This just cracks me up. Uber-nerd is bringing Sexy Back. He plays a keytar and a stylophone. I think that says it all. :)
Check out his versions of Beat It and I Kissed a Girl.
April 17, 2010
April 16, 2010
Adventures in Cooking-Crepes
My heart stopped beating for a second as my mind caught up. For a couple of months I had been searching in vain for an affordable crepe pan. Then, out of the blue, I saw it. Not just any crepe pan either. It was electric and about half the price of a standard crepe pan. And that's not all. It was clearance priced!
My inauguration of the most awesomest crepe pan ever occurred at the house of a family friend. Because I am without my Mastering the Art of French Cooking I settled for the generic recipe in the instruction manual. It was quite simple. The crepe pan works like a waffle iron. Coat the pan with the batter. When the little light turns off, the crepe is ready to be removed. The crepes came out perfect ever single time. Fill with sugared strawberries, top with whipped cream, and call it dessert.
While they were absolutely delicious, I will try the Julia Child dessert crepe recipe just as soon as I get custody of my cookbook. Then I will try the dinner crepe recipe with chicken salad. Oh, I can't wait!
My inauguration of the most awesomest crepe pan ever occurred at the house of a family friend. Because I am without my Mastering the Art of French Cooking I settled for the generic recipe in the instruction manual. It was quite simple. The crepe pan works like a waffle iron. Coat the pan with the batter. When the little light turns off, the crepe is ready to be removed. The crepes came out perfect ever single time. Fill with sugared strawberries, top with whipped cream, and call it dessert.
While they were absolutely delicious, I will try the Julia Child dessert crepe recipe just as soon as I get custody of my cookbook. Then I will try the dinner crepe recipe with chicken salad. Oh, I can't wait!
April 15, 2010
The Book Group
She walked into the book group late, as usual, and unsure of herself, also as usual. After complaining for two months about her boredom, and crying herself to sleep each night from her lack of basic human contact other than her long suffering and supportive mother, she had decided it was time. Time to fill her time with something other than her own fluctuating thoughts about her worthiness and likability. Time to actively seek friends instead of waiting for them to show up at her doorstep and invite her to be a part of their lives. It took her two months to step out on her own two feet and timidly, mousily announce, "I am single and I am here."
She had not finished reading the book. In fact, she had only just begun. She hadn't even gotten 100 pages in; hardly far enough to form an opinion. She decided that she would contribute as little as possible to the discussion. This first meeting was more to find out who the other members were and how the meetings ran. This was a test drive.
The first thing she noticed was that she was the youngest one there by at least 10 years and in some cases 40 years. There were 10 members not counting herself. They obviously were a group that knew each other because they all chatted easily, interrupting and agreeing or disagreeing like family. There was the lady who thought the 11 year old character had too mature a voice; the woman who was disappointed in the actual book as compared to the potential it had; the gal who thought the author killed off the most interesting male too soon and the one who thought he should have been killed off much sooner. There were the two old ladies from the nursing home who kept comparing it to other books and movies; and there was the token man of the group who thought that, though it was chick lit and not a book he cared for, that it did have a story to tell and might make a good chick flick starring Dakota Fanning.
But our protagonist sat silently nodding her head or smiling when appropriate to do so. As the meeting closed, the gentleman next to her told her about some of the other book groups that he was involved in. One of the women asked her if she had read A Reliable Wife. "Yes, I loved it!" She found out that there was a writer in the group who was this close to being published. As she had dappled in writing herself she paid close attention. Okay, so this group did little to offer peer groups for her to hang out with but it would certainly work for human connection and intellectual stimulation.
She left feeling a little less lonely.
She had not finished reading the book. In fact, she had only just begun. She hadn't even gotten 100 pages in; hardly far enough to form an opinion. She decided that she would contribute as little as possible to the discussion. This first meeting was more to find out who the other members were and how the meetings ran. This was a test drive.
