My first SmittenKitchen baking attempt was a disaster; I thought Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes would be perfect for St Patrick’s Day, considering my love of Jameson, Bailey’s, and stout beer, but my attempt ended up severely stuck the silicone (i.e. notoriously non stick) cups. However, I was determined to enjoy some of the delicious cakes I’ve seen since I started reading her site. My second recipe was chosen by my husband for his birthday in August (although I ended up making the cake a few weeks later). Thankfully he chose a single layer affair without any fancy decorations. The results were delightful and sentimental (it tasted so much like a torte from the old, but now defunct, Old Europe that I used to eat on our early dates). This cake was easy, but it tasted like a professional effort. It is definitely one of my favorite cakes for both its appearance and taste.
For our third legal anniversary, we pondered and agonized over several delectable cakes, and we ended up with the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake. The original recipe is for a three layer cake, but I only have two round pans so I made two layers and some cupcakes. Although I tried to eyeball it, the batter distribution between the pans wasn’t equal which resulted in one layer being much thicker than the other. I did not overfill the cupcake tins, but the silicone cups were not again not as non stick as I thought they should be when I purchased them. I also tweaked the recipe a bit: unsweetened not too smooth peanut butter (in lieu of smooth commercial peanut butter) and an entire cup less of confectioner’s sugar for the frosting (next time I will probably knock it back an additional cup). Deb at SmittenKitchen provides a page of layer cake tips as well as advice with each recipe that have really helped me make better looking cakes.
After our amble around Nob Hill, North Beach, and Chinatown, we returned and got ready to bake in our finery. Fortunately, the dress code was casual with the bride and bridesmaids in embellished daisy flip flops and the groom and groomsmen in Chacos. Even so, it was hot. We have lost the record for having the hottest wedding ceremony ever (Key West in October at 10am, and everyone was pouring sweat). Hot is hot is hot, and I hate sweating in dry heat just as much as I hate sweating in Georgia. We had a ten minute stroll to the Powell St BART then a forty minute train ride (the fare is less than five dollars!) out to Pleasant Hill then a fifteen minute shuttle to the ceremony, which provided ample opportunity to get mussed up.
I know it sounds cliched, but the ceremony was just beautiful. They were married under this fantastical oak tree on top of a hill with views of the surrounding valley. Her parents’ home was full of light, and the ground were littered with little touches (like the sunflowers in the bowling balls and the flower fountain).
While I expected my favorite part of the ceremony to be the reading of “Invitation” by Shel Silverstein by a friend of the bride’s son accompanied by an interpretive dance by a friend of the groom’s daughter, I was really touched by the bride’s sister-in-law’s reading (“The Invitation” Oriah Mountain Dreamer).
As to my concerns about the wedding fare, they were washed away with the first hors d’oeuvre I popped into my mouth (Checkers Catering handled it). I saw three trays circulating; one of shrimp on a wonton chip (I don’t do shrimp so I didn’t try this one), a stuffed mushroom, and a caprese slider. The sliders surpassed the others, with cherry tomatoes so ripe and sweet and tangy coupled with creamy fresh mozzarella and a basil leaf; the serving trays had a balsamic vinaigrette in them so each slider came dressed. The main buffet started with a fresh spring mix salad then a mashed potato bar followed meat and poultry stations with rolls (I didn’t find the portabello mushrooms and when I was directed to their location I had missed them); of course, there was plenty of beer (two from New Belgium Brewery and Miller Lite with a Sierra Nevada keg making a late night entrance) but with the heat the white wine was hit hard and early. The cake was nice and moist, and its frosting was not overly sweet.
Between the heat, sweat, the morning wander with another full day planned, and an hour trip back to the city, we were ready to head back around nine. I begged to wait to see them off, but the taxi had already been called. If only we had known that we would pass the limo on the way down the driveway we probably could’ve held out to send them on their mini moon. Like we did, they will be taking their real honeymoon after the wedding dust (and excitement and stress) has settled.
We used a taxi five times during our week long stay with two trips being to and from the ceremony. The forty minute train ride cost $4.90 one way, and it runs every twenty minutes from around 4a to after midnight five days a week (Saturday it starts around six am, and Sunday it starts around eight). Public transit done well rocks!
Earlier this week my husband received a call from his step-father that his mother was in the hospital on a ventilator. For the past several years she struggled with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, and on Thursday morning she took her last breath. It seems so strange to think that she will never make another smart ass comment with her dry sense of humor, or open her arms to hug my neck (or tell my husband to hug my neck for her as her normal phone ending). She was a strong willed and highly opinionated woman, and when her symptoms first arose a year or so before our wedding she promised she would be there with us in Key West and would be walking. She did just that, and it really seemed that she had kicked its ass. However, it wasn’t finished (nor is there a cure) so we leave again to attend her funeral and say good bye for now. Barbara, I’m sorry that you didn’t get to hold any grandchildren, and I hate that I won’t be able to enlist your painting skills on our next round of home improvement.
I cannot stress enough the importance of a living will or an advance medical directive. Barbara was about ten years from retirement age, and shit happens indiscriminate of age. It is heart-wrenching to see someone on life support; with all the stress everyone is under in these situations it just make sense to have the patient make the decision for how they want to treated ahead of time.
2009 Healthy Youth Act plans to change North Carolina’s sex-ed from abstinence only to an abstinence based comprehensive curriculum. This is great news, and it needs vocal support against the usual suspects. I fully support this change, but I wish there were some mention of masturbation as another option; what else kills the two birds of relieving sexual energy and providing 100% protection against pregnancy or disease? Masturbation is the only middle road between partnered sex outside of a faithfully monogamous relationship and no sex. I don’t necessarily envision instructors demonstrating techniques, but masturbation isn’t a dirty word or act. Dr. Jocelyn Elders was ahead of her time fifteen years ago. However, I suspect we will have to wait another fifteen or more years before masturbation can come out of the closet. I didn’t catch this on my first reading, but this morning I had to laugh at: “a mutually faithful monogamous heterosexual relationship in the context of marriage is the best lifelong means of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS”; I guess not all mutually faithful monogamous relationships are safe. Below is the email I sent to the House’s primary sponsors with my other state elected officials carbon copied. Surprisingly I didn’t receive a reply.
