Saturday 10/05/2025
May. 10th, 2025 10:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lhune posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
3_good_things_a_day2) Finished reading a good book and already started a new one ^_^
3) Wearing a dress I love
Edit 11:45 because it made me smile
4) Lots of people helping each other on public transport, even the ones you wouldn’t expect it from ^__^
he had not allowed an inherited runner to score
May. 9th, 2025 09:25 pmmusesfoolPoker Face season 2 started last night. Here's that trailer and good lord, that is a lot of guest stars.
I'm trying to decide if I want bake something this weekend and if so, what. Could be a chocolate cake. Could be a lemon tart. Could be something else entirely! I really dislike that the lack of a dishwasher is making me consider it all very carefully, because I also have things I want to cook for dinner tomorrow and Sunday, and I hate having a sink full of pots and pans to be washed. I guess we'll see how I feel tomorrow.
Today work was suddenly stupidly busy after a couple of days of being quiet, but I logged off a 5 and took a lovely nap (I stayed up too late last night reading fic) and now there's baseball. It's hilarious to me that the Cubs tried to claim Chicago Pope but it turns out that he's actually a White Sox fan. Talk about a team needing a miracle, yikes. Though the Mets could use a little divine intervention right now, or at least a pitcher who can throw strikes. *eep*
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Dear Diary
May. 9th, 2025 01:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
cakewrecks_feed[Thursday, May 6th]
Dear Diary,
Today's my first day decorating at the bakery! I'm going to keep a photo journal so I'll have a ready-made portfolio when I open my own cake shop. I'm so excited!!
8:45 am
My piping skills might need a little work:
10:00 am
Spacing is HARD!
10:45 am
Spacing's getting better, but I really need to figure out how to fix missteaks mistakes:
The guy who picked this up kept going on about how I "double-crossed him," and laughing. Must be a Game of Thrones thing.
12:45 pm
Woohoo! I have mastered the art of chocolate drizzle!
I know it's good because customers keep stopping to take pictures of my work!
1:30 pm
Another success! I had a really complicated order but I was extra careful to write it all down exactly and now the customer wants to see my manager!
I'm totally getting a raise!
2:45 pm
Huh. I really thought Kalhteen's mom would be pleased, but she seemed kind of grumpy.
I guess she doesn't like rainbows.
4:00 pm
Woohoo! Carol says I'm the best decorator in the whole department! She even let me try my first cupcake cake to celebrate:
Who's number one? It's me!!
Thanks to Trisha B., Phillipa P., Monique R., Maggie D., Kim B., and Eric S. The road to disillusionment is so much more fun when traveled with friends.
PS: Let the Princess Bride jokes...BEGIN. ("You don't happen to have six fingers on your cupcake cake, do you?")
*****
Because some days call for more than coffee:
"Probably Whiskey" Enamel "Coffee" Mug
(The listing really does have "coffee" in quotation marks, ha!)
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Friday 09/05/2025
May. 9th, 2025 10:23 amdark_kana posting in 3_good_things_a_day2) Going to do some cleaning up in my kitchen, I'm feeling productive
3) Normally I would go out for dinner with some ex colleagues, but one fell ill, so lazy evening with hubby and daughter instead ^^
May Theme - Deep Clean - mid week anti procrastination
May. 9th, 2025 08:40 ampeaceful_sands posting in bitesizedcleaningHappy May to Everyone!
May's theme moves on to the idea of Deep Cleaning parts of our home. It's an opportunity to really concentrate in on getting in and making a difference while doing a serious clean of areas in your home. Depending on your particular position in regard to your space on how you tackle this and what you might want to take it to mean.
My thoughts are that this could be an opportunity to pick up those tasks that we don't need to do so often - like windows and carpets but I know that in certain areas of the house, intending to clean the carpet for me is a step ahead of where I am so rather than cleaning the carpet what I really need to do is get rid of the extraneous clutter and really clear the carpet space so that cleaning it becomes an option later.
So interpret this how best suits you - if it best suits to work towards creating the environment where a specific type of clean becomes possible, that's good too.
Week one's focus is on windows and doors. So it might mean clean windows either inside or out (or both if you have time and energy and ability to do so) or it might mean clearing/cleaning the space near the window so that later you have the option to work on the window. It might mean giving a door a good clean to rid it of dust that's accumulated and sticky fingerprints or just making sure that you've got rid of those germs that build up on handles.
