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Red Velvet Cake, Pantaloons, and Valentine’s Day

Earlier this month I got the bright idea to get some fabric to lay down on my kitchen counterswhile photographing food.
It sounded good in theory.
Our granite counters are pretty busyand one can only photograph a mise en place on a cutting board so many times.
The advantage of a cutting board is that you can easily [...]

Christmasing and A Reminder

I should haul the good stuff out more often
but the china is stored in a closet
with a million other things that I would have to dig through in order to retrieve it
and it is such a treat to only use it for special occasions.

Christmas Dinner is one of the special occasions.

The dinner took most of the day to make
mostly due to the number of side dishes and new recipes.

No, I didn’t make enough courses to use up all the plates I set on the table
but it was pretty that way
SO I CAN SET THE TABLE HOWEVER I WANT.

Lessons are Messy

Last Sunday I was baking the cake for Monday
with a speed not normally seen in my house.

I usually bake the cake on Sunday
then make the frosting and decorate on Monday night.

(I’ve also been known to procratinate
and do everything on Monday.)

That places me at Lil’ Ol’ Bar at around 8:45 – 9:00p
despite my best intentions of getting there at 8:30p.

Oh
there’s always a missing coupler
fallen cake layer
or not enough frosting
and before you know it
I’m running behind.

(We all know the procrastination part
would never play a role in getting to the bar late.)

Since it’s a school night for most people in Houston
bringing a cake to a bar at 9:00p keeps the party small.

Not wanting people to feel left out all the time
I was determined to let the Tuesday early birds eat some cake
instead of worms.

Things I Did This Year and Didn't Write About

All day long I go around writing in my head.
I construct grand entries witty one linersthings that happened I want to rememberor I take a million photos of something to document later.
Then the kitchen needs cleaningthe dogs keep bringing me their toys to play fetchhair needs washingand I fall asleep, exhausted and feeling behind,again.
At least, [...]

Real Nuggets of Genius

I had grand plans for this weekend.
I was going to finish the Taco Truck Crawl entry I have in draft stagesupload photos from the Bivalve throwdownhelp out at a weddingattend a partyand probably bring about world peace.
InsteadI was up in Austin for the weekendplaying a key role in Project: Distraction.
One of my younger sisters is [...]

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October Smells Like Cake

Cakes have been a major component of my life for the past few weeks.
I found myself with some time on my hands this monthand it coincided nicely with receiving Rose Levy Beranbaum’s new bookRose’s Heavenly Cakes.
Although I’m not a big cake eater(I’ll take pie over cake and ice cream over them both)I love to bake [...]

Eatin' Some Food in Bahstan – Fancy Pants Edition

Last weekend Husband had a conference in Bostonand I went with.
I grew up in Massachusettsand figured it would be fun to rent a car and drive past my old housesespecially since the foliage was supposed to be pretty in those parts of the state.
I’m a sucker for red, yellow, and orange leavesand those just don’t [...]

My Pita Poofed!

I’ve been sick for the past week.
That means not much cooking went on in my houseeven though I tried to guilt trip Husband into cooking for me.
Instead, he picked up Lipton noodle soup at the beginning of the week and got Chinese takeout at the end of the week.
Hot Pockets also made an appearance in [...]

CSA Woes

For the past couple of months we’ve been having issues with our vegetable CSA.
We’ve received very few of our weekly deliveries latelyand the owner of the CSA (a co-op) has cited family emergencies, weather, and just plain exhaustion.
I get it.I’m not standing thereexpecting a delivery like clockwork every week from a group of farmers.
I understand [...]