I'm trying out a new blogging app. Is this thing on?
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
To Everything, There Is A Season,
and the season is winding down on Cookies for a Cure. This was conceived as a fundraising blog, a motivation and tracking tool for me, and it has been a blast. But as I retire (again) from fundraising, it feels like Cookies for a Cure has run its course.
However! I discovered something surprising over the last few months. I found that I like blogs, I like a lot of bloggers, and I like blogging. So, as Cookies for a Cure winds down, Lemonade & Kidneys will take its place. All I know about the new blog at this point is that it will be more personal and less single-minded than CFAC. I hope it will be at times funny, at times touching. I will continue to chronicle my baking adventures and will try to take better picures of my results. But really, anything could happen in this new playground! I hope you'll come and visit me over there.
And to put a final coda on the fundraising, here's how it breaks down:
Cookie Sales (July & August): $794
First Yard Sale (July): $692
Second Yard Sale (September): $250
Cabaret (September): $2,180
Direct Donations (July-September): $4,837
Total Raised: $8,753
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who encouraged, cheered, consoled, and donated along the way.
However! I discovered something surprising over the last few months. I found that I like blogs, I like a lot of bloggers, and I like blogging. So, as Cookies for a Cure winds down, Lemonade & Kidneys will take its place. All I know about the new blog at this point is that it will be more personal and less single-minded than CFAC. I hope it will be at times funny, at times touching. I will continue to chronicle my baking adventures and will try to take better picures of my results. But really, anything could happen in this new playground! I hope you'll come and visit me over there.
And to put a final coda on the fundraising, here's how it breaks down:
Cookie Sales (July & August): $794
First Yard Sale (July): $692
Second Yard Sale (September): $250
Cabaret (September): $2,180
Direct Donations (July-September): $4,837
Total Raised: $8,753
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who encouraged, cheered, consoled, and donated along the way.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
...Come Hear the Music Play; or, Wherein Garrick Learns the Value of a Good Running Gag
By rights the mayhem of actually getting ready for the Cabaret should have put me into a coma, but adrenaline's a funny thing. We had about one hour at home to shove food into the kids, shower, and dress before returning to the Players Club, and we made it with time to spare.
(This is where I brag about how smart I was to have dragged Michael over the bridge from New Jersey very early in our marriage. At that time we were at the Club 3-4 nights per week on average and spending a fortune on then-cheap gas and tolls. It's much nicer to be just 5 blocks away, lemme tell you.)
The Cabaret was structured in two acts with three main performers and several guests, including the pianist, Paul, joining in with some songs. Teddie and Donna could not be more different as performers -- Teddie tends toward the lyrical and heartfelt, and Donna is more comedic and raunchy. Friends of many years, they are great foils for each other on stage. Michael tends toward the vaudevillian with a penchant for the unexpected, and the whole evening sort of rollicks along like a bumpity freight train.
Teddie started out with a few lovely, lyrical songs ("You Ought To Be Here With Me" and "Gainesville") and then Michael swung in to "The Saga of Jenny" with audience participation on the chorus. (By the third song in, most of the audience have downed at least one glass of wine and are starting to feel loose.) That set the stage for two bawdy, comedic numbers from Donna -- "A Trip to the Library" and "The Alto's Lament." By now, the audience is completely won over and feeling no pain. Michael and Donna followed with a duet -- "As Long as You're Happy". The mood softens as our wonderful friend Paul takes over with "Grateful" and "When Sunny Gets Blue."
And then comes my favorite part. Two years ago at his last cabaret, Michael put in a number that Quin and Garrick could participate in, complete with a bit of "business" beforehand. A repeat performance was clearly in order. This time, Michael wrote a bit for the kids where they rushed the stage, demanding to be allowed to perform. Michael "grudgingly" acquiesced, and the kids launched into warm-up exercises including Garrick's recitation of Richard III's big speech ("Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer......."). The audience was howling by the fourth word, and Michael quickly reigned the kids in to perform the song he'd lined up for the three of them -- the Captain's Song from HMS Pinafore, with customized lyrics:
M: I am the father of the family
Kids: And a very good father too!
M: You're very very good,
and be it understood,
I am proud of both of you.
Kids: We're very very good,
and be it understood,
Quin: he is proud of me --
Garr: me, too!
And so forth -- you get the idea. It was just as heart-tugging-ly, disgustingly adorable as it sounds. They continued for two verses and two choruses, by the end of which the audience were collectively headed into sucrose overload. Thank god for Michael's sister, who went on next with a very dry and sardonic stand-up routine -- the perfect chaser to all of cuteness that had preceded it. Act One came to a rapid conclusion with Michael singing "Jackie" and Donna and Teddie teaming up to sing "For Good" from Wicked.
Intermission was a confusion of raffle tickets, hugs, quick hellos to friends and family, and no potty break. Bad planning on my part! As intermission was winding down, I saw Michael whispering to Garrick off stage left. As the house lights began to dim, Garrick bounded back up on stage and sallied once again into "Now is the winter of our discontent........." Michael leapt up after him and chased him off the stage while the audience howled.
Michael, Teddie and Donna gave a bouncy, upbeat rendering of "It's Been a Long Day", after which it was time for the raffle drawings. Much hilarity as somewhat-inebriated audience members tried to read the numbers off their tickets. Then, while Michael and I distributed baskets and had our backs to the stage, Garrick, without ANY prompting at all, jumped back up on stage for another try: "NOW is the winter of our discontent..." Michael had a very hard time keeping a straight face while chasing him down, and the audience positively fell about. Garrick has therefore ALL BY HIMSELF learned the first rule of the Running Gag: it is much funnier in sets of three than in sets of two.
The next few songs brought the mood to a somewhat more serious place -- if you consider a love song sung by John Hinckley and Squeeky Fromme serious. Liz and Chris, guest performers on loan from the Mainstage production of Steven Sondheim's Assassins, sent chills down my (and everyone else's) spine singing "Unworthy of Your Love." Then Chris sang a piece composed by an upcoming young lyricist/composer duo who spent much of their youth at the Players Club. Brian Lowdermilk and Kait Kerrigan are phenomenally talented, and you can hear the song Chris sang here. (Go ahead, I'll wait -- it's worth it!) Last year Kait and Brian had a successful off-Broadway production based on the Henry & Mudge children's books -- they are a pair to watch, for sure.
That was followed by: a novelty number wherein our very game pianist Paul "acted" a scene against an old recording of Don Ameche (don't ask), Donna's lovely renditions of "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "Charmin's Lament," Michael's always tear-jerking version of "Unusual Way," and Teddie's graceful interpretation of a favorite of ours -- "I Can't Be New" by singer/songwriter extraordinaire Susan Werner. If you like standards a la Cole Porter, do yourself an enormous favor and go here to listen to some excerpts from the album I Can't Be New and then order yourself a copy. (If you like other kinds of music, check out some of her other albums -- she's a true musical chameleon.)
