Cupcakes 101

The weekends are always hectic for me - with lots of work. I usually don't post much because I'm just too tired. Yesterday I did a pastry shift, which is always fun.

Today, Peggy and I drove to Portland to attend a culinary class at the Oregon Culinary Institute titled "Cupcakes and Cookies." Just a note: I did not sign myself up for this class! Ugh! Anyway, it was kind of fun. The instructor demonstrated brownies, cookies, and a frosting. Then we were all set loose with ingredients and equipment to make things from the list of recipes she provided. I was disappointed that the recipes were really basic. I don't think we learned much. Peggy and i agreed that we'd give each other a secret signal if we wanted to ditch the class early. But we ended up staying anyway. The nice part was that we got to take home everything that we made.

A funny story about this: There was a couple working next to us. During the chaos of mixers whirring and people shoving trays into the oven left and right, we ended up grabbing their cupcakes from the cooling rack. All we did was put their cupcakes on a cooling rack. Anyway, the teacher came up to us and said, "Oh, I think these other cupcakes are yours." And then the lady made this big fuss saying "Oh, that's where our cupcakes went!!" and Peggy was joking with her to try to lighten the mood and said "Sorry. I guess i managed to piss you off." and then the lady said "You just about did." ha ha ha ha what a b*tch!

Anyway, Peggy offered some of our cupcakes for her to take, if she wanted, but she refused. "I just want my cupcakes!" ha ha The funny thing was that our cupcakes came out really beautifully, and hers hadn't risen as well. She also had made some chocolate chip cookies, but they all came out flat and runny. I mean, chocolate chip cookies! C'mon! it's not rocket science!

I started chuckling and gave Peggy a pat on the back to make her feel better. What was absolutely hilarious was the lady put her entire tray of cupcakes on their work table for the rest of the class and refused to put them back on the cooling rack! So, she and her husband ended up having very little free space on their table to work because it was taken up by the tray! Lady, we don't want your freakin' cupcakes! ha ha ha

Whew! Maybe it was all of those Kitchen Aide mixers going at once "reeeeeeeeeereeeeeeereeeeee" at a high squeal that made that lady fritz out. I just feel bad for her poor husband. He seemed very nice.

Rainy Day... Go Figure

Only one sunny day allotted at a time. I worked for Teresa today so that she could go to Vegas! She's so cute and wonderful, it's always easy to cover a shift for her. We're training some new people lately, so that's kind of exciting. Dylan spent the day garage sale-ing with Gma and Gpa. I think he had lots of fun!

A Sunny Day

Today was a nice, sunny day. The first in a long time. Dylan and I went to the park and he met and played with another little boy named Carter. Then we went for some lunch at Peter Pan. Dylan's did a good job of saying hi to Carter. I realized all of a sudden that it would help Dylan if I introduce him to other kids. duh! It seems like it totally breaks the ice and instead of them fighting over playground equipment, they run around together instead. Carter and Dylan even tried to play some tennis together (with lots of supervision from myself and his mom!)

All in all, a good day of successful socialization!

The Accordion

This painting is... almost finished... i guess? I don't want to obsess over it too much, but I'm still not satisfied with it. I think it would look good on a wall that is painted a warm red or orange.

Finished Painting

So, I think this painting is finally finished. I ended up changing her mouth from before, and i really did like it better back then. Oh, well. It has a different feel now,-- much more subdued--- which wasn't exactly what i was going for before. But there's only so far that I'll go to rework a painting. I may just try another version in another painting.

Sometimes the first strokes I put down are the best, and then I second guess myself and change them, or try to refine them, and later I regret it. -but not too much! I'm still satisfied with this painting.

Another Dog Walk

Dylan and I stopped by to pick up Oscar and Trask for a walk on the dike.

Air Mail!

I finally got a letter from Heather in Korea! It arrived yesterday. :)

This is What I Want to Do!

I found a website for an annual fiddle convention in Port Townsend. It's a series of days to spend with other musicians jamming and learning old American fiddle tunes. I SO want to go!! One day, maybe....

Market Day

I had a fun day working with Corey at the Sunday Market! :)

Holy Balls of Hail, Batman!

