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Sunday Scribblings - Darkest & Deepest

Lenten Rose

darkest and deepest
secrets of Spring unfold
in Lenten Rose

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Sunday Scribblings - The Mickey Macro Abrasion Facial

When I decided to peek in on Sunday Scribblings topic for this week, little did I know that the In the Kitchen theme would have such relevance.

All I wanted to do was to surprise my husband with a spectacular birthday cake today. It's been a surprise alright...but for moi, not for him. Granted, I'm notoriously  prone to mishaps (I had to wipe frosting from the keyboard before beginning this post)...but this one takes the cake!

Several days ago I bought a Wilton cake pan....YEARS ago when I was a stay-at-home mom I used to create character cakes like a pro. So how difficult could it be? I chose a Mickey Mouse face cake because Tom loves Disneyworld (and Mickey too, although I doubt he would admit it). I bought a new icing bag and a food coloring kit to match the cake pan. After buying the cake ingredients this morning, I was set.

I was set but so was the cake. After baking it to perfection, it refused to come out of the pan. I tried gently tapping. I tried meticulously running a sharp knife around the edges with the skill of a surgeon. I tried praying. I tried cursing. I tried slamming it. It began to budge....I proceeded less aggressively but while most of the cake plopped out onto the cake board, Mickey's vital facial features remained in the pan. This is not the way it was supposed to happen. The icing was ready. I was ready. Mickey was ready too....for a decent burial. He was delicious, however, and I was unwilling to start from scratch.

I decided on re-constructive surgery. I figured that since the BOTTOM of the cake was still relatively smooth, I could decorate it instead. Now this is akin to a self-taught plastic surgeon shaving the back of someone's head and recreating a face there but hey, Mickey's life was designed to be brief anyway.

So now the cake should be cooled enough for me to begin my experiment. Just remember...DON'T try this in your kitchen. And....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM! SURPRISE :-)   

Sunday Scribblings - Puzzled

More snow means more baking...

The snow began falling around 7am and as it began to accumulate, my repressed fifties-housewife syndrome increased. Too bad this seldom seem side of me doesn't appear when I am grocery shopping for it forever seems I lack the "basic ingredients" for baking even the simplest of treats.

The cupcakes came out of the oven baked to perfection; however, when I began to assemble the ingredients for the icing, I discovered that not only was the milk in the fridge a bit stinky but the only alternative I had was condensed, not evaporated milk. As it turns out, condensed milk is not a suitable substitute for any sort of milk whatsoever (unless you want to go into diabetic shock).

None of my recipe books contained a non-milk recipe for frosted. Puzzled, I began to Google for frostings and Voila!, I found one HERE. The chocolate frosting didn't take long at all to cook and because the recipe calls for spreading while hot, the confetti sprinkles adhere to the icing without falling off.

I must admit, that Google has helped solve many puzzles for me since it's advent...in just the past 3 days I have Googled:

• Who originally recorded Another Saturday Night (and I ain't got nobody)?  [The Drifters]
• How do I read aloud the algebraic expression 2(5! + 1)= ? [Two, the quantity of five factorial plus one, closed quantity equals]
• Has my recent order of fat quarters been shipped yet? [no :-(] Okay, I didn't use Google for this one, but I do not have to be puzzled about when it will arrive since I can track the order :-)
• I knew that Shirley Chisholm was the first African American elected to Congress but what state did she represent? [New York]

It's nice to have a place that will answer some of the lighter questions of life...and speaking of lighter...before I dive into the cupcakes, perhaps I should Google approximately how many CALORIES are in a chocolate frosted cupcake......nah....that's one puzzle I'll leave unsolved for today!

 

Sunday Scribblings - Crush

Perplexed -- what if I could not discern

    Love from Lust

    Intimacy from Crush

 

Then one Sunday morning

I saw him standing there

Beside the bed

Looking vaguely dazed

    in his socks--

nothing else

 

I adored him anyway--

    And I knew.

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Sunday Scribblings - Yummy

Pot au feu with Sara

a drizzly Sunday in le Marais
under a warming heat lamp
we shared pot au feu
and your first escargot

some souvenirs are simply
yummy

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Sunday Scribblings - Fantasy

fantasy--

reality hyperbolized

manifested desire

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Sunday Scribblings - Idea

A collage from an altered book made several years ago

ideas are impossible to tame

 

like house guests

they appear at the most inconvenient time

(but they are missed much more

than the uncle who noisily snores

and farts in his sleep)

 

why do these gypsy ideas

restlessly wander away

when i welcome them with open arms

and ready pen?

 

i long to hitch a ride

on their colorful caravan--

spin tales like campfire dances

and wear a tambourine for a crown

 

 

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Sunday Scribblings - Kiss

your lips are a

night moon

 

and mine, the sea.

gravity

pulls me

routinely toward you

 

creating

powerful undercurrents

 

sands shift

landscapes alter

 

then

calm

smooth as sea glass

 

until the next

kiss

after wave-crashing

kiss

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Sunday Scribblings - Destination

Destination

 

my destination is

just on the other side

of a window--

exposure

of and to

the elements

 

 

my destination is

a mirror that shows

what lies

ahead

and

behind me

for Sunday Scribblings

Sunday Scribblings - Anticipation

infant eyes--
anticipation
then wonder

As I was assembling this collage, I recognized a familiar sparkle in the infant's eyes. The sparkle reminded me of a photograph I took in July of my niece's new daughter, Yzabella. Perhaps the resemblance was so striking because the infant in the collage is my mother; hence, Yzabella's great-grandmother.

I began to consider whether the familiarity of the glimmer in the infants eyes was familial or simply the universal sparkle of anticipation and excitement that comes when almost everything in the world is a new experience. I would like to strive to always retain that child-like anticipation and view the world as a place to always learn and experience new things.

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