Heading into the final stretch, Teddie joined Paul on the piano bench for a rousing rendition of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," which was followed by a boisterous performance of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" by Michael and Paul. Michael spent some moments on the necessary thank-yous, and then invited all of the performers back on stage for an audience-participation round of "You've Got A Friend in Me" from Monsters, Inc. for the grand finale.
There you have it. The cabaret brought in $2180 and a wonderful time was had by all. Now, how do I talk Michael into making it an annual event?.........
(This is where I brag about how smart I was to have dragged Michael over the bridge from New Jersey very early in our marriage. At that time we were at the Club 3-4 nights per week on average and spending a fortune on then-cheap gas and tolls. It's much nicer to be just 5 blocks away, lemme tell you.)
The Cabaret was structured in two acts with three main performers and several guests, including the pianist, Paul, joining in with some songs. Teddie and Donna could not be more different as performers -- Teddie tends toward the lyrical and heartfelt, and Donna is more comedic and raunchy. Friends of many years, they are great foils for each other on stage. Michael tends toward the vaudevillian with a penchant for the unexpected, and the whole evening sort of rollicks along like a bumpity freight train.
Teddie started out with a few lovely, lyrical songs ("You Ought To Be Here With Me" and "Gainesville") and then Michael swung in to "The Saga of Jenny" with audience participation on the chorus. (By the third song in, most of the audience have downed at least one glass of wine and are starting to feel loose.) That set the stage for two bawdy, comedic numbers from Donna -- "A Trip to the Library" and "The Alto's Lament." By now, the audience is completely won over and feeling no pain. Michael and Donna followed with a duet -- "As Long as You're Happy". The mood softens as our wonderful friend Paul takes over with "Grateful" and "When Sunny Gets Blue."
And then comes my favorite part. Two years ago at his last cabaret, Michael put in a number that Quin and Garrick could participate in, complete with a bit of "business" beforehand. A repeat performance was clearly in order. This time, Michael wrote a bit for the kids where they rushed the stage, demanding to be allowed to perform. Michael "grudgingly" acquiesced, and the kids launched into warm-up exercises including Garrick's recitation of Richard III's big speech ("Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer......."). The audience was howling by the fourth word, and Michael quickly reigned the kids in to perform the song he'd lined up for the three of them -- the Captain's Song from HMS Pinafore, with customized lyrics:
M: I am the father of the family
Kids: And a very good father too!
M: You're very very good,
and be it understood,
I am proud of both of you.
Kids: We're very very good,
and be it understood,
Quin: he is proud of me --
Garr: me, too!
And so forth -- you get the idea. It was just as heart-tugging-ly, disgustingly adorable as it sounds. They continued for two verses and two choruses, by the end of which the audience were collectively headed into sucrose overload. Thank god for Michael's sister, who went on next with a very dry and sardonic stand-up routine -- the perfect chaser to all of cuteness that had preceded it. Act One came to a rapid conclusion with Michael singing "Jackie" and Donna and Teddie teaming up to sing "For Good" from Wicked.
Intermission was a confusion of raffle tickets, hugs, quick hellos to friends and family, and no potty break. Bad planning on my part! As intermission was winding down, I saw Michael whispering to Garrick off stage left. As the house lights began to dim, Garrick bounded back up on stage and sallied once again into "Now is the winter of our discontent........." Michael leapt up after him and chased him off the stage while the audience howled.
Michael, Teddie and Donna gave a bouncy, upbeat rendering of "It's Been a Long Day", after which it was time for the raffle drawings. Much hilarity as somewhat-inebriated audience members tried to read the numbers off their tickets. Then, while Michael and I distributed baskets and had our backs to the stage, Garrick, without ANY prompting at all, jumped back up on stage for another try: "NOW is the winter of our discontent..." Michael had a very hard time keeping a straight face while chasing him down, and the audience positively fell about. Garrick has therefore ALL BY HIMSELF learned the first rule of the Running Gag: it is much funnier in sets of three than in sets of two.
The next few songs brought the mood to a somewhat more serious place -- if you consider a love song sung by John Hinckley and Squeeky Fromme serious. Liz and Chris, guest performers on loan from the Mainstage production of Steven Sondheim's Assassins, sent chills down my (and everyone else's) spine singing "Unworthy of Your Love." Then Chris sang a piece composed by an upcoming young lyricist/composer duo who spent much of their youth at the Players Club. Brian Lowdermilk and Kait Kerrigan are phenomenally talented, and you can hear the song Chris sang here. (Go ahead, I'll wait -- it's worth it!) Last year Kait and Brian had a successful off-Broadway production based on the Henry & Mudge children's books -- they are a pair to watch, for sure.
That was followed by: a novelty number wherein our very game pianist Paul "acted" a scene against an old recording of Don Ameche (don't ask), Donna's lovely renditions of "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "Charmin's Lament," Michael's always tear-jerking version of "Unusual Way," and Teddie's graceful interpretation of a favorite of ours -- "I Can't Be New" by singer/songwriter extraordinaire Susan Werner. If you like standards a la Cole Porter, do yourself an enormous favor and go here to listen to some excerpts from the album I Can't Be New and then order yourself a copy. (If you like other kinds of music, check out some of her other albums -- she's a true musical chameleon.)
Heading into the final stretch, Teddie joined Paul on the piano bench for a rousing rendition of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," which was followed by a boisterous performance of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" by Michael and Paul. Michael spent some moments on the necessary thank-yous, and then invited all of the performers back on stage for an audience-participation round of "You've Got A Friend in Me" from Monsters, Inc. for the grand finale.
There you have it. The cabaret brought in $2180 and a wonderful time was had by all. Now, how do I talk Michael into making it an annual event?.........
Monday, October 29, 2007
Can I Have A Do-Over?
Pop quiz: what is the least welcome on a Monday morning?
a) Waking up to house temps of 62* due to a wonky furnace thermostat
b) Arriving at your office and promptly spilling your cup of tea all over your desk
c) Feeling the beginning of a urinary tract infection coming on
d) All of the above.
Happy Monday, all -- I hope you're off to a better start than me this morning!
a) Waking up to house temps of 62* due to a wonky furnace thermostat
b) Arriving at your office and promptly spilling your cup of tea all over your desk
c) Feeling the beginning of a urinary tract infection coming on
d) All of the above.
Happy Monday, all -- I hope you're off to a better start than me this morning!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
I Need A Hug
It's health care open enrollment time at Michael's Big Corporate Job, and they have ditched all of their no-deductible plans in favor of weird deductible/health savings plan/consumer driven hybrid nonsense. I've been reading the material for over an hour and I still don't know how much it's likely to cost us to insure Michael and the kids for 2008.
