the final flourish

This is it. The last recipe to be tested for the book. It's also a first as I've never made a walnut cake before and I am relieved I didn't have to go through several versions on this final day. Apart from anything else, levels of icing sugar have fallen dangerously low and I might have had to go out to get some more. How ironic that would have been after six months of having cream and butter fall out of the fridge every time we open it, bags of flour crammed into cupboards, and layers of different coloured sugars on every available shelf.

And now I feel like a free woman. Tomorrow, for the first time in fourteen and a half months I'll be able to wake up without thinking about a book deadline. My calendar has suddenly opened up and I realise there is life beyond 14 March, and yet I feel strangely unprepared for the freedom. Maybe I just need to re-test a few recipes...   

So what am I going to do with my time?

I am going to sort out my office. I have a disconcerting ability to ignore the fact that the whole room has crept up around me while I've been working, and I need to rediscover its real boundaries by moving dozens and dozens of children's books, papers, recipe books. I might even find there is room to swing a cat in here.   

I am going to read some grown-up books without looking for food moments and treats. This will be difficult as I've grown so used to my eyes scanning pages for mentions of cakes, biscuits, eggs, ginger, jam, sandwiches, picnics that I'm going to have to readjust to reading whole chapters again. But I suspect I'll still be thrilled when I meet a scone or a fruit cake.

I am going to knit and quilt. The thing I've been looking forward to most is moving away from the computer screen and having something soft and colourful in front of me again. Life will cease to exist in black and white and will turn into glorious Technicolour rather like one of the wonderful transitions in A Matter of Life and Death.

I am going to soak up some new ideas and inspiration. I have my tickets booked and I'm going to be doing some visiting and travelling.

I am going to get some fresh air. Goodness knows, my lungs need some.

I am going to get some sleep. Goodness know, my brain needs some.

Best of all, I am going to spend time with Simon, Tom, Alice and Phoebe who have been amazing over the last year and have seen me through some pretty tricky moments. And they have been the best treat-eaters a cook could ever wish for. This walnut cake is for them.

   

 

Comments

[Ewa]

Oh well done you - I totally understand hitting a deadline and seeing beyond it, such a great feeling. Enjoy every minute, you deserve it - and I can't wait for your new book to be launched into our world! I'm looking forward to seeing your new projects as they appear, such an inspiration, thank you Jane :-)

[irene]

congratulations jane! welcome to life past 14 March.
enjoy all the deadline-free moments.
xoxo

[SamLaTricoteuse]

Can't wait to see this new baby ?
On this walnut cake, is it a Maple Syrup icing ?????
Sugar Taffy season is almost there - we will have a wonderful season: for the sap to flow we need warm days and cool nights and plenty of snow at the foot of the maple trees. Go see my blog: we have had more than our share of snow this year in Montreal, Qc... I may have snow in front of my yard til May at this rate - there is a 6-7' snowbank...

[Lina]

Congratulations, Jane! Can't wait to see the new book! And of course, try out the recipies :)

Enjoy your freedom! You're so creative, you'll soon have another book idea and will be back to the computer screen ;)

[Ali]

Phew - I can sense your relief from here. It must feel good to have it done - savour the moment (and the cake!).

[Emilia]

I can´t wait for the new book!

I have very much enjoyed reading about your test recipes and the concept of the book.

[betz]

yum, that photo is literally making my mouth water. Enjoy your freedom! :)

[Karbee]

Well done! Getting to the end of a deadline is always a liberating experience because it frees you up to live for a while in the world you write about, breathe and invite in new inspirations. I'm really looking forward to this book because I love to bake and eating some good old fashioned treats is right up my alley.

[Maryjo]

congratulations ... and I'm Easter recipe hunting for Russian babka and all of that (shocking the amount of eggs that are called for)!

now tell us the truth: did your family get tired of all the sweets or not? Probably not!!

[kate]

Congratulations!

