Dirty Paws

Someone has taken to doing his business outside, coming in with very dirty paws.

Yes, I washed the placemat afterwards.

Paula Deen's Spice Cake with Caramelized Pears and Maple Frosting

This recipe is from Paula Deen's Holiday Baking which was an $8.99 impulse buy at the checkstand, but worth every penny. Full of decadent deliciousness and no ads. It was a tossup between this spice cake and Gingerbread Cake with Creme Brulee Filling and Scotch Whiskey Buttercream...who has the next birthday??? For Thanksgiving, I may go hog wild and make the Pumpkin Cake with Cranberry Mousse filling.

SPICE CAKE
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large eggs, separated
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 3 9-inch cake pans with nonstick baking spray with flour. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinammon, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, salt and cloves. Add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating until just combined after each addition. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into batter. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread Maple Frosting over one cake layer. Top with half of Caramelized Pears. (I didn't follow that part, just smashed up 3 pears with a little applesauce.) Top with second cake layer, and repeat procedure. Frost top and sides. (At room temperature the frosting is a little soft for piping. It firms up quickly in the fridge.) Garnish with chopped walnuts, if desired. (I used shaved chocolate instead because Frank doesn't like nuts.)

MAPLE FROSTING
1 cup butter, softened
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
5 cups confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese and maple syrup at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until smooth.

CARAMELIZED PEARS
1/2 cup butter
6 pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sugar

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add pears and sugar; cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring frequently, until pears are very tender.




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Twenty-One

Something about having a child turn 21 makes me feel really old!

But we had a party for him anyways.

Sweet Frank, he still thinks I'm SuperMom. "Did you cut all those flags yourself?" Ha!

I'm not sure I like the word Geek.

geek

  [geek] Show IPA

noun Slang .

1.

a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used byoutsiders.)

2.

a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, especially one whois perceived to be overly intellectual.

3.

a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid ordisgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken.

I assure you, Frank has never bit the head off a live chicken.

Looking at Ernest makes me feel pretty old, too. We may have lost one designated driver, but we'll have another one pretty soon.

Had to have champagne for the 21st birthday. Time to get out my grandma's glasses.

I made what I call a "pretty cake" this year, as opposed to the novelty cakes of prior years. Mr. Thomas was eager to take a bite.


Ernest took this picture for me. I would have needed a footstool to get the camera up that high. He didn't. Sigh.


This was one fantastic cake.


I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

My Spidey Senses are Tingling

We've had a glorious spider web in the front yard for a few days.



I cheated on that picture -- I sprayed the web with water first.

If you're at all squeamish about spiders you might not want to look at the next two pictures.



Can you take it? Here's another.



I warned you!

Ribs

Frank was kindly finishing some leftover ribs (leftovers, the bane of my existence) and Homer decided to help.

Yes, Frank gave him a bite.

When Homer was done, he daintily licked the sauce off his paw.

Signs of Fall 2011

We're starting to see the usual signs of fall around here.

Handy's laid in a good supply of firewood and is itching to use the fireplace or woodstove. He wanted a fire Saturday morning and I begged him not to since it was going to be hot in the afternoon.



Frank and I love blueberry bagels for breakfast. Late on Sunday afternoon, the pickings were pretty slim at the store. I picked up these seasonal pumpkin bagels, and they are actually quite delicious.



Since I'm not working right now, I've set a few minor goals for myself. This is totally unusual for me! One of them is to complete some of my many unfinished projects. This needlepoint was shoved away on a shelf for a couple years. I was annoyed to find that it had gotten a little motheaten. I've repaired most of the damage now, and am stitching away. Of course, finishing the canvas is one thing. Then it still needs to be turned into a pillow.



We don't get a lot of fall color here. We go from green to yellow to brown. So I was quite pleased to find this gorgeous leaf in the yard this morning which runs the usual gamut and adds some surprising red in it.


My apples are slowly ripening.

Francine feels good cat camoflage is appropriate for any season.

What says fall in your world?

Home Alone

Yesterday was my first day home alone...no husband, no kids, no job, no worries. Well, maybe not the last part. I always worry about something. My mother always said I had worry lines on my forehead as a baby.

I did get some things done...some cleaning, some cooking, some exercise, some reading.

We were expecting a 100° day yesterday. Ernest said it hit 101° just as cross country practice started. So I wanted to get my cooking out of the way before it got too hot. I baked enough chicken for 3 meals...roast chicken last night, green chicken enchiladas tonight, and maybe chicken chow mein in a day or 2. I've got to give them a break from chicken tomorrow night!