Hold me.
Hold me.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
What Good Is Sitting Alone In Your Room?....
Michael and his ladies. Teddie is on the right; Donna is on the left. Donna and Michael have played a married couple on stage many many times. I wish I had her legs.
**************************
It's been over a month since the cabaret. How on earth have I been spending my time?....
********************
So, we had this, like, um, cabaret, ya know? To, like, raise money? Cuz my hubby is soooooo funny and like, entertaining and all, when he gets up on stage? And he has friends who are funny and talented as well? And you can, like, drink wine while they perform, so it's really, like cool?
When Michael hosts and organizes a cabaret, he likes to suggest material to the performers, in addition to them bringing their own ideas to the table. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the American musical theater -- the more obscure, the better. This tends to yield interesting results, such as current popular tunes from say, Wicked, nestled in next to something from The Magic Show (what?). It keeps the audience on their toes, and hence engaged.
I'd say we were in pretty decent shape heading into the cabaret weekend. No one was sick, we had about 65 RSVPs for a capacity of 90ish, which seemed like a good ratio. The performers -- Michael and our friends Teddie, Donna, Liz, Chris, and Paul -- were all seasoned pros, sure to put on a great show.
One of the realities of putting on a cabaret at The Players Club is that space is in high demand.* We have a wonderful facility, but with a seven-production Mainstage series and six Second Stage productions, rehearsal space is always at a premium. In addition, there is a long-standing relationship between the Club and a kids' training program run by the Young People's Theatre Workshop (of which I was a charter student lo these many centuries ago). The result is that the Second Stage space is under the YPTW's exclusive use on all Saturdays until 3pm, giving us a mere four hours to clean, set up, prep, and generally get ready for the 7pm start time.
*Just because I love the photos, you can see shots of my production of Man and Superman here, if you like.
I had promised Michael weeks earlier that I would handle all "front of house" duties, leaving him free to direct the real action. "Front of house duties" basically consist of setting up (very heavy) platforms in the audience space, arranging (90 or so) chairs around little cafe tables for the audience to sit on (at?), and putting out some light refreshments. One is then free to sit fetchingly at the doorway and collect people's money as they arrive.
No problem, right?
I had inveigled a few theatre friends into agreeing to help out on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately one of them became ill, and the entire task of setting up the space fell to me an our good neighbor, Candy. Thank the good lord for Candy, because there is no way in heaven or earth that we would have gotten it done without her. In addition to hauling chairs with me for 3+ hours, she came back for the show and hawked raffle tickets while I tended to the gate.
Tending the gate was like being the hostess at a really relentless open-house. Of the 95 people who piled in, I knew all but about 3 of them. Madness! I was holding up the line with my excessive hugging of audience members, but tant pis. It was wonderful to see so many friends (many of whom we no longer see regularly, due to our having stepped back from theatre projects these last years), and needless to say, incredibly touching to have them all come out in support of our fundraising. We had suggested to folks that they bring checks made out to the Foundation rather than pay in cash, and virtually everyone either rounded their check up from our suggest ticket price of $12 each, or used it as an excuse to make a nice hefty donation (Cousins Mark & Pat, I'm looking at you!).
During this time, Candy was working the room selling raffle tickets. Did I mention the raffle baskets? This was really a last minute inspiration and one that would not have happened without some truly remarkable friends. Michael is a regular at The Happy Rooster in Philadelphia, where he has befriended Rose, the owner. Mooooooooonths ago he was telling Rose about our fundraising cabaret idea, and she (unprovoked!) whipped out a $50 gift certificate. Well, we sat on that for a while, thinking we'd auction it off or some such. Then, a few weeks before the cabaret, I had a dinner date with my wonderful ladies Maureen, Cindy, and Barb. These ladies and I all met and became friends years ago through our work with non-profit arts agencies in Philadelphia. I was updating them on the cabaret and mentioned Rose's lovely gift certificate, and they each instantly came up with ideas of additional items that they could procure through their contacts. (I, being a corporate sell-out, no longer have contacts in the arts. But my car is paid off, so it's all good.)
The result of all of this spontaneous brainstorming was two wonderful raffle baskets, each with a restaurant gift card, each with multiple passes to the SouthStreet Seaport Museum, one with great seats to see the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center, and one with a year-long family membership to the Philadelphia Constitution Center. Do my ladies rock, or WHAT! They pulled this off in literally 10 days or so, which is perhaps the most remarkable thing of all.
And the raffle baskets brought in about $500 in revenue. Woo-hoo!
*******************
In the interest of delayed gratification (and in the interest of getting home in time for dinner), I will post separately about the show itself. To be continued!
- I went to a liver doctor
- and had some blood work done
- and it was all fine (so we don't know why I'm slightly jaundiced)
- the kids went to the pediatrician with respiratory infections
- and had to be on nebulizers night and day
- but I still took my trip to Chicago
- and baked my tushy off, which will be the subject of another post
- then came back and did a fundraising walk
- and went straight from there to the hospice to be with my Gram
- where I caught a head cold
- and gave it to my brother from Singapore
- while we cleaned out my grandmother's apartment
- Then I went to back-to-school night at the elementary school (but missed the middle school)
- and took a kid to the pediatric nephrologist
- and had a big yard sale
- followed by an even bigger trip to Goodwill afterward
- and tried to return the house to normal after that
- but we had a plumbing crisis
- so thank goodness my brother was still in town
- 'cuz he can fix anything
- but then he had to return to Singapore
- and the rest of us tried to spend some time at da shore to decompress
- and came back to IEP meetings at school
- and taking a kid to the pediatrician AGAIN (that's THREE in one month but who's counting?)
- 'cuz this kid seems to be sleepwalking from time to time
- and was coughing so hard in his sleep he couldn't catch his breath
- which is scary at 3am
- but the Flonase at bedtime seems to be helping
- (the coughing if not the sleepwalking)
- and last week my glasses broke very suddenly
- and I don't have back-ups
- so I got fancy new glasses
- and they pinch my nose.
********************
So, we had this, like, um, cabaret, ya know? To, like, raise money? Cuz my hubby is soooooo funny and like, entertaining and all, when he gets up on stage? And he has friends who are funny and talented as well? And you can, like, drink wine while they perform, so it's really, like cool?
When Michael hosts and organizes a cabaret, he likes to suggest material to the performers, in addition to them bringing their own ideas to the table. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the American musical theater -- the more obscure, the better. This tends to yield interesting results, such as current popular tunes from say, Wicked, nestled in next to something from The Magic Show (what?). It keeps the audience on their toes, and hence engaged.
