Warning: Some Violence and Much Strong Language.SHE WROTE: Death & Cake
As Bob presses on with Acts Three and Four in which Shane gets closer to the Big Bad and kills more people, I press on with Act Two in which Agnes decorates two wedding cakes. Well, somebody has to. And really, the way Agnes is decorating these two cakes is an act of aggression against her Big Bad so she's being violent, too, in her own way. So I'm studying up on fondant and royal icing and cake construction--yes, I'm watching Ace of Cakes, isn't everybody?--and Bob is doing no research at all for killing people. Once again, life is unfair.
I am also bouncing all over the plot. I've told Bob what happens to Agnes at the third turning point and given him half a dozen scenes for her there, even though I don't know the scene progression for her for Act Three yet. I also know what happens right before the end of the book at the end of Act Four because it's part of a pattern I can see in the book as it shapes up in my mind. Bob doesn't do patterns. Bob does straight lines. My patterns used to screw up his straight lines, but now he just sighs and says, "Bring it on, I can make anything work." He was busy with family stuff all weekend so things piled up and now he has a stack of e-mails from me, some of them multi-paragraph which he hates and some of them only a couple of words, but all of them on Agnes and her plot, talking about patterns or details (two of his least favorite words) none of it linear, and what he really needs is what Agnes does in Act Two.
Well, she's really concerned about these wedding cakes, Bob.
Wait'll he finds out that the next plot point is the wedding dress. But it's going to be okay. Shane can pick up the stuff Agnes needs for her cakes when he goes to Savannah to beat up the Tootaloo brothers and then drive Rocko to the swamp to see Moot. As long as he doesn't get blood on her fondant, Agnes will never know.
Which is how she prefers it.
238 Comments:
Are you baking and testing the cakes? We would be glad to volunteer our services.
Every post makes me more excited to see this book. We can't wait!
New blog!!
Moot is a tourist attraction? Where can I go to see her? (She won't hurt a CherryBomb, now, will she? Umm....maybe if I bring her a cocktail?)
Jenny, you are the antidote to a bad day.
Can I sign up to be a beta cake taster? Though I have to say, one of the scariest moments in my life was when I realized one of my younger sisters had taken up making little fondant fruit-shaped cake decorations. They were not edible, so what was the point? Do you want me to get the recipe? Please say no.
So. If we talk to Bob, we should use small words and short sentences? No paragraphs?
Just asking.
Not that we would.
Talk. To. Bob.
About. Killing. People.
bw
Theoretically.
bw
Oooh, jumping in totally off topic, but I just saw my CP's new book online. It's on the Berkley Jove site, and she's RIGHT NEXT TO NORA!!!
Go take a look. It's so exciting. This is her first single title with a big publishing house. And she deserves it, which makes me all the more excited.
Back to our regularly scheduled commenting...
Jenny said...
As long as he doesn't get blood on her fondant, Agnes will never know.
LOL! Good one. And the Tootaloo brothers. ;+))) I know Bob mentioned them first, but was that name his idea or yours? Sounds like a Jenny-ism but don't know enough about Bob to be sure.
uftcyr (green)
urban fantasy t-shirts can yield romance
Wedding cake and murder--I can't wait! Thank you signing my book for me, Jenny and Bawb, when you were at RWA. I shall always cheRRish it.
Zaza: Bless your heart dear, but there are TWO authors, one on either side of Nora (let's hope she doesn't notice). Which is she?
And if you're looking for another good read, I notice that Virginia Kantra (shameless plug: one of MY friends and a fellow chapter member and, BTW, the originator of the quote "there is no right or wrong, there is only what works and what doesn't work" -- she is so wise it's scary) is listed along the sidebar of this website. Great book! She is so talented and I love her books. But as you said, ahem, back to your regularly scheduled...
Don't worry, J&B, once Agnes/Shane comes out (sometime soon, right?) we'll plug it shamelessly and enthusiastically. To anyone who will listen. And to those who won't.
Gennita: Why did I not meet you in Atlanta? You missed a heck of a good time... Will you all PLEASE stop lurking?
bw
Jenny - back in the day, when I was a good mother and not Mommy dearest, I used to bake, from scratch, all my kids birthday cakes. I've made Princess Jasmine (the princess stuff started here early), I did the rugrats, the little mermaid and Buzz Lightyear. But my all time favorite was when my husbands family came to me and asked to make and decorate a cake for his parents anniversary. The cake was to be a used car lot, where they met. Man, that frosting looked gross.
Yes, I still bake on occasion, but I don't do fancy decorations anymore. One kid complained, and well, that was the end of that. Yep, lots of appolgizing to those little monsters now, saving myself lots of money in therapy bills later.
Glad moot his being fed. She has babies to take care of.
Hi Bob.
BCB - "If we talk to Bob, we should use short sentences." No Bon Bon we should ask him if he's ready for bed yet. And if you must know, that line has become a running joke in our house. That along with sharks poising as bobble head ducks.
Cake baking. Yum!! I can visualize Agnes getting all snarky and slapping gobs of frosting on a cake while swearing about Shane or some other unfortunate male and making the cake sink in the middle.
Mom loved her autographed book, thank you, thank you. She started DLD on the trip, although we gave the poor old duck little time to read. *grin* She claims she's three inches shorter from all of the walking she was forced to do.
Jenny, I just took a walk tonight with my friend who I have converted into a Crusie reader. She said of all the authors she's ever read she thinks you do character best. She says you never repeat your characters and thinks that is amazing. I told her it was sheer Crusie brilliance and I'm waiting for some of the magic to blow my way.
Thanks for the blog. Happy cake baking and writing.
rg
hjlnman One of Shane's buddies
Jen: LMAO! Sorry, have a really strange visual of what constitutes a "running joke" in your house. And really, I can't help it if you kiss and tell...
Sorry Bob, she started it... you remember, back in Atlanta when she asked you-- what? Oh all right. Yes, I'll behave. Geez. Can't even have a little fun around here these days. [grumble, grumble, toil and trouble]
Speaking of shameless, I hear another, ahem, soon-to-be-published author has an excerpt up on her blog. I hear she had to face down sharks and duckies and green cartoon frogs and god knows what all else to accomplish the feat, but you all should go read it. Can't quite seem to remember her name though. She keeps changing it all the damn time.
bw
Hi ya'll .. did ya miss me??
I saw Bryan. He looks just like Regis Philbin in a cabana boy outfit. And his photography is excellent. Really excellent. We have an artist here people!
I also gave a dear friend who is going through divorce hell her first Crusie. It was Fast WOmen of course. Her soon to be X makes Tim the Spineless Cheating Weasle look like Gabe.
I'm off to bed catch your blogs later and I'll share my drag-queen night. My favorite performer was Penny Tration.
Hugs!
JEN- You have excerpt? And we had to hear it from a scouring powder? Shame on you! I'll be over to read it in just a sec.
Since everyone else is going on tangents did you know you can make your own, one of a kind, custom, Converse Chucks- I kid you not- http://www.converse.com/index.asp?mode=c1&bhcp=1 I think my sister, who had forty twelve dozen pairs in jr high and high school is going to get a gift certificate there for Christmas/Birthday
kszfoo- one of those annoying metal things that you hum through and it makes noise
Jenny....
I like cake...
ZAZA....
I'l have to start looking for "Double Dare" by Saskie Walker.
JenT....off to your blog to read...
ygpqikx red
youth gives people quick intelligent kicks Xtra
i must say, Bob, wedding cakes are very important. the whole point of a weddding is the party, and the party is only as good as the cake.
or so i'm told.
so it's very important Agnes is dealing with cakes. cakes can make or break the ceremony.
or so i'm told.
Jenny, you would love this. my mom used to make me cookie cakes. it's just a big cookie the size of a cake and it tastes so good. chocolate chip cookie, of course. you just put cookie dough into one of those cake pans and then, after some heat and time, you get a giant cookie. great stuff.
yes, i can be simple. you got a point?
will go check out those sites. cookie cake. man, that was some good stuff.
BCB: you could clarify a little. geez. it's on JJ's blog with those other authors, not on her web page, which i went to first.
http://killerpassion.blogspot.com/
and JJ, i'll tell you what i think of it, as soon as the server goes back up and i can read it.
and why aren't you shamelessly self-promoting here? come on, you know we like it. (not like that, for the love of all that is holy get your minds out of the gutter)
oh, well that should teach me. the excerpt is below, not through the link on the blog. whoops.
i wouldn't be making those mistakes if you shamelessly self-promoted, JJ.
JJ: i like it. good last line to end it with. makes you want to read more.
but question: she isn't going to be one of those heroine's that's all "oh, he was just a little persistent" when he's about to rape her on the kitchen floor, right? i hate that. hope she punched/kicked tom in the family jewels, really hard.
other than that, i liked it.
uh, we really don't stay on topic any more, do we? oh well, it was a nice try.
JJ: last thing. on your home page of your web page, you have
"I'd also like o invite you"
forgot a t.
ok. night all.
oh, guess i should have just e-mailed you. whoops again.
ok, ok, i'm leaving now.
green: jtnev: JT never even voted.
Conscripted cherry - I wasn't sure what you were looking for and I might be a little late, but there is this Latin saying
Si tacuisses, philosophum mansisses
meaning: if you had kept quiet, you would have been a philosopher (and now you went talking about it all over the place, you made a fool out of yourself...)
I wish I would remember that saying more often. Sigh.
Is anyone else here a serious hobby cake-decorator? Just asking. I have done sugarcraft work for decades, and even used to write a regular column for a cake-decorating magazine.
The wedding-cake motif has come up in JC books before (e.g. Kate's friend Jessie in Manhunting is a cake-decorator), so I wonder if JC herself practises the craft?
Jenny I can't wait to read about wedding cakes and death and wedding dresses and death. Sounds great. Also sounds like a lot of weddings I've attended.
Bob just read the paragraphs one word at a time. And patterns are lines arranged in precise ways. They aren't always straight lines but hey that makes it more interesting.
Glad you are back Kyra and Antitigress
Hi gennita low
Agtigress my Mum used to ice cakes back when she was first married and my aunt won ribbons and made a business out of it. Iced my wedding cake as a wedding gift.
Oh Jen-t, I do the good mummy birthday cake decoarting routine every year - well twice actually as I have two kids.
The easiest one I did was a medieval castle using lamington fingers -basically just put on my brick laying hat and layed layer upon layer of cake finger with cholate icing. Damn it looked good too and the kids just picked off a brick at a time - no plates.
Other ones have taken hours and somehow never quite turn out like the godamn perfect picture. I HATE that!!!
I remember my mum made my brother a Dalek cake for his 8th birthday - he was a Dr Who nut. Actually we all were. It was great. Amazing what you can do with smarties. Just as well he wasn't as in to cybermen.
Blood on the fondant - what a visual feast. Gross but compellng all at once. Keep writing guys - sounds fab.
xlloke - xtra loving looks or killing expletives
Jenny - A good friend of mine made my wedding cake. It was a really excellent marble cake with simple white frosting and gardinas (my flower of choice for the brides maids.) Anyway, it was very simple, no bride and groom on top, just simple flowers. I loved it. And it was small. Now I had 250 people at my wedding (remember, I'm a princess), so we laughed becaused everyone thought the cake was too small. By my friend, the ingenious woman that she is, also made sheet cakes for serving. So, we cut the cake (did not shove food at each other until we got to the the honeymoon suite) and as soon as we done, the waiters brought out everyone elses piece. My guests were amazed.
Only problem - we kept the top for our one year anniversary, and two weeks before that - my mother's freezer went while she was vacation and well, I begged my friend to make me another one just like the first one. She did, so I guess that's why we are happily married after 18 years on the 27th of this month. Yeah, I know, I'm pathetic.
Thanks everyone for checking out my stuff. And OH - Ryan is a fighter. Trust me, she can handle what comes at her, and all by her little self, but why bother when she has Jared.
OH- Thanks for finding the typos! I'm really bad about that and I like work on my website at like 2 in the morning.
BCB - you're the best, in a weird way, I mean thanks, but somehow I think in the process you slammed me yet once again, but love you anyway, Bon Bon!
So, DH printed a copy of the cover for me - it's on my desk, it keeps one daughter and youngest son out of my office, but it actaully attracts middle child. Geez, I wonder why? Okay, I do really love middle child. He's actually kind of like me in many ways and he's really cute! However, he's going to put his mother in a mental institution before I'm 50, I'm sure.
Cake, there's cake! A show on food tv was tantalizing me with red cake over the weeekend. Must be a cake conspiracy. All I have this morning is a slightly ripe banana. Damn.
Maybe Agnes should watch project runway for some wedding dress fashion tips (snicker). Last week they made "fashion" out of trash.
Fondant - I'll go back and catch up with the comments shortly but want to address this first
Fondant - The friend who came with me to the MD signing back in May has a daughter who wants to be a pastry chef. In fact she's headed down to NC to attend a school there in a few weeks. Anyhoo, she's done some grunt work for a local bakery that does fancy cakes. I know from listening that the fondant is a witch to work with so that should give us some fun scenes if Agnes is using it to channel her aggression!
Hi Jenny! You are my new hero. I'm sort of new here so I've been playing catch up, and just noticed that aside from the about a billion books you have coming out, you also contribute to three blogs. I can't even keep up with you. How do you do it? I want to be you when I grow up. I just read Fred's Book (teehee) and loved it. I'm out to find more this weekend...
And if Shane gets blood in the fondant, you can always make Chocolate Blood Cake:
http://www.myrecipesource.com/cgi/lms.cgi?Action=PRINT_SHOW&id=101561
Krya the red - "I saw Bryan. He looks like Regis in a cabana boy outfit." Bryan looks like me in a cabana boy outfit? Weird.
Did you take pictures? If so you must send me one. I need to get a picture of the man before he posts one. Please, I'm begging!
I've been lurking forever, but is the title of this entry a play on the Eddie Izzard routine "Cake or Death?" Just curious.
MarciaBC (in Kansas, not Oklahoma)
Wow, wedding cake, takes me back. Ours was frosted with buttercream, because I'd read somewhere that while fondant and royal icing are technically edible, they may not be something you'd actually want to eat a lot of. (BTW, is this true? I find those "Food Network Challenge" cake competitions to be strangely mesmerizing, and would like, in a disorganized, probably not going to happen sort of way, to try my hand at decorating. But I only cook things I'd like to eat.)
The primary decoration was a cake topper made of flowers (courtesy of the world's least organized florist, who 1) went AWOL for several weeks before the wedding, and 2) wrote down the wrong time for the delivery, so the flowers arrived about 30 seconds before the ceremony was scheduled to start. But that's another story.) Anyway, floral decorations seem like a good opportunity for creating violence and mayhem with cake-- hidden thorns, poisonous leaves, and ragweed, among other passive-aggressive possibilities!