The first thing she noticed was that she was the youngest one there by at least 10 years and in some cases 40 years. There were 10 members not counting herself. They obviously were a group that knew each other because they all chatted easily, interrupting and agreeing or disagreeing like family. There was the lady who thought the 11 year old character had too mature a voice; the woman who was disappointed in the actual book as compared to the potential it had; the gal who thought the author killed off the most interesting male too soon and the one who thought he should have been killed off much sooner. There were the two old ladies from the nursing home who kept comparing it to other books and movies; and there was the token man of the group who thought that, though it was chick lit and not a book he cared for, that it did have a story to tell and might make a good chick flick starring Dakota Fanning.
But our protagonist sat silently nodding her head or smiling when appropriate to do so. As the meeting closed, the gentleman next to her told her about some of the other book groups that he was involved in. One of the women asked her if she had read A Reliable Wife. "Yes, I loved it!" She found out that there was a writer in the group who was this close to being published. As she had dappled in writing herself she paid close attention. Okay, so this group did little to offer peer groups for her to hang out with but it would certainly work for human connection and intellectual stimulation.
She left feeling a little less lonely.
April 09, 2010
Adventures in Cooking-Champagne Cupcakes
Did I see that correctly? Champagne cupcakes?! Oh, I am all over that.
Yes, I am one of those suckers who buys those little cook booklets at the grocery store based solely on the cover. I inherited it from Mom. In this case, I saw the champagne cupcakes on the cover and drooled for a minute before Mom threw a copy in the shopping cart. All right!
You will not even believe how easy this recipe is. Get a white cake mix and follow the directions on the back but use champagne instead of water. Could that be any easier? No, it couldn't.
I happen to have a few of those individual bottles of champagne hanging around. Between the cake and the frosting I used 2 bottles with just enough left over champagne for a refreshing swig. Perhaps one shouldn't swig champagne but then no one ever accused me of being refined.
The recipe for the frosting fell short for me though. Frosting should be fluffy and easily spreadable. Mine was not. Even when I added more champagne it wasn't very smooth. If you try this at home, make the frosting with 1/4 champagne and dribble in some milk until it is the consistency you like.
I topped my cuppy-cakes with pink cake sparkles(which you can't see well in the photo) and dressed them in bright pink and white polka dot papers, both of which I picked up at my favorite kitchen store, Sur la Table, better known around our house as the sewer store. Someday readers, if you're really well behaved, I'll tell you the story of how we came to call it that.
Yes, I am one of those suckers who buys those little cook booklets at the grocery store based solely on the cover. I inherited it from Mom. In this case, I saw the champagne cupcakes on the cover and drooled for a minute before Mom threw a copy in the shopping cart. All right!
You will not even believe how easy this recipe is. Get a white cake mix and follow the directions on the back but use champagne instead of water. Could that be any easier? No, it couldn't.
I happen to have a few of those individual bottles of champagne hanging around. Between the cake and the frosting I used 2 bottles with just enough left over champagne for a refreshing swig. Perhaps one shouldn't swig champagne but then no one ever accused me of being refined.The recipe for the frosting fell short for me though. Frosting should be fluffy and easily spreadable. Mine was not. Even when I added more champagne it wasn't very smooth. If you try this at home, make the frosting with 1/4 champagne and dribble in some milk until it is the consistency you like.
I topped my cuppy-cakes with pink cake sparkles(which you can't see well in the photo) and dressed them in bright pink and white polka dot papers, both of which I picked up at my favorite kitchen store, Sur la Table, better known around our house as the sewer store. Someday readers, if you're really well behaved, I'll tell you the story of how we came to call it that.
April 07, 2010
Pretty Poetry
Keep the FaithPlease hang on
to whatever it is that helps you be
who you are and how you are
and still lets you see
who I am and where I am.
Whether or not it's
that old time religion,
it's plenty good enough for me.
~Ed Cunningham
Starting Over
I am starting a new life; one in which I get to decide for myself how happy I will be. Two months ago I disappeared from my world. It was a world that I helped to build up, but it was a world that never helped to build me up. I have been lost for much too long. But now it is time to see what Petunia really looks like.
Hello world! I'm not scared of you anymore. In fact, I embrace you. I will fill my life with you. I will sift through you and throw out what doesn't suit me. I will paint the inner chambers of my heart with all that is beautiful in you. I hope you're paying attention world because I have returned with a vengeance. I may not look intimidating but I am resilient. Bring it on!
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