June 30th
Yesterday I baked. I put on my favorite apron, pulled out my favorite cookbook, bundt pan and spatula and spent the better part of three hours shuffling tins of sweets in and out of the oven. It was blissful.
I’m not sure why I love baking as much as I do, but it is a simple pleasure. I truly enjoy playing with recipes, displaying my baked goods on pretty platters and happily gifting them to hungry recipients. I was joyful yesterday — humming along to music in the kitchen while I worked. It reminded me how good time at home to be creative is for my soul.
This weekend’s menu of heart-clogging, fabulously sweet treats:
Damn Good Chocolate Cake cupcakes, from “The Cake Mix Doctor.” I added a dash of cinnamon and cardamom to the top. They’ll be served tonight at a dinner party with a dollop of whipped cream.
Cardamom fudge brownies. Can you tell what my new favorite spice is? I love the earthy smell. I wasn’t sure how a brownie recipe would do in a madeleine pan, but these turned out nicely. Imust point out, however, that you have to give them plenty of time to cool in the pan or you end up with a mess.
Ahem.
You want a giant cup of milk right now, don’t you?
These are my peanut butter and honey cookies. They will be packed away in my luggage, along with the brownies, for a weekend trip to the beach with friends. I suppose if we can’t find milk, margaritas will do.
I spent a few minutes dreaming of my imaginary bakery and how I’d display my cakes in the windows each morning.
Happiness at home indeed.
Happy long Fourth of July weekend to all my American friends. To my British buddies, better luck next colony. Ha ha! (Just teasing.)
~K
- Posted in
- Domestic Art, Recipes
June 30th
- Posted in
- Domestic Art, Swap
June 29th
There are times I forget that my family and friends read this site — like when I stupidly announced to the Internet I may have TB. Lordie, my cell phone started ringing off the hook. Needless to say, if you think you have a communicable disease, it may just behoove you to tell your loved ones first, rather than the entire world at once.
Good news — No consumption here. The tests are back. Thanks for all your well wishes. I’m actually sorry I brought it up. Nothing worse than being a hypochondriac.
I’m baking, sewing, and working from home today. Yay! Love days like these. Just a reminder, today’s your last day to sign up for “It’s a Wristlet World” swap. Tomorrow I’ll be sending out the matches.
Cheers,
Kelli
- Posted in
- Domestic Art, Journal
June 28th
Thank you for your concern yesterday. As luck would have it, I’m feeling great today (without having yet filled the prescriptions, mind you.) Tomorrow I’m taking the day off for medical tests and the such, but I should have said in the previous post that I think my doctor is a quack and I’m just fine.
Sorry to have cried wolf. I’m certain I’m fine, but going forward with the suggested tests just to put to rest my parent’s worries.
~
Following Aimee’s lead, today’s simple pleasure: swimming. I am swimming four times a week now, and am starting to gain some strength in the pool. In particular, swimming butterfly. It exhausts me like nothing else, but makes me feel powerful and graceful.
Today’s material pleasure: Neutrogena’s new shiny lip gloss. Love it. It is comparable to Lancome Juicy Tubes for 1/5th of the price. And it smells fruity and pretty too!
What’s making you smile?
~K
- Posted in
- Journal
June 27th
I went to visit a family doctor this morning, something I haven’t done since I saw a pediatrician. Seriously.
It’s not that I’m scared of visiting the doctor, but more that I’m really, really lazy. I’m also really, really healthy — usually. I eat well, exercise daily, wear sunscreen and all that walking-the-public-health-talk sort of stuff. But I’ve been home for three weeks from my latest international journey and the funny thing is, my stomach is still acting like I’m in Rocky Point, sipping tequila between bites of dogg-o tacos.
So, I made an appointment and guess what he told me? (No really, I couldn’t have guessed this either.) Apparently traveling to countries like Mozambique and Nicaragua and working in public health makes me a wee bit susceptible to our dear friend tuberculosis.
I may be the only person on earth who knows how to gain weight when possibly infected with a disease fondly known as CONSUMPTION. My God. What could this bacteria be consuming? Certainly not the weight around my mid-section. Or all the food that has been exiting my body exactly three hours after I’ve eaten it. Oh stomach, how you torture me.
So this week I’m spending my margarita budget on the not-so-glamorous or nearly as enjoyable chest X-rays, blood tests and antibiotics. Lovely.
The doctor had the gall to ask me if I’d be “doing this work for a long time?” Why yes, yes I will be. I love my job, although this bonus was not detailed in my contract.
~K
- Posted in
- Public Health, Travel