Jenny- being a bit southern I'm confused by the phrase "two wedding cakes." Are there going to be two weddings or is one of them a groom's cake? In the corner of the world where I grew up wedding cakes were white or another light color. They could be flavored, and if you had multiple layers the layers could be colored, but the main cake was light colored. Then there was the groom's cake. Family tradition has a groom's cake being red velvet. Yummmmmmm- deep, rich chocolate cake with a whole bottle of red food dye dumped in to give it a red color and usually served with cream cheese frosting. Okay, I'm getting homesick now.
I've been to a few weddings where there were two wedding cakes. I guess it's like entree choice. At my wedding the "running joke" (yes, BCB, lots of them when you live with me), was "Where's the beef?" And for two reasons. First, your choice of food had been either chicken keiv (Husband fav) or Salmon with dill sauce (one of my fav) No steak and I guess some found that to be offensive. Geez, they got to have diner at Oak Hill Country club (one of the top 100, maybe 50) golf clubs in the country and all they had to do was bring me a nice gift. Yeah, I'm a princess, I get it. But I grew up next to the course and my husband grew up playing the course. Yes, hate to admit it, but that is the course we belong too. I know, I know, you all hate me even more. And for those of you who don't have a clue, Oak Hill hosted the 89 open, the 93 Ryder cup and most recently the 03 PGA. And we will be doing another big one soon. And if you still don't know what I'm talking about, well, sorry. Golf is awesome. Although I'm still sick of Tiger. Phil! Baby, come one win some big ones.
Oh, what a ramble that was. I wanted to tell you that for me, the key in decorating a cake is that the frosting is firm and holds it shape without crumbling. Buttercream is good, but it's not "real white" and shorting works the best for creating masterpieces, but it doesn't taste the best. But, if you are using food coloring and it doesn't have to be "white" then make the butter cream but add a little butter flavored crisco to help with the firmness of the frosting.
Yes, I am woman hear me roar!
ahlzrp - the noise you are all making right now.
Okay, I just realized I only gave you one of the reasons for the "running joke" of "where's he beef" And No - it has nothing to do with my husband. Geez, leave the poor man alone, he's still trying to recover from last night.
Okay, second reason. Back when I took dance lessons, not taught them. I comepeted in local, regional, state and national copititions. One year my teacher thought it would be cute if I danced to the song "Cheeseburger in Paradise." So, my duet partner dressed in blue, and I dressed in a brown out fit and we duked it out on stage. The joke, she was McDonnalds and I was Burger king (because I actually worked there when I was 16) and her little brother walked across the stage at the end with a sign that said "where's the beef?" And if you don't get that, you're too young to live!
I recently spent lovely online hours checking out cake sites, in preparation for my parents' 50th anniversary party. Fondant scared me, so I ended up making a cupcake tree topped by a teeny cake Mom and Dad could cut.
You know, getting a comment in before the counter reaches 50 is starting to feel like a virgin blog.
Hello MarciaBC! I didn't get in on the whole name thing yesterday, but will today, cause well, I saw I wasn't the only one. Why is it that People can say Patricia correctly - almost every time, but Marcia just escapes them?
Cakes - love cakes - eating and decorating. I took my first class while in High School and it was great,especially since I was still at home, and Mom bought all my tips and materials.
I've done lots of holiday, birthday, and special occasion cakes, but never a wedding cake. Man, o man, what a lot of work just to have it cut to pieces in minutes. Oh well.
Jen-T, I dont' belong to any fancy golf club, but here in Tulsa, we have Southern Hills, and they are hosting the PGA 2007. Should be a fun time, but tickets are already scarce. Only way to get on the course is to volunteer!
Jenny, thanks for the update. And congratulations on the progress on all your projects.
Cakes, frying pans, alligators, hitmen, and mobsters. Can't wait!
Good day all.
Corinne - correct. A talented pastry chef can do a lot of cool stuff with fondant but its pretty much for looks. Fondant, for those not familiar, isn't a frosting. Its more like edible playdough. You can shape it and create thin layers to sort of drape over the cake. It gives the cake that ultra smooth look.
Tigress - I took some decorating classes about 100 years ago and was into it for a little while as a hobby. Did some pretty cool cakes for various events; but it takes time and after a while I got tired of cleaning up afterwards.
All that cake talk. I have been craving cake for a week now. Now a whole blog about cake. Such a pain in the butt for me to have cake: gotta make it without eggs, because i am deathly allergic to eggs. But frosting, i can do frosting...yummm
Phenila - I have a fab chocolate cake recipe with no eggs. Let me know if you are interested.
There may be British English / American English differences here, but the definitions in BE are as follows:
Buttercream is a fat/sugar mix, soft, and tastes good provided the fat is butter. In Britain, it is generally used as a cake filling, not a covering, and must be chilled to keep. This is, I believe, the traditional covering for American wedding cakes, which are soft cakes, right?
Royal icing: icing sugar and egg- white. Dries very hard, though you can add a little glycerine. It is used for the covering of rich fruit cakes, over a marzipan / almond paste base coat, and for making very delicate and intricate piped decoration, such as lace-work. It tastes good. A royal-iced rich fruit cake will keep in an airtight container, not frozen, for at least a year. To make a smooth covering surface in Royal icing requires skills analogous to those of a plasterer. It is not easy.
Sugarpaste: (originally known in Australia, where it was invented, as 'plastic icing', and sometimes incorrectly called 'cold fondant'). It is made from sugar and glucose syrup (also called liquid glucose, and possibly the same as US corn syrup, but I'm not sure about that), sometimes with a little white fat. It is the perfect covering icing, which can be applied at all kinds of cakes, rolled out in a sheet, like pastry. It can be shaped into simple forms, though for intricate sugar modelling, flower paste is better. Sugarpaste does not taste nearly as nice as Royal icing, though it can be flavoured. It keeps well. It can be bought ready-made (at least, it can here), is easy to handle, and gives a beautiful smooth surface.
Fondant is technically a boiled sugar icing, and is indeed very, very difficult to handle. It is poured on, like simple glacé icing (sugar and boiling water), but is used chiefly for sweet-making rather than cake-covering.
There are other sugar preparations, such as Mexican paste for modelling (contains gum tragacanth) and pastillage, which dries so hard it is like ceramic, virtually inedible, which contains gelatine. It is excellent for things like plaques upon which one can paint or air-brush decoration using food-colours.
MCB - your description of 'fondant' is definitely sugarpaste. It is EASY to use, honest! So it looks as though in American English, sugarpaste is called 'fondant'. I wonder what you call 'fondant'? Really only professional chefs use true (boiled) fondant.
My SIL is a big Jeff Gordon fan. For her birthday, her friend, a professional cake decorator made a Jeff Gordon Race Car cake. It was extrordinary. Finely detailed. When it came time to cut the cake, she was to be given the first piece. Her comment was that the cake was too beautiful, and she couldn't eat Jeff. Of course we all were ROFLOAO. One of the men in the group assured her that Jeff wouldn't mind if she ate him. I think she was red faced for about an hour after that.
Sorry, me again. We don't use the term 'frosting', and I am not sure to what degree it equates with our 'icing'. To us, 'icing' is any sugar mixture used to cover and embellish a cake.
agtigress - I now know more about icing, frosting, whatever, then I had ever wanted - thank you.
Favorite cake - angle food with strawberries. DH just likes to play with the whipcream.
I want to eat cake now. Yummy...
Agtigress--I finished cataloguing my books yesterday and was trying to remember which Crusie book you have yet to read--I believe it was The Cinderella Deal. Any others? They will easily fit into my luggage for the return trip to school, so no worries. --- Hope you are doing well. I will email you when I get back to the UK (mid-Sept) and we can figure out a day and time to meet up. Take care.
Tigress I think you are correct. Also I have heard of a 'poured' fondant and also a boiled icing which sound like much the same thing. My grandmother used to make a boiled cake icing but whipped eggwhites into it so it had a spreadable texture. But you did put it on while still warm and it did harden some, almost like a meringue.
icing/frosting ... used pretty indiscriminately over here.
For our birthday’s, my mom would decorate beautiful character cakes: Popeye, Rainbow Bright, Smurfs, and more. I loved the cakes, but I’m not a fan of frosting on cake. The carefully detailed frosting would be rudely scraped off my piece and deposited on whichever brother’s plate was closest.
Then we discovered the wonderful world of DQ ice cream cakes. Had some good years with DQ. Now I’m lucky if I get a dilly bar. (That was my 17th b-day) I’m still not a fan of (any kind of) frosting on cake, but I love the occasional frosted graham cracker.
klhojvay: Karen loves how often Jenny vocalizes astute YEC.
Is there anything on this planet better than that first cup of perfect coffee on a beautiful summer morning? Possibly, but I'll take the coffee for now.
Agtigress, I put myself through part of college making and decorating ice cream cakes for Baskin-Robbins, and worked for awhile at a local ice cream shop that made its own ice cream and ice cream cakes.
After Valentine's Day at B-R I went home holding my left arm and sat in a stupor for hours.
At the other store, I made a three-tier all ice cream cake and it had something like 90 roses on it. The shop owner delivered it on a day that was 90 degrees and humid to an inn that was about 45 minutes away. I just hoped for the best.
G&T
Jenny informed us ... So I'm studying up on fondant and royal icing and cake construction--yes, I'm watching Ace of Cakes, isn't everybody?--and Bob is doing no research at all for killing people.
Well the answer, Jenny, is to have your next collab be about a romance author or an art teacher or an English literature professor. Then Bob can do all the research.
Christina: yes, it's The Cinderella Deal that I have never even set eyes on, let alone read. That's the only one, though.
I hope that by the time you are back for the autumn term, I shan't still be travelling to an from Wales every few days.
klhow could anyone be a big Jeff Gordon fan? We like Tony Stewart around here. cherry magic sheryl has whole outfits that are Tony related. I bet the cake was really something though. LOL at the comment.
jen-t only you could come up with a song called "Cheeseburger in Paradise," and then dance to it. Loved the idea though. /,D
There is a great wartime chocolate cake recipe (WW11) made with Miracle Whip Salad Dressing that lasts for a week or so and is moist as anything. I only make that chocolate cake if I am baking from scratch since it is a family favorite. The Salad dressing sounds awful but it took the place of eggs so maybe you could eat it phenila. I will gladly give you the recipe. It is the easiest cake to make too. So easy cherry magic sheryl made it when she was 4 yo and it was delicious. I showed her how to measure the ingredients. She did the rest.
green myopfew
My, Oprah prefers female exercise writers.
blogger didn't like me slamming Oprah.
green nebklpx
Not everybody believes killers likely panic, Xavier.
Had to go get the recipe card for the cake. I looked in my recipe box and all the recipes are marked up and old. You can tell which ones we liked best. They are all filed in the front of the box out of order with dirty fingerprints all over them and barely readable. Well, what can I say I have had some of them for 44 years.
Miracle Whip Chocolate Cake
2 cups (cake) flour 4 Tbsp.Cocoa
1 Cup white sugar 1 Cup Water
2 tsp.baking soda l C. Miracle Whip 1 tsp.Vanilla
Put liquids in well of dry ingredients. Stir to blend. Do not beat. Bake at 325-350F 30-35 minutes
Very delicious.
blue iyvdrbhq
In your very dubious realm Bob has quiet.
Corninne said:
"because I'd read somewhere that while fondant and royal icing are technically edible, they may not be something you'd actually want to eat a lot of. (BTW, is this true?"
In the cake decorating class I took, they told us to add a layer of the regular class icing under the fondant to make it taste better.
All this talk of cakes is making me extra hungry.
My Mom made a raisen pie for my ninth birthday...whole pie for me...don't think I've had it since...
evnrcfw...red
even now Robert, Crusie find words
The flavour of sugarpaste is normally improved in British and Australian icing practice by the fact that, like Royal icing, it is almost invariably applied over marzipan. Two quarter-inch layers are necessary for a really good surface, so if one uses two layers of sugarpaste, one could flavour one or both of them - vanilla, peppermint, almond - anything that goes well with the taste of the cake itself.
Royal icing simply tastes of sugar, which most people like. Same stuff as merinque, but prepared differently - just sugar and egg white. Sugar paste is blander, but certainly not unpleasant.
The one you wouldn't want to eat is pastillage, and that's because you might break your teeth. Also, some people are 'tasters' of gelatine, and dislike it.
You people are evil.
I've been good all day and I look here and it's Cake-O-Rama. And lunchtime. And food day at work. And - you got it - we have 3 cakes over here. There is one that hasn't been cut into yet that is in serious jeapardy. Do you think anyone would miss half a cake?
My wedding cake was made by by DH's supervisor's mom. It was a white chocolate cake with raspberry filling and buttercream icing. Save me a fortune and tasted fantastic. I can understand the blood on the fondant issue because once we cut into it, ... well, we don't have a whole lot of photos after it was cut.
Anyone remember the armadillo cake in Steel Magnolias (or Aluminum Daffadils as it is known in my family)? A red velvet cake with grey icing. ROTFLMOA!
Lard icing is the best. I think I actually get irritable with that wimpy whipped topping stuff, at least on birthday cake. Unless it is a margarita cake, but that is the only exception!
bzzimr: Baking zippy zebras interest me. Really.
Okay since Scope posted hers, I'll post mine:
WACKY CAKE
3 cups flour
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
¾ cup oil
½ cup cocoa
2 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
Sift together dry ingredients. Mix remaining (wet) ingredients separately. Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Mix well. Pour into prepared 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
I know - strange ingredients. But its a big favorite in my family, especially made with my mom's peanut butter frosting - (basically a buttercream but she substitutes peanut butter for some of the regular butter)
Kiss not geese, Tal guided kindly.
The growling sound you hear is my stomach. Very interesting discussion of cakes and toppings. Still giggling about the Jeff Gordan story.
We always had a cake from a local bakery for birthdays when I was growing up Pound cake topped with what I know now was lard icing.
DH grew up in NJ and had cakes with filling and whipped cream frosting (icing)
He thinks our cakes are dry. I think their frosing is wimpy.
My personal favorite for frosting cake when I used to make and decorate them for family birthdays was a 7 minute frosting. Cooked sugar and egg whites I believe. I don't have a cook book available to check. It's hard to make decorations with though.
SDCB Get someone to put your family recipes onto a disc and then spread them out to various people. All mine were lost to a fire. I'm hoping to replace them but my mom always called me to give her her old recipes I'd copied so am not sure she still has them all. And many other people I'd gotten recipes from have died. Not looking for 'poor baby' comments just making a suggestion.
Also if your family has favorite recipes from the cookbooks churches and organizations put together and sell, copy them too. They can't be replaced.
Of course my family has trouble remembering the days when I cooked and decorated cakes. DH does a lot of the cooking right now. Yep, he's a GAM He does cooking, cleaning and laundry when he's home so I can write.
Hi everyone who usually lurks or who has been away.
Ol'biddy LOL posting in first 50 feels like virgin blog. So true.
