Thursday, December 15th, 2022
Friday Five
TGIF!! I hope all of you in the tornado areas this week are okay. I was thinking of you ( and you specifically, Silver!). Now it’s time to dive into sharing five random things about our week. I’m trying to write mine in a 10 minute window of time I have, LOLOL!! It’s been that kind of week. So here we go!
- I’ve baked three kinds of bread and at least six double batches of cookies, and two eight inch cake layers so far. I have another double batch of cookie. All that is mostly in the freezer, and my freezer is bulging at the seems. I still have a double batch of pistachio cookies to make.
- I’m trying to find time to make fondant toppers for the vague and ever-changing cake design in my head. I need it by one p,m, on Sunday, so we’ll see if I get this cake done! So the cake was supposed to be a white chocolate cake that I’ll add layers of raspberry filling too. But I could not find the white chocolate instant pudding I needed, so I substituted cheesecake flavored pudding. I think that flavor will work with the raspberry filling, but my baking is always an adventure! I also planned on making some chocolate cupcakes, but I’m so short on time and freezer space, I don’t know if that’s even possible.
- My oven is getting mixed reviews. I’ve been using convection bake, and it’s slower. My cake and the cupcakes I’ve made in the past seem to do well. Cookies are mixed, some are underbaked, and my zucchini bread came out weird — flat and sticky. That’s either too low a temp with the fan blowing in the convection or my baking soda or powder is old. But the other breads baked fine so who knows. The chemistry in making is mysterious sometimes.
- Our family Christmas party is Sunday and that’s why this week is crazed. Well that and things just got out of control like they always do. That’s life!
- Today we hope to go to see Turbo in his pre-kindergarten Christmas play, and then we’ll go to dinner with Turbo and his family afterward. It’ll make for a long day so we arranged from Maggie to have an overnight spa weekend for her. She’ll get to play with friends and get her bath, and probably be mad at us:-) But it’s better for her and for us.
Okay I wrote then in like 12 minutes!!! Now it’s your turn, can you beat my time??? I hope everyone has a fun, safe and not too overwhelming weekend!
December 16th, 2022 at 8:10 am · Link
Wow! This popped up on my RSS feed last night but I waited to respond until this morning. You’ve had a busy week! I’ve never used a convection oven so not sure I’d be able to adapt. Sounds like most of your “trial and error” is coming out success rather than oops. That’s good. Enjoy Turbo’s play I bet he is awesome, as will be all his classmates! Okay, my five:
1. First cup of coffee of the day–Cafe du Monde cafe au lait. I’m in heaven, but not New Orleans. This week, I discovered that my Wallyworld is now–apparently–stocking the Cafe du Monde brand. I snagged the last two cans on the shelf. And yes, I will be hoarding it! (The next nearest place I know of is on the other side of the metro at a Vietnamese grocery. We stopped going during the pandemic lockdown so you know how long its been! ☕
2. Speaking of “apparently”–Stormy, wearing his serious face, asked his Big Daddy on the way home from school yesterday if he had heard of “Zelda.” This is an old skool video game Stormy’s mom played at his age! BD/LG explained that. Stormy nodded solemnly and with appropriate hand gestures announced, “Apparently, a new version is being released this spring. Like around my birthday. Apparently.” LG couldn’t keep a straight face while he told me the story though he did manage to just nod and agree in the truck.
3. The really big news of the week is I have new garage doors! They work! Except they only lock from the inside, there’s no way to open them from the outside (no handle and no way to unlock). Good thing our one garage door opened still works, though it needs to be replaced after the first of the year, and the other door is basically for “cargo” and ease of access. The garage is warmer, Drover is happy inside, and Pete is glad the “fuss” is over.
4. Pete story of the week. LG put in a new cat door for him. After spending two hours in the cold on Wednesday, LG gave up. He needed longer screws and he also figured out the instructions (written by the Chinese where the thing was manufactured) was “backwards” on installation. On Thursday, he had to go 5 different places before he finally found screws that could be used. Lots of commiseration from the service people at each stop. This morning, Pete “played” back when Loki “patted” at him from behind the door. The two of them engaged in a short play “slap fight” for the first time. Loki was inordinately pleased. Pete just rolled his eyes and meowed something about youngsters followed by “Where’s my gushy fudz?!?” 😸🐱👤
5. And finally, a bit of Christmas fun. I did a lot of Christmas shopping on-line from Amazon because Only emailed me a link to Amazon wish lists for Stormy and Baseball Boy. Several of the packages were arriving by Amazon delivery so I was watching the “track package” link periodically. Normally, it is just a green line with circles that says “shipped,” “out for delivery,” and “delivered.” Well, the line was just over halfway to “delivered” when I checked one time. The next time I checked, a street map came up showing the neighborhood and there was a Santa’s sleigh not far away on the map. And there was a note: Santa is one stop away. I watched the sleigh move along that street, turn the corner and head up my street until it stopped in front of my house. I was laughing when I answered the door and explained to the delivery driver why. She thought it was awesome and had no idea the company was doing that. Only works with Amazon trucks but hey! It brightened my day. 🎅🏼
All the ordered stuff is now delivered and porch pirates–who are rampant this year–are no longer an issue for me. I still have one gift card to get today and then stocking stuffers. Jake and I will be on a mission to get it all done today. Then last grocery run before Christmas on Monday, Siberian cold hits on Thursday and stays in the teens/single digits until after Christmas so I’m not getting out! Except on Christmas day. Anyway, hope everyone had a good week, has a great weekend, and that holiday preps are well in hand. 🥰🎄❄
December 16th, 2022 at 8:13 am · Link
No tornadoes here. Wow, you’re a baking tornado. I bow before your gumption. Sorry your oven isn’t quite doing everything you need it to. Bummer about the zucchini bread. Yay for family Christmas party time! Yay for Turbo time and Maggie spa day!
