CSI (Cats, shoes and iris)

I don't pee on the floor anymore! Mom says that is progress

Myron

I still chase Myron. But I'm quite the love bug, or so Mom says!

Mitchell

~~~~

New shoes:

Comfy, cute and perfect for summer!

~~~~
And Iris, blooming in my yard!

A good year to be an iris

~~~

And cupcake talk to boot!
I decided to make Martha Stewart’s Strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream icing. Notice the picture at the link. The cupcakes were a small disaster. Not a huge disaster, but one that went on a different path than I expected. They were not very pretty and not very cupcakey. But more like a cake with fruit. Delicious in their own right. But not a cupcake in the traditional sense.

The buttercream frosting? I am telling you that it was so beautiful and so delicious it would make you weep. I kid you not. It was the best frosting I had ever made.  A bit labor intensive but worth it. And then? I put the strawberries in the mixing bowl. Holy frosting, Batman! I have never seen something change texture so fast as that. It went from a masterpiece to something that needed to go as quickly as possible to the trash can, curdled and awful looking. I shut the mixer off and gazed, disbelieving into the bowl. Disgusted, I left it there for a little while. I went back a while later and tried to whip it more.
No dice. It was beyond saving. I guess it was just the healthy eating gods trying to convince me that frosting is evil. Check mate, then.

I may write to Martha and seek her advice on that one. (I wonder if she’d answer me?)

But more importantly? I have stewed enough about my lack of cake making skills that I am now thinking of enrolling in the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts Techniques of Baking series.

Take that, frosting!

Well this is a fine predicament I find myself in

A broken blog is cause to fret for a 365 person. I guess the old blog does not like all the usage. It used to have a break now and then and now? It’s expected to work every day, all day long.

So, welcome once again to my Substitute blog. I must reiterate that there will be no spit balls flying around just because this is a substitute. That goes for YOU in the back too!

I was going to make fun of myself because I misnumbered the posts, thanks to LoriG for giving me a bit of a smack on the head about that! I always hated numbers.

But making fun of my numbering skills seems dull now, you know with the BROKEN BLOG! It gives me a headache just thinking about it. I do think that my movable type needs to be upgraded or some such thing or so Kim told me the last time this happened.

Here’s a picture of the beauty in my yard right now. This is my favorite time of year in the garden. (PLEASE, for all that is good and holy, say the word GARDEN with some quotations around it! Like this: “GARDEN”. You could even put in a question mark there: “GARDEN??” That works too)