Um did anyone else notice JenT bragging earlier? About us leaving her poor DH alone because he's still recovering from last night.
No wonder he printed a copy of your cover for you:)
oh god. i need a piece of cake now. esp to get a picture of JJ and her vibrating bed out of my head. (thanks rss. i managed to ignore it till you).
agtigress: see, Jenny doesn't need to research, she can just ask you for the BE version. (BTW: how are you doing? how's your dad?)
welcome MarciaBC and corinne. see, all we needed was to talk about cake, not chocolate, and the lurkers come running. :)
CC: why does the groom get the better tasting cake?
if i every do get married, i'm having a chocolate cake. well, maybe i'll have this really tiny, itty bitty "regular" wedding cake, all light colored and stuff (and i've had some good ones but nothing compares to chocolate), and then bring out the chocolate.
one of my friend's, when she gets married, is basically just having different layers of pastries. so each layer is a kind of pastry, and the top is a "cake piece".
oh, tal, on a completely different subject (hey, people were shamelessly self-promoting earlier), Anne Bishop is coming out with Belladonna in March 07 and is writing a new Black Jewel's story.
just in case you didn't know. which i kind of doubted. because between you and ag, you guys seem to know a little bit about everything.
too bad they don't have "couples" on Jeapordy.
MCB: yours sounds like the "Cockeyed Cake" from the I Hate to Cookbook - except that author Peg Bracken doesn't hold with sifting, and, as with Scope Dope's, you can mix the dry ingredients IN THE PAN, then make a well, etc. It really is quite good - and VEGAN, should one ever be required to feed such a person.
Isn't it curious how much people look back at the "good old days", when people were seriously concerned about the cost of an egg or two? Food is so cheap now (unless you buy all organic or artisan-produced goods), in the U.S.
I wish I had the dexterity for serious cake decoration - I've tried (although I haven't tried any of the more recent stuff, though I bought some of the supplies in a weak moment at Michael's). But, with a combination of regret and relief, I decided I got a more elegant result using chocolate curls or chopped nuts than with my misshapen efforts.
uygavvwz: Ultimate YEX Gives Author Vicarious Victory with Zippers!
Diane - that's actually the instructions as originally handed down, the make a well and mix in pan bit. I just find it so much easier to mix in the dang bowl than in a cake pan. And what's a mixing bowl when you have to clean all the measuring tools anyway?
Decorating, back when I did it, is all in the consistency of the icing. Too moist and it won't shape, too stiff and it doesn't flow properly.
SDCB: I hate to say it, but "Cheeseburger in Paradise" is an actual song. Jimmy Buffett (sp?) I think. Jen-T didn't just make that up.
I make a wickedly good genoise which can be eaten as a cake or cut up to make petit fours. And it's best after 2-3 days after the icing/frosting has a chance to seep into the cake a bit.
Cake. And I'm still not eating sweets. Sigh.
Ace of Cakes! I just saw that this weekend. The guy and his friends makes these serious complicated looking cakes. I couldn't watch for very long (would rather read), but the Cherry and I were probably watching it at the SAME TIME. or not.
Ok, time for lunch.
Orangehands said: (BTW: how are you doing? how's your dad?)
Thank you for asking, Orangehands. He is still alive, and my husband and I are returning there tomorrow: another 250-mile drive. We are both very tired, because we are not young things, either.
I was afraid at the weekend that he would die within the next couple of days, because he seemed to be fading fast, but he has rallied a little. Impossible to say how long he has left, but he is in no pain and is still at home. My mother, also 91, is bearing up well, but I know it will be very hard trying to help her when he is gone. I doubt if he will be with us for more than a couple of weeks at most, but nobody can really predict. He isn't interested in reading the papers or watching TV any more, and spends a lot of time sleeping.
Sorry, that may be more than you want to know. I realise that many of you have lived through all this, but I don't think the experience of others really makes it any easier when one has to face the reality. He has been a good man and a good father, and has nothing to fear, whatever beliefs one has.
ag: i'm glad he's not in pain. i watched my uncle in five years of pain, my aunt for about six years, and it was almost a relief when they died.
ummm, not sure if that's very comforting. ((((hugs)))) and CB love. i'm glad you have the memories of him being a good father and a good man, though. hopefully it'll bring you some kind of comfort.
We discovered a cake made by a bakery near us that has replaced me making birthday cakes--chocolate carrot cake with toffee buttercream icing. YUM! If this discussion on cakes keeps up--oh, hell, I am going to end up buying one. Yum! Damn. Yum! Damn....
Tigress--say as much as you choose, it won't be too much. I'm glad he's at home still, and in no pain. My thoughts are with you.
Tigress -
"a good man and a good father"
The highest of praise.
Antitigress. You, your husband and your father and mother are in my thoughts and prayers.
(((HUGS))) agtigress
Thank you, everybody. Your kind thoughts and prayers are deeply appreciated.
AgTigress - we do all want to know how both you and he are doing; sometimes we don't ask because we don't want to add to your weariness. I hope you can continue to find comfort in one another.
AMC - your alternating exclamations reminded me of the young woman in Linda Howard's To Die For when she lost her temper and kept jarring her wound. The cake sounds fabulous.
I just started looking at a new "cookbook" called The Ethical Gourmet. Lots of recipes (unfortunately for me, too many are for fish, which I prefer not to deal with at home, but I appreciate the encouragement to buy sustainably harvested varieties), plus lots of discussion of what are ethical choices for the sources, including some of the trade-offs - plus a chef's appreciation of flavor and texture, and modifications of cooking technique when one goes from conventional to free-range meats.
Very distracting.
gpmnk: after glamour-geek's had a shot at one
dearest Limping-Mustelidae, loved your verification. I remember that scene from TDF!
bon cheri bomb said...
Zaza: Bless your heart dear, but there are TWO authors, one on either side of Nora (let's hope she doesn't notice). Which is she?
Yes, I deserve a "bless your heart" for that one. She's Saskia Walker, the one above Nora. Prime Interweb real estate, that. BTW, thanks for taking a look. Even though we've been friends and CPs for ten years, I still get all squealy and excited when something like this happens.
phenila said...
Such a pain in the butt for me to have cake: gotta make it without eggs, because i am deathly allergic to eggs.
I make this cake I call an Oops Cake because the first time I did it, I didn't notice the eggs sitting on the counter until the cake was almost done. It was just a package mix, Duncan Hines, IIRC, and it came out very dense and moist. It was chocolate, so dense and moist were just perfect. Why don't you try that?
agtigress said...
glucose syrup (also called liquid glucose, and possibly the same as US corn syrup, but I'm not sure about that)
Nope, not the same. I used to use the "liquid" glucose in my char siu coating (Chinese BBQ pork). It was like crazy glue! Very thick and a real mess to work with.
AND...
I hope that by the time you are back for the autumn term, I shan't still be travelling to an from Wales every few days.
Please take care of yourself, too. I did the same thing when my mother was hospitalized for several months. Add the stress and worry to all the travel time and trying to fit everything into an already busy schedule, and it can knock you on your lily white tush. So, take care. Just read on and see that you have a hubby to help out. That's wonderful.
Back to cakes. Does anyone remember those Bacardi rum cakes? I was looking through some old magazine of my mothers and saw a recipe. It sounded delish. I'm going to try it with chocolate cake instead of yellow, though. All this talk has got me champing at the bit to go down and get mixing. ;+) No frosting, though. I'm with whoever it was (Lori?) that said they didn't like it. Just a nice dense chocolate cake with some fresh whipped cream or really good vanilla ice cream, my idea of heaven.
zoaxbq (green)
Zoe operated as Xavier's bimbo queen
"He has been a good man and a good father" I can think of no higher praise. And I agree with "GPMNK" we hope we are folks you can come play with and leave reality behind for a few minutes. On the other hand, you know we do care and we are here for you, and every other CB, when reality gets overwhelming.
Louis- Love raisin sour cream pie- it's a close second to my grandma's dried apricot pie.
Scoop Dupe- I agree with Robin about getting recipes copied- I am very fortunate that one of my aunts compiled a family cookbook this past year- it had many of my grandmother's recipes in it and was a comfort when she unexpectedly passed away a few weeks later.
OH- Don't know why the groom gets the yummier cake- guess it's so much of the wedding is about the bride he has to have something that is special for him.
a friend doesn't like cake so much- and another friend of ours is known for making the most amazing cheesecakes- the result was a unique wedding cake done so that it was the tiers and bridge thing with 4 different decorated cheesecakes and 6 or so other ones that we cut in the kitchen then brought out to serve- don't remember all of them but one was chocolate pumpkin swirl
college friends husband didn't like cake so the groom's cake was mini apple and pecan tarts- very yummy
I'm a scraper of frosting- I like cream cheese frosting and a good 7-minute frosting can't be beat- but the Crisco/powdered sugar stuff is going to get scraped off in a hurry- I use it when I'm decorating because it is easy to work with, takes color well, and holds it's shape well- but I don't eat it- can't remember, but I think I started not liking Crisco frosting when I was young and I decorated a cake and kept screwing up and wound up licking the icing off my fingers and got sick
Zaza - thanks for the clarification on glucose syrup. It is, indeed, very thick, but of course one has to warm it in order to incorporate it in sugarpaste, if making the latter from scratch. When warm, it flows freely, and it is colourless and pretty tasteless. It is used a lot in the commercial manufacture of sweets (candy). I wonder what corn syrup is, then?
gmpmk was me. I knew I would do it!
AgTigress - Such a blessing that your father is not in pain. I hope you can take comfort in that fact.
"A good man and a good father..." As someone above said, there is no higher praise.
Know that our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Just to say you people are wonderful. Major icky, creepy weirdness (which I shall not rehash here) in my life yesterday and reading this and knowing it would make me focus on something else and make me laugh has been a great boon. Thanks everyone!
O.K. gg - you cannot, I repeat, CANNOT leave us like this. WTH???? Speak up - who do we need shovels for?
najwbcv
no (one) ask Jenny where Bob cruises vicariously
Tigress: corn syrup is also used in making candies, but its fructose rather than glucose. Don't know what difference that makes really. The most common mfr here is a company called Karo - and its pretty much all they are known for although I suppose there must be something else the make. But they are so well known for their corn syrup that's its often just called Karo syrup. And I think there's a dark version too.
G-G dear. What's wrong? Do you need shovels?
Tigress: You're correct, until you've been through the loss of a parent you really don't understand. My dad died 10 years ago this month. It's the unexpected things that always get to me. That first spring, going into a store to buy my mom a Mother's Day card, it hit me that I'd never buy another Father's Day card. I had to just leave the store. OTOH, I was fine on the first birthday after his death, and the anniversary of his death. Sad of course, but not inconsolable.
My mom used to make (probably still does) a boiled chocolate frosting. Best stuff ever. I'm not all that fond of cake, but chocolate cake with mom's chocolate frosting... YUM! She cools/hardens it a bit, while stirring, by submerging the bottom of the pan in cold water. But geez, watch out if you so much as LOOK like you might try to run water in the other sink during this process. Apparently even one stray drop of water in the pan will ruin it. You pour it over the cake and once it sets, it's firm and smooth. Not hard exactly. God. Now I'm homesick.
G-G: Sorry about the icky weirdness. The planets must have been out of alignment yesterday. My day was a b*tch, too. Better today, even though I'm still employed and my boss has not yet even started his evolutionary arc.
bw
Indeed(Channeling T'ealc from Stargate 200).
Karo syrup comes in regular and dark versions. I use the lighter one to make caramels at Christmas (only if there is no humidity) and have attempted to use the dark to make penuche (bad idea).
mcb--I am going to try that recipe tonight. Thank you very much! Sounds delish.
GG Shovel at the ready
BCB LOL about the evolutionary arc
JenT did you get lost on your hockey/golf runs today?
rxjubie Dr. ordered gummy candy
bon cherry bomb said...
My mom used to make (probably still does) a boiled chocolate frosting. Best stuff ever. I'm not all that fond of cake, but chocolate cake with mom's chocolate frosting... YUM! She cools/hardens it a bit, while stirring, by submerging the bottom of the pan in cold water. But geez, watch out if you so much as LOOK like you might try to run water in the other sink during this process. Apparently even one stray drop of water in the pan will ruin it.
It must have lecithin in it. Lecithin is used in a lot of candy making, and a lot of chocolate meltables for candy making have lecithin in them. It makes the chocolate flow more freely and harden with a smooth surface. The first thing you learn about lecithin is that one drop of water an the whole thing will seize up.
So, if your mom is pouring the kind of chocolate they use in dipped chocolates over cakes, well, bless her heart, those are probably some cakes I'd be happy to have frosting on. ;+) (in case you weren't sure, that was a GOOD bless your heart, and I think we need some way to distinguish one from the other here)
My mom has this recipe for a very light chocolate drop cookie. They're pretty bland on their own, but she puts a "square" of chocolate on each one when they come out of the oven. When you get to the last one in the pan, you go back and spread the now melted chocolate with a knife. When it hardens, oh, baby, oh, baby. I am soooo there. And does anyone remember when the sections in a Hershey bar were actually square?
gg and all the rest of the CBs having bad wierdnesses, take heart, shovels on the way, wielded by CBs.
szvrume (red)
the noise a little kid makes when he's playing with his racing cars (or a big kid)
g-g: i have daggers. pretty, pretty daggers. they're all nice and sharp. and my alter is very clean.
just saying.
BCB: your boss has an evolutionary arc? to show where he came from?
zaza asked "And does anyone remember when the sections in a Hershey bar were actually square?"
yeah. it tasted better back then too.
love frosting. frosting is normally better than the actual cake part.
you think if we keep talking like this Jenny will blog just so she won't have to see all the yummy cake ideas?
OH asked: you think if we keep talking like this Jenny will blog just so she won't have to see all the yummy cake ideas?
I figure she knew we'd start talking about all the cakes/frostings we'd ever made or eaten, post a bunch of recipes, talk about techniques, and she wouldn't have to do as much research. Clever woman.
zaza: No lechithin. I actually went and looked at the recipe earlier, wasn't sure I even had it, and I can't believe I've never made it. Some shortening, butter, cocoa, baker's chocolate, vanilla, some other stuff. That recipe and the one for homemade cinnamon caramel rolls are the two that my sisters and I all decided we'd never share with anyone. I have no idea why we decided this, but it was unanimous. Someday I'll make a batch of rolls and you all can come over and feast. Oh. My. God. They're best right out of the oven, all warm and gooey, and you put butter on them so it melts and runs down your hand while you eat it. Sunday brunch, anyone?
