cupcakes first & then continue to devour the rest of the cake, with some even dearly spoiled with a macaron or two!   





Parents doing their best on the day

 





Carnival Rides

Families watching a performance
(chairs were first laid out but quickly collected with the heavy rain) 


• invaluable feedback on my macarons. Our biggest hit on the day was Velvet Caramel: cocoa flavoured macaron shells filled with salted caramel winning hands down, followed by Strawberry & Cream: strawberry flavoured macaron shells filled with strawberry buttercream, & Orangette: orange macaron shells filled with orange milk chocolate ganache, with the rest on even par depending on the individual's like or dislike for coffee or chai tastes.

From left to right: Strawberry & Cream, Vanilla Chai,
Orangette & Hazelnut Coffee macarons

• invaluable feedback on my cupcakes. This category needs to be divided into two. For the adults it was Chocoholics: a chocolate cupcake topped with chocolate ganache frosting & a Lindt chocolate piece. (I changed the chocolate frosting from buttercream to ganache last minute wanting to make it more indulgent), followed closely by Red Velvet: a rich & moist chocolate buttermilk cupcake with vanilla cream cheese frosting topped with red desiccated coconut, & Caramel Latte: a moist & delicious light caramel mud cupcake with coffee buttercream frosting topped with coffee beans.

From left to right: Chocoholics & Red Velvet cupcakes

And for the children it was Banana Sundae: a light & fluffy banana cupcake with vanilla cream cheese frosting, banana chip, waffle piece, marshmallow & sprinkles, drizzled with chocolate or strawberry ice-cream topping, followed by White Rabbit's Carrot: a moist & fluffy carrot cupcake with the addition of walnuts, pineapple & coconut topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting, crushed walnuts & a sugar carrot.

Condensation on the cake stand glass due to the cold & wet conditions





Mr Petite & Amy keeping our spirits up on the day



• the Council doing all they could as it was a "rain, hail or shine" event & it seems with each year they have scheduled the date of the fair to be a bit later in order to ensure spring weather conditions (but there are somethings in life that one just cannot control with the weather being one of them) & their efforts in making the event even bigger & better with each year (wonder what they'll have up their sleeves for next year's fair....)
  
  So that's the wrap up of Spring (Not) Fair 2010.

Such is life....And today's another day!