Cluck cluck cluck.

Homer feels he hasn't had enough press lately so he decided to crowd into my chicken picture. He also feels it is misleading to say I am home alone when he is such good company. Homer had a very successful day yesterday when he managed to con Handy into a second dinner at 6:00 while I was out of the house. "Meow meow, what? No I haven't been fed yet. Meow meow. I've been starving all day. Meow meow. " That lying cat. I fed them both at 4:30. And his accomplice, Francine, just went along with it.

To be Fair

To be fair, I really haven't been able to look at Frank's phone to note the subtle differences.

What he has TOLD me is: his screen is bigger, the phone is lighter, he can easily expand his memory with a mini sd card, and he can play old Gameboy games on it. So there, Mom.

We're still a house divided.

Battle Lines Being Drawn

From my last post, with comments.

• Me: ...Frank's phone died...
• Cheri: I think your sons both need iPhones. Obv.
• Me: Ernest and I have iPhones... Frank is going to the dark side and getting a droid phone.
• Cheri: NOOOOOOOO!

My husband, still using an ancient phone (the man won't even text), is now thinking he might want a smart phone (for e-mail and maps) so we are showing off their abilities. Showing off? No, this means war!

iPhone vs. android.

Battle #1: MAPS. Objective: Show a satellite view of our street and find the restaurants nearby. The iPhone blew away the Samsung droid in the Battle of the Maps.

Obv.

Quickies

I got back on Sunday from a trip with my husband. He had to go to Texas on business and I decided to tag along. He thought I was crazy, but we stayed in Galveston and had a nice time. I've got tons of pictures to organize.

Homer's been on a diet, sort of, and has lost a pound. The diet kibble does things to his system...on the plus side his poop doesn't stink so much. On the minus side it's messier.

Frank's phone died just around the time we were talking about getting him a new one. How convenient for him. Or was it planned?

Ernest's classes start Monday, but he has some meetings over the next few days. He is making the vacation last as long as possible. I didn't see him until noon yesterday.

Why do all the cars need things at the same time? Tires, oil changes, you name it. Why couldn't they spread it out a little bit?

I am not a gardener, but I do have a few home-grown tomatoes for dinner tonight.

It's time for a House Season 7 Marathon! Three discs from Netflix arriving!

That's it for me.

What's new in your world?

Cousins, (Somewhat Sorta Semi) Identical Cousins

I just do not see enough of this boy! He is always delightful. (As is his brother, but that's another blog post.)

And he reminds me of someone else near and dear to me.

There's something about the eyes. Or the brains. They're both quite extraordinary. (Eyes, Brains, and just the Boys in general.)

(Pizza courtesy of FRANK!!!)

I know I have complete agreement from all the parents, grands, and greats involved.

Here's to cousins!

Fine Feathers

I can't even count the number of times I've been to the zoo since Ernest has been working/volunteering there.

But I always like to take my camera because, more often than not, I catch something new.

Look at this fine-feathered fellow!

And his iridescent friend.

I don't really have any fine feathers for myself this summer, although I did find some pretty sleeveless tops which are coming in handy right now.

No fine feathers for my sons, either. At their advanced ages (ha!) they don't outgrow clothes like they used to. Frank is always happy if I pick up something at Costco for him. Ernest needs a longer inseam which is hard to find, so I usually order on-line if he wears something out. He needed new running shoes for cross country and I also forced him into a new pair of Converse after ignoring his complaint: "The old ones aren't worn out yet! I don't want to break in a new pair." Well, the old ones have holes and look pretty grody.

Anyway, good luck with your back to school shopping and find something nice for yourself too! You deserve it.

Housekeeping

A while ago I inadvertently deleted my links list. I repopulated it with the people who had commented here recently.

If you're not on there and you'd like to be, please leave a comment.

Notice Anything Different?

How funny. This post was in my drafts for a while and then Mrs. G was talking about something and I wrote this in my comment, which was pretty close to what I'd drafted a few weeks ago.

I've been toying over some changes to my blog too...in a similar vein with children close to 21 and 15.5, I'm not really a mommy blogger. My cats took over for a while, but I can't write about all cats all the time. So what is my blog about? Little bits of my life that I want to share. I don't write for other people, it's for myself and I am delighted if anyone wants to stop by for a visit.

Maybe I'll become Smalltown Me.

So there I go...the URL and e-mail are still the same, but that's Me all Me up there in the title. Me me me. I-I-me-me-mine. Although the cats and kids are going to sneak in frequently, because they're sneaky like that. And they're mine.