I'd say we were in pretty decent shape heading into the cabaret weekend. No one was sick, we had about 65 RSVPs for a capacity of 90ish, which seemed like a good ratio. The performers -- Michael and our friends Teddie, Donna, Liz, Chris, and Paul -- were all seasoned pros, sure to put on a great show.
One of the realities of putting on a cabaret at The Players Club is that space is in high demand.* We have a wonderful facility, but with a seven-production Mainstage series and six Second Stage productions, rehearsal space is always at a premium. In addition, there is a long-standing relationship between the Club and a kids' training program run by the Young People's Theatre Workshop (of which I was a charter student lo these many centuries ago). The result is that the Second Stage space is under the YPTW's exclusive use on all Saturdays until 3pm, giving us a mere four hours to clean, set up, prep, and generally get ready for the 7pm start time.
*Just because I love the photos, you can see shots of my production of Man and Superman here, if you like.
I had promised Michael weeks earlier that I would handle all "front of house" duties, leaving him free to direct the real action. "Front of house duties" basically consist of setting up (very heavy) platforms in the audience space, arranging (90 or so) chairs around little cafe tables for the audience to sit on (at?), and putting out some light refreshments. One is then free to sit fetchingly at the doorway and collect people's money as they arrive.
No problem, right?
I had inveigled a few theatre friends into agreeing to help out on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately one of them became ill, and the entire task of setting up the space fell to me an our good neighbor, Candy. Thank the good lord for Candy, because there is no way in heaven or earth that we would have gotten it done without her. In addition to hauling chairs with me for 3+ hours, she came back for the show and hawked raffle tickets while I tended to the gate.
Tending the gate was like being the hostess at a really relentless open-house. Of the 95 people who piled in, I knew all but about 3 of them. Madness! I was holding up the line with my excessive hugging of audience members, but tant pis. It was wonderful to see so many friends (many of whom we no longer see regularly, due to our having stepped back from theatre projects these last years), and needless to say, incredibly touching to have them all come out in support of our fundraising. We had suggested to folks that they bring checks made out to the Foundation rather than pay in cash, and virtually everyone either rounded their check up from our suggest ticket price of $12 each, or used it as an excuse to make a nice hefty donation (Cousins Mark & Pat, I'm looking at you!).
During this time, Candy was working the room selling raffle tickets. Did I mention the raffle baskets? This was really a last minute inspiration and one that would not have happened without some truly remarkable friends. Michael is a regular at The Happy Rooster in Philadelphia, where he has befriended Rose, the owner. Mooooooooonths ago he was telling Rose about our fundraising cabaret idea, and she (unprovoked!) whipped out a $50 gift certificate. Well, we sat on that for a while, thinking we'd auction it off or some such. Then, a few weeks before the cabaret, I had a dinner date with my wonderful ladies Maureen, Cindy, and Barb. These ladies and I all met and became friends years ago through our work with non-profit arts agencies in Philadelphia. I was updating them on the cabaret and mentioned Rose's lovely gift certificate, and they each instantly came up with ideas of additional items that they could procure through their contacts. (I, being a corporate sell-out, no longer have contacts in the arts. But my car is paid off, so it's all good.)
The result of all of this spontaneous brainstorming was two wonderful raffle baskets, each with a restaurant gift card, each with multiple passes to the SouthStreet Seaport Museum, one with great seats to see the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center, and one with a year-long family membership to the Philadelphia Constitution Center. Do my ladies rock, or WHAT! They pulled this off in literally 10 days or so, which is perhaps the most remarkable thing of all.
And the raffle baskets brought in about $500 in revenue. Woo-hoo!
*******************
In the interest of delayed gratification (and in the interest of getting home in time for dinner), I will post separately about the show itself. To be continued!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Paging Rush Limbaugh
Further proof of global warming -- look what came out of my garden tonight. Dudes, it's OCTOBER.
I'm making tomato bisque tonight. It's a poor substitute for The Clooney, but I'm still waiting to hear back from our babysitter and a girl must take comfort where she can.
I'm making tomato bisque tonight. It's a poor substitute for The Clooney, but I'm still waiting to hear back from our babysitter and a girl must take comfort where she can.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Slip Slidin' Away -- Bonus Baking Episode!
My older brother's birthday is September 1, and as has become something of a custom, we twinned in a family celebration with a Labor Day weekend get-together. Baking is a must, of course, and I was keen to try the Many-Layered Lemon Cake from the Olive's Dessert Table by Paige Retus. My dear friend Wolvie speaks very highly of this cake, which is good enough for me (and should be good enough for you, too -- let me know if you'd like the recipe and I'll email it!).
The base cake layers are redolent of lemon zest and enriched with coconut milk, and further gilded by a soaking with a coconut syrup before assembly. The layers are sandwiched with lemon curd and baked lemon custard, and the whole magilla is frosted in a rich French meringue buttercream (lemon flavored, of course) and then showered with toasted coconut shreds. This is a over-the-top cake with many elements, each of which is delicious on its own. When they are combined, the effect is fabulous.
Here's how it went.
Cake layers cooling:
One of two baked custard layers -- not too pretty, but very tasty:
We're ready for fillings:
Note the cheap-o plastic turntable. The turntable is really essential to being able to assemble and frost cakes without making a huge mess.
First steps -- a layer of custard, then a layer of lemon curd:
You can see on the edge how soft the curd is -- it's getting ready to flow over the side of the cake. This is where I started cursing myself for not making a buttercream dam around the edge of the cake before laying on the curd. I was following the recipe to a T, but should have trusted my instincts, as you will see........
Next layer -- cake and custard:
The structure was so precarious at this point that I dropped the camera and didn't get a photo of the next layer of curd, or of the top layer of cake. This baby was wigglin' and jigglin' all over the place. Buttercream (when chilled) is much more stable than curd or custard, so I grabbed the buttercream and started spackling (there really is no other word for it) the sides in an attempt to lend structure. Rough coat, then into the fridge for a chill. When it came out, it looked like this:
Leaning Tower O' Cake. And the ugliest icing job you ever did see. Good thing it's getting covered with shredded coconut........
And candles are always good for some distraction.
(Note the footed cake dish, if you like Foreshadowing with your dessert.)
This heavy monster was carefully hand-carried down the street from my house to my parents' house (the locus of the festivities) and I was quite shocked that it stayed in one piece right up until serving time. Right up until about the sixth slice, when the pressure of my slicing hand became too much for the footed cake dish, and the whole affair went ass over tit onto the kitchen table. My brother, sister-in-law, hubby, and parents were howling too loudly to even think about grabbing a camera until the rescue operation (such as it was) was complete:
And there you have it. When life gives you lemons, by all means make the Many Layered Lemon Cake from Olive's Dessert Table, because it is deeeeeeeeeeelicious. But don't forget to dam your lemon curd layers, and a dowel or two from top to bottom would hurt, either.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Week Eight
I am so far behind I may never catch up, and @#$%^&* Blogger just ate my text for this stinkin' post! I am shouting very naughty words at the top of my voice, which is not very loud because I'm recovering from a cold. There is no justice. Also, ouch.
