out of hiding

Okay. I'm here. I'm back from SC, am almost unpacked, and have been to what is probably the best District Convention ever. But that's all I'll say about the DC...I don't want to give any spoilers.

Instead I'll tell you what's been going on with me. I'll work backwards.

I made a really, really good strawberry ice box pie last week. I'd like to share a picture, but I didn't take one. Sorry. The recipe came from the latest issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. I read the recipe and thought it looked good and like something I'd want to make and eat. I went to the market and the strawberries looked great. So I bought a 2 lb box. I came home and pulled out the magazine. Alas, I had not gotten the called for sugar free cranberry juice. What was I to do? I had orange juice? V8? lemon or lime juice? None of those seemed right.

Then I remembered how much we like balsamic and strawberries. So instead of a 1/4 c of cranberry juice, I used 2 T each of water and balsamic. It was to die for good! Mom thinks I should email the Martha Stewart satellite radio station. She's says the read letters like this all the time. I don't know.

The pie had a graham cracker crust, and a homemade whipped cream topping. I baked it in this beautiful cobalt blue ceramic pie pan that a certain aunt bought me. Thanks!

Now on to things that I can document with photo graphs.

The reason for this trip to SC was to be there for my Allen-boy's first day of school. It was Wed 5/20. Why did I go on the 15th? Because Dad was in town that weekend. I couldn't miss that could I? (On a related Dad note...the PA house has sold. Mom is there now packing up and organizing Dad's move. They will be in SC together in 3 weeks! Whoohoo for Mom and Dad!) Back to my trip.

On Sunday, after the meeting, we went to this really good pizza/sandwich place in Beaufort. I was sitting at the end of the table, across from Allegra and beside Allen when Allen begins to sing.



He is such a riot. But this was on his mind at that time.

Monday was his first Dentist appointment. I arrived in time to take pictures.



He was a very brave boy. The dentist's wife/assistant/office manager had put a "prize" away for him (a ball) but then misplaced it. She asked Allegra if he would like a flashlight. "Of course! He would love that," Allegra says, thinking that it's small pen light. Not exactly. This was s full blown large (and heavy) flash light. It's as if the child doesn't have a toy store's amount of toys at home and Nana's.

So on his actual first day of school, I was commissioned to bake a teddy bear cake.


Mom had gotten this pan at William Sonoma in Charleston in November when we were there. She had these grandiose ideas that she and Allen would be bake the cake together. You see, you're supposed to be able to ice the two halves together to make one tall cake.


So far so good. I have 2 teddy bear halves with full formed ears, noses, and arms. After the cooling time, I put one half back in the pan, and slathered it with buttercream icing (homemade, just like that cakes) and then placed the other teddy bear half on top. (At this point I think one of the heads fell off and had to reattached with icing.) There was more chilling to happen in the fridge, and then, like magic, you have a beautiful, tall teddy bear cake to glaze and ice.

Yeah right!





So the other head fell off and the body wouldn't come out of the pan. So I glazed a head and the intact half (which I'm pretty sure was the one with the surgically reattached head). I made rolled fondant icing (allrecipes.com) and made the blue eyes (because Allen's eyes are blue), the turtleneck, the bow tie, and the sneaker. The brown color came from a dark chocolate glaze that I brushed over the cakes, and the "fuzziness" came from Demerara sugar.

It was very tasty. I was very tired. And Allen really just wanted to eat the eyes.

We also had presents for the kid. Without birthdays and holidays, Allen was truly lacking in gifts. NOT! But we made it a party complete with gifts. His Mom and Dad, and separately his Aunt Kristen and Uncle Josh gave him books. Nana gave him a school bus complete with magnetic children, driver, and dog. Didn't your school bus have a dog on it?

Allegra's photos of the gifts are better, so I'll bump you there: http://peanut-cookie.blogspot.com/2009/05/first-day-of-school-celebration.html

I think I'm done for now. I have more that I could say, but I have to go make french fries. When I asked Josh yesterday if we could go to Shaw's Crab House for dinner, he said yes...if I made him French Fries and Hot Dogs for dinner tonight. What a deal--I got eat crab and he get's hot dogs. He's a prince!