Cool Summer Supper

I don't know if I can ever top the Ill-Tempered Mutated Sea Bass, but I made this a few days earlier and it was another winner!

Emeril's Shrimp and Corn Salad

Although I can never quite manage to follow a recipe exactly...my bag of shrimp was a little bigger and I had 4 ears of corn. Also, I wasn't going to go out to buy "crab boil" or Old Bay Seasoning which another version offered as an alternate. I just tossed in some seasoned salt (it was another Emeril recipe so at least I stayed in the family).

The dressing had a nice bite to it.

What's your favorite cool summer meal? I need ideas!!

It's What's For Dinner

Mutated Sea Bass with a Frickin' Laser Beam

Dr. Evil: You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads! Now evidently my cycloptic colleague informs me that that that can't be done. Ah, can you remind me what I pay you people for? Honestly, throw me a bone here! What do we have?
Number Two: Sea bass.
Dr. Evil: Riiiight.
Number Two: They are mutated sea bass.
Dr. Evil: Really? Are they ill tempered?
Number Two: Absolutely.
Dr. Evil: That's a start.

My start is the mutated sea bass and the laser beam. I think I'll include some fruit salsa, sauteed spinach and rice.

What's for dinner at your place?

Mileage

My car hit an interesting mileage the other day...

Me? My personal mileage is a lot higher.

Over the past few years, I used to start each summer out with high expectations of what I would accomplish. And at the end of the summer nothing would be done. Except for putting a lot of mileage on the car while Driving Mr. Ernest back and forth to the zoo.

This year I did not make any plans to accomplish anything. Or to rephrase it, I planned to accomplish nothing. Hence, no disappointments. I have seen many movies, read stacks of books, and eaten delicious lunches. That is a good life and I am grateful.

But while my summer of lowered expectations was successful, I can't keep that up forever.

Ernest goes back to school on Labor Day*** and things must change. I must make some plans and have a schedule.

***Yes, ON Labor Day. You heard me correctly. His "Hogwarts," being primarily a boarding school, does not observe the Monday holidays. Ernest is just happy that his school does not start till September. He is "old school" like me and does not like the August starting dates! If I had not been laid off (and chosen to stay that way) I would be going back to work on Monday. This Monday! My sympathies to everyone who has to show up there on Monday.

One of the many reasons I decided to stay laid off was to take advantage of the opportunity to tag along on my husband's business trips. We had such a fantastic time in Ireland. So when he mentioned he had a trip coming up, I started making plans. Nowhere as exotic as Dublin, but still...

Plans and mileage...

What's going on in your world?

Thanksgiving in August

Well, just the turkey part. Handy was craving turkey so we did a modified shebang earlier in the week...turkey, stuffing, gravy, plus some leftovers to round out the meal. I put a hunk of turkey in the freezer, but we still had a lot in the fridge ...

The solution was Handy's brilliant idea: TURKEY ENCHILADAS.

Enchiladas de pavo son muy deliciosos.

Of course I have no real recipe.

It's just a "throw it together" kind of thing.

Chop up the turkey. Add some sliced black olives and diced green chiles.

Crumble up some queso fresco.

Lightly fry the tortillas...about 5 seconds per side.

(I used to cheat and not do this step but it makes a huge difference.)

Open up a can of green enchilada sauce and let your handy husband assemble them.

Bake at 350 for a half hour or so.

Muy bueno.

Ernest's going back for seconds. He has to carb load...he estimates he burned 1000 calories on the bike today. The giant burger, fries and chocolate shake afterwards probably replenished most of it.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

The Only Thing Cuter...

I don't think there's anything cuter than one swimming capybara

Unless it's two

or three

or even four!

Spread the capy love.

Video of Garibaldi Rous.

Please visit Gari at www.gianthamster.com

2, 3 and 4 capys from the Santa Barbara Zoo, photos by me.

Looking Up: Courthouse

A long time while ago, I did some posts on looking up...but then I forgot about the subject until the other day.

While touristing walking around the Santa Barbara courthouse last week, I remembered to look up. I saw...

a giant Fiesta flag.

a balcony to nowhere. Why is it there? Another visitor thought an opera singer should just appear up there and burst out into song.

many staircases. I love staircases. Just not climbing them.

So I was very happy that the elevator to the clock tower was working. The last time I was there, on a field trip with Ernest, we had to use the stairs.

There, I had to look out.

And down.

What a gorgeous day.