Thursday, September 24, 2009

Bits and Pieces (just like head cheese without the gelatin)

Ugh, I recently saw a picture of a slice of head cheese and I was truly disgusted. How does that qualify for the title of cheese? There's no cheese in that. I don't think they sell that around here. But yeah, this post is like that, except there's no tongue involved.

  • The fence: Hey, it's a work of art, all N-8 feet of it. There's just that last section that... is still not done. It's very weird, but I have faith that Hot and Hotter will return to finish if only because they haven't gotten paid yet.
  • The chiller for the aquarium arrived today. Yay! Unfortunately I am not feeling like figuring out the installation tonight, and I'd rather be around (and awake) when it's first installed, so I'm going to wait until the weekend to set it up.
  • It's Jojo the Enforcer's birthday today!
I've been reading a bunch of stuff about cakes lately (in preparation for the Lego/Star Wars birthday cake that will be made, and damn it Eric, we do too have enough talent to make it), including the absolutely hilarious Cake Wrecks. (Just go look up the origins of the phrase "Happy Falkersatherhood". Really. It will make your day.)

Anyhow, I was reminded of the first "special" cake I made, which was for Jojo's second birthday, which would have made me not quite thirteen. It was the first cake I'd ever made from scratch, and I hadn't really done any baking at all up to that point. I mixed it all up and put the pans in the oven, and then looked at it in dismay twenty minutes later. All the oil had risen to the top, and the solid components were flowing like lava at the bottom of the pan, with occasional gaseous burps. My mom took a look at it and asked "How much flour did you add?" and I replied "There wasn't any flour in the recipe." Well, yeah, there really was, I just missed that line. Whatever.

Try number two was better. Eventually it had pink icing and little marshmallow elephants held together by toothpicks. Sort of like Rvan's infamous "Spikes of Death" meal, but different. It just goes to show that you shouldn't even try to make a meal that requires toothpicks to stay together...

9 comments:

jeff said...

I have 'high hopes' -- like the song, but better.

And usually, I love spinach.

Theresa B (of Nebulopathy) said...

Yeah, usually I like spinach, too.

I think high hopes, just like the song, is appropriate in this case.

Karen said...

I had to google head cheese. Ew.

The pink elephant cake was for me right? I wish I remembered it better. I remember running around in the backyard and not being allowed inside because someone was making a cake for me. That was exciting.

Jeff and Charli Lee said...

You're welcome!

At least I'm assuming I am the only one who's posted a picture of head cheese lately. ;b

Theresa B (of Nebulopathy) said...

Jeff (from St. Cloud): Yes, you are the one responsible for clouding my mind with that "food". Up to now I'd heard vague mentions of it, but had never been curious enough to go look up what it was. Sadly, there's no way of unknowing something...

K-poo: You may be right. Darn. That would make me two years older when I made it. Oh well. I'm glad you got to be excited about it anyhow.

It's probably best that you don't remember the actual execution of the cake. I think I got the recipe and decorating idea from a Good Housekeeping magazine, so you might be able to dig it up that way. I suspect their photo looked a little better than my cake though.

jeff said...

theresa reading Good Housekeeping. Just the thought of her doing that at any time of her life gives me a good chuckle.

Theresa B (of Nebulopathy) said...

Jeff, I was reading Good Housekeeping. While sitting on my butt. It's not like I was actually practicing good housekeeping...

johanna said...

I can't say I remember the cake, but I remember the pictures! Now that I have my own, um, darling angels, I am even more impressed with your (or GH?) ingenuity. My last cake was LAME. I just wish I didn't feel such guilt every time I even consider buying a store-bought cake.

Theresa B (of Nebulopathy) said...

Jo, do kids even really care about what a cake looks like as long as the appropriate name is on it? I think store cakes generally taste really bad.

Did you take a picture of your last cake? You know, just for posterity's sake, not so I can make fun of you or anything...