A Piece of Cake

I'm finally getting around to this, the thought of turning on the oven to actually bake something is so off-putting, but I agreed in June to participate in this Modern Baker Blog in connection with a new cookbook coming out sometime in the coming weeks. I have an aunt who works for the publisher, and she forwarded me the information. I, in turn, passed it along to my loopy girls, I think Juli decided to go for it, maybe she'll blog about her creations.

Ok, back in June I turned 30, and I really, really, really wanted a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, but nobody freaking makes those, unless you order it in advance and nobody ordered one for me in advance. Yes, yes, yes, I KNOW I could have picked up the phone and called the bakery, or better yet, made my own darn birthday cake, but come on, I turned 30. I expected the masses to fall prostrate and kiss my feet (which were freshly pedicured that day).

Yesterday, while the kids were at Day # 3 of Science Camp, I quickly whipped together a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, killing two birds with one stone, since there just happened to be a yellow cake with chocolate frosting recipe in the copy of the manuscript I was sent and thusly satisfying my craving for cake. Unfortunately, I am unable to share the recipe with you (you'll have to buy the book), but I certainly can share pics. Enjoy!

Who Are You Calling Weird?

http://www.threeminutesandarainbow.blogspot.com/ Lovely (and possibly weird) Juli posted about her quirks, oddities, whathaveyou because her sister did it, and now Regi's gone and done it and since it's too hot anywhere else in the house, I'll sit right here and tell you all about mine.

Ok, just go and read Juli's thing about cash & her debit card because I'm the same way and I'm too lazy to re-type my comment on her blog. I could probably be more successful if it weren't for my slothiness, but I will readily admit I'm lazy, so at least I have that going for me.

Alright.

I feel the need to organize the kids' toys at least once a week. I realize in doing this that they'll just continue to assume that I'll just continue to do it for them, but in reality, anything is better than listening to them whine (and they know it) and here's the sick part, I enjoy organizing the toys. It gives me a chance to sort out and toss the strange bits of detritus that they save and pick up along the way, the dear little magpies. All of Barbie's shoes turn up on my organizing missions, and Garrett's Army men are a complete platoon once I'm done with them.

Laundry. I secretly enjoy doing laundry. I love sorting it all out and folding it. The only part I don't love is putting it away. Life would sure be easier if somebody else would put it away. I hate wrinkles and stuff, so I have to fold it all as soon as it's done drying, particularly bedsheets. Otherwise I have to get the iron out. Oh, but NO FABRIC SOFTENER, esp. Downy. I hate the way it smells.

When eating something like m&ms, I sort them out by color and working from fewest to greatest, I eat them by color. For example, if I have 4 red, 6 green, 2 brown, 1 yellow, 5 orange and 8 blue, the order to eat them would be yellow, brown, red, orange, green and then blue. This applies to other stuff too - Swedish fish, gummy bears, Chex Mix, among others. Not that I eat that stuff . . .

There was a point in time when I had my pantry cabinet shelves labeled, but most of you might classify that as anal and not weird. It's a holdover from my professional kitchen days, what can I say?

I must sleep fully covered by a blanket, sheet, comforter, etc. It must reach up to my shoulder, my neck & head can stick out, but only my neck & head. I feel safer that way.

Attack of the Bridezilla

Heh, heh, I bet there are a lot of blog entries about Bridezilla. You know who she is. My sister moved out, and got engaged last week, both are wonderful pieces of news, and I'm very happy for her and her betrothed, I wish them all the best. :-) They have tenatively set a date for October 19, 2009, which is a long time away, but I guess she has her heart set on a fall wedding, and this fall is too short notice for the massive shin-dig she's planning (and apparently paying for, interestingly enough). So today she & my mom had a brief discussion on wedding dresses, my mom sent her a link to a pretty, very elegant and quite affordable dress from J.Crew's bridal line, and Erika volleyd back with a $600 number from David's Bridal - big, and white and haltered and the back laces up like a corset and her tattoos will show. :-X And replied "It's MY wedding and YOU don't have to come if you don't want to."@@ I mean, it's a little early to throw down that gauntlet, don't you think? My mom's point (and I'm kind of siding with her on this) is that Erika will have a 5 year old by the time she gets married, that she's not marrying the father of her 5 year old, and she's living with her fiance. I know times have changed, and believe me, I'm not all about tradition myself, but I can see where my mom is going with this. But, I suppose if Erika & Dave are paying for it themselves, they can have whatever kind of wedding they want. Oh, and they want to have it at a firehall. Nothing says PA like a firehall wedding!

Letting Go . . .

My life is far from a bed of roses, though it's nice to pretend that it is once in a blue moon. S and I have been having some difficulties lately, and we've sort of come to the conclusion that maybe we're just better off cutting our losses and each moving on in our own directions. I feel like he'd prefer to keep it open ended, but I'm just unable to do that, and I really feel like I've been doing so much to make this marriage work, and that I've done all I can. It is supposed to be a partnership, but it hasn't felt that way in a very long time. :-( It's not easy, it's not a happy time, I'm trying to stay upbeat, and I'm trying to keep busy. Hopefully that won't numb the pain, only to make it worse later down the road. I have two awesome kids to look out for though, and a bunch of kick ass friends to look out for me, so we'll get through it, maybe a few battle scars here and there, but no worse for the wear. For once I'm really looking forward to the future, I can't remember a time last when I was actually happy about planning things out, I feel as though that is a good sign. Natalie is psyched about starting school in September, meeting & making new friends, and with luck I'll have a job by then. Garrett is Garrett, he's happy as long as he's got a Buzz Lightyear in one hand and a Transformer in the other.

Not Your Mother's Bar

Today I had this brilliant idea for a small business. I usually daydream about small businesses (brick & mortar stores) that I'd own - like I think a children's & maternity consignment store would be cool, or a children's boutique. Sometimes I think about running a movie theater and showing old movies. Anyway, today I thought wouldn't it be GREAT if there were a place that moms could go to during the day to drink, amongst other moms?! I would have a child-care area separate of the bar, but the bar wouldn't be really bar-like either. We'd have comfy couches & chairs, and you could get a manicure & a pedicure along with your cocktail. And if you perhaps imbibed a bit too much and couldn't drive home? Well, there'd be a limousine that would whisk you and the kids to home safe & sound. I'm not sure what I'd do if you got fall-down frat boy drunk. Maybe you'd have to arrange for your very best girlfriend, or worse, husband, to come over to take care of the kids. Any suggestions? I want to make sure the kids are safe!!! I think my bar would open around 10 am, and we'd be serving mimosas and Bloody Marys at that time. As the day progressed the menu would change - wine & beer for the lunch time crowd, martinis and gimlets for the post-school frenzy, the day would wind down with decaf Irish coffee and warm spiked apple cider. We close at 10 pm, so this mom can get home for 40 winks. ;-)

Personally, I think it business would boom.