What is up with this weather?!!

Days Like This...

The wind is howling, blowing, storming. Rain again.... and again.... Astoria, to me, is like the home country. Many Americans look back at their lands of heritage with fond eyes. But if the same Americans went back to their homelands and actually lived there, they would understand why their ancestors left the damn place!! Wet, dreary weather, isolation, and hopelessness is what Astoria means to me on days like this. It's like a heavy hand on the back of my neck, pushing my head down while I fight to stand up straight.

I'm sure tomorrow will bring a brighter, better day. But for now, I'm not enjoying this drop in barometric pressure.

Budding Artist

Dylan took a whack at painting yesterday. It all went well except that the palette fell on his toe and he now has blue paint permanently in his hair.

more painting....

Tackling the ginormous canvas that I bought last year... The colors are not at all where i want them to be. It's just a layout of what might be to come...

Ride the Peace Train! *clap*clap*clap*

Dylan insisted that I "ride" along in his Thomas the train tent. Bunnies and the soft blue doggie came along for the ride as well.

Strawberry Flowers at the Beach

More photos from a walk we took yesterday at the beach. It was the second sunny day since the last one posted. Only one sunny day at a time!

Amateur Photographer

So, I gave Dylan the camera on our last walk to the dike and he had fun taking some pictures....

"Don't Take A Picture... I'm Busy"

That's what Dylan said to me this morning. He decided all by himself that he was going to wash the dishes! Crazy!

Scary Movie

In my quest to check out the filmography of Ewan McGregor, I decided to rent "Nightwatch" from 1997. I really can't handle scary movies anymore. Good thing i had the fast forward button! Still, it was a good suspense.

Number 2 is doing well. She's not too keen on going outside these days. She's taking her antibiotics and getting lots of rest.

I hope I can sleep!

A Note About Raccoons

The vet did tell me that raccoons normally get along with cats very well. But, sometimes if they are in heat or they have some babies around, they will suddenly attack. There is a hole on the neighbor's property where they seem to be living. Mike has threatened to detonate some seal bombs in their hole.

I don't think that would go over well with the neighbors.

Number 2 Uses Up One of Her Nine Lives

So, last night, I forgot to call in Number 2 from outside before going to bed. We called for her earlier, but she didn't come in. Anyway, usually if a cat's out for the night, she'll end up banging on the basement door, then we'll hear her, get up, and let her in. Well, at about 2 am, I heard all this cat fighting outside! I ran to open the front door, and I heard this horrible snarling and yowling and screeching, but I didn't have my glasses on. I barely made out that there were two raccoons that had Number 2 cornered and were beating the crap out of her. I ended up yelling and clapping my hands at the raccoons to let go of her, but they barely did. Then we ran around looking for Number 2... She finally came limping in the back door. She was dragging her foot behind her and I was convinced it was broken.

We put her in the bathroom for the night until we could see the vet in the morning. Luckily, she just had some puncture wounds and did not break her leg! Whew! So, she is doing fine after some pain meds and antibiotics.

I often would joke about how the cats drive me crazy, but deep down, I never want something bad to happen to them! I told Mike that he has my blessing to feel free to shoot raccoons with his paintball gun any time he wants!

Sam and Josh

I stole this photo from Pearl's sister's pictures. It was just beautiful.

A Sunny Day! NO WAY!

Today was the first real sunny day that we've had in a long, long time. Dylan and I got out the pool for some fun. We got Luka to come over for a BBQ, but Corey was driving back from Portland, so couldn't make it. :( It was fun anyway. And Luka lent us a good movie to check out too...

A walk with Bodie

Dylan and I went for a walk with Bodie on Thursday. It was lots of fun!
You can see Dylan in one of the shots telling Bodie "You need to stretch before you run-- like this!"

More photos...

Martin, who is 7 years old, was kind enough to make us all crowns for our cleaning party. We are Queens of Clean.

Bakery Makeover!

So, I had a master plan to rearrange the pastry work area.... and I can't believe it, but it worked! We had an all staff meeting, a pot luck and then after that, so many people jumped in and helped us move equipment and clean... it was beautiful! As Matha would say, "It's a good thing."