Week Eight was a very long time ago. I over baked most egregiously, apparently afraid I'd run out of stuff (who remembers?). We had Cinnamon Squares from Dorie:
These are a simple little snack cake, very moist and tasty, with a ribbon of cinnamon/chocolate struesel running through. Better than a poke in the eye.
We also had Dorie's Caramel Crunch Bars:
These are almost more candy than cookie -- a bit toffee-ish and very sticky and crunchy. A little goes a long way.
I also made Dorie's madeleines, just because I love madeleines.
These sold out first.
I felt we needed a muffin, so turned to Dorie's corn muffin (but left out the fresh corn, as my fresh corn had gotten funky in the fridge).
And finally, I wanted to play around with piped decorations again, so pulled out Rose's recipe for zucchini cupcakes (much better than the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking recipe):
There you have it. Eight weeks of bake sales brought in $794. Not shabby. And have you noticed the new total on the sidebar? My lovely friend Melinda pushed us over the top last weekend. We've got the yard sale in a week, and then fundraising is officially OVER for the season. Not that I'm counting days, or anything.
Week Eight was a very long time ago. I over baked most egregiously, apparently afraid I'd run out of stuff (who remembers?). We had Cinnamon Squares from Dorie:
These are a simple little snack cake, very moist and tasty, with a ribbon of cinnamon/chocolate struesel running through. Better than a poke in the eye.
We also had Dorie's Caramel Crunch Bars:
These are almost more candy than cookie -- a bit toffee-ish and very sticky and crunchy. A little goes a long way.
I also made Dorie's madeleines, just because I love madeleines.
These sold out first.
I felt we needed a muffin, so turned to Dorie's corn muffin (but left out the fresh corn, as my fresh corn had gotten funky in the fridge).
And finally, I wanted to play around with piped decorations again, so pulled out Rose's recipe for zucchini cupcakes (much better than the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking recipe):
There you have it. Eight weeks of bake sales brought in $794. Not shabby. And have you noticed the new total on the sidebar? My lovely friend Melinda pushed us over the top last weekend. We've got the yard sale in a week, and then fundraising is officially OVER for the season. Not that I'm counting days, or anything.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Strike That, Reverse It
This is just a quickie, as I am out of town for a few days (in Chicago! Studying pastry with Chef Norman Love at the French Pastry School! Yes, taking lots of pictures! Yes, it's incredible and I never want to come home again!) and my #$%^&* hotel's internet has worked correctly approximately 5 minutes out of the 2 days I've been here, so I'm at the moment paying for internet access at a little internet cafe just to check on Life, but it's 'spensive, so hence the quickie. Got all that?
But really the quickie is to say that yes, I owe the Blog lots of posts (Week Eight, for crying out loud! The Cabaret, which was freakin' amazing!), but it may be a while. My grandmother has received some very bad health news this week, and I will be coming home to several very difficult weeks as her health continues to inevitably wane away. So, please bear with me. I'll be back, but it may take longer than I would wish.
As Willy Wonka says, so much time, so little to do.
Meanwhile, we've raised about $7500 to date. Someone pinch me.
But really the quickie is to say that yes, I owe the Blog lots of posts (Week Eight, for crying out loud! The Cabaret, which was freakin' amazing!), but it may be a while. My grandmother has received some very bad health news this week, and I will be coming home to several very difficult weeks as her health continues to inevitably wane away. So, please bear with me. I'll be back, but it may take longer than I would wish.
As Willy Wonka says, so much time, so little to do.
Meanwhile, we've raised about $7500 to date. Someone pinch me.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Fetch the Smelling Salts & Tissues
We have broken the $5,000 mark this week! Woo-hoo!
Aaaaaand our fundraising cabaret performance is tomorrow. (How did that sneak up on us?) Michael has assembled a small but crackerjack group of performers (including our little munchkins) and an eclectic song list, and I have a feeling I'll be in a puddle of tears by the end of the evening. We've had some decent press for the cabaret in local papers both large and small, but based on the advance reservations, 99% of the audience is going to be made up of our biological and theatrical families, which is just dandy. They've all seen me cry before.
I'm feeling very rich in friends this week.
Michael is quite friendly with Rose, the owner of The Happy Rooster (a Philly restaurant). Months ago, when he was telling her all about our fundraising schemes, she whipped out a $50 gift certificate to the restaurant and the idea of a raffle was born.
Just a few weeks ago, while out to dinner with girlfriends, I made casual mention of this lovely gesture. Within moments, Cindy & Maureen had come up with a handful of ideas for additional donations from their contacts in the non-profit world. They very quickly turned their ideas into reality, and with only 2 weeks of lead time, they collectively produced 2 (expensive!) tickets to a piano concert at the Kimmel Center, a family membership at the National Constitution Center, and 10 guest passes to the Independence Seaport Museum. Cindy & Maureen are fabulous, brilliant women, and I feel lucky to count them as friends.
On Monday I called in a favor from the one contact I have in the Philly restaurant scene for another meal gift certificate, and we now have 2 substantial raffle baskets for Saturday, collectively valued at almost $500! (If you're local, go have a meal at Rx in West Philly -- tell Greg I sent you. He is the bomb, and the food is terrific.)
And did I mention that the theatre's Board voted unanimously to donate back to the foundation the $250 rental fee for the space? And that friends who have known me since I was 14 offered to come early to help set up the tables and chairs? And that the finale song is "You've Got a Friend in Me"?
So you might understand my feeling a bit verklempt about the whole thing. Plus, seeing my kids perform always makes me tear up.
(Note to self -- don't forget to use the waterproof mascara on Saturday....)
Aaaaaand our fundraising cabaret performance is tomorrow. (How did that sneak up on us?) Michael has assembled a small but crackerjack group of performers (including our little munchkins) and an eclectic song list, and I have a feeling I'll be in a puddle of tears by the end of the evening. We've had some decent press for the cabaret in local papers both large and small, but based on the advance reservations, 99% of the audience is going to be made up of our biological and theatrical families, which is just dandy. They've all seen me cry before.
I'm feeling very rich in friends this week.
Michael is quite friendly with Rose, the owner of The Happy Rooster (a Philly restaurant). Months ago, when he was telling her all about our fundraising schemes, she whipped out a $50 gift certificate to the restaurant and the idea of a raffle was born.