[ute]

Congratulations! Me, too, am really looking forward to this book. Btw, is there any chance that it will be translated in German? The sooner the better, of course - otherwise my nephews and nices will be too old to cook and read with their old aunt. I´m sure many readers will be interested in your book over here in Germany.
Thanks a lot for sharing your ideas und your wonderful photos in this blog!

[Queen Bee]

Congratulations on finishing your book, I can't wait to read it and sample all those scrumptious looking treats!!!

[Kate]

Congratulations! I can't wait to see the book, and also to see what new discoveries you make as you re-enter the world of color and fiber!

[Steph VW]

Congratulations on finishing the book! The thought of it makes me drool.

[Laura A.]

Warmest congratulations, Jane. I can't wait for the book--now if I had someone to make me the treats that I'll find there. I know I'm late but your first book was waiting for me when I got home yesterday--my happy new job present to myself!

[emily]

delicious. and beautiful. as always.

[Anne]

That cake looks fabulous, and I don't even really care for walnuts. You make everything look so perfect! Tell me your books will be available in Canada.

[Robin]

Yay!! Good for all of you. Just enjoy each other and that beautiful cake.

[gillie]

What a delicious cake. I love walnut cake, well I really love the icing and the walnuts best but I'm happy to eat the cake too!

It must be wonderful to feel so unconstrained, enjoy the freedom :)

[Becki]

Congratulations! I can't wait for your book to come out. Your writing is so beautiful, and your baking presentations are so amazing that I just know they must be delicious, too.

[Stephanie]

Congratulations. The cake and the other goodies you've been showing look great. Too bad it's Lent. I could use a goody!

[Sherry]

Ahhh, wonderful! Congratulations on finishing! I have just finished papers upon papers and this is the Friday before Spring Break which makes me thrilled beyond belief. I shall walk around the neighborhoods and buy bread from the bakery and just lie in bed all day with the sun shining on me while I eat cookies.

But then I have to get started on my Junior Quals and my final exam essays. So summer . . .

[Liz in IN]

Hurrah for freedom! Congratulations on meeting your deadline (and not running out of icing sugar).

Just had to reply, as A Matter of Life And Death (called Stairway to Heaven in North America) is one of my very favourite movies of all time, and was my mum's very favourite. She lost her youngest brother (RCAF) in WWII, and StH/aMoLaD was the only movie that could make her cry.

[Kat]

I can not explain how excited I am for this book. My mom is a school teacher and kids books have been standard in my life. It is going to be a dream come true to have the recipes I've always read about right in front of me.

[Mary]

Congratulations! Your blog is one of my favorite online "treats" that I savor each time I come to read. That walnut cake looks absolutely divine. Can't wait to see what you end up knitting and quilting. Cheers!

[Rebecca]

Hurrah, well done Jane. A magnificent cake for a magnificent milestone. I am really looking forward to this book, as I am sure many of us are but for now I will content myself with reading about your travels, quilting and knitting. Looking forward to the next instalment...

[kmkat]

I am a tax accountant, and I feel exactly as you do, but about the time that will come after April 15th, The Day Income Taxes Are Due. However, I will have only been buried in this world for abou 11 weeks; I can't imagine 14 months.

Enjoy your freedom!

[sil]

Congratulations on crossing that finish line! Enjoy the down time.

[Susan, IL US]

Yay! Can't wait. I'm so thrilled to find a whole community of folks who read, looking for references to food, recipes, homekeeping and menus. Thank you, dear Jane! Enjoy your well-deserved time with your family and your passions. When planning a tour, please consider Champaign, IL or at least Chicago!

[Sheila]

I nearly cried when I saw th epicture of thsi cake. My doctor has me on a high protein, low carb diet - Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh

[Kristin]

Congratulations,Jane! I've just been reading through the Gentle Arts book as I've been sick in bed with the flu. The colors and inspiration have been filling my head with things to do when I'm better. I can't wait to see your latest!