1) My co-worker is getting married tomorrow. And then she’s off on her honeymoon, so we’ll be a little short-handed for the next few work days and I’ll be taking her later shifts. :shrug: It’s worth it. She’s so cute and so in love. It gives me a happy.
2) I don’t have a lot of time this morning, but I still can’t do this in under 12 minutes. I spend more time than that thinking of what to say.
3) Our moms got their Christmas gifts and opened them and like them, so my work there is done.
4) I think I need new glasses. Growing old sucks. Do not recommend. LOL
5) Another of my co-workers tried to convince that I needed not one dog but two. There was an older pair of dogs at the shelter and she thought I should adopt both. Yeah, old dogs? Nope. Two? Nope. I couldn’t do that to Hubs, since he’s the one home all day to take care of everything now. When he’s ready for a pet, he’ll let me know.
December 16th, 2022 at 4:19 pm · Link
1. Wow! You have been doing quite a bit of baking. Your freezer must have an expanding side 😂.
2. Cheesecake and raspberry sound SO yummy.
3. Getting used to a new oven is hard. I asked my mom about her convection oven. She said she hasn’t baked much here in the States but used the one in France. She said she generally had to drop the temperature called for in a standard recipe (not convection oven recipe) 5 degrees. Convection ovens cause a reverse outcome if baked too long. Instead of dried out, things become super moist. That was her experience.
4. Have a fantastic time at the family Christmas party.
5. Oh I bet Turbo’s play was so much fun to watch. How nice to give Maggie a SPA day too.
1a. Hubs is supposed to go see Harrison on Monday. He now has a cold. We’ll see what happens.
2a. Hubs got a call that his sister who was given 4 months to live 6 years ago is now on life support. I don’t think she’ll wait much longer to go be with the Lord.
3a. Youngest and I are supposed to go see my mom tomorrow. We’re a bit worried about the lake effect snow that is coming in but to be honest I drove it all the time when I was in my 20’s. My guess is he will have no problem with it either.
4a. I still have nothing for hubs for Christmas. If he doesn’t tell me something ASAP he will get nothing. We learned a long time ago to make sure we buy what the other really wants.
5a. I’m in great need of wine and think I will have two glasses tonight instead of just a small one.
Have a fantastic weekend and enjoy the party.
December 17th, 2022 at 1:07 am · Link
Silver, the oven is both regular and convection, and electric, so it’s a learning curve. Overall it’s working, but some things are just a learning curve. The zucchini bread baffles me, though. I made a second batch thinking I just made a mistake but it came out the same. I’ll eventually solve it.
1) Yay for finding the perfect and hard to get coffee!
2) LOL on Stormy! He made it subtle by throwing in “Apparently.” Don’t you wish LG had videoed that convo!
3) I get Pete’s not the only one glad all the fuss is over. Congrats on the new garage doors! Invest in the new openers — it will be worth it! Hopefully this makes bad weather easier for you too.
4) That had to be so cute! Loki has another cat who knows how to play! I know the dogs are clueless on proper cat plan. I’m so happy Pete’s becoming part of the family. You have a knack for helping animals adjust.
5) That’s fun! And I wish I saw the sleigh! I’m not tracking anything from Amazon at the moment. Glad you and the driver enjoyed it!
Wow you’ve got Christmas under control! I’m impressed. And you definitely need to stay in through the cold. Have a great weekend!
December 17th, 2022 at 1:19 am · Link
B.E., The zucchini bread is so baffling. I use a base recipe for the zucchini and pumpkin. When I make pumpkin I omit the vanilla and zucchini and replace it with pumpkin puree. So why would one rise and one not? Both baked at the same temp in the same pans and conditions. Baffling! I don’t have time to redo it again, but whenever I do, I’ll try it on regular bake rather than convection.
1) It sounds like you are really happy for her! And you’re helping her out by covering, but it will make for a long week for you. Hope her wedding is amazing and she has a great honeymoon.
2) I pretty much knew what I was going to write, so I was able to go fast. Some blogs I flounder forever trying to think of topics.
3) That’s a great feeling!
4) Sorry you need new glasses. It’s a pain at the very least. And yeah, growing sucks, but the alternative isn’t something I recommend either
5) I always laugh when people tell me I need two dogs. Or when people think that the way to solve a problem dog is to get a second dog. But back to you, you’re being really smart about this waiting for Hubs to be ready. It’ll happen when you both are ready. But it’s always tempting for some of us (like me!).
December 17th, 2022 at 1:28 am · Link
Viki, your moms experience is interesting, I’ll research that once I get past the weekend. It may be doing something like that with the zucchini bread because the zucchini has such a high water content?? I have no clue, but this gives me a direction to research it. Thanks for the info!
1) Hope Hubs recovers extra quick! My cold was annoying but pretty mild.
2) I’m so sorry about his sister. It’s terrible sad news, but she sure beat the odds to live that many years! I wish her peace and your hubs and all the loves ones comfort as you all go through this with her.
3) I have to defer to you and your son’s judgement on this since I don’t live or drive in snow. Just be careful! I know you really want to see your mom though.
4) I’m all for getting each other what we really want. Hope hubs tells you soon!
5) Hope you had your two glasses of wine! We had none as we were out
If you go to your moms, have a safe trip!