Just a few weeks ago, while out to dinner with girlfriends, I made casual mention of this lovely gesture. Within moments, Cindy & Maureen had come up with a handful of ideas for additional donations from their contacts in the non-profit world. They very quickly turned their ideas into reality, and with only 2 weeks of lead time, they collectively produced 2 (expensive!) tickets to a piano concert at the Kimmel Center, a family membership at the National Constitution Center, and 10 guest passes to the Independence Seaport Museum. Cindy & Maureen are fabulous, brilliant women, and I feel lucky to count them as friends.
On Monday I called in a favor from the one contact I have in the Philly restaurant scene for another meal gift certificate, and we now have 2 substantial raffle baskets for Saturday, collectively valued at almost $500! (If you're local, go have a meal at Rx in West Philly -- tell Greg I sent you. He is the bomb, and the food is terrific.)
And did I mention that the theatre's Board voted unanimously to donate back to the foundation the $250 rental fee for the space? And that friends who have known me since I was 14 offered to come early to help set up the tables and chairs? And that the finale song is "You've Got a Friend in Me"?
So you might understand my feeling a bit verklempt about the whole thing. Plus, seeing my kids perform always makes me tear up.
(Note to self -- don't forget to use the waterproof mascara on Saturday....)
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
My Mom Rocks
My mom wrote poetry as a college student. After a hiatus of being married, raising kids, entering and then leaving the workforce, selling real estate and managing rental properties, and then being an almost-full-time grandkid babysitter, she got serious about writing poetry again a few years ago. Since then, she has been published in numerous small but prestigious poetry periodicals, including Ibbetson Street Press, the Iodine Poetry Journal, and the like, as well as in Fine Gardening magazine. Last year, a collection of her work was published as a "chapbook" by Finishing Line Press and is available on Amazon, which is pretty damn nifty.
She got word last week that she's been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Way to go, Mom!
She got word last week that she's been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Way to go, Mom!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
And It Rained
We made good time to the beach on Saturday, got the parrot dropped off just in time before the vet closed, and All Was Well. Dinner out, early to bed, and off to see the ocean on a gray and cloudy Sunday morning. It got windy and cold, which didn't much bother anyone. And then it started to rain.
It rained Monday.
It rained Tuesday.
It rained Wednesday.
We had to go home Wednesday night.
We managed to spend a grand total of maybe 3 hours at the ocean the entire trip.
I got a lot of sleep, but on a crummy matress, which is a double-edged sword. My back is exceedingly tweeked out.
Thank god for my aunt Diane, who lent us the entire Harry Potter ouevre on video and DVD. The kids got caught up with movies 3 & 4 at the rental house, and Michael took them to Atlantic City on Tuesday to see the current flick on the Imax screen there. My parents joined us on Wednesday, and the fellows braved the Boardwalk in the cold drizzle for a little miniature golf, while Mom and I enjoyed an uninterrupted gab over hot steamy mugs. We had an easy drive home Wednesday evening, and I was back to work Thursday morning and thinking about what to bake for Week Eight.....
Theo likes going on vacation.
It rained Monday.
It rained Tuesday.
It rained Wednesday.
We had to go home Wednesday night.
We managed to spend a grand total of maybe 3 hours at the ocean the entire trip.
I got a lot of sleep, but on a crummy matress, which is a double-edged sword. My back is exceedingly tweeked out.
Thank god for my aunt Diane, who lent us the entire Harry Potter ouevre on video and DVD. The kids got caught up with movies 3 & 4 at the rental house, and Michael took them to Atlantic City on Tuesday to see the current flick on the Imax screen there. My parents joined us on Wednesday, and the fellows braved the Boardwalk in the cold drizzle for a little miniature golf, while Mom and I enjoyed an uninterrupted gab over hot steamy mugs. We had an easy drive home Wednesday evening, and I was back to work Thursday morning and thinking about what to bake for Week Eight.....
Theo likes going on vacation.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Week Seven
I realized this week that the longer I stall, waiting for inspiration, the less inspired this post is likely to be. (Call it Fischer's Law of Inverse Inspiration.) So I resign myself to general lack of inspiration, in hopes of finally getting caught up before the end of the holiday weekend. (Wish me luck -- I still have not pulled the school clothes out of the closets to see what still fits. Ay caramba.)
We were due to leave for the beach immediately following the Week Seven sale on Saturday, so I tried to keep the prep as simple as possible to allow for packing and organizing and general pre-vacation madness. Traveling with 2 boys, a husband, and a dog is complicated enough, but we also had to get out early enough on Saturday to drop the parrot off at the vet for boarding. Everything was timed like a Swiss watch and very delicately calibrated. I humbly posit that this is not the best frame of mind in which to embark on vacation.
The obsessively pre-planned baking prep this week took the form of not only pre-measuring dry ingredients for Friday night power baking, but making actual "kits" for each recipe, thusly:
What you're looking at is a container holding separate baggies of ingredients, combined and sorted as to the order in which they are used in the recipe, as well as the pre-measured quantity of butter needed. One of the baggies is labeled as to the recipe and multiple thereof (x1, x2, etc.), as well as oven temp and the page number that the recipe is on for quick reference. If I were slightly more obsessive, I would have pre-sorted (and separated, where needed) the eggs as well. But I'm not quite that crazy. (Shut up.) As it was, it was very handy to not have to think about much aside from cracking eggs and checking oven temps. In between some final packing and picking up a rental van, the actual baking on Friday night took me a grand total of about 2.5 hours, which was a miracle.
Here are the results. In my count-down-to-final-week panic, I was convinced that I didn't have enough items for the sale, and ended up going somewhat overboard:
A double batch of Milk Chocolate Mini-Cakes, from Dorie. These are very good, but I miscalculated while assembling them. They have a ribbon of struesel inside, and I put too much batter in before the struesel, leaving me insufficient batter to top them off. I was out of milk chocolate, to boot, so I made one more batch of batter using bittersweet choc, and topped the pans off with that. You can see the darker ribbon of batter at the base of the bundt-shaped mini-cakes above. And here they are with their glaze -- I left the rose-shaped cakes au naturel.
These are very yummy indeed, and the glaze is nice and sticky. Saturday morning's highlight was watching a 4-year-old girl share one of these with her daddy on the Co-Op patio. Lots of finger licking. (These are big treats, so we sold them for $2 instead of our usual $1.)
Muffins had been a hit the prior 2 weeks, so I made a double batch of Dorie's Orange Berry Muffins. They were delicious, but inexplicably did not sell well. We brought a lot of leftovers with us to the beach, where they came in handy for breakfasts and snacks.
The recipe calls for rubbing orange zest into granulated sugar, which releases the zest's oils beautifully. I had a bag of blueberries in the freezer, which made a terrific combination.
One of my regular customers had been asking me to repeat the Peanut Butter & Jelly cookies, and as they are quick and easy, I threw them into the mix for Week Seven. Of course, this guarenteed that the requesting customer didn't show up! But they all sold, even the ones that Garrick decided should be chocolate chip faces:
Most of the faces were semi-toothless by the time customers saw them, but they didn't seem to mind.