DD18 just called to tell me what she had for dinner. She is so happy she can chew again. Pizza! she exclaimed. Good, I said, glad you can chew. And chicken, she said. And mashed potatoes with gravy. And melon: cantelope and honeydew. And grapes. And rolls. And for dessert, she had CAKE. I remember when my metabolism worked that way.
bw
fkzrog: what Jen says when she sees Kermit
I made a pie in high school that i lost the recipe for...if anyone has something similar, or can tell me how to find it, I'd appreciate it. It had raisins, sour cream, cinnamon and cloves and 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. It was called vinegar pie, as a matter of fact. I got the recipe from a cookbook specializing in historical recipes (I'm pretty sure American Heritage was in the title). It was an extra credit assignment for my high school history class. The smell of it baking was just heavenly, and the taste lived up to the smell.
AgTigress –
Icing and frosting are synonymous here. Fondant is 1 C water, 3 C sugar, cook to 238 degrees, worked up as candy. Buttercream is used as frosting; royal icing is used mostly by professionals. Usually corn syrup is listed as high fructose corn syrup. Fructose and glucose are C6H12O6 (numbers should be subscripts), but different arrangements of atoms. Corn syrup (called glucose syrup outside US) is mostly glucose. Karo brand is corn syrup.
About your father, I’m glad you’re getting to say goodbye. I didn’t, and I’ve always regretted it.
My grandma used to make white rice pudding. As an extra special treat, she'd put raisins in it. And sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top. Most godawful excuse for a dessert you've ever eaten.
But it was tradition. Christmas Eve dinner (the white meal, my sisters and I would call it, as we tried not to gag): lutefisk, mashed potatoes (no gravy), lefse, and rice pudding. And milk, of course. My parents and my grandma used to look forward to this meal all year. Thank god tradition prevented this hideous accumulation of inedible blandness from happening more often. Have you ever been in a house where lutefisk was being cooked? Though I do love lefse.
GP: Yeah, it's the "what if's" and "if only's" that cause the most pain. Live with no regrets. Good advice, hard to do.
bw
AMC: I don't have it, I don't think, but I know I've seen Vinegar Pie somewhere. Do some searching on the net. Might take some time to narrow down the possibilities but I'm betting you'll find it or something awfully close.
Phenila - let me know how it turns out!
Vinegar pie? A few were made for the museum this spring- I'm thinking we don't have the same recipe you did- everything sounded yummy but I'm thinking it was made with too much vinegar as it had a definite vinegar twinge- which was odd because the write up on it declares that the vinegar flavor bakes out- this was an historic recipe and may be the one you're looking for- if you want it let me know and I'll talk and get one tomorrow-
My ex-fiancee used to make a buttermilk pie- another one of those variations on the theme of custard pie- very wonderful- was really good if raisins soaked in something potent and spirited were added
btuda wrote: Anyone remember the armadillo cake in Steel Magnolias (or Aluminum Daffadils as it is known in my family)? A red velvet cake with grey icing.
I loved that scene! Made me wany a slice of armadillo, which, crazily enough, is one of my astrological signs (according to Tal's list that she posted on a previous blog).
Agtigress--If there is anything that I can do for you, just let me know. I fly back Sept. 19.
As for the cake talk---cakes have never been the dessert of choice in my family. The greek side does pastries (best baklava ever is made by my aunt) and the american side focuses on other things. My grandmother used to make tons of desserts at Christmas, including my favorite, chocolate peanut butter balls. Had a lovely family moment a few years back when grandma was teaching me how to make them and my mom was there helping out. Three generations all together, making a mess in the kitchen. Doesn't get much better than that.
avetwh -- a vet was here
CC--I'd appreciate it if you could get that recipe for me. Thanks a lot!
Jenny--you probably already know about "The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Berenbaum, but I thought I'd mention it just in case. I haven't baked from it, but I have used a couple of recipes from her "Pie and Pastry Bible" with great results.
Geez, I got out for dinner and you people have party without me! I haven't caught up on all the posts, but i will in the morning - someone above mentioned my vibrating bed, and well, a hot man is in it, hopefully naked so I'm going to bed. Good-night.
I'm master of nothing!
Tigress - thinking of you.
Here in Oz we pretty much just say icing to cover anything that covers cakes. Icing sugar, butter, small amt of milk. Or mock cream is often used as well.
Never heard of sugar paste except the kind they used to stick in little girls hair to make it curly. But if you said frosting we'd know that meant icing also.
We aren't as big on marzipan over here - in fact I can taste a drop of the stuff in anything and since living in the UK many years ago where it sems to go into EVERY baked goody all I can say is thank god. Loved almonds - hate marzipan.
It certainly used to be the practise in my mothers generation to use marzipan layer under wedding cake icing.
Now I'm hungry too....
Lynn said...
Indeed(Channeling T'ealc from Stargate 200).
Did you see they are cancelling Stargate SG-1 after this season. Atlantis will go on, and will include some characters from SG-1.
bcb sez: my boss has not yet even started his evolutionary arc.
LOL! I have had far too many bosses like that, but never such a great description!
Thank you all for offers of shovels and OH's daggers. This is one of the most marvelous, supportive groups of folks I've come across in a long time. I'll let you know if occasion arises for both/either. :)
And, since the most important topic here is food containing large quantities of sugar... There's a bakery in the Lexington Market in Baltimore where an ex-boyfriend and I once bought a cake to take to an event. I swear, I saw them put it in the box but then the box weighed about 3000 lbs. That cake was made with plutonium or something, because it was HEAVY. Tasted good, though. Not fantastic, but good. Even if it was made with heavy elements. I renamed their german chocolate cake plutonium cake for that reason.
That same bakery makes cookies that are AMAZING. They are little butter cookies with this HUGE swirl of really rich fudgy chocolate on top. I've forgotten both the name of the bakery stand (there are several in that market) and what they called that particular cookie (since they had others that looked similar but were not as amazing), but I bet if someone plopped me down there I could find both!
Oh god those cookies were good.
Hope you're all keeping in mind that I'm only just over 1/2 way through my not-eating-sweets-for-7-weeks here. I can only enjoy them virtually.
Hm. Brains are amazing. They get going on something and then all of a sudden retrieve information you thought they'd gotten rid of years ago.
I think the bakery is called Berger's. Anyone who goes there, you want the cookies with the swirled chocolate that looks like it's been piped out of a tube that had a multi-pointed star cut out shape and mounds off the cookie like a hershey's kiss, not the ones with the dab of chocolate that is flat on top of the cookie.
And Christina: please make sure the pilot of your flight knows that s/he has to make a quick detour from the east coast to the mid-pacific before going back to England, so you can get dropped off in Maui on the 19th. :)
I'm bummed- my beautiful red husky ran away this evening- and the worst part is that I had just finished brushing him so he didn't have his collar and tags on-
I'm sending off an email to ask for the vinegar pie recipe- I don't trust myself to remember tomorrow at work
Shhh, don't tell Talpianna but I was looking at the new Harbor Freight catalog and they have a mole chaser windmill- it is a decorative windmill that causes a vibration in teh ground that chases moles away
CC---oh, no. I hope you find him. Good luck. And thanks for tracking down that recipe for me.
Oh Lord, CC, that's not good! Most sincere hugs.
My old dog Pepper was a charmer. Not a biased comment; even the dog catcher thought he was cute. (She got out of her truck to catch him, leaving the door open. He leapt into the front seat and sat there, tail wagging, ready for a car ride.) He used to run away on a regular basis, mostly because my fool of a brother (#3 brother) refused to have him "fixed." Men are funny that way.
Please put out flyers for him. The last time* Pepper wandered off, a man took him in and wanted to keep him. Only the LIBERAL plastering of flyers with Pepper's picture on them caused the man to develop a conscience and give us a call.
Fingers crossed that he finds his way home.
*The reason it was the last time was that afterwards we put our collective foot down and insisted Pepper no longer be able to add to the population.
conscripted cherry that is awful about your Husky. He probably is looking for his old home. When Cherry Magic Sheryl left her dog with us while she went away, shortly after she had moved, the dog, a Siberian Husky, got out and was found by the Humane Society walking down the middle of the highway on the way back to his old house. I hope you find him or he comes home soon. Maybe he just took a walk to aquaint himself with the neighbourhood.
red fyohoch
For youthful opportunities have only Crusies HEA.
Oh, CC! I hope you find him soon! Do canvass the neighborhood with signs. Good luck!
As SDCB notes, if you're close to the old neighborhood, you might want to look around there.
SDCB: Nice to see you posting. I miss you when you're not around!
Sdcb Just to let you know I got A Really Fantastic Drink from the Liqour store its made in Brampton so you should be able to get it. It is TADA a Chocolate Martini!! It is just delicious, try it you'll like it, now why does that sound familiar.
Altigress I am sorry to hear about your father, and I must tell you even though you think you are prepared for the loss, you are still hit with grief so hard it seems as if it was a complete shock. [[[H]]]
Thank everybody for the kind words re my "writing career"
bcb said...
Some shortening, butter, cocoa, baker's chocolate, vanilla, some other stuff. That recipe and the one for homemade cinnamon caramel rolls are the two that my sisters and I all decided we'd never share with anyone. I have no idea why we decided this, but it was unanimous.
That's just vicious. Bless your danged heart!
AMC, it might be a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe. They make something like that. Try searching on that or Amish and the name.
glamour-geek said...
There's a bakery in the Lexington Market in Baltimore
All this talk is making me miss the Balto-DC area. First it was plans for the meetup in DC, now we're talking about the Lexington Market. I didn't shop there often because the parking sucked, but I love that place. Baltimore had such great city markets. I wonder how many of them are still around. Nope, wrong. I was thinking of the one near Inner Harbor. That's the one I loved, although Lex was okay, too.
My favorite places for cookies were Vaccaro's in Little Italy for biscotti and all manner of Italian cookies, and the Pentagon Bakery for their Pentagono Dream Cookies. Heavenly. The shops under the Pentagon used to be open to the public, but after that first barracks bombing in Lebanon, they closed it off. What a shame.
Ooh, also, if any of you ever get to Vaccaro's, they have a coffee shop kinda thing in the bakery. They have a Baci gelato that is, oh, I can't even describe it. It's the most wonderful ice cream I've ever had, except for Bud's Chocolate in San Fran. Very similar. Ambrosia.
ltacxhn (green)
love taxation? NOT
oh, CC, i hope you find your husky.
Queenie used to run away to the golf course food stand (oh, JJ, did i mention i live across a golf course?) they used to give her good food and lots of water. then, about 30 minutes later, they'd call us to come get her.
but i really hope you find her CC. i would be out of my mind with worry. (uh, that doesn't really help, does it?)
and mary. seriously, what is with guys? we're not asking them to be snipped, we're simply saying that it's important animals don't run around un-neutered because that's how the pounds are filled up.
night.
Gatorperson - thanks for that. Your description of 'fondant' agrees with what is meant by the word in British English. And I am glad to hear that corn syrup is more or less the same as glucose syrup/liquid glucose: I thought it probably was.
CologneGrrl wrote Si tacuisses, philosophum mansisses
meaning: if you had kept quiet, you would have been a philosopher (and now you went talking about it all over the place, you made a fool out of yourself...)
The contemporary version of this is: "It's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're a fool than to open it and prove them right."
I believe the traditional groom's cake is (ironically enough) fruitcake.
Does anyone remember the name of the cake you are supposed to make also when you make an angel food cake? The recipe calls for all those egg yolks that you discard when making the angel food. Is it Lady Baltimore cake?
Phenila I looked up both Miracle Whip and MW Light nutritional info on the website; both contain eggs, though MW light says "less than 2%.":
I am IMing to my German friend Lore and mentioning this blog; and she sent me a photo of her own gorgeous and delicious (walnut cream cake with marzipan and chocolate!)
wedding cake:
http://www.pics.gc-net.de/Torte_1.jpg
(The flowers are marzipan, but don't they look real?)
SEVEN-MINUTE FROSTING RECIPE:
INGREDIENTS:
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/3 cup cold water
1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DIRECTIONS:
Put egg whites, sugar, water and syrup in top of double boiler. Beat until mixed well. Place over rapidly boiling water. Beat constantly with electric beater while it cooks for 7 minutes or until it will stand in peaks when beater is raised. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Beat. Fills and frosts 2 layer cake, 8 or 9 inch.
OH: Thanks for the heads-up on Anne Bishop; I haven't checked out her website recently. BELLADONNA must be the sequel to SEBASTIAN, which I liked better than the Fae books but not as well as the BJT and its sequels.
The Tigress and I have discussed Karo syrup before; I believe it's closer to what Brits call "golden syrup."
AMC: I think this is what you want:
AMERICAN HERITAGE COOKBOOK. 2 VOLUMES Vol. 1 Illustrated History of Cooking, Vol 2 Menus and Recipes Published by Simon & Schuster (new York): 1964. Near Fine with no dust jacket; One volume edition with 500 recipes & 40 historic menus. Different from the Illus. History of Eating & Drinking Hardcover. ISBN: 0517378345 Near fine in a near fine slipcase..
Price: US$20.00. Quantity available: 1.
cxqffbsc -- Jen-T/Regis's favorite pet name for her human mate. Also pronounced "Susie."
In fact, every word in her native Ionian is pronounced "Susie,"which makes it really hard to order at the Starbucks there...
Good Morning Everyone! I find it fascinating and a little bizzare that my issues in life have made their way into blogger verification?
I finally caught up on all the posts - love this group. I have a bunch of new recipies now - thank you. I might not be a very good cook, actually, I suck at cooking - just ask my husband about the spagetti sauce I tried to make the other day. he'd been complaining about the jar variety and gave me a reciepe from a friend of ours who claims you can't F*%k it up. Well I more then F*$ked it up. DH said to go back to the Jar.
Anyway, I can bake, different than cooking. I make these really great double chocolate chip cookies and during the holidays I make about 4,000 of them to put in baskets for my husbands customers and princiapals. We do cookies, I make bannana bread and homemade chocloates. We also put in wine, cheese and crackers and other goodies. But I can't give you the reciepe, sorry but my grandmother would literally reach down from and pluck out my eyes! I think those were her exact words. I can give the reciepe to my children, but that is it. But I can tell you this, the reciepe is one the back of the nestle white chips with one small variation in how much flower is used vs cocoa powder. A little less flower. And yes, I back with a pinch, and handful and by taste so I don't measure much. Works for me. And you wonder why I can't cook - beats me. Oh, wait, I can grill - we eat a lot of chicken, steak and fish on the grill, I do that well. Seafood I can cook, but how hard is it to steam a lobster or toss a few claims on the grill. Never steawm claims, much better on the grill.
Tigress - hugs and thoughts.
CC - Hope you find your dog.
djr: WHAT! WHAT! NOOOOOOOOO!
I must have misread your comment. Cancel stargate? That's just wrong. Sure there were all the jump the shark references in 200 ...
I am already mourning the loss and now must have chocolate before the hordes of students arrive to use the ellison machines today.
JenT advised: Never steawm claims, much better on the grill.
The mind boggles. However, I will, in future, be sure to thoroughly grill any claim before I make it.
Me: Are you sure you are based on fact and not opinion?
Claim: Weeell, yes? Mostly.
Me: So you might be a false claim?
