Quickie Updates

So I don't have a whole lot of time to post a whole bunch of stuff, but I figured that some updates were in order:

First of all, that angel food cake I talked about a few posts back - well, it finally got made after a rendezvous with more than two dozen eggs and a crying yelling fit. So here's the story:

One Saturday about a ten days ago, I decided it was time to go ahead and knock that sucker out. I'd been looking forward to making that glorious from-scratch Chocolate Angel Food Cake for WEEKS... as you well know. So I went through the tedious dry-ingredient-sifting, egg-separating process that goes along with making the perfect AFC, made  my meringue, folded and sifted some more, and finally got that beautifully prepared batter in the oven. I had my oven pre-heated to 350 degrees and I baked that cake for 40 minutes as called for on Gramma B's recipe. When the timer went off, I took it out and hung it upside-down on a bottle for an hour and a half - you have to hang it upside-down so it stays airy and fluffy, don't worry, I'm not nuts. Anyway, after the hour and a half cooling time, I went back into my kitchen after watching a movie to pass the time only to discover that my cake was NOT done cooking as it should have been and proceeded to fall out of the pan in chunks all over my kitchen counters. I screamed with rage, and then I cried. Seriously... something so perfect and beautiful should never have something so tragic happen to it.

So the next day, I woke up bright and early to head to Schnuck's for another eighteen eggs to try again. I would NOT be foiled in my attempts to bake my favorite cake. No Way Hosay. Well I sifted, I separated, I meringued, I sifted and folded. This time, figuring out that the difference was the electric oven (I'm used to using gas), I cranked up the temp to 360 and left that baby in there for an extra five minutes - not daring to even so much as open the oven door to check on it. Needless to say, it was perfect the second time around. Ask the many people who have been over to sample it. I made my wonderful chocolate whipped cream frosting, topped that beautiful cake, and shared it with my friends and myself. If ever you're in need of a birthday cake, just ask... I'll make you one.  : )

My ghost, Pauladine, still lives with me... nothing new there. I did find out that she resides in my utility closet and probably haunts my air conditioner. She's gotten louder lately and I figure it has something to do with the warm weather.

the beginnings of the nest

Pigeon and her Man

In new news (haha new news), I have a cute little  pigeon nested on my windowsill next to my kitchen table. I watched her and her man build the nest last week, and she's been sitting there ever since. For those of you in Cape, they built this nest on the day of that really brutal storm, it survived and so did they... it was crazy. I called my Gram to tell her about this, because I knew that she was the only one who could be appropriately excited for me... I was ecstatic! I can't wait for the ugly blue babies!!

More new news: I am now the proud owner of a smart phone! An LG Vortex... it's crazy. It's going to take me forever to figure it out. Oh yeah, and I told the guy helping me that I blog... and he said he'd have to check it out. He's probably going to be all, "Wow... this is incredibly lame... pigeons and angel food cake". Oh well. I swear I'm not actually lame.

Also, I got a job today!! YAY EMILY!!! I am now an extremely part time worker at Gymboree! For those of you who are unfamiliar, Gymboree is a children's clothing store. Doesn't that sound perfect?! Kids and clothes - my two favorite things!

Oh yeah, and Geometry is keeping me unbelievably busy. Sixteen weeks worth of material is NOT meant to be smashed into a three and a half week pre-session course. And I'm good at geometry... I can't imagine what this is doing to people who hate the subject!!

... well this got a lot longer than I intended. Oh well.

Much love to the readers!