Msdeeney

She got the benefits of having both a little brother and a big brother.

(submitted by Merilee)

C’mon, ya know you’d like to have some of this action! Sure, I’ve gained a little weight- but you’re lookin’ at the Round Mound of Pounds!

As spotted on the CO Twitter, c/o @PausePaz.

Writes our submitter in Phoenix: “Apparently, the baggage handlers at Southwest did not appreciate my ‘love note’ baggage tag and felt the need to respond — in permanent marker.”

Adds our submitter: “In my defense, I would like to point out that my bag was 46 lb., which is still under the airline’s weight limit, and I, at 5’2″, had no trouble lifting it.”

related: If the TSA was in charge of the office fridge

Time is a gift.

I know this because everyday feels like no one has time for anything ever.  I’m not complaining.  I’m not above it.  I’m all up in it.  No time?  Guilty as ever.

Sometimes the best gift you can give someone is your time.  Time at a new restaurant for one of those extra long lunches with pink wine and comfortable eye contact.  Time at the dog park with a friend… when you’re mostly scared of large groups of dogs.  Time on the phone when it’s late and your phone is over-heating on your face.  Time in the kitchen making a very (very) special cake for the woman that took the dang time to carry you around in her body for nine dang months.

Time.  Gosh it’s such a gift.

Let’s find some and share it with each other.

It’s time for cake!

No time for intimidation.

Ingredients can smell your fear.  An awesome cooking teacher once told me that, and it’s totally true.

If you can whip together a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies, you can tackle a triple layer cake too.  I believe in you (and so does yo’ mama)!

Softened butter is creamed with sugar then beaten with eggs  The mixture will look a bit curdled.  Don’t fret.  It’ll come together with the help of cake flour.

We’re kicking this yellow cake up a notch with white chocolate chips.  They melt while baking, but once the cake is cooled and frosted, they lend a nice sweet crunch to the cake insides.

I’ve been known to eat white chocolate chips by the handful.  Help.

While the cakes bake I made the frosting and filling.  The frosting:  simple whipped cream, lightly sweetened, with a hint of rose water.

Rose water smells as good as you’d hope it might.  It is, afterall, a distillation of rose petals.

In the whipped cream frosting, rose water lends more of a fragrance than taste.  It’s subtle, delicate, and just… pretty!

Finely chopped white chocolate chunks and sliced strawberries fill this cake.  Such goodness.

Also… if you look too closely into the tablespoon, you can see me taking this photo in my green pants.  I’m glad you can’t see my hair.

Cakes are baked and cooled completely before frosting.

If you’ve ever tried to fudge it and frost a slightly warm cake, you know what a disaster this can be.  Learn from me.  Cool the cake.

I lined the edges of my cake plate with three thin sheets of parchment paper.  Lining the area around the cake will keep the cake plate clean after the cake is frosted.  Just shimmy the parchment from underneath the cake and you’re good to go!  Mmm hmm.  Easy.

Each layer of cake is topped generously with whipped cream, studded with fresh strawberry slices, and sprinkled with white chocolate.

I want a piece exactly right now.

I understand that frosting a cake can seem daunting.  I totally get it.

Back in the Stone Ages when I started this blog, I wrote a little tutorial about How To Frost a Cake.  Check it out if frosting a cake is a stressy prospect for you.

Tremendously helpful cake frosting tool:  a warm glass of water.  Cleaning the frosting knife with warm water makes smoothing the frosting easier.  You don’t want to fight frosting with frosting.  That never ends well.

Find the prettiest roses you can get your hands on.  Put them up to your nose for a deep inhale.  Then… rip their petal heads off.  Cruel world, I know.

I placed the center of the rose petals in the center of the cake.  Then generously arrange petals circling around the cake.

Your inspiration should be a show-stopping amount of petals.  Get in the spirit!

 Everyone should have a go-to, fail-safe yellow cake recipe.  This is that!  Deb from Smitten Kitchen knows her way around a cake.  It’s moist and tender, but still solid enough to withstand a bit of manhandling, stacking, filling, and frosting.  Cake flour is an important part of this cake recipe.  It keeps the cake light.  If you don’t have any on hand, you can make your own cake flour too!

Rose-scented whipped cream is totally divine and mom-friendly.  If you aren’t able to find rose water, you could also add a splash of pure almond extract, just a touch will do.  Strawberries are in season, but maybe you’re more of a raspberry person.  Feel free to switch it up.

Do you eat the rose petals?  Well…. no.  I used the rose petals for decorative purposes only.  Once the cake was sliced and plated, I removed the rose petals and got down with the cake.  Also, cake will last, frosted and decorated in the refrigerator for several days.  Just on the FYI.

This cake is brought to you as part of the HonestlyYUM Mother’s Day menu with floral design by Twig and Twine and dishware from Dish Wish.

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I can smell my neighbor’s bacon.

That’s not a euphemism.  If it were, you’d have permission to kick me in the shin and be officially grossed out.