Claim: Umm, possibly.
Me: Well, that's ok. As long as you've been grilled.
This blog is such a nice way to start the day with a smile.
Jen? You done being grilled on that side yet? Might want to turn over.
CC: Good luck searching! Let us know when you find him?
bw
CC I hope you've found your dog Call the pound and local animal shelters and a husky rescue group if the is one near you. When our dogs get out they usually run around for awhile then come home. We of course try not to let them do this but every so often it happens. Good luck.
BCB - Oh bite me! Geez. You know what I meant!
Took my daughter to physical therapy and we both drooled over the therapist. Geez, I think I'm going to have to go with her and stay at every appointment.
nvqirxlk - the pill BCB needs to take before she explodes.
JenT You have to go everytime because you are afraid DD will jump the therapist or because you wnat to drool? Just wondering.
I'm going to write the dogs and then go walk. No, that's not right. I'm going to walk the dogs and then write. I'm procrastinating because I think I may have written myself into a corner. I know CB's keep shovels on hand but does anyone have one of those long ropes. Swing it over to me will ya so I can get outta here.
Trivial pursuit: The Lady Baltimore Cake is a white one, using only egg whites. The Lord Baltimore Cake is a yellow one, using the egg yolks not used in the Lady cake.
AgTigress - I forgot to ask. What is a fry up?
Also noted and lost, the actor whose got a TV hit, Laurie ??? (did the Jeeves thingy in England) says not a single English word in US is pronounced as it is in England. Hmmm. How can we understand any of you all?
cqgkkswx: Blogger is a sadist.
OrangeHands, being a much nicer person than this writer, spake thusly:
what is with guys? we're not asking them to be snipped
Well, not most guys, at any rate ;)
ndsmkn - no dang smoking!
I have a recipe for a "Sunshine" cake that helps to use up yolks - it's citrus. Which helps lighten the yolk-y taste and goes with the color.
Also, I can often find uses for yolks in truffle centers or ice cream - or just get RID of them, because spending more ingredients and time making something ELSE fattening, in order to use up something that cost a dollar is silly. But I'm not so good at that last option.
In fact, I freeze leftover egg whites, which works pretty well, to avoid having too many leftover yolks, which I've never felt comfortable freezing.
Definitely a good idea to read this one early, as opposed to mid-afternoon when the hungries hit!
One of the few things I use dark corn syrup for is making sponge candy. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory calls it "seafoam", I think, and Fanny Farmer used to make something similar seasonally. It's one of my favorites -tangy and crisp, but not really hard, because it's so light and airy (See's fans: it's similar to molasses chips, but the candy inside is much airier). I was SO excited to get a recipe from a friend. Of course, I rarely have time to do all that dipping /enrobing, but that's probably a good thing.
CC - I certainly hope you found your dog! Or he found you.
Egg yolks - you can use them in custards and something called a daffodil cake which is also baked in an angelfood cake pan.
Back in the old days when cholesterol first became a headline, a cardiologist used to give lectures on lowering the chol in your diet. He said he only used the egg whites to make omelets, scr eggs etc. When asked what he did with the yolks, he said he fed them to his dog because it helped his coat. A few years later, same doctor, same lecture..."I used to give the yolks to my dog but he died of heart disease so don't do that. Just throw them away.
Of course now we know the yolks aren't the horrible bad things they were thought to be then and can be included occaisionally.
Still procrastinating. One of the dogs helped by running off when I let him off his line to come in. He wasn't the one I walked this morning.
He ran down the street keeping just ahead of me until he thought I'd had enough exercise. Then he walked up to me and let me put the leash on him.
CC I hope your dog did something similar and is safely back home.
Maybe I will kick the walls down to get out of the corner. That might be interesting.
Could you guys switch to discussing eggplant or kohlrabi for a while. That doesn't give me the munchies like the cake talk. I'm dying to call my SIL and ask for my aunt's faux pound cake recipe. No frosting. It doesn't need it. Tho topped with fruit, or ice cream. Oh yummy.
Of course the kids prefer yellow cake with chocolate frosting. That would be good too.
Leg raised ready to kick---
Jen-T,
Here's a useful quote to include at the bottom of any email you might send to Bon Bon:
The above text is a natural product. Slight variations in spelling and
>grammar enhance its individual character & beauty and in no way are to
>be considered flaws or defects.
dyanfi - former mayor of San Francisco
I'm sure Agnes' (Agnes's?) fondant will arrive just fine, cause I'm betting that Bob knows several ways that Shane can take someone out that do not involve Blood as a by-product.
After this blog - how could Bob ever doubt that CAKE is an important plot point?
gpoftw
Geez! Politely offer fondant to women!
For those of you who are Nora Roberts fans, there's an article about her in the New York Times this morning. It's a little annoying, as the journalist does NOT seem to be broadly familiar with the romance genre. She contrasts Roberts' books with the "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire" style, of which I recall very few single-title contemporary representatives.
Oh, well.
Mary: huh. when I get tags like that on clothes, I sometimes have to say "yeah, right".
Robin S: remember, all matter consists of leetle, tiny subatomic particles with lots of empty space between electrons, etc. I'm sure if you concentrate, you can slide the solid bits of the plot right past the solid bits of the walls, through all that space. Of course, kicking works, too. Best of luck!
mbfodhih: most books focus on desirable husbands - invested heavily
Robin S - I want to drool! He's very cute.
Mary - LOL Thanks!
Robin, careful kicking those walls lest they come down upon you. Better to chip away some handholds. A niche here, a niche there and before long you discover a convenient tree root to grab hold of.
I cannot stress enought the importance of putting up signs when a pet runs away. One of my cats got loose one winter. I walked al over the countryside for two weeks, banign on the neighbour's doors. I put up signs everywhere, checked at the humane society twice a day. A family had found him on the first day and kept him as a barn cat. When one of the daughters saw my sign, they called. They were hugely disappointed that he was indeed my boy.
Same with the dog. My husky ran away every chance she got. Again signs helped me get her back when she ran to the next town. In fact, I think diligent calling and sign posting retrieved her on several occasions. My last dog learned the running response from the husky.
My aussie/border collie doesn't like me out of his sight so a run is always together. Plus I give him tons of cookies or carrots when he comes back to my whistle. Bribery has its place. I hope your puppy is home safe and sound (((((CC)))))
I'm baking cookies and squares for the library's summer reading party for the kids. All this cake talk. I also think I have a sour cream/vinegar pie recipe that I got from Scope Dope. I will start the recipe compilation project tonight while I look for that one. Thank you for the suggestion. I always back up my ms to my yahoo account so that it's retrievable from anywhere.
Havea great day everyone! We are CBs and not to be trifled with.
Jen invited coyly: Oh bite me! Geez.
You want a nice friendly nibble on the ear? Or should I take a great big chunk out of your rear end? Just trying to enhance your -- what was it Mary? -- individual character & beauty.
bw
Okay bon cheri bomb enough picking on jen-t. She has a little typing problem. Her keyboard just has the letters jump out at her and won't let her correct her typos. Besides, like me she probably doesn't preview. You know, if you keep finding fault with her keyboard then maybe we can find something on yours. Careful /.D the one-eyed cherry bomb will get you.
robin s I have the same problem with my Sarah story. I am facing a stone wall and can't seem to get past it. That has been the case for weeks. Sarah says I should just say she had a sleep over at mama and mampas. That's cute but doesn't quite work by itself.
I have been working harder on my children's stories than I have on my book. I think it is because the children's stories are closer to being ready for preview with kids. And thus closer to being submitted to someone for the possibility of publishing. Oh my that would be really something. I don't have a clue where to send them when I am done but I will look at that closer to the time.
BTW bcb I LOOOVE rice pudding with raisins and cinnamon. If made properly it is really creamy and flavorful. If it is dry it is horrid.
cherry magic sheryl I don't remember a vinegar pie but then I don't remember a lot of stuff, like what you said five minutes ago...I know. /,D
blue gmbvkw
Great manuscript Bob. Victims killed wordlessly.
green rduiyp
Robert Doherty uses individual yex perfectly.
Talpianna: your friend's cake is GORGEOUS! It's not the roses, it's those amazing chocolate curlicues all over the place. Stunning! Tell her I said so!
BCB sez: Jen? You done being grilled on that side yet? Might want to turn over.
Isn't this a St. Sebastian or something? One of the saints (I'm not very good with which is which) was being burned for something and purportedly said "Turn me over, I'm done on this side." Or it's urban (saintly?) myth, but it's amusing nonetheless.
Jen: that would be flour, not flower, unless you're garnishing your cookies with sugared violets or something. :)
Diane: "leftover" egg whites = meringue cookies!
GP: you're thinking of Hugh Laurie, the British actor who stars in House.
Mary sez: OrangeHands, being a much nicer person than this writer, spake thusly: "what is with guys? we're not asking them to be snipped"
Well, not most guys, at any rate ;)
Amen, sister! OH is young yet, she'll learn to be less nice. Especially if she keeps hanging around thee and me! ;)
wyzsuqxn: I believe a very drunk blogger wants to ask Susan why.
SDCB - Oh thank you! I need someone in my corner. You hear that BCB (and bryan whereever you are) SDCB - the one-eyed bomb is my side. Take that!
GG - Flour/Flower - yeah, yeah, yeah, i get it.
yldqey - yeild left, down quickly east yonder.
Thanks for all the good wishes, the worked. Chinook, the little runaway is back home. He is so grounded. No tv, no internet, he just gets to sit in his room and contemplate the error of his ways. This experience pushed me over the edge from, "should think about getting him microchiped" to "I'm getting him microchiped."
Ah Jen. Don't you know your Yogi Berra-isms make our day?
I usually add a wee more flour than is called for in the recipe when I'm baking cookies. My theory is that the flour helps hold in the moisture while the cookie bakes. Maybe I'm fooling myself but I do make a darn good cookie.
CC - YAY! Glad to hear he is home safe and sound. If they only knew how much we worry!
Diane, I never thought about slipping the plot matter through the wall particles. Hmmm, that opens many new possibilities. (Yeah, I know bad pun. I am not punny. Good Grief, the virtual groans are shaking my house.) This is why I don't do comedy.
SDCB I hope you find a break in that stone wall. We have shovels if you need to burrow under or I bet Sarah could climb over it. Glad your stories are getting closer to publication. I'm sure someone around here knows publishers who handle children's literature. Or you could check the spines of the books in the children's section of the bookstore. Or we can do it for you. DS11 won't mind helping.
Working my way out of that corner. The computer didn't like one paragraph I wrote and it indented the whole thing then it ate it when I tried to fix it. I decided rewriting it was better than trying to find it.
I have a question for all of you who are computer savvy. Why would my computer suddenly indent one section and refuse to change it. This is not the first time it has happened.
HELP
Oh CC, I am so glad. Chinook you behave yourself now.
CC: SO happy the little guy is back! Did he by any chance bring home something to put in that hole in the wall? Maybe MCB and I should get microchipped? Only who would come find us? Probably better we keep our whereabouts a secret.
Scope Dope: Don't worry, Jen knows I love her. If I didn't, I'd just ignore her nonsense. And it's not the letters that jump off the keyboard. Here's the secret: she sits on the vibrating bed when she types on her laptop -- I'm amazed she manages even a semblance of coherency. [grin]
Back to work now. Sigh.
bw
Another use for "leftover" egg whites, besides meringues (and I used to make chocolate chip ones, which are tasty, but don't do tidy stars from a pastry bag) is macaroons. For those of us who like coconut - but none of my colleagues does (well, one).
Talpianna's friend's cake is indeed gorgeous - it may be my new standard of elegance for wedding cakes. Plus, it sounds yummy!
I'm not very up on the saints, but I think St. Sebastian is the stuck-full-of-arrows guy. Oh, geez, now I have to look it up. Yep: here's a picture of the poor guy. The grilled saint is Lawrence/Lorenzo/Laurentius.
So we can add a new ID to Jen-T, because she hasn't enough all ready! Oh, and because he was burned to death, he's the patron saint of cooks, and we're talking about cooking today, so how apt.
CC- I'm glad Chinook came home safely!
Robin S- the indent thing sounds familiar, and I have NO idea why it might do so (possibly some evil auto-format plot, in which case, ctrl-z might make it leave you alone). Just about the only thing I miss from WordPerfect is Reveal Codes, where you could SEE, and then manage, the formatting codes. Am I showing how old I am again?
Robin mine does that too. You just need to slide the little tiny tab arrows in the measurement bar at the the top left of the Word document to fix it. That's what I do.
Thanks Diane. I'll try that the next time it happens. Okay, back to my corner.
Hey everybody!!! I just had a call from Dee. She says Bryan is heading over to the Barnes & Noble where they are meeting up prior to dinner. So anyone interested, this would be a good time to give him a call *snork*. His cell number is 812-371-0467.
Hey everybody!!! I just had a call from Dee. She says Bryan is heading over to the Barnes & Noble where they are meeting up prior to dinner. So anyone interested, this would be a good time to give him a call *snork*. His cell number is 812-371-0467.
Thank you too me. Now I have to possible ways to fix it.
pugdazae Pugs dazed and enervated
Oops didn't mean to do that twice.
Robin sounds like you switched "styles".
Dang! Called Bryan's cell and I got voice mail! jerk! Answer your dang phone!
Sebastian the Sieve. Right. Lawrence is grilled, like Lunch. I'll try to remember.
I do now recall that Sebastian is the one with the arrows. Not really the fashion statement I'd want to make, but I did see images of him all over Italy where this type of piercing seems to be quite the done thing, at least in churches and museums.
(((AgTigress))) My thoughts and prayers are with you as well.
CC: I’m glad you’re red husky found his way home.
My cousin had a lab that we always thought was very sweet but not too bright. One night, he Houdini-ed his way out of the house, not to be found. Her children made posters and put them out right away the next morning. That afternoon they got a call from the manager at Pet-Smart about 5 miles down the road. It seems one of the customers recognized the dog sitting staring at bags of food in the back isle as the one on a poster she had seen earlier. From then on, we never doubted that the lab was a very intelligent dog indeed.
G-G: You’re verification was very enlightening as to why Blogger has been so surly with me today. Susan must have dumped him.
Robin S: It does sound like and auto-formatting problem, and ctrl z can fix it if you catch it right after it shifts by itself. For those who don't know, ctrl z = undo. If you don’t catch it right away, you need to play with your margins at the top under the toolbar. I’m better with hands on teaching, but if you need more explanation just ask.
pjurbxy: How Blogger feels about the break-up
Jen? Dee says they can't get good reception inside so they are headed outside - call again in a few min.
McB: I was thinking I should call during y'all's dinner and say something like this,
"Bryan, Oh hi, this is Lori, a Cherrybomb from the blog. I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but could I speak to Dee please?"
Then make up some ridiculous excuse why I needed to talk to her.
fxmcxslu: Now Blogger, thats not a nice thing to say about Susan.
