Well, that takes the cake.

Cooking and baking are not my forte. I didn’t learn how to cook as I was growing up. I used to watch my grandmother cook, but somehow, as a child, it never dawned on me that cooking was a life skill I needed to grasp. None of the adults in my life ever said “Hey, this is something you need to learn.” As a matter of fact, by the time I reached my teens my mother had announced that she wasn’t going to cook anymore… and she didn’t. Fortunately, my father stepped up to the plate and kept us from starving, LOL.

I did most of the cooking the first few years of our marriage and then Kenn took over. Between the two of us, we kept our family fed. However, I am a much better cook now than I was prior to retirement and it’s mostly due to Hello Fresh. We subscribed to Hello Fresh shortly after I retired. We get two meal kits each week which mean that there are two fewer meals to plan. (Yay!) The kits have also given me a chance to try things I otherwise wouldn’t have. I have learned that I enjoy the prep process or mise en place if you will; I find the chopping, slicing, and dicing relaxing. I have learned that roasted vegetables are easy to make and delicious to eat. I can also now successfully cook rice. Kenn has learned that sweet potatoes aren’t so bad. I can even “wing it” now. Need to cook pork chops without a meal kit or a recipe? No problem. I can whip up a glaze or just use one of the many gourmet (flavored) salts Kenn has gifted me.

Baking is another story. I’ve never done a lot of baking. Baking is far more scientific than regular cooking; you can’t just substitute an ingredient on the fly without possibly ruining the whole recipe. Kenn finds it amusing that even though I don’t bake, baking shows are favorite shows to watch. However, there was one item I baked regularly: a poppy seed cake. I got the recipe from a co-worker probably twenty-five years ago and it became a staple in our household. However, starting several years ago, every attempt to bake a poppy seed cake failed spectacularly. I bought a thermometer to make sure the oven was cooking at the correct temperature; it was. I bought a couple of different pans; neither helped. I wondered if the ingredients of the cake mix had changed somehow so I tried a few other brands; no change. I finally just gave up. Until yesterday.

I didn’t manage to center the round cake on the square plate.

The display on our range failed which meant we had no way to control the oven so we had a technician come out to give us a quote on repairing the faulty item; between the $109 diagnostic fee and parts and labor, it was going to cost over $700 to repair our existing range of unknown age. We decided to purchase a new range and to splurge on one with an air fry feature. An unexpected bonus is that the new range can function as a convection oven. I decided I’d try my beloved poppy seed cake recipe one more time using the convection oven. It worked! True, the cake isn’t as brown as what I’m used to, but it tastes amazing, so I’m calling it a win. I am so happy to be able to add this cake back to my repertoire for family gatherings, potlucks, and so forth.

How do you feel about cooking and baking? How did you learn?

What’s on your phone?

This is one of those weeks where every idea I’ve had for possible posts went… somewhere. So, in a bit of a throwaway post, today’s topic of conversation is cell phones and how they can be personalized. I’ve probably got phones on my mind because Kenn’s phone began malfunctioning a week ago and much drama has ensued. (Even though he denies it, the drama gene is strong in Kenn’s family.) Fortunately, after a trip to the Verizon store, we were able to order a replacement under warranty. Now that the new phone has arrived and is configured, our drama levels have returned to normal.

I’m big on personalizing my stuff, phones included. Kenn has had an impact on my personalizations. Kenn’s home and lock screen have always been family photos whereas mine have been video game themed. I guess you could say that I started feeling a little guilty. Kenn always has a picture of me on his screen. Why did I not have one of him? So, a year or so ago, I changed things up. My lock screen is still video game themed, but my home screen now features Kenn. For a while it was a picture of both of us taken at a wedding, now it’s Kenn and Bear. So, here’s a peek into my world.

The Mass Effect video games are my comfort games; these are the games I go to when my heart hurts, or when I’m missing my virtual friends. (I played a lot of Mass Effect during the eighteen month period in which we lost our remaining three parents.) In Mass Effect, you play as Commander Shepard. I play as a female Shepard, whom I have named Sascha. Sascha’s chosen love interest is Garrus Vakarian. (Garrus is one of the best video game characters ever created in my opinion.) So, my phone’s lock screen is a screen shot of Sascha and Garrus.

The photo on my home screen was taken Christmas day 2024 after our celebrations ended and the kids and grandkids had moved onto other locations. Bear is a fairly social cat and had spent most of the day mingling. I couldn’t help but laugh at him though. Once everyone left, Bear climbed into the chair with Kenn, wedged himself in the corner, and went to sleep. Poor baby Bear was exhausted. Peopling is hard!

Of course, my ringtones are personalized. My default ringtone is my favorite happy, feel-good song: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham! Kenn, however, gets his own ringtone: Still the One by Orleans. Text messages go back to a video game theme. Incoming texts are announced by Kelly Chambers from Mass Effect 2 saying “You have unread messages at your private terminal.”

How do you personalize your phone? Do you use family photos, pet photos, or something else? How about your ringtones? Do you choose one of the ones that comes with the phone or something a little more personal to you?

Seeing Red

Crape myrtles are ubiquitous in the South. Honestly, I’m not much of a plant person, but I do like crape myrtles; they produce beautiful blooms and are extremely low maintenance. Since the blooms are available in a variety of colors, there’s something for everyone. That said, it has taken decades for me to get the red blooming crape myrtles that I’ve always wanted.

Kenn is the plant person in this relationship. When we moved into our last house, one of the first things we did was get rid of the scraggly bushes in the narrow strip of land separating our driveway from our neighbor’s driveway. Kenn said he wanted to plant crape myrtles, which was fine with me. My only request was that we get trees with red blooms instead of the pink ones that are everywhere. Kenn bought the trees, planted them, babied them, and, in turn, they presented us with fushia (aka pink) blooms. Kenn seemed surprised to learn that pink is not red.🙄

When we moved into The Cabin, another (short lived) chance for red blooming crape myrtles presented itself. The previous owners had planted a couple of white blooming crape myrtles of the Black Diamond variety. Black Diamond crape myrtles have dark purplish foliage instead of the traditional green. At that time, what we couldn’t find was a Black Diamond variety with red blooms. So, when we decided to buy additional trees, I sighed, and gave up on my dreams of red flowers and we purchased more of the white blooming Black Diamond variety. What a mistake. Neither of us was pleased with the pre-existing trees or the new ones; they just didn’t grow or bloom.

A couple of years ago, we decided to dig up the Black Diamond trees and replace them. This time, I insisted that we get a red blooming variety. We even drove around the local area while I pointed out to Kenn all of the colors that are not red. You know, things like white, pink, and lavendar. Sometimes I wonder if the man is color blind. We did some research and found the perfect red in a relatively new variety. Meet Miss Frances!

The bright red blooms with the yellow centers are exactly what I have been looking for! I smile every time I see them. Oh, and the Black Diamond trees we replaced? I would have tossed them in the gully and let them decompose. Kenn, however, moved them to another area where they basically get ignored – and they’re doing great, LOL.

Do crape myrtles grow in your area? Have you used them in your landscaping? If so, what color blooms do you prefer?