I can literally smell my neighbor’s bacon.  His kitchen window meets my bedroom window, and I actually feel lucky that I don’t have to pay extra rent for a daily bacon alarm clock.

A good while ago, I found myself standing in a kitchen full of fancy chefs talking about the glory of a proper peanut butter and bacon partnership.  I was suspicious.  I had to test the partnership with crumbly and crisp Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies.  If you like bacon… if you like crisp cookies, you will consider these cookies a grand success.  I thought they were so bonkers that I also included the recipe in my cookbook.

I figured that if wonky flavor combinations could be cookied, they could just as easily be pancaked.  Also… sliced bananas and maple syrup make everything breakfast.  Let’s just cross this line.  I’ll call my neighbor, he’ll bring the bacon.

We’ve made pancakes here before.  We aren’t being completely revolutionary.

In this incarnation, we’re also mixing all-natural peanut butter and crisp-cooked bacon to the buttermilk batter.

It’s hard to chop crisp bacon when all you want to do is sneak every little chopped piece into your mouth.  I speak from experience.  May a few extra slices of snacking.  This comes from experience.

Letting the pancake batter rest for a few minutes while the griddle heats is ideal.  The batter thickens a bit, creating mega fluffy pancakes.

These pancakes have a surprising and incredibly delightful savory quality.  The salty bacon pairs with the nutty butter and creates some deliciously (almost mouth-confusing) savory notes.  Douse the pancakes in pure maple syrup and we’ve achieved the coveted sweet and salty combination.  It’s dreamy delicious!  I found myself eating these pancakes fresh from the skillet while standing over the sink.  No table, chair, or fork required.  The unique combination speaks for itself:  crazy good.

It’s the weekend!  Let’s go.  Let’s go!

Vinnie The Bun shows no sign of disapproval at having things stacked on top of his head. He’s even got his own Tumblr blog, YouTube videos, and twitter account!

This horse gets his BIG smile on during a Revolutionary War reenactment.

“Best photo bomb ever,” comments Sender-Inner/Cuteporter Nancy K. over theyah in Noo Hampshah.

My old roommate Joey had a theory about names.

“Basically, everybody should get to pick their own,” he said one Sunday morning, lazily sprawled across the couch flipping channels, his pale and hairy belly sticking out of his undershirt. “I mean, why should the biggest part of my personal identity be chosen by somebody else? Sure, you’d have a lot of six-year-olds named Superman, but we’d consider it a placeholder until they changed it to reflect their personality.”

He then sealed his airtight argument with a giant belch that filled the room with the smell of midnight gyros and we didn’t talk about it again.

Until now.

It’s been a few years, but I’m starting to wonder if Joey had a point there somewhere. Parents pick your name for you, and sometimes they come up with pretty strange ideas. But is there anything wrong with unique names? Well, maybe, maybe not. For thought-provoking discussion, let’s ask these celebrities:

10. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin – Apple. There’s something a little ripe about naming your kid after a piece of fruit. Just ask my friend Pear Rodriguez.

8. Robert Rodriguez – Rocket, Racer, Rebel, and Rogue

4. Bob Geldof and Paula Yates – Fifi Trixibelle, Little Pixie, Peaches Honeyblossom, and Luscious Tropical Mango

This map from the CDC shows why obesity in the U.S. can be considered an epidemic. As the GIF progresses from 1985 to 2010, the colors used to represent obesity in each state move steadily from lean blues to fatter oranges and reds. Though the GIF suggests that the epidemic is most intense in the South, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham suggests people in the South may just be more honest in self-reporting their weight.

You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.

(submitted by Ansel)

This MSN story says K-9 Parish Comfort Dogs are soon headed to Boston in the aftermath of the terrible bombing. Quoting the story, “The golden retrievers were brought to Newtown, Conn., to provide comfort to people of the community after the shootings. ‘Dogs are nonjudgmental. They are loving. They are accepting of anyone. It creates the atmosphere for people to share,’ said church president Tim Hetzner.”

Photo from the K-9 Parish Comfort Dogs FB page.

Okay, straight up: you know those big kettle drums you see in the symphony? The ones being pounded with padded drumsticks by a bald guy in a tuxedo? Well, the sound of rain from inside the tent feels like living in a kettle drum.

Now, let’s be honest. The best thing about the sound of rain inside the tent is that it means you’re inside the tent, not outside in a thick and wet T-shirt, on your mud-splattered hands and knees, trying to hammer some plastic stakes into the mushy ground. Yes, putting up a tent in the rain is pretty high up there on 1000 Annoying Things, a non-existent netherlist which also features #1000 Walking into spider webs and #999 When someone says the punchline to the joke you’re telling.

The sound of rain from inside the tent feels safe, secure, and sort of comforting. After all, you’re out in the elements, safe from the elements. You’ll get the marshmallow roasting sticks later, you’ll build a fire tomorrow, but for now it’s just time to lay back on the bumpy sleeping bag, put your hands behind your head, and smile.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here and here