Monthly plan
Week 1. Windows and Doors
Week 2. Carpets/Floors (this can be giving an area a thorough vaccuum/brush/wash as needed or clearing more of the floor that later this because an option)
Week 3. Bathroom - take a bit of extra time to clean the grout between tiles, deep clean the sink/bath
Week 4. Curtains or revisit - speaking personally despite all the other issues I have with keeping my space organised and as clean as I want, I do like to try and wash the curtains once a year to reduce dust and allergens - when I do this somewhat depends on time and weather - trying to get the curtains washed and dried in a day so that I can get them back in the windows in time can be a struggle. So I shall put it here as an option because even if I got just one set done I'd be pleased but if the weather isn't in my favour then it's a good chance to carry on tackling one of the earlier areas as I'm sure I won't have finished them all.
We'd love to hear how your work on this week's 'Windows and doors' challenge progressed. Remember even a 10 -15 minutes stint could have the inside of a window clean or a door wiped down properly. Have a great week.
Asparagus Stir-Fry
May. 8th, 2025 09:25 pm101cookbooks_feedThis asparagus stir-fry reminds me of the ones my dad would make for us as kids. He took Chinese cooking classes at the local community college and would do a version similar to this – using chicken in place of the tofu. We loved it and it was one of the rare ways I would enthusiastically consume green vegetables. So picky. I’ve play fast and loose here with the herbs and vegetables, and tend to put this into recipe rotation the night before going to the farmer’s market. It’s a perfect way to use up any herbs, greens, and vegetables at the end of the week.
Like many stir-fries this version requires a bit of commitment on the front-end – slicing, dicing, and chopping. All completely worth it. Each time an ingredient hits the hot pan, the scent unfurls toward you in an intense bouquet. Just from the small, just absolutely know it’s going to be good. Asparagus and tofu form the base of this ensemble, but it has quite a lot going on beyond that. You get a bite of tang from the lime, heat from the red chiles and fresh ginger, mint and basil cool things down. A touch of hoisin sauce gives you just enough sweetness to balance it all out.
What if I don’t have Hoisin Sauce?
You have other options if you don’t have hoisin sauce on hand, no problem! It’s salty and a bit sweet, so you can do a splash of tamari or soy sauce instead, and sprinkle a touch of sugar (or brown sugar) across the stir-fry. Or skip the sugar and use the soy sauce. You could go even simpler and just salt to taste – skipping the sauces altogether. Basically, you want it to taste good to you. You could also go the no sauce route and finish with some chili crisp.
A few other variations from the comments and people who have cooked this recipe:
- Peggy mentions, “I don’t have hoisin on hand, so I used tamari and veg broth with a seaweed/sesame seed mix from Eden Foods. I also added some shiitake for texture, flavor and nutrition. And not having fresh mint or basil, added some dill instead (very little).”
- Love the red pepper angle from Kathy B, “Made this last night and it was GREAT! Added some slivered sweet red pepper. Served it with a mix of mahogany and brown rice. Never thought of lime rind and juice for a stir fry and it made all the difference.”
- Also noted this version from Tiff, “I substituted fresh squeezed OJ and chopped jalapeño cause that’s what I had on hand and it still turned out great.”
Stir-frying: Keys To Success
Making a great stir-fry is fast, hot, and furious. If you’re new to this style of cooking, I want to re-emphasize a few basic tips.
- Prep in advance: get absolutely everything chopped and measured.
- Get organized: This might be over the top, but I like to arrange my ingredients near the stove in (roughly) the order they’re going to be added to the pan.
- Turn on your fan and/or open a window: This just keeps things from getting too smoky.
- Be ready to eat: The last thing you want is for your beautiful stir-fry to sit around steaming. It’s so hot it will continue to cook after you transfer it from the pan. Ideally, you want to serve it as fast as possible for the best experience, texture, and bright flavors. So, set the table and get beverages ready before you start cooking.
More Asparagus Recipes
Continue reading Asparagus Stir-Fry on 101 Cookbooks
'Til we're saints just swimming in our sins again
May. 8th, 2025 05:47 pmmusesfoolAnyway, my ears are unclogged and that did leave me slightly dizzy, which was surprising but I guess makes sense since balance is regulated all up in there.
