On this past dreary Saturday afternoon, I made a chocolate cake for no reason. Except that I wanted one.
The recipe, found on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa container is a winner and has been on the back of that container for as long as I can remember, precisely because it is fail proof. Not to mention delicious.
Now I did not get up on Saturday thinking that a cake was in our future. Instead, following a new pickleball experience, we had lunch at Aardvarks where they featured a 7 Bites chocolate cake on the menu. Except I was too full to order it. Instead, later on, I made my own. Perhaps that cake was better, however, ours has been plenty good enough. Especially for breakfast, an idea that our son-in-law Tom agrees with wholeheartedly. At least he used to anyway. I'll ask him when he and Matt get here in a few weeks for a much needed break from the gloominess of a typical London winter. Indeed, as of this writing, they are finally making the long awaited visit in the first week of March.
Unlike the cake that is always a win, earlier in the week I tried a King Arthur recipe for "Never Fail Biscuits." So they say. My dough gave me a fit coming together and while they tasted pretty good, the look was not so much.
My streak of not being able to make a decent biscuit continues.
The cherry almond scones made last week on the other hand, were yummy. If you've ever wondered what a stick of frozen butter looks like grated, well, here you go.
As you can now see, instead of photography, this week I spent a bunch of time in the kitchen where I will soon head to make dinner.
So I said that we had a different pickleball experience and that was that we played at an indoor facility with six courts.
Raining when we got up Saturday morning, our group decided to head there and see what it was like. A converted Winn-Dixie grocery store, it turned out to be a blast. The concept of using closed stores is happening all over the country because the demand for courts is so high.
Yvette making one of her killer shots below.
We soon learned that stopping play was normal as balls sailed from one court to another!
Bruce wrapped my paddle handle with grip and we brought the indoor balls which are easy to see.
They have a little different bounce than the yellow ones we normally use. They also have far fewer and larger holes than outdoor balls.
A very nice shot of, from the left, Peg, Patti and Mary.
The weather pattern of late has been gorgeous days, followed by rain which brings on a cold front. Maybe cold is a stretch for some when they think of 40's and 50's, but for some that is enough to bundle up. One afternoon was so beautiful that I went to the pool and finished my Japanese murder mystery under the beautiful blue sky.
The tall pines near the lake have been filled with what I started to call "a murder of crows", that is until I
read this interesting piece from the Audubon site. My husband is many things but when it comes to noticing things, I am the better of this couple in that regard. The large flocks of crows have been hanging around for a few weeks now and he just noticed them the other afternoon while reading in the sunroom. The loud cawing of dozens of these birds will make anyone sit up and take notice!
When it comes to doing practical and necessary things, he wins that category hands down. This morning, and yes I am finally getting to the floor, while I was playing pickleball, not very well I might add, he was removing the mirrors, taking down the shower curtain, (a big task in itself), and laying down flat boxes to keep the floors tidy. The counters were cleared, the pretty window and shelf decorations removed, and in general, getting things ready for Herbert's arrival. When I returned the floor looked like this.
Just as Bruce predicted, Herbert was as tidy as one can be while jack-hammering through a slab! He was able to remove seven tiles without even breaking them. Bruce was digging dirt out of the hole when I arrived while Herbert went to pick up a new pipe.
And what did they find you ask? Nothing. Nada. For now it is a complete mystery. He installed a temporary pipe to replace the cut out piece until the plumbers come. Bruce talked to the owner and the plan is to put the camera in again and see what they can see.
For now the floor looks like this.
If we are lucky this will be as bad as it gets, which isn't very bad at all. Breathing a big sigh of relief here. As to what the plumbers find when they come, hopefully this week, I will keep you posted. I was always a little skeptical of the root idea because, although the Camphor trees are plentiful behind our place, I just could not imagine the roots would extend to under the property. The saga continues.
In other news, despite my frustration with the billing department at Orlando Health, they finally did send me a detailed bill. Wow did they ever give me some pain killers along with something for anxiety. You bet I was anxious! Who knew that I had Fentanyl? Morphine too. It did hurt like nobodies business that's for sure. The healing continues and while my wrist will never look the same, there is little pain these days. Can we all agree that it is about time??
Hopefully I have been able to make this post cohesive because I have stopped and started multiple times. I'm just returning from peeling potatoes for mashing to go along with the meatloaf in the oven. Corn will be served to complete Bruce's favorite meal. Lest you think all we eat are baked goods!
In my haste, I neglected linking to an old post in my most recent one. How about I do two this time?
I suggest that whether it is someone's birthday or not, baking a cake for no reason is something everyone should try at least once. Do you agree?
your friend,
Gail
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