As long as it was dark out, I could convince the kids to sleep in just a tad. Now they're up and running at 4:30 and start bugging me for dinner at 3:00 with an array of barks, which shortly turns into howls, prompting Jonathan to put his two cents in. It's a zoo, I tell you!!!
In an effort to just get out of the house for awhile, I toured every inch of Home Depot in Turlock, looking for the gutter clips I needed to stabilize one thirty foot run. I saw six guys when I entered the building, but they all disappeared in a flash. I finally found ONE clip like my old ones, and hundreds of this new variety. The problem was quickly evident ... there's no slot for a screwdriver on the end of the screw. That means I need one of those weird screwdrivers, which I don't possess.
On this one, the screw is so long it will probably come through the wall into the house! It will take an hour trying to tighten it down with my little crescent wrench. I really only needed the one clip, so I'll keep this as a spare, giving me time to buy the special little driver.
In the meantime, I discovered something interesting on Facebook yesterday. Then I saw an ad on television for the same thing. It's called Canary. It's supposed to be used for your house, but someone was using it in their motorhome. The best part is you connect to it via your cell phone. It not only gives you images, but the temperature inside. That's a GREAT thing for dog owners. I'm not sure about the WiFi connections, but I'm going to check it out. It would sure make me feel better about leaving the dogs for more than four hours.
Having spent the rest of the morning sewing on the latest never-ending quilt, I decided to take a break and see if I could make this new cupcake recipe. I haven't made anything from scratch in years, since opening a box is SO much easier. I actually even sifted the flour ... that's a big step for me!!
Here's a tip for any cake you make. Once the batter is mixed up, let it sit on the counter and rest for 15 minutes before putting it in a pan. Of course when the cupcakes came out of the oven, I had to taste the worst looking one. WOW!! These are amazing ... just as good as all that raw batter I ate because it tasted SO good!!
While those cooled, I whipped up a batch of caramelized pineapple ... just like the ooey gooey stuff on the bottom of an upside down cake. YUM!! I taste tested that too ... about a quarter cups worth!!
This is not a fast process ... a couple hours later, I punched holes and filled them with the pineapple. Yeah, I ate a few of the holes because they were so delicious, but by now I'm feeling pretty full.
The crowning glory ... caramel swiss meringue buttercream frosting. This was a first. A real rootin'-tootin' commercial bakery frosting that's to die for!! Melt sugar in egg whites over a double boiler, then beat in your mixer for ten minutes. Add soft butter and beat some more ... all of which took probably an hour. Lastly, I whipped in some dulce de leche caramel.
Taste is muy importante!! I probably taste tested this twenty times and it was amazing EVERY time. By now however, my stomach isn't too happy with me at all. The frosting hit the raw cake batter with a BANG! I began to feel a little queazy.
I forced myself NOT to eat one until after dinner. In between the five hours of cupcake production, I had thrown together another stew. You can't make stew without taste testing it also, so a couple bites of that landed on top of the frosting. It was excellent ... making my record twice in a row.
While I watched television for the next hour, that stew was nagging at me .... having made it, I really should EAT a bowl. Okay, okay ... even though I was pretty full, I scarfed down a small bowl, knowing I still had a cupcake to taste test.
Another thirty minutes and I couldn't stand it. I just HAD to try out my latest concoction. What a mistake THAT was. Don't get me wrong, it was over the moon delicious!! That's also what my stomach looked like .. a big round fat full moon!! I was stuffed to the gills and miserable!!! The stew and caramel frosting didn't go well together at all. I was up all night with my stomach shaking it's finger at me saying "you know better"!!! I'm skipping breakfast. I'm even skipping my morning coffee. Ugh .......
Hopefully I'll start to feel better sometime today so I can get that gutter clip installed.
No comments:
Post a Comment