Lori - too funny! I'm meeting up with them probably around 5pm. If you want to do that maybe call 5:30ish? Except we're having dinner at Hard Rock so geez I don't even know if he'll hear the phone!
tal: i agree with g-g and diane, beautiful cake. it would make me pause before eating it. a short pause, mind you, but a pause.
g-g and mary: LMAO. i was thinking more those kind of guys we don't really ask...we knock them on the head, tie them up, and call the vet. i mean doctor.
geez, you guys. leave them alone at dinner. *snort* yeah, how many believed that BS? go for it.
oh, and remember time differences!!
Tal I looked at the cake picture and its gorgeous. My hand cramps just thinking about piping that design so carefully.
And yes, folks, we're on eastern daylight savings time.
mranvqia: a magical kingdom somewhere around the Balkans.
Right, 5:30 there is 4:30 (central daylight savings) here. I think.
So, I'm pretty sure I can try then. If it doesn't work out, no biggie.
I just talked to Brayn a few minutes ago. Hubba hubba what a voice! I don't think he'll ever leave his cell number on the Internet again. You gugys are the best. I'm working so I won't get to read the comments until later. Just wanted to say we should call each other more often. But leave Jenny and Bob alone - cause they have to finish Agnes for us! : )
That was Bryan, sheesh his voice flustered me that much
Give it a go lori if worst comes to worst you will get his voice mail like I did. I called about 20 minutes ago and left a message, probably at the same time that cherry magic sheryl was talking to bryan. He told her he is geting a lot of phone calls. CBs Rule! Gee, I wonder what it costs for him to have two calls from Canada.
conscripted cherry glad that your Husky came back. Good thing. I know how worried you must have been. I have a fit if Tara gets loose. She never runs far enough that she can't see us. The other day DH caught her with a flying tackle, three streets over. That was the first time she had gotten loose this year.
orangehands I left you a message about Sheryl's book back on the last post and I sent you an email. A long email.
blue fpqdtlua
For political quotes Doherty tries lurking under aliases. We never said anything about them making sense,.
GG wrote: And Christina: please make sure the pilot of your flight knows that s/he has to make a quick detour from the east coast to the mid-pacific before going back to England, so you can get dropped off in Maui on the 19th. :)
You are very sweet. I would love to meet you all in Maui. I have never been to Hawaii and only been west of Nebraska once (San Fran, for a 4 day conference). My mom. aunt and grandmother went on a cruise to Hawaii last year and brought me back a little hula man. He is currently in storage in the UK with the little sweater I bought for him. ;)
CC--Glad the little rascal made his way home.
Diane--My mom loves macaroons. Are they essentially just made up of egg whites, sugar and coconut?
idbpid--new Apple product for kids
cms: Bryan is very handsome in person too. Especially in the cabana boy outfit.
I'm with a friend as she recovers from surgery so I have to run. I'll be mostly lurking ... but loving it.
agtigress: sending hugs and comforting thoughts your way.
cc: glad your dog made his way home.
I am just waiting to see a new J&B post that gives us one word having to do with Agnes. Like, "Fondant. Discuss."
But then we really don't need much to crack the 200 mark, do we?
*Sigh* DSS is already in trouble and we are only 2 weeks into the school year. No cake for him when he comes over. He made a little girl cry on the bus. Looks like we begin the year on a first name basis with the teacher again. (Please note the supreme effort to not malign the ex-bio-mom. Not easy).
oahsce: Oh A-Ha! Cake sales everywhere!
No dice.
Really bold green itsff:
It's FF!
(And make your own punch line :)
btuda - think of all the material they could get that way!
J: *sigh* Agnes needs flowers for the wedding but I don't know what kind yet.
B: don't look at me, I don't do flowers. Neither does Shane. He's a manly man who does manly things. No flowers.
J: okay okay. Hold on I have an idea for a new blog.
FLOWERS: Discuss wedding arrangements
J: Should get some ideas from that.
B: Oookay. Be careful what you ask for.
Appropriately enough, St. Lawrence is one of the patron saints of cooking, which fits in well with this blog.
CC, I'm very relieved that the little scamp came back! My shepherd was a rescue; I was her fourth owner in a six-month period. We left the gate open once and she merely stepped over the threshold and then laid down to guard it. Not going nowhere, thank you very much. (Scope Dope, you need to take a photo of your shepherd! I'd love to see her.)
Today would have been my father's 87th birthday.
This post has been removed by the author.
Mary, I'm sorry about the loss of your father. Sometimes one can predict when we'll miss people (as on birthdays), sometimes it sneaks up.
Christina: yes, that is the essence of macaroons. The recipe I used to use (I made them all the time for a while) may have come from Joy of Cooking, but it uses what we called "magic milk" at our house - the sweetened condensed stuff (so no other sugar needed), and, of course (for me), mini chocolate chips. A beaten egg white or two fluffs 'em up a little, and gives some bonding power in baking.
OK, I've got to stop reading/ talking about this stuff for a while, there is some VERY good chocolate ONE ROOM OVER. And I really don't need to eat it now. Really.
twyrgcpo: Terpsichorean writhing yields rare gyrations, catalyzing prostration opportunities
Note to self: get icon of St. Lawrence for kitchen when (hopefully!) in Italy fall '07.
Christina sez: My mom. aunt and grandmother went on a cruise to Hawaii last year and brought me back a little hula man. He is currently in storage in the UK with the little sweater I bought for him. ;)
Well, I suppose in the UK he'd need a sweater. Since you can't make it, shall we see if we can round up an HSD (as Mary calls them: Hot Surfer Dude) for you and ship him to you? Likely he can also serve as a cabana boy when the need calls, though he might get a bit on the pasty white side if you leave him in the UK to long. Is there surfing in the English Channel?
GG--Yes, please on the HSD request. I would very much like one. Not sure if there is surfing in the English Channel though. Although I would imagine it may be too cold for anyone to want to try even if there were enough waves. Maybe the Tigress knows.
zeulfsk -- I don't know. Anyone else have a guess?
I'm heading out now, folks. Can't wait to hear what Bryan has to say about the phone calls.
Well geez, finally got ahold of Bryan - he is a sweetheart, but shhh, don't tell him I said that.
Christina: Maybe the North Sea, then? :) Mite bit chilly, perhaps.
You heard her Mary, we will have to round up a bunch of HSDs for various cherrybombs, but we'll have to count on BCB and MCB to knock over a bank so we can afford the shipping fees.
Or maybe SDCB can. Isn't she a one-eyed bandit? :)
Oh, G-G, they're going to need to knock over a bank anyway. I'm counting on them to post our bail ;)
vbatw - the car that batman had to downgrade to, what with the cost of gasoline and everything
This post has been removed by the author.
mary sez: Oh, G-G, they're going to need to knock over a bank anyway. I'm counting on them to post our bail ;)
Oh good. They can call those guys from Dog the Bounty Hunter to get us a bond. They're on Oahu, but I'm sure they do business on the other islands.
Mary: love the batmobile downgrade. Hilarious!
SDCB: was reading comments on other post. Do take care of your adorable nose (and the rest of you!). Or maybe it's your way of showing solidarity with Jenny for her pizza chin a few months ago.
CC Glad Chinook came home. My husky was sent to her room every time she came home from an adventure or got snarly. When she died, my nephew asked me if God sent her to her room for being bad : ) Hug him, then chip him. It will save you some stress.
Thanks to all for playing the phone game. It's made me giggle all day.
I'm curious about my book too OH. I'm still working on it. To clarify, it's not all about sex with a demon, it just starts that way.
cms said: "it's not all about sex with a demon, it just starts that way."
Well, darn. Where can I get one that IS all about sex with a demon?
:-)
Geez. Leave you guys alone for an afternoon and you revert to middle school behaviour -- calling guys on the phone and giggling. I hope you all realize he probably has caller ID and will no doubt call you all back in the middle of the night. And hang up.
Scope Dope: Sounds like maybe DH should get you a hockey goalie mask? OUCH. Cats have been known to leap tall buildings in a single bound for a treat -- next time make her work for it and jump up to your level. Or at least sit down first.
Or were you trying to emmulate Agnes by bloodying up your kitchen? Next thing you know, we'll hear you and DH fell off the kitchen table... Sounds like you and Agnes both need the St. Lawrence figurine. Though I think Agnes better get the one called Lorenzo, given the mob theme.
MCB, Dee and Bryan: Hope all three of you survive the meeting and dinner and whatnot. Not sure which of you I'm more worried about. We haven't really raised all that much bail money yet, and sounds like most of it is earmarked for G-G and Mary. Just don't let MCB convince you to get into a car.
bw
LMACMP New acronym (?sp I have to get a decent dictionary)
Laughing Madly at CrusieMayer Posts
Covers the J&B posts as well as comments
MCB I'm going to laugh myself into a coma if Jenny does that.
Btuda You are amazingly controlled(not trashing ex bio mom) I doubt I'd be so nice.
You know it might have been the little girls fault. It happens.
Lori Thank you. I need to write these things down
?Switched "styles"? I have no idea what that is. Didn't even know I had a style. First I thought you were referring to genres then said "Duh" the computer problem.
Mary Still laughing at the verification Great one.
Kyra I hope your friend heals swiftly. You are a sweetheart to stay with you
I tried to call Bryan immediately after MCB posted the number. The guy said "Hello" me "Hi, Bryan" guy "No, who are you trying to call?" me giggling "Never mind" I checked the number and had dialed the wrong area code. Didn't have the nerve to try again. Mentally, I'm twelve and calling to ask if the refrigerator is running.
Sheesh.
me: Well, darn. Where can I get one that IS all about sex with a demon? LMH (laughing madly here. someone is going to cart me away soon.)
All this talk about cake. Then took DS11 to the store. Swiss Cake rolls. very important in WIP
Yeah, I brought them home.
They are a muse aid. They are.
I doubt they taste as good as I remember. All waxy, stick to the roof of my mouth chocolate covering fake cream and dry cake. Nothing could taste that good.
xzagm xerox zithers and gentle music
I didn't think it was that bad
nikvkn never isolate Kevin's virtual kilograms Nick
I can neither punch in a correct number or type today
ijkvkn identify Jenny konking various knights now
While on the phone with Bryan, middle boy was making a cake - is that weird or what.
No actually JenT it just shows you have trained him well. He cooks. The girls will love him.
fzrch fez research
Robin S- um, the girls already love him and that my dear is a problem. Not to mention how much he likes them.
I tried to call Bryan a couple of times, but got the voice mail both times. I didn't see the point in leaving a message, but have still been giggling the whole afternoon thinking about his afternoon.
Evil grin.
JenT you are going to have so much fun over the next few years. Just hope he doesn't have a rule against dating girs that go to the same school as he does. You think you are driving a lot now.
xxqjtm 'xhume (the bodies)'xalts queenly Jenny to Mayer
I don't know about a cake made in concert with angel food cake but around here it's egg noodles and angel food cakes-- they're commonly sold at bazaars, one of the churchs even takes orders and makes them once a month, 9 months out of the year
Chinook escaped and was found- he was tied up to a tree on a street corner I would've sworn I drove down, around, and past. This morning I was tracked down with one person knowing who Chinook belonged to and sorta knowing my name, someone else figuring out who I was, someone else knowing I had been showering at the rec center so they tried to track me down there, my shower is now working so that didnt' work, but the gal at teh armory told them where I worked- I was off this morning so a co-worker left a message on my phone which I eventually got a few minutes before I had to be at work- and now he doesn't get internet, or to have a friend spend the night this weekend and if he does this again he can just wait until he's 18 to get his driver's license
jedrt- the soil like stuff on Jen-T's home planet- and contrary to popular belief it isn't pronounced Susie, it's pronounced Siouxsie
I love this blog. I can't cook worth a lick, and all these cake recipies have me wanting to try.
CC- makes me want to redo my bathroom and get a dog.
Jen-t....I have 2 adult sons who I didn't kill and one had so many girls following him around his brother asked if he knew any "dudes." And by the way, where DID you get that bed?
Bryan- I will wait to call you later....as soon as I recover from learning that I do not live in the MIDWEST. Jenny, where do we live?
SDCB- please take care of yourself- I love to read your posts.
Antigress- I hope your memories comfort you.
Should we stop with the cakes and go on to killing people so BOB will talk to us?
pflnzhha- what CB's get from typing too much.
I think Ohio, Ill, Ind etc came to be called the Midwest when everything west of the Mississippi was considered "The West" We don't have a Mideast.
vawwzm vague ancesters whimsically wander zigzaging madly
GatorPerson: I was IMing with the Tigress when I saw your query about a fry-up. Her reply: Anyway, it just means a fried meal - eggs, sausages, bacon, possibly fried bread, mushrooms, tomatoes...
Incidentally, for those of you traveling, I got an e-mail from Magellan's, a company that specializes in travel stuff (I got a great bag for the Tigress there), with links to advice and info for dealing with the new security restrictions. Will forward if anyone wants it.
Does anyone besides me find it weird that St. Lawrence became the patron saint of cooks?
(I once spent a great deal of useless effort trying to prove that St. Molaise was the patron saint of moles.)
Btuda wrote: Really bold green itsff:
It's FF!
(And make your own punch line :)
Isn't FF Glamour-Geek's older sister Fashion-Freak?
zjctkrj --Zounds! Jenny Crusie! Talpianna killed Regis/Jen?
znwtzcu -- Zen novices will take Zaza's children underground.
We use "fry up" in Oz to refer to a good old fashioned English breakfast. Fried bacon, fried eggs, fried mushroom, fried sausages. Some places even fry black pudding - DH tried it once at a B and B in scotland but the thought of eating pigs blood wrapped in a skin made me want to vomit.
Hmm. talking about cake and icing is much more apetising.
igoync - I give only yellow nice cakes
mary I will try and get a picture of Tara up on my blog. I just realized that I don't have any pictures of her. She is very black with tan and a little spot of white on her. She is small compared to your German Shepherd which reminds me of one I had that was all beige like that. Tasha was a real love and I had her for nine years. She too, was afraid of thunderstorms and loud noises. That is how we lost her. She heard the thunder, ran down the hall to get into out bedroom, but the door was closed and she tried to dive through it. She broke her neck. I was inconsolable for days. It took me a long time to get over that. /.(
cologne girl I need all you can tell me about Fasching. I hope I spelled that right. I never learned to write German, just speak it. Now it is gone. How do you spell St. Nichalaus the German way?
I really appreciate your help. Wrote the Gasthaus scene and I like it thanks to your input. /,)
Anyone living in New Orleans area or someone who has participated I need to know all about Mardi Gras. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
I really like getting the input from the CBs because I learn more than if I Google something. If you have lived it and experienced it it is better info.
blue icjuwuw
I called Jenny's underwriters. (They were) under writing.
DUG: Barf on that black pudding stuff. I’d come closer to eating chitterlings, and I ain’t done that in more decades than I gots fingers.