In the tradition of Thanksgiving, I want to put it out there.
I love my husband and the almost ten years that we have been together. We met young, and we have evolved; I could not be so happy without him. I look forward to the next fifty years together, traveling and having a merry time. He has expanded my tastes in food, and he patiently taught how to ski.
Thanks to my wonderful four legged fam for all the wet noses and furry head-butts.
Jasmine
Millie & Mr
Kayo
My hereditary people fam aren’t too bad either; our wedding was met with such joy, love, and support. and wow, the cake was delicious.
Amaretto Cream Cake
Blessed be, Brother Otis. Although I only embeded the part of the festival that made me fall in love with Otis Redding, I recommend watching all three videos in the series; better yet, you should purchase the entire recorded performance. I have to give credit to VH1 for airing the entire recorded performance sometime in 1999-2000 which turned me on to Brother Otis.
I cannot think what my life would have been like without the music that I sing when I am pissed or happy. I have tried to include a good groove like a good mixed tape to put you in the right mood. This is a somewhat random pick of my favorites, but I cannot claim it is comprehensive in any sense of the word.
We have accomplished six and a half weeks of being a one car household. I am so proud of my honey for bearing most of the sacrifice, although I am jealous of his thinning waistline. A few days ago we even left the car parked in the carport all day long as I rode my much improved bicycle, and he took the bus. Thanks so much to Asheville Recyclery; however, please do not be fooled by their website: they are located behind the French Broad Food Coop at 90 Biltmore Avenue in southern downtown Asheville. Although my dry-rotted nubby mountain bike tires have been replaced by slicks, my saddle is the most uncomfortable piece of plastic in existence, and my gear shift has a mind of its own. I will ameliorate these issues and become a brave bike commuter along the quite dangerous Highway 25A (aka Sweeten Creek Road). Additionally, I will continue to ride the bus on the weekends to get downtown to grocery shop even if I do have difficulty reading the schedule correctly. Due to my idiocy, I was able to walk a few miles from the North Asheville library to Greenlife lugging a backpack full of cognac, brandy, capilene and socks from the Ski Country tent sale, an Andrew Jackson biography, my grocery shopping bags, and a purse with a hand on the fucking cooler (for the groceries that were not to be). I walked all that way (and believe me for someone as sedentary as myself that is one long fucking walk) because I cannot read the bus schedule, so I guess I paid a physical stupid tax today.
The other reason for our celebration (which we will postpone due to us both suffering from nasty early season colds) is our second wedding anniversary. I agree that two years of married bliss doesn’t really deserve a grandiose celebration, but come January it will be ten years we have shared. I met this wonderful man on my birthday, and we shared French toast at IHOP after seeing some punk band at a bar that doesn’t exist because it either went out of business or someone drove their car through it.
I didn’t really think of myself as the marrying type, but I love this man. I really wanted to stand in public and say it; I wanted to profess my undying love in front of our family and friends. It was so wonderful, and I love being married to him. I don’t feel that anything really changed from our cohabitating or living in sin days, but damn, I love calling him my husband.
The only thing that sucks about being married is the constant query of where are the kids? I will leave that for another post.
I spent the weekend at the Trinumeral music festival at lovely Deerfields in Mills River, NC. We had a great camping spot below the Ocho stage with grass rather than dirt underfoot. The weather was absolutely amazing, especially since we are in what are normally the dog days of summer. Attending festivals like Trinumeral restore my faith in humanity. It just feels so good to dance and play surrounded by such beauty in both the natural surroundings and the people. My least favorite part is the litter and the trashing of the porto potties.
This time we were also blessed with Bearly Edible; their grilled cheese is “world famous” because not only does it provide a tasty breakfast, lunch, or dinner, but it is cheap (they sell for $1 a pop before tip). I was quite happy to enjoy their pesto mozzadilla a good deal more than the grilled cheese. It was only five bucks, but the pesto was so fresh and good that it was worth more. Last week we planned on using pesto for our pizza only to discover that our garden didn’t have enough basil. We ate some store pesto, and it was not at all satisfying. I think last week’s experience definately made the Bearly Edible’s pesto that much more delightful. Our last festival experience was marred by the absence of BE, and they saved us this time as our planned burritos went for a swim when the crappy, plastic freezer bags failed to stay closed (I might add these bags are the stupid more expensive named brand).
Although I enjoyed seeing most of the bands (I must exclude Lotus and Particle from this), Laura Reed and Deep Pocket were my favorite I’ve never listened to band. The worst scheduling conflict occurred on Saturday night when we had to decide between Midnite and Stephanie’s ID, but really Stephanie’s ID had no chance as we have numerous occassion to see them (in fact we caught them at Bele Chere a couple of weeks ago).
Today I am attempting to come down from the clouds and get grounded again so I can do some laundry and grocery shopping. However, I really think I am going to make my very own hula hoop because I always enjoy watching the hoopers get down. I have a whole year or more to practice my moves for the next awesome festival that comes to town.
Thanks Trinumeral, Laura Reed and Deep Pocket, Deerfields, Bearly Edible, Midnite, Custard Pie, GZA, Galatic and Boots Riley, EOTO, Artvandalay, Incognito Mosquito, East Coast Dirt, Secret B Sides, and Snake Oil Medicine Show.
