The Custard Square of Destiny

One of the great things about New Zealand is the ubiquitous custard square, which can be found in almost any bakery.  It is one of my favourite foods in the world, a delicious combination of yummy, gooey custard, flaky pastry and icing.  I cannot help eating them although I have had some bad ones since I returned to New Zealand.  Sometimes the custard has the texture of tofu and a pretty rank flavour.  The worst example was from a bakery in Matamata- I only ate half of it.  The custard square I bought yesterday from the Bakehouse Cafe in Kumeu was quite good, although a little the worse for wear after I dropped the bag holding it-

According to Wikipedia the custard square is known by other names in various countries, such as Mille-feuille, Napoleon, vanilla slice, cream slice and custard slice.  But, as Shakespeare said:

 "What's in a name? that which we call a rose
  By any other name would smell as sweet,..."

I made lunch today for Nikki, Olly, Graeme and Celia.  Admittedly Mum and Dad assisted to some degree.  It was a very pleasant and relaxed afternoon.  It was rather odd getting together on a working day.  But quite satisfying as well.

On Friday I went to the Mt Eden pool for a swim with Anna-Lisa.  We finished watching the "Sex and the City" movie.  It was good and kept up the tension right till the end. 

I had lunch with Nana last Wednesday, with Aunty Lois and Kevin last Friday, with Kim on Saturday and with Aunty Margaret on Tuesday.  My life is a social whirl, it really is.

I met Nikki and Olly in town on Saturday afternoon.  They had arrived in NZ from the UK the day before so were still jet-lagged.  We explored some of the pubs of Auckland and had dinner at the fantastic Food Alley.  Olly was keen to see a band.  We ended up at Live Bar.  Jet lag caught up though and we only saw the earliest band, which was playing some form of heavy metal (I am sure that it can be better categorised but it was beyond me).  Probably not the best musical option in all the circumstances.