Tal: Thanks for the fry up info. Also I’ve been patting myself on the back since I realized I had replied with the Lady/Lord B. Cake info to ChefGoddess Tal’s question. Oh, and a confession: The real purpose of my frosting is to cover up lopsided, cracked, and otherwise really ugly cakes. Your friend’s work of art is amazing! But I cook a mean fresh blackberry pie with homemade ice cream! Art it ain’t, but tasty it is.
ccfwfwp: Can't Confuse Fuzzy With Furry Wolf Packs.
This whole earthquake thing is getting rather tedious. One about a week ago that woke me up at 6am, one a few minutes to 6pm today that disturbed me in the midst of a crossword... Both quite tiny (2.9 and 2.7), but really. Getting to be trite. The only reason I've felt them is that both were about 6 miles away in Berkeley.
Talpianna wrote: Incidentally, for those of you traveling, I got an e-mail from Magellan's, a company that specializes in travel stuff (I got a great bag for the Tigress there), with links to advice and info for dealing with the new security restrictions. Will forward if anyone wants it.
I would like the info. You can get my email from AgTigress, but if she is not currently in touch, we'll figure something else out.
GG--I've never been in an earthquake before. (You in the corner, get your mind out of the gutter). Do you have to go stand in a doorway or, if it's not that strong, do you just stay where you are and ride it out?
BCB: HA! I didn't call from my own number, and I didn't giggle once. My friends might get a bit miffed at a middle of the night callback though.
Called twice, got Bryan’s voicemail. Left a message the second time. Figured if I can't talk to him, I can still confuse him with a voicemail that doesn't make sense. I’m HORRIBLE at leaving messages. Words get jumbled and stilted, even if I practice. Which I do. Okay, enough insight into my weird inadequacies.
((SD)) Distressed to hear about the fall. Make sure to do all the good stuff the other CB’s are advising. I was thinking the nose wound would go with the pirate thing you’ve got going. Nothing worse than an ornamental pirate. They need to get their hands dirty and fight. (Even if it’s a battle with a fridge.) But DON’T try that again please.
G-G: Interested in the California reaction to tiny earthquakes as well.
Christina: No matter how hard I tried to budge it, my mind went to the gutter and stayed there. Especially the ending. Still smiling.
rbjwbvo: Really Bon, Jenny with Bob victory obvious.
christina wrote: I've never been in an earthquake before. (You in the corner, get your mind out of the gutter). Do you have to go stand in a doorway or, if it's not that strong, do you just stay where you are and ride it out?
But... didn't you tell us that in Italy they didn't even bother to find a doorway, but just rode it out in the hall? Maybe the earthquakes in Italy just aren't that strong. How are they in CA, G-G? Might one even need to find a bed?
Lori: To answer your sort of question from the other post, well, golly gee whiz, I would put my phone number here for all of you, but not after what you did to poor Bryan today. Go to Jen's website, send her an email and she will forward it to me. But I really think you're going to get that job. So your visit will be brief and celebratory in nature, but you'll still be welcome.
bw
ywtobwrr: Scope Dope's cat apologizing
Christina asks: GG--I've never been in an earthquake before. (You in the corner, get your mind out of the gutter). Do you have to go stand in a doorway or, if it's not that strong, do you just stay where you are and ride it out?
Well, this lasted about 2 seconds, so I just kind of looked up from where I was sitting. It was as if someone had given my chair a quick jolt and the building creaked. Same as last time.
I am not California born and raised, so I was not trained to head for doorways or desks or shelter of any kind. I'm more of a stunned deer-in-the-headlights kind of gal in my responses. That and an "oh, it's over. I guess I don't need to do anything special."
Mary can probably tell you how the natives are trained to respond. She grew up south of here. Maybe OH in LA got that in school too.
Usually months/years between when I feel them, so having them close together (days apart) is a new one for me. Only been in one big one and it was my second earthquake ever and my first California quake. That was the Loma Prieta in 1989 and was a 6.9. I thought someone was shaking the row of desks I was in, dim bulb that I am.
G-G: Sorry, but I'm LMAO over here. I'm guessing Lori is, too. Because I know what you think you're saying, but my ears are still over here in the gutter, hearing euphemisms.
I'm more of a stunned deer-in-the-headlights kind of gal in my responses. That and an "oh, it's over. I guess I don't need to do anything special."
*SNORT*
You just made my day, girl.
bw
BCB: glad to be of service. :) I hadn't thought of it that way and now I'm laughing too.
Actually, the earthquakes freak the heck out of me. I am just trying to Remain Calm. But they do make me really wish I lived in a substantially more structurally sound building, if such a thing can exist in serious earthquake territory.
Sorry. As my DD and I say to each other: I'm not laughing (or yelling) at you, I'm laughing near you. And really, I just got off the phone after talking to JenT for two and a half hours. I don't need much of an excuse for anything just now.
I wish we all lived closer together. We'd definitely need a structurally sound building to contain the lot of us.
bw
I wish we all lived closer together. We'd definitely need a structurally sound building to contain the lot of us.
Like San Quentin, perhaps?
epookk -- G-G reacting to an earthquake
So we could still have structurally sound earthquakes? Hmmm.
Let me think. Yes.
bw
vazydaok: what some people say during a SSE
Alcatraz is structurally sound and the cats are really tall, from eating all those big rats, so no problems for any of us. /,D
bryan you'd better get off the phone and start writing. I actually worked on my book for awhile tonight.
Trying really hard to remember "Don't Look Down" but the cat enticed me with all her purring. She wanted me to pet her. I really cannot look down this week. Usually I can bend a little but not right now. Thanks for all the advice. I know DLD is supposed to be my mantra. Thanks Bob and Jenny.
blue jpijcb
Just put identity "Jennifer Crusie", Bob.
DownUnderGal said...
Some places even fry black pudding - DH tried it once at a B and B in scotland but the thought of eating pigs blood wrapped in a skin made me want to vomit.
Hmm, something else to avoid in addition to haggis.
Although I've never lived in an earthquake-prone area, I've actually been in two earthquakes. When I was in junior high, there was one in Ohio, close enough to where I lived that people could feel it. Except it happened when I was in shop class, and with all machinery running, we couldn't feel it. When we got out of class, some friends were saying that there was an earthquake. I was skeptical because. Well. We were in Ohio. And then it was on the evening news.
The second one was when I was studying in Japan for a semester in college. I was in the symphonic band club and were were practicing in a room about two floors underground. We were in the middle of the piece, and suddenly everyone stopped playing. I thought, "WTF, why is everyone stopping, this is just not done", and then realized that my music stand was sort of moving back and forth. All on its own.
Ok. I those are prettly lame earthquake stories. They were memorable to me though.
SDCB - Yeah! you're writing! More than I'm doing. Got side tracked tonight, sigh, I talk way to much on the phone, and speaking of the phone - poor Bryan. I hope we didn't scare him away - I don't think he was prepared to get all these phone calls. But, then again, that's what you get for posting your number! Geez, okay off to the BED, but sigh, it's empty tonight. DH on business trip again. Guess i'm taking the computer to bed with me.
Scope Dope.: I'm not sure if it should be Don't Look Down or Don't Bend Over. Whichever, Don't Hurt Yourself again. Geez. I have never spent so much time worrying about someone I haven't even met. PLEASE be careful, we're counting on you.
I visited Alcatraz once, um, about 21.5 years ago (was pregnant with DS21 at the time) and it wasn't looking all that good then. Unoccupied, of course. Sort of sad in a strange way. And, I'll tell you, after seeing that movie with the green glass balls of poison (Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage -- great movie), it's not a place I'd want to spend any length of time. Not even with CB's.
Come to think of it, that was the same trip we visited Soledad prison. I'm seeing a trend here. Not good. I remember hearing another author talk once about how she was writing a book that had a prison scene and she tried everything she could think of (well, short of a felony conviction) to get into a prison (Rikers, I think) and met with a solid wall of absolute refusal. So I guess I should feel privileged to have done that. But of all the feelings the memory evokes, that isn't one of them.
Anyway. Of course, on that trip we also went up to Muir Woods and Napa Valley and down to Carmel and Pebble Beach and there was the beautiful drive in between. And the food in San Francisco was fabulous. I'd love to go back, but let's skip the prisons.
bw
Bon Bon - I thought you lived at Alcatraz for a few years. You remember, those lost years. Oh, sorry, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Well, so long as we don't give her a shovel, we are okay.
bon cheri bomb just include Carmel and Pebble Beach on your trip. The bi-plane can make it, can't it? The other CBs would love it.
Don't worry about me. I am fine. I just have to learn to get taller cats. DH would have a fit if he saw that. No more pets is his slogan. He does not like cats and this cat loves him to pieces. Not seven pieces, lori. /,D
red qwaewlx
Quickly, wake all emotional writers looking 4 Xavier.
red jmhza
Jenny, Mayer had Zaza arrested!
Jenny, Mayer had Zaza arrested!
WHAT?! Sounds like a job for the Mole Rangers. Go underground, infiltrate and liberate.
Taller cats. Hmm. Could have used a couple of those out on The Rock (no, not that rock, the other one). As it was, we learned pretty quickly to strangle the rat bastards instead of poisoning them. Death throes aren't very effective at ridding a body of the stuff and makes consumption a tricky proposition. Could have used a good shovel, back in the day. Things got pretty deep once in a while.
bw
jwrzk: just wait Robert, Zaza knows
part one: catch-up
CC: glad puppy is home. (i call all dogs "puppy", even the ones i've known for sixteen years. just an annoying little quirk of mine).
btuda said "Please note the supreme effort to not malign the ex-bio-mom. Not easy"
why bother? i mean, yes, at home, in front of son, good idea, great self-control, but here are the people with shovels who will help you bury ex-bio-mom. complain away. rant. tell us when you need the shovels. and my sharp daggers for the advance work.
mary: sorry about your father. for me, it's normally not the birthday or death anniversary or "holidays". it's just times when i'm hit with their memory. esp my grandparents on my godfather's side. (not the same as a father, i know). hope you have a lot of good memories to help balance you out.
BCB and rss, re: Bryan and the calls: LMAO. that's all. and my mom laughed too.
tal: please send me the traveling thing too. in case you lost it, orangehands@gmail.com. (it's my special e-mail just for you guys).
scope dope: so sad about your dog.
gp said "and I ain’t done that in more decades than I gots fingers."
geez, how old are you? :)
lori: I'm like that. i leave the worse messages ever. never got the hang of phones, really. i practice how my message will be and it still turns into something that i call back about to ask them to delete before they send me to a funny farm. (which really aren't that funny, BTW)
BCB: post about lori: LMAO. didn't even see it that way. took me a few minutes before i could read it to my mom, laughing so hard. thank god i don't have that uncontrollable bladder problem some CBs are inflicted with.
part two: earthquakes
well, school training is horrible. not as bad as fire drills. (i hate those. they tell you when they are going to be. now, unless they spend millions of dollars and put shifting plates under the school, no way to fake an earthquake drill. but fire drills, they should pretend are real to see how we really act. also, for my middle school, they used to make us walk across campus to get to the "safe ground". first, half the safe ground was grass, which burns, and second, we'd probably have to walk through the fire to get to the safe ground. same situation with my high school. school officials are idiots.)
but yes, about once or twice a year, we have an earthquake drill and once or twice a year we have a fire drill. earthquake drills weren't so bad when we were in elementary school, but in HS you had to pay us to get under the gum-infested desks. plus, half of my teachers would just keep teaching through that annoying bells that kept ringing and ringing and ringing and then they'd send out the "search team" for trapped bodies (and yes, my MS planted trapped bodies, it was that kind of school), and they'd yell at us for not going onto the scorching blacktop in the blazing heat and stand there for hours while they talked, in the shade. jerks.
which doesn't have to do with what you were asking, but i needed the rant. morons. seriously, it's like as soon as you become an official in the school you lose half your brain cells. there's a few exceptions, but they're rare.
so, as a native to earthquake land, mostly in the first second you can judge how bad it'll be, and then you can react appropriately. sometimes that means going under doorways, sometimes it means continuing what your doing.
northridge earthquake story (the only big earthquake i've been in): my brother had bunk beds and slept on the top bunk so it's the middle of the night, the ground starts shaking, and my dad rushes in (apparently my parents worked it out genderly; mom went to get me and dad went for bro) and yells jump. it's pitch dark and my brother's like "hell no, you can't see me" and my dad's like "jump". so he jumped.
and nobody broke any bones. though my dad had a huge fish tank in the living room and that fell over. but dog (who we had to in and get, my sweet Cookie) and cat got out ok.
which didn't really answer your question. natives in earthquake land are trained, just like native tornado people are too. it's instinctive, that human trait of survival telling our bodies what to do while our mind is still going "huh?"
and that is all about earthquakes. hope you enjoyed this segment brought to you by OH.
but seriously, they were idiots. each classroom had a different place of standing and the drill never happened i nthe same period so it was always adifferent class and therefore a different palce to stand so if youlost the teacher in the crowd- which was known to happen- you were screwed. and the percentage of ditchers went up about 78% after a drill. i'm serious. classes after drills were EMPTY.
and yes, i realize i made a few type/grammar mistakes. sue me.
and yes, i realize it is long. stop reading then.
night. i'm getting cranky thinking about those dumb ass officials again.
extra egg yolks - make a lemon meringue pie or lemon curd. Both use a lot of yolks. Lemon curd and Angel Food Cake make excellent "sandwiches."
SDCB said...
Anyone living in New Orleans area or someone who has participated I need to know all about Mardi Gras. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
I've been to Mardi Gras. As a woman on the street, what sticks with me and what was a surprise was the "throws." Each float as stuff they throw into the people lining the parade route. Mardi Gras beads (green, purple and gold) are traditional, but anything can be included. The richer krewes throw more expensive stuff, and the mad jostling to catch their throws can get pretty scary. I had a sprained knee when we were there, so we cabbed it to a pub kind of place on the parade route for that day and watched from a window. Some drunken old geezer went out and fought for some throws which he gave to my friend and I, so we would have souvenirs. We bought him another drink, not that he needed it.
In the shops, everywhere I'm sure, but especially in and around the Quarter, they have masks and beads and jewelry and stuff made in MG colors. We went into one jewelers that sold really garish rings and stuff, some of them in the multiple $thousands, and he said he sold out every year. Tons of vendors in the French Market sell masks really cheaply, too. It's only food at one end. The rest is a mix of your basic tourist crap and stuff like posters and cds.
Also, I haven't read what happened to you, but please be careful. You are an essential member of the CB-TOTW team. (((hugs)))
christina said...
GG--I've never been in an earthquake before. (You in the corner, get your mind out of the gutter). Do you have to go stand in a doorway or, if it's not that strong, do you just stay where you are and ride it out?
