F16’s Don’t Kill People, 500 Lb. Bombs Kill People

Pumpkin and figs might not be an obvious combination, but it’s a good one.

I’ll be sitting at home this weekend waiting for the ice-storm. They’re predicting a major ice storm and I live in the country. Our main road out of here is on the school bus route, but when the storms hit on the weekend they don’t always get to us right away.

I’m somewhat glad I don’t have a television to scream at me about the impending weather. I don’t mind going to the NOAA page and reading it, or even flipping on the weather radio, but I just cannot stand the near-maniacal local broadcasts where they monitor each snowflake as the storm travels across the plains.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Now that the CDC has decided being slightly overweight (up to about 30 pounds) actually increases your odds of longevity-you might as well have some cake.

(Break out the goose-fat, we’re having chips tonight!)

My gut feeling (oh ha-ha, "gut" I’m so clever) is that there is a quality issue at play that would be difficult to track in a study. If the weight came from fried chicken and Twinkies it might have different consequences than weight from eating peasant breads slathered in butter. Maybe not, perhaps the key to a long life is a Big Mac a few times a week.

At any rate, the fifteen pounds I’ve been lugging around on my arse since high school thinks you should have some cake-and this week’s Apple Coffeecake is a good place to start.

Because obviously, I didn’t get enough calories eating Halloween candy. Actually, the fake-chocolate they use in candy now sort of made the Halloween haul less satisfying. Even my son turned his nose up at the Twix bar.

So I baked a cake that started out sort of healthy. Buttermilk banana cake-so light, so natural, so good for you…unless you fill it with caramel and then coat the whole damn thing in a bittersweet chocolate glaze.

But bananas are still really good for you.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

THIS. Oh just go have a look at it. I wish I’d thought of it myself.

-But somehow the execution really failed. Go have a look at my silly cake this week.

Want to see the very pretty pink pie I baked? It’s Rhubarb Apple.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Lemon spongecake with lemon curd.

Considering this has been the only thing I’ve been able to eat in a couple days I’m sort of biased in thinking it is a fantastic cake. I don’t know, do you think not throwing up is criteria for considering a recipe a success? Eh?

My plans for the holiday weekend are to crawl back into bed, shut the door, and sleep while my spouse is around to watch our son. Well what did you think I was going to do for recreation, go shopping? I’d take a long, hot bath but we live on a farm and this time of year, with all the water use what’s left stinks to high hell. I could deal with the sulphur/rotton egg odour, but this smells like (I know this will sound weird, but it’s true) beef boullion cubes. Not even real beef broth-but that strange chemical/metallic/ beefy odour. Now you don’t really think I’m going to waste a capful of my precious, rationed Shalimar bath salts to soak in that, do you?

Maybe I could toss in a handful of dehydrated vegetables and make bathwater soup.

Mandarin Orange Cake.

The Nebraska State Fair begins this weekend. I don’t expect I’ll be going (walking around state fair park in pouring rain-what fun) but it does make me think I ought to deep-fry something innovative, you know as a sort of homage.

My husband once battered and fried a piece of left-over pizza when we lived in Boston (Raymofo might remember that) and he claims it was delicious. I was wise enough to decline the offer of a taste. I know the British deep fry candy bars, but that doesn’t do much for me. We have a popular sandwich around here called a "Frenchie." It is a deep-fried grilled cheese sandwich. I’m not sure what’s so French about it (the use American cheese) but at least it survived without being re-named a "Freedom Sandwich" when we were all about hating the French.

This is almost embarrasing to admit, but I’ve never made a single doughnut. In fact, I’ve probably eaten ten or fifteen doughnuts in my entire life. I know, you’re right, it is sort of a failing, or at the very least, reflects a serious character flaw. You really ought to be suspicious of people that cannot appreciate deep fried dough.

The very worst deep-fried thing I’ve eaten was a dill pickle. Given that I loathe cucumbers in just about every form, I wasn’t too terribly impressed, but had to eat it to be polite.

You may chime-in with your "Celebrate State Fair Week" fried food suggestions in the comments.

I baked this at 7 AM because it is so hot here I dare not light the oven after nine. We’re going to be suffering through until next week. My clothes dryer picked today to break (because it is so humid clothes would never dry on a line) that’s just swell.

Last night’s thunderstorms were pretty scary. Two nights ago the storms blew a fuse in our well (I’d not realised the well even had a fuse) and last night it managed to mess-up the computer modem. So keep your fingers crossed that we don’t get storms tonight as I’m not sure we can afford to replace anything else.

-Now with poetry! Aw, go have a look, I made an apricot gateau.