Finally, an old favorite recipe from "The Joy of Cookies." This is a lovely little book with a terrific range of recipes. The Sesame-Anise Melts are killer. Pre-oven and post-oven:
This is a very soft, buttery cookie -- not too sweet -- delicately scented with freshly ground anise seed, and rolled in toasted sesame seeds before baking. The combination is outstanding, and I must bake these more often. I added them to the list this week because I missed them and wanted to nibble on some, but I didn't think they'd be a bit hit at the sale. Joke's on me -- every single one sold, and I didn't get to taste any. I think I'll make a batch just for me next week....
*****************************
Saturday was gorgeous, sunny and breezy, with temps in the low 80s. Beautiful weather. Week Six saw us blow past our original monetary goal for the bake sale, so I put an extension on our poster for Week Seven and a revised goal of $800:
The table was a bit crowded with all of the choices, but I managed to squeeze everything in.
The sale itself was fairly uneventful. Lots of visitors and friends, but a relatively slow day. Still, we made about $100, and I packed everything up a smidge early so we could get on the road to the beach! the beach! the beach!
We were due to leave for the beach immediately following the Week Seven sale on Saturday, so I tried to keep the prep as simple as possible to allow for packing and organizing and general pre-vacation madness. Traveling with 2 boys, a husband, and a dog is complicated enough, but we also had to get out early enough on Saturday to drop the parrot off at the vet for boarding. Everything was timed like a Swiss watch and very delicately calibrated. I humbly posit that this is not the best frame of mind in which to embark on vacation.
The obsessively pre-planned baking prep this week took the form of not only pre-measuring dry ingredients for Friday night power baking, but making actual "kits" for each recipe, thusly:
What you're looking at is a container holding separate baggies of ingredients, combined and sorted as to the order in which they are used in the recipe, as well as the pre-measured quantity of butter needed. One of the baggies is labeled as to the recipe and multiple thereof (x1, x2, etc.), as well as oven temp and the page number that the recipe is on for quick reference. If I were slightly more obsessive, I would have pre-sorted (and separated, where needed) the eggs as well. But I'm not quite that crazy. (Shut up.) As it was, it was very handy to not have to think about much aside from cracking eggs and checking oven temps. In between some final packing and picking up a rental van, the actual baking on Friday night took me a grand total of about 2.5 hours, which was a miracle.
Here are the results. In my count-down-to-final-week panic, I was convinced that I didn't have enough items for the sale, and ended up going somewhat overboard:
A double batch of Milk Chocolate Mini-Cakes, from Dorie. These are very good, but I miscalculated while assembling them. They have a ribbon of struesel inside, and I put too much batter in before the struesel, leaving me insufficient batter to top them off. I was out of milk chocolate, to boot, so I made one more batch of batter using bittersweet choc, and topped the pans off with that. You can see the darker ribbon of batter at the base of the bundt-shaped mini-cakes above. And here they are with their glaze -- I left the rose-shaped cakes au naturel.
These are very yummy indeed, and the glaze is nice and sticky. Saturday morning's highlight was watching a 4-year-old girl share one of these with her daddy on the Co-Op patio. Lots of finger licking. (These are big treats, so we sold them for $2 instead of our usual $1.)
Muffins had been a hit the prior 2 weeks, so I made a double batch of Dorie's Orange Berry Muffins. They were delicious, but inexplicably did not sell well. We brought a lot of leftovers with us to the beach, where they came in handy for breakfasts and snacks.
The recipe calls for rubbing orange zest into granulated sugar, which releases the zest's oils beautifully. I had a bag of blueberries in the freezer, which made a terrific combination.
One of my regular customers had been asking me to repeat the Peanut Butter & Jelly cookies, and as they are quick and easy, I threw them into the mix for Week Seven. Of course, this guarenteed that the requesting customer didn't show up! But they all sold, even the ones that Garrick decided should be chocolate chip faces:
Most of the faces were semi-toothless by the time customers saw them, but they didn't seem to mind.
Finally, an old favorite recipe from "The Joy of Cookies." This is a lovely little book with a terrific range of recipes. The Sesame-Anise Melts are killer. Pre-oven and post-oven:
This is a very soft, buttery cookie -- not too sweet -- delicately scented with freshly ground anise seed, and rolled in toasted sesame seeds before baking. The combination is outstanding, and I must bake these more often. I added them to the list this week because I missed them and wanted to nibble on some, but I didn't think they'd be a bit hit at the sale. Joke's on me -- every single one sold, and I didn't get to taste any. I think I'll make a batch just for me next week....
*****************************
Saturday was gorgeous, sunny and breezy, with temps in the low 80s. Beautiful weather. Week Six saw us blow past our original monetary goal for the bake sale, so I put an extension on our poster for Week Seven and a revised goal of $800:
The table was a bit crowded with all of the choices, but I managed to squeeze everything in.
The sale itself was fairly uneventful. Lots of visitors and friends, but a relatively slow day. Still, we made about $100, and I packed everything up a smidge early so we could get on the road to the beach! the beach! the beach!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Interlude
Greetings! Sorry it's been so quiet here lately -- life has kept me BUSY since our return from the beach, and I often find myself running as fast as I can without moving an inch. Coming back from vacation stinks. But hey -- as of last Saturday, at least I'm not baking on deadline anymore...
While I get my cr@p together to post on Weeks Seven and Eight (and the vacation! and the Cabaret, which is omigod only 10 days away! and my mother's Pushcart Prize nomination!), please amuse yourselves with Garrick's latest List of Imponderable Questions. (To qualify for the List, the Questions must be posed in all earnestness and as late in the day as possible -- preferably at bed time.) In no particular order:
While I get my cr@p together to post on Weeks Seven and Eight (and the vacation! and the Cabaret, which is omigod only 10 days away! and my mother's Pushcart Prize nomination!), please amuse yourselves with Garrick's latest List of Imponderable Questions. (To qualify for the List, the Questions must be posed in all earnestness and as late in the day as possible -- preferably at bed time.) In no particular order:
- Why are women's breasts private, but men's breasts aren't?
- How did our private parts become private, anyway?
- Why is underwear private, if the private parts are already covered?
- Why are women and girls allowed to wear skirts and dresses, but men and boys aren't?
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Week Six
Between my travels and Quin's ER visit, the baked offerings for Week Six were, of necessity, on the less ambitious side of the spectrum. In between rotating baking sheets and dialing Michael's cell phone on Friday night, I unfortunately did not have a hand free to take any process pictures, so this week's post will feel a little light.