I've only been in one earthquake that was bad enough that I stood in a doorway, and I lived in SF most of my life. We had one here a couple weeks ago that was a 4.7, IIRC. It felt much stronger where I am, in Sonoma, but later learned that the epicentre was less than 10 miles away. It knocked some books out of the bookcases, but that was all. I was living in Baltimore when the last big one hit, so I have no idea what that was like. I think most natives or longtime residents don't even react, aside from waiting for it to end, unless things start to fall, and it's clearly a big one.
Earthquakes in Ohio! Another weird natural phenomenon - when I lived in Baltimore, we had a series of small tornados in the region. One came down the alley next to my building, picked up my garbage can, whirled in the six foot space between my fence and the deck above and deposited it about four blocks away. The cops called me to ask me to come get it (it had the address on it). They said it landed right side up, with it's lid still on it, pretty much right in front of the neighborhood cop shop.
njtas (green)
is that like ninja margaritas?
bon cheri bomb said...
Jenny, Mayer had Zaza arrested!
WHAT?! Sounds like a job for the Mole Rangers. Go underground, infiltrate and liberate.
Your assistance would be greatly appreciated. I am currently languishing in a dank an dismal cell on a barrier island in a river in Ohio. Or something. With directions like that, our intrepid navigators can't fail to find me.
mkzkdxn (green)
Maybe Kyra zoned kinda, doing Xavier's nails.
lWell, I tried to stay away from you (well, I have a full-time job and a family and a book to write)and I just couldn't...
So I will not elaborate on advice to Jen-T to be glad that girls like her son... she'd be much more worried if she found out they don't like him at all, right?
I will not comment on earthquakes and calling Bryan from all over the place (I did not, would be too expensive, and I wasn't sure about the time lag anyway)...
But I'll try to answer SDCB's inquiry about Fasching (or not...)
See, Fasching is the Bavarian term for it and I have never been there and therefore are not sure what they do in Munich. (But if I remember right, there is a cherry at the JCF from Munich... Doris?) As you might have guessed, I live more in the Cologne area, and here it is called Karneval (Carnival - who would have thought?!?)
It starts on November 11th when the "5th season" is officially declared. Then the various carnival clubs habe their sessions in January with funny speeches and special music. The actual Karmeval begins on "Old wives' thursday" when all the women dress up and go crazy and cut of men's ties (guess what that's supposed to symbolize!) In the inner cities along the Rhine you will hardly be able to move in the pubs because everybody and their older brother are coming for a drink (in Cologne and Bonn, where I went to university, they drink 'Kölsch', a light beer, in Düsseldorf, Cologne's archrival town, they have 'Altbier' which is darker and spicier).
The weekend is reserved for the parades. In ´Cologne, they have special 'school and quarter' parades on Sunday, and then on Monday, they have the Big One: 'Rosenmontagszug' with miles of different floats making fun of everything from politics to celebrities. They are designed and paid for by the carnival clubs, they throw tons of sweets to the people along the road, and they estimate that about one million people come to town to watch. (Can you understand why I did not let my 16-year-old exchange girl from South America go there on her own? She was spitting mad at me...)
Then on Tuesday, the partying goes on, while on Ash Wednesday everybody goes to church to get their ash cross to start lent season. And nine months later, the maternity wards run on full speed because during Karneval, anything goes. People in the Rhine area think very liberal.
One more background information: the Karneval in our area dates back to the times of the Napoleonic occupation, and if you look at the uniforms you will see that they refer to these times. I tried to find an English website for you, but no such luck, so you might want to try this link:
http://www.ehrengardekoeln.de/servlet/PB/menu/1681431_l1/index.html
and click on "Rosenmontag 2006", it will give you a slide show with typical pictures.
On the other hand, the carnival in the southwest of Germany has much older roots, connected with the Swiss origin, the costumes are different... but since I never lived there, I don't know so much about it.
Enough for now. Back to work. If you need special info, just yell.
OH wrote: took me a few minutes before i could read it to my mom, laughing so hard.
Geez. Bad enough I feel the need to call my mom every so often to apologize for having been a teenager, now I do believe there is a mom out in LA who I should probably have a chat with as well. Although she married into the craziness that is your dad's family, so maybe it's ok and she doesn't think the CB's are so bad by comparison. Is your dad back from visiting said family, BTW? Any funny stories you're allowed to relate?
bw
Let's see- I did call Bryan last night- all I got was his answering machine- I giggled as I left an odd rambling message- wonder if he's taking notes as he's listening to messages so he knows which of us to pick on later, or if he just went in and wholesale nuked the messages.
Earthquakes- even though it is more common to survive a tordado in Oklahoma I did survive an earthquake- about 15/20 years ago- it hit Perry, OK and was a high 2 or low 3 I think- things moved, water sloshed, nothing much damaged, and the natives got a great story- OH, you're right about tornado survival being second nature. I can look at clouds and decide if I'm jumping in a storm cellar or going to stand on the street watching it- I'm not crazy enough to go chasing it.
xwntrlf- no caffiene, can't do
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And reading zaza's post mentioning lemon meringue pie made me realize that I do have something to contribute to the what-to-do-with-leftover-egg-yokes discussion.
Key lime pie, baby. Oh yea.
Bryan struck me as the kind of guy that could handle, nay would welcome, a dozen calls from some amazing women. Besides he always had the option not to answer. One I think he took often.
BCB: Yep, I was LMAO through G-G’s comments too. When it started with: “Well, this lasted about 2 seconds, so I just kind of looked up …” I had to laugh. My mind was just playfully splashing around in the gutter by end. (BTW: An e-mail from me at a later date is a possibility.)
SC: The cat loving DH to seven pieces does sound dangerous.
Tornados: Been through a few of those. A twofer struck my hometown. Loved the cool green sky before. Messy after, but nobody died.
My favorite drills were the nuclear fall-out ones I had growing up. I lived less than a mile from a nuclear power plant. Could see it from my bedroom window. I figured if that plant went down, I was toast.
mrpyiwfj: My ridiculous platypus yelled, "I WILL follow Jen."
In no particular order and w/o referencing anyone because I lost track:
We ended up eating at ESPN Zone where the restaurant part is in the basement so no cell phone service. But when I asked Bryan if he felt popular he said yes, that his cell phone had rung more that day than it had since he bought it! Had a really nice time. Dee's DH joined us and was quite a good sport about all the 'shop talk' the 3 of us were doing. But it was good he was there because Dee and I start chattering like magpies and Bryan would have deserved a poor baby if there hadn't been another guy at the table.
"oh, its over" - that was just asking for snickers, really it was.
Earthquakes: When I was but a wee nipper my dad was in the air force and we spent 3 years on Taiwan. Felt a few earthquakes and its definitely something your remember. Very disturbing to have the ground try to move out from under your feet. A few years ago there was one in the Atlanta area where my sister lives. This was in the middle of the night and they had no idea what was going on. Thought there must have been an explosion somewhere until the watched the news the next day.
Mardi Gras: A friend grew up in LA, not New Orleans though she's been there. According to her its very noisy and there are better and worse places to watch from. Everyone drinks hurricanes and people yell "throw me some bead, mistah!" I will be happy to forward some questions to her if you like.
Mideast: we do. Its called the Atlantic Ocean. Just ask BCB.
ixmay: pidgin English (PE, as opposed to AE and BE) for "Don't do that!"
or
rpmcu: the speed at which Cherrybombs travel
I did go to Fasching when we lived in Germany, and we were in Schwabia (much closer to Bavaria than CG). I took my kids, who were five and seven at the time, and the other Americans we went to Germany with brought theirs, as well. This was a daytime thing, we left the village around dinnertime, so if things got crazy, we weren't there to see it. What I chiefly remember is the people running around with pig bladders that were blown up like balloons and tied to sticks. They would go along the street on either side of the parade, lightly bopping people on the head with them. It's supposed to be good luck to be so honored. I was kind of freaked out by the thought of pig bladders, so every time I saw them coming, I backed up out of the way....Some of them got smart (or sneaky) and went up behind the people lined up at the streets edge. Guess who didn't get bopped? Guess who had one of them come up from behind her and rub the top of her head with a pig bladder? I was REALLY lucky that day!
IIRC, the pig bladder custom started in the middle ages, and really, what else could have been used as a balloon back then?
I'm going to make my comments over on the new post.
Now, that was kinda silly, huh? To come in here and tell you I was commenting on the new post? I just wanted there to be proof that I read through this one, even though mcb knows I only skimmed through all the cake stuff. I'm sure she won't tell anyone though...
zaza I just read a story by Saskia Walker she's your CP right. I loved it.
We get earthquakes here in the Seattle area too. When our two oldest were 4 & 6, they were upstairs watching TV, and DH and I were downstairs. The house jolted twice like a speed boat going over a wake. Then the shaking started. We ran through the house like idiots (exactly what you are not supposed to do). The kids were under the dining room table wrapped around the legs doing it exactly right. No major damage as it was a short quake, but I have to laugh now at who followed directions and who didn't.
Funny, Dee. Yeah I stayed away from this one. I skimmed through and let my eyes go blurry every time I saw a cake comment. I don't bake anymore. Not since the kids flew the coop.
It's so much better for me to go to the bakery when a craving hits and buy one tiny pastry or piece of cheescake instead of baking and eating the whole darn thing because I was raised not to be wasteful with food. *grin*
Off to other posts with Dee.
rg
As OH (and others) said, a lot of the time in California one doesn't react much to the earthquakes (especially teenagers, who are WAY too cool to take refuge under anything). In my Geometry final, several people in my classroom turned around to tell the person behind them to quit kicking the chair. Then we realized...
Zaza: my lemon meringue pie recipe is egg-balanced, but the lemon curd - mmm! Excellent idea, and it freezes, too.
anbfhh: as night began, finally - happy hour!
kyrae: more than one! cool! Since ours has been away...
OH wrote: (i call all dogs "puppy", even the ones i've known for sixteen years. just an annoying little quirk of mine).
I do the same. And I call all cats kitties. My cats are 12 years old and they are still kitties (or, to the family, the babies).
Theresa in Pgh--Haggis is actually pretty good. I have had it a few times, all while I was in Scotland, and it's not as scary as it sounds. The stuff I have had has always been ground up and it has some spices too, so it's not like you can pinpoint what animal part you are consuming. And it comes with turnips and potatoes--a very homey, comforting meal, actually.
BCB and Lori--Re: earthquakes--you both have filthy, filthy minds. No wonder I like you both so much.
See, proof that I'm seriously single. I didn't even think of any of that when I was writing, literally, about earthquakes. That other type of earthquake not happening so much over in my corner of the universe these days. *sigh*
Or, to quote a friend of a friend, "It's been so long I forgot who holds the dog."
:)
BCB: well, since you mentioned it, she was asking for where some CB's lived...
nah. she's not as bent as me, but she's more twisty than normal. plus, anything that keeps me off the streets...
dad's not back till monday. only talked slightly to him, not very funny stories yet, though all these people are renovating. and i found out my cousin and his ex-wife are back together...again. (they're part of the branch of family that you go "related? to them? ummm, only though small quantities of blood")
CC: my dad actually chased a tornado once. sometimes i wonder how he survived long enough to have me. his friend and him were like "oh, cool, tornado, let's follow it", not realizing they can turn any second and go a different way. like at you.
christina: oh yes, do it to kitties too.
ohqyx: "OH, quick," yelled Xavier.
Robin S said...
zaza I just read a story by Saskia Walker she's your CP right. I loved it.
Yep, that's her. She has a very literary way of telling a story, and she really gets people's emotions clear on the page. A really good storyteller. If you want, you could go to her blog and tell her how much you like it. *smiling ingratiatingly*
ScopeDope, remembered something else about Mardi Gras and getting throws. The women who flash their breasts will always get the best throws. ;+)
emyntx (green)
sounds like a medicine for nausea
cologne girl I am a little confused. You say that Karmeval starts on November 11 then mention Ash Wednesday so I don't know if that is the same as Fasching. We were in Lahr and Baden Sollingen when we celebrated Fasching. People dressed up and yes the gasthaus' were full of fun loving, crazy people. I don't remember a parade but I was there in 1968-1971.
Thanks zaza I am glad bob let you out of jail long enough to comment.
Thanks amc I had forgotten about the pig bladders. When were you in Germany? Were you or your DH in the military? I can't rmemeber correctly but I think Swabia was close to one of our bases. We were also in Zweibrucken.
blue wdrda
What did Robert Doherty arrange?
red qlvshml
Quite likely Vera seems harsh making love.
I'm worried about Phenila, who was going to make that Miracle Whip cake, since MW has eggs in it and she's deathly allergic. Anyone heard from her?
The Tigress sent me a couple of pics of some GORGEOUS cakes she's decorated. Unfortunately they aren't online, and I can't post pics from my files here.
ScopeDope: Have I got a cat for you! Meet "Jean Cougar":
http://www.chausie.net/queens.html
bcb: Whatever happened to the plan to escape from Alcatraz by building a replica of Neptune's chariot and training the rats to pull it while swimming?
ZaZa said... extra egg yolks - make a lemon meringue pie
But don't you need the whites for the meringue?
zctqtw --Zaza, chew through quite thick walls. (We'll meet you outside with the character ark.)
nitgzad -- Now, if Tal gets Zaza a dinghy...
talpianna LOL Jean Cougar is perfect. She is tall enough that I wouldn't pass out. That's great. I'll have two...of course DH and Pennycat wouldn't let them in the house. /,D
blue cfxlpea
Crusie fired Xavier. Lazy person expected accolades.
talpianna said...
ZaZa said... extra egg yolks - make a lemon meringue pie
But don't you need the whites for the meringue?
Oh, I should have mentioned, I don't like meringue, so I never put it on my pies. ;+) The filling is like lemon curd in flavor (and ingredients) but not quite as thick, so I like it just the way it is, sans meringue.
skaxrl (blue)
Some kitties are xenophobic. Really, Louis.
where do you find these pictures tal? (and i mean besides the obvious answer of the internet. i can kind of see you having a document filled with pictures from different sites at your disposal, ready to be whipped out and shared with other CBs).
love them, BTW.
tacoy: cat toy for the coy.
or it's a taco-ish. you know, taco-y.
talpianna said...
I'm worried about Phenila, who was going to make that Miracle Whip cake, since MW has eggs in it and she's deathly allergic. Anyone heard from her?
I thought she was going to make my wacky cake recipe? No eggs at all in that one. But I would like to hear how it turned out and if she liked it.
Strange:
About 18 funnel clouds popped up south of here last night. Three tornados touched down with grapefruit size hail to accompany them.
We just got the wind and rain here.
Interesting welcome to the tornado season.
sflltxlu: Since flying little loons takes eXtreme luring. Understand?
Scope Dope--my husband and I both come from military backgrounds. But we were in Germany for his (civilian) job. All the bases in that area are Army, I think--Patch, Robinson, I don't remember the others. There used to be more, but I think some were shut after the the military drawdown.
lori: that sounds really pretty.
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