[wren]

Have a great deadline free weekend with your family. I'll be donning my apron and trying out Dan Lepard's Hot Cross Buns.

[rosie]

what a glorious-looking cake for your grand finale. congrats on hitting the deadline. have fun with all your travelling and textiles.

[Amy]

Congrats! I finished my book in December, and it was such a strange feeling, to pack up all the research materials and not have to live with it every minute of every day.

[willow]

Congratulations on a job well done!

I find that after the deadline is over, my brain takes a bit of time to adjust. I can't immediately go full tilt into enjoying knitting, reading, gardening; I have to ease back into them slowly. Wishing you a speedy transition...

[mathea]

Congratulations! Now, remove those shoulders from your ears and have fun - you deserve it!

[Tuija]

Warmest congratulations from wintery Finland! Looking forward to your writing and recipes as Famous Five etc. were part of my childhood as well.

Ps. I saw copies of your first book live in Helsinki, here: http://www.moko.fi/!

[lucy]

Oooh! I have just seen your new cover on Amazon, very cute! I remember that milly molly mandy picture. The synopsis includes books that I loved when I was little and now my seven year old daughter is devouring them. Roll on July 10! x

[lolita Blahnik]

Looks delicious!!!!

[sooz]

And what a way to go out!!

The cake looks d i v i n e! The shine on that icing is delightful!
Well done you!

[Melanie]

Congratulations! I think we must have been working on the same schedule, as I have just last week finished a thesis (minor) that I have been working on since January last year, and now I have finished my postgrad degree, and I am also enjoying a wonderful feeling of freedom and release of pressure, so that my environment now extends beyond my laptop and the library. However, I have a suspicion that far from freeing myself to enjoy lots of new and old pleasures, I will just have room to stretch and breathe - as I really didn't have time to do my studies in the first place, so that they have not freed me a great deal of 'spare time'!

[colleen]

oh yum. as much as i've enjoyed your beautiful photos of treats and sweets, i'm happy to look forward to some more quilts. how i love your blog -- it inspires me and usually starts me off on tangents of wonderful daydreams. thank you so very much. i so look forward to this book and wait patiently for the u.s. release of your first one.

[lucy]

Ooooh! nice cover on the new book, I can remember that Milly Molly Mandy illustration. I read most of those titles in the synopsis when I was little and now my seven year old daughter is reading the same books. Cannot wait for it to come out x

[Alison]

How fab!
I hope you get some time off just to relax and do nothing too, although when you've been working so hard sometimes this is really hard to do isn't it!
Have fun!
love Alison x

[tutleymutley]

MMM, Walnut cake. Are you all much heavier after this last 14 months+ then?

[Amy Lu]

Congratulations!

We are waiting with thrilled anticipation for this book! I hope your new found freedom will be as exhilarating for you as your book will be for us!

[Jaye]

Dear Jane,
Congratulations on getting the heavy lifting of your second book done. I am so happy for you. I started your first book in January when it was in my house briefly while waiting to be sent to a friend as a birthday gift. I got my own copy and have gotten back to reading it. I love it. You have hit the nail on the head. I know you have received some criticism for not including patterns, but THANK YOU for not including patterns. I am sick of pattern books and want inspiration books. You have given me a book crammed with inspiration in the form of words and photos. You can always do a companion book of the patterns and techniques, anyway - or license someone to do a pattern book for you. Enjoy your time off and keep up the EXCELLENT work. And... thank you.

[muffin]

I was going to say the same as everyone else seems to have already said so more good sentiments and hope you sell squillions! When's it going to be available?

[di]

The cake looks fantastic- on a perfectly coordinated plate, as always. You do have an eye for those little details.
Best wishes for post deadline life- it sounds like you have some perfect plans in place to relax and unwind.

[Lewis Bae]

That must be a good book. That walnut cake looks really good too!