Before leaving town, I had mixed and refrigerated dough for Chocolate Chip Cookies (Alton Brown, again) and Chinese Almond Cookies (Joy of Cookies). I also mixed up the dry ingredients for Banana Muffins (the new Joy of Cooking). I spent a grand total of two hours on Friday night scooping and baking dough, and mixing up the muffins and baking them off as well. I felt very pleased with my efficiency and staggered into bed at 11pm.
The Chocolate Chippers are a good, basic cookie -- definitely a crowd-pleaser. They were the first item to sell out.
The Banana Muffins are a good, basic muffin. Brown sugar and cinnamon add nice flavor notes, and I added plenty of chopped walnuts.
The Chinese Almond Cookies rely heavily on almond extract for their flavor. I think next time I will sub finely ground almonds for some of the A/P flour, and reduce the extract. It's hard to tell from my picture, but they are each topped with a whole, blanched almond, and then given a quick egg-glaze before baking. They look better in person, I promise, and they tasted great.
********************************************
Sales on Saturday started off verrrrrrrrrrrrry slowly. At 11:30am I had only sold about $7 worth of goods and was starting to panic. Then, everything seemed to happen at once. Friends, relatives, neighbors, and total strangers started to stop and purchase, many of them in quantity (bless their hearts). I had the most delightful visit with Michael's cousin's wife (got that?), her mom, and two adorable daughters. They drove out all the way from 'Jersey, and bought some of everything. Karen even bought out the few remaining baggies of dog biscuits to share at her dog's Doggy Day Care. Awww! (Karen is a terrific photographer, and had her camera out. Karen, if you're reading, are there any photos you feel like lending to the blog?)
For most of the day, I could not keep track of my brain. I found myself frequently attempting to hold three conversations simultaneously for most of the rest of the day, which was very confusing. By 1pm, I had sold every last baked item -- we cleared $116 (woo!). I staggered home and collected the kids from my mother (thanks, Mom), and tried mightily and unsuccessfully to collapse and rest for a bit.
[After all was situated in the morning, Michael left for a quick NYC visit with an old friend who was in town for a trade show. She's a jewelry designer and her stuff is swooningly gorgeous. She does not sell directly to the public, but you can see (and even buy) her stuff here, and here, and here. (Michael has been duly informed that any the big, mesh cuff bracelets would be more than welcome on my arm.) As a result of this, I was a single parent for about 30 hours. This is hard work, even when you're not already exhausted.]
Winding down the baking activities, I still have about a dozen recipes I'd like to squeeze in. Ain't gonna happen. The Sesame-Anise Melts are a must, though, as are the Caramel Toffee Crunch Bars. Garrick has his heart set on Cinnamon Squares and Milk Chocolate Mini-Cakes, and I'd like to use up some zucchini with another round of pretty Zucchini Cupcakes. I have a repeat customer requesting a rerun of the Peanut Butter & Jellies, so I must do those. Plus I have enough toffee chips to do a round of Dorie's Blondies, and I want to try her Blueberry-Orange Muffins. Such difficulties I have in my life. Anyone have any opinions on the subject?
******************************************
We're heading for the beach on Saturday right after the cookie booth closes, so there will be a brief intermission before my next blog post. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves in the meanwhile. I'm psyched to take a real break, and running on fumes trying to get ready. You know how that goes. See you next week!
Before leaving town, I had mixed and refrigerated dough for Chocolate Chip Cookies (Alton Brown, again) and Chinese Almond Cookies (Joy of Cookies). I also mixed up the dry ingredients for Banana Muffins (the new Joy of Cooking). I spent a grand total of two hours on Friday night scooping and baking dough, and mixing up the muffins and baking them off as well. I felt very pleased with my efficiency and staggered into bed at 11pm.
The Chocolate Chippers are a good, basic cookie -- definitely a crowd-pleaser. They were the first item to sell out.
The Banana Muffins are a good, basic muffin. Brown sugar and cinnamon add nice flavor notes, and I added plenty of chopped walnuts.
The Chinese Almond Cookies rely heavily on almond extract for their flavor. I think next time I will sub finely ground almonds for some of the A/P flour, and reduce the extract. It's hard to tell from my picture, but they are each topped with a whole, blanched almond, and then given a quick egg-glaze before baking. They look better in person, I promise, and they tasted great.
********************************************
Sales on Saturday started off verrrrrrrrrrrrry slowly. At 11:30am I had only sold about $7 worth of goods and was starting to panic. Then, everything seemed to happen at once. Friends, relatives, neighbors, and total strangers started to stop and purchase, many of them in quantity (bless their hearts). I had the most delightful visit with Michael's cousin's wife (got that?), her mom, and two adorable daughters. They drove out all the way from 'Jersey, and bought some of everything. Karen even bought out the few remaining baggies of dog biscuits to share at her dog's Doggy Day Care. Awww! (Karen is a terrific photographer, and had her camera out. Karen, if you're reading, are there any photos you feel like lending to the blog?)
For most of the day, I could not keep track of my brain. I found myself frequently attempting to hold three conversations simultaneously for most of the rest of the day, which was very confusing. By 1pm, I had sold every last baked item -- we cleared $116 (woo!). I staggered home and collected the kids from my mother (thanks, Mom), and tried mightily and unsuccessfully to collapse and rest for a bit.
[After all was situated in the morning, Michael left for a quick NYC visit with an old friend who was in town for a trade show. She's a jewelry designer and her stuff is swooningly gorgeous. She does not sell directly to the public, but you can see (and even buy) her stuff here, and here, and here. (Michael has been duly informed that any the big, mesh cuff bracelets would be more than welcome on my arm.) As a result of this, I was a single parent for about 30 hours. This is hard work, even when you're not already exhausted.]
Winding down the baking activities, I still have about a dozen recipes I'd like to squeeze in. Ain't gonna happen. The Sesame-Anise Melts are a must, though, as are the Caramel Toffee Crunch Bars. Garrick has his heart set on Cinnamon Squares and Milk Chocolate Mini-Cakes, and I'd like to use up some zucchini with another round of pretty Zucchini Cupcakes. I have a repeat customer requesting a rerun of the Peanut Butter & Jellies, so I must do those. Plus I have enough toffee chips to do a round of Dorie's Blondies, and I want to try her Blueberry-Orange Muffins. Such difficulties I have in my life. Anyone have any opinions on the subject?
******************************************
We're heading for the beach on Saturday right after the cookie booth closes, so there will be a brief intermission before my next blog post. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves in the meanwhile. I'm psyched to take a real break, and running on fumes trying to get ready. You know how that goes. See you next week!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Oops, P.S.
We're leaving town for a few days at the beach on Saturday, right after the cookie sale. So much for never leaving town again, but at least this time I'll have the kids where I can keep an eye on them.
Where can I find mesh beach shoes for the kids quickly in August?.......
Where can I find mesh beach shoes for the kids quickly in August?.......
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