Your Place Or Mine? Book signing + Pumpkin Pudding with Cinnamon sauce

You know those movies which start at the peak of actions and have you at the edge of your seats...then all of a sudden they rewind back into the past where you discover all the incidents that lead to that present action-packed day?

Well here is mine:

So let's go back to last week and how it lead up to the above moment.

No no, let's go back to the day I was born and how I was born with good tastes in cups ;)

You see, I love collecting cups but every cup I've purchased and taken to work - it gets stolen.

Last week was no exception. I spent the weekend picking out a cup for my new job as I wanted something that I will be drinking out of to be pleasing to the eyes. Who doesn't?

Yesterday I naively took this new cup to work and I left it outside the bathroom for a brief 2 minutes and when I returned...it was gone! How can it be?

I walked around the office frantically looking for this new but lost friend.

I even sent out an e-mail to the entire office...something along the lines of:

...will the person who accidently borrowed my cup, please return it to me? I will buy (or make) you a cup of coffee if you return it safe (and preferably unused)...

No response with details of its mysterious disappearance.

There are times in a persons life where you just have to quickly accept the cold hard facts. They call it signs of a character...or something like that.

So today at lunch (I am getting somewhere with this story, truly!) I was on the way to buy a replacement cup. And I was intending on getting a realllly ugly one. You gotta learn your lessons right?

Walking past Target, there was a line of people each with this book: Your Place or Mine?

Book signing? I've never been to one before! Or maybe lately I've not liked a book enough to want to get it signed. All the authors I adore are no longer alive actually....

So I walked in and saw Gary and George! The MasterChef Australia judges! Pretty neat huh? They are exactly as how they're on TV - relaxed, down to earth and they joke around and interact with their fans with such ease!

I wasn't planning on getting the book initially, but when I flipped through it and saw recipes like 'Twice Baked Gruyere Souffle' and 'Carrot and Olive Caramel cake', I was sold. Plus I planned to get a cookbook anyways since I have none on my bookshelf since the move from Sydney. What perfect timing! Watch out for their recipes on this space in the near future!

When I was getting my book signed, I told Gary that I'm from Sydney and when George heard that, he gave me a disgusted look. He loves Sydney, that guy. I also told them that I'd like VIP treatments when I go visit their restaurants. I can't remember what they said in response. I think they said of course. We will see, won't we?

Anyways, it is an unfinished story with my cup. But what an serendipitous moment I had today! :)

I leave you with more pictures of my pumpkin pudding with cinnamon sauce in which I made recently.

It was so deliciously spicy and full of sugary pumpkin sweetness.

I will post up the recipe the next time.

For now, I need to go and make myself dinner...maybe something out of the book aye?