I guess the really big news that other people care about is: the Knicks are up 2-0 on the Celtics!!! In WILD fashion. 2, 20-point comebacks in a row!!! Bing bong! Go New York go New York go! Now, I'm a playoffs-only kind of Knicks fan, and to be honest, I'm a last 3 minutes of the playoff game kind of fan, but oh boy, these 2 games were insane!!! The group text with my college friends, which is mostly dead most of the time, LIGHTS UP during these games since they are all big Knicks fans. Let's hope they can keep it up and shock everyone by winning the series!
There was other excellent sports news yesterday too: the Mets won, and Soto went yard twice! The Panthers lost! (I kind of hate that this means I am technically rooting for the Maple Leafs because that never ends well, but I really hate the Panthers.) And the Stars won! Another hat trick for Rantanen!!! Woo! I'd like the Stars to win, for
Okay, okay, I guess the really truly big news is that there is a new pope and he's from Chicago! I don't think he's one of the weirdo super conservative ones, and I'm curious as to what his chosen name signifies - there hasn't been a Leo since the late 19th century. I'm only a lapsed Catholic, but the rituals still hold some fascination and after having watched the movie Conclave recently, I was interested in seeing how this one would play out. (I also wondered if we'd see a schism from the weirdo super conservative Opus Dei types and whether there'd end up being an antipope from one of those factions. I wonder if electing an American was a play to hold that off, but who knows.)
Anyway, after I was done at the doctor's I went and got Shake Shack and it was delicious.
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kingarthurflour_feed
It started with the garden focaccias — pretty, pastoral scenes made of vegetables meant to emulate a sun or a flower or even a starry night.
I thought the trend would fade, but turns out it was merely the warning shot in a coming campaign, and proved what many bakers now know to be true: Focaccia is a blank canvas on which to project just about anything.
The post Focaccia is the ultimate blank canvas: Here's what bakers are doing with it: Focaccia can be anything you want it to be. appeared first on the King Arthur Blog.By The Book
May. 8th, 2025 01:00 pmcakewrecks_feedSo what really happens when you order a cake from the bakery's big book o' plastic kit designs?
LET'S FIND OUT.
Amanda D. ordered this Cars design, which was not only in the bakery's book, but also on a giant banner behind the counter:
Even so, Amanda made sure to ask if her cake would look exactly like this one, and was assured it would.
Which was, well, half right:
I was about to point out how nice those yellow lines on the bottom are, but then I realized they're just another piece of plastic. So never mind.
Oh, but for the full effect you really need the side view:
You can almost see the cake tipping over in slow motion.
Jessica W. ordered this design:
I still think sticking stuffed animals on a cake is kind of questionable, but hey, who am I to judge?
Especially when the end result comes out looking this good!
As you can see, it's exactly the same... toy.
For this next one I'm going to show you the cake first, just so you can experience the same bewildering confusion I did until I looked up the original e-mail to figure out just what the heck it's supposed to be:
Any guesses?
No?
Aw, c'mon. Look reeeeally hard!
It could be there's MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE. Eh?
Ok, ok, here's the design:
Yeeeeah. I'm pretty sure the toys aren't going to help much this time, Bronwyn.
Sam's baby shower was jungle themed, so she asked for this Dora design with some "jungle animals" on it instead of the toys:
Aaaand this is what she got:
John actually wanted me to pull this one because it's "exactly what she asked for." (Don't worry; I'm checking his temperature as we speak.) Still, I decided to leave it in as a valuable lesson in advertisement vs reality. And also so I can get some support here: This is fugly as all get-out, right? It's not just me?
And finally, my favorite of them all:
Wyatt ordered this Star Wars design, but I guess the bakery ran out of the toys? Maybe? Wyatt doesn't say, but I'm guessing that's what happened, anyway.
So, are you ready for this?
Aw, what am I saying? You'll never be ready for this.
Sha-pow!
THAT'S NO DEATH STAR.
Thanks to all of today's wreckporters for the reminder that not just brides-to-be have to be afraid: WE ALL DO.
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I got distracted looking up all the different kinds of Pillow Pets out there, and then I found the clear winner:
Pillow Pets Triceratops
A teal and orange dino!!
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Thursday 08/05/2025
May. 8th, 2025 11:27 amlhune posting in 3_good_things_a_day2) Sun and higher temperatures make such a difference after the clouds yesterday
3) I’m reading a good book
