Torta Caprese

On Wednesday, I am meeting my friends Mary and Sharon for lunch. We will be celebrating being vaccinated so that we can gather safely and we will be also celebrating Mary's birthday, which was on Sunday.

Mary was diagnosed with form of colitis a few years ago and as a result her diet is 100% gluten free. It isn't always easy for her to eat out and often she brings her own gluten-free bun in her purse so that she can have more access to menu items that might come on a bun.

In the past I've tried to find a gluten-free birthday cake for her with zero success. For a bakery to offer gluten-free products they have to have a completely separate workstream and in the case of small bakeries that just isn't possible, nor profitable.

The other day I was watching the program America's Home Test Kitchen on public TV and they were making Italian dishes. The dessert that they made was a flourless chocolate cake called a torta caprese. I watched the demonstrator make the tort and thought it looked pretty foolproof so I decided to make it for Mary's birthday lunch

I haven't baked anything for about five or six years probably, so this was strictly experimental. I found the almond flour at Aldi and that was the only unusual ingredient. The rest of the recipe called for eggs, chocolate, butter, vanilla, and a lot of eggbeater work.

The chocolate & butter melted together.

 

Can't  you almost smell the chocolate?

This is the first time that I have missed my countertop KitchenAid stand mixer since I gave it away about 4 years ago. But my handy dandy hand mixer was up to the task and did just fine.

These egg whites and sugar had to be beaten until they were very stiff and left very firm peaks. That's when a stand mixer is nice to have.

Then the egg yolks and sugar had to be beaten until they no longer look like egg yolks and sugar. Aerating is the key to this cake as there is no chemical leavening agent used.

The combining of the chocolate, the egg yolk mixture and folding in of the egg whites resulted in a quite firm batter that looked almost chunky as a result of the almond flour consistency.

I do not own a springform pan so just used a layer cake pan and then also made six cupcakes to see if this recipe would work in that format.

Everything was going along so swimmingly that I got feeling pretty confident and decided I could put a design on top of the finished cake using a piece of parchment paper and some confectioner's sugar to dust a design. And it worked great. Except when I pulled off the parchment paper I spilled the excess sugar onto the cake. Whoops. But I think she'll get the idea. And actually confectioner's sugar can sometimes have a bit of gluten so I didn't want to cover the entire cake with the design. And I did not intend for the snowstorm of look.

I tried one of the cupcakes and I think this is a very tasty dessert. Very chocolatey but quite light.

I think Mary will be very surprised if not shocked to see me bring a cake to our luncheon. Mary is such a good cook and baker. She has co-authored 2 cookbooks, won the Crisco award in high school, and studied home-economics.  She also knows that I never bake anything. I'm not a bad cook but I'm not a baker.  It will be fun to surprise her.

As a birthday gift, I'm taking her a bag of the Cowsmo potting soil from the dairy farm in Waumandee, WI.  I have a yard of fabric printed with dog bones that I will give her also. She'll come up with something to sew that into.

Dad would have been 99 today

 Dad talked about making 100 years and having a party.  Maybe next year I'll plan a party.

Today I took drive to Luck with the express purpose of going to the cemetery to plant some pansies.  It was the first time I had driven to Luck since before the pandemic.  I visited the cemetery  in 2020 in February or March and retrieved the Christmas wreaths, not to return again until today.  Someone (I would guess SIL Lois) had placed a winter bouquet on Dad & Ev's bench, which was nice to see.  I wish I had brought some soapy water & a scrub brush, but I'll do that next time.  It was raining this time,  so I planted my pansies and headed back home. 

I think of Dad everyday , it was good to make a visit to his bench.

This collage of photos were sent to me by the daughter of one of Dad's best friends.  She was cleaning out her Dad's things after he died.  It is fun to see Dad as a young man.

40% off

 Kohls has a dangerous program of giving % off coupons to consumers.  
Getting the prized 30% off coupon in the mail is nearly always a call to arms, 

GET SHOPPING.

Last week, I got an email containing a Kohls scratch off discount coupon.   Would it be 10, 20, 30 or 40%  off?  "Click here to reveal."  Well, when I saw that I had a 40% off coupon, I decided I should at least look and see if there was anything at Kohls that I need right now.  
Sheets, pjs, some new fangled kitchen utensil?

Once I got on Kohls.com, I saw a 'sale' button and started my search.  Right away I saw that air fryers were on sale.  I have looked at air fryers for a couple of years and had it in my mind that I would add one to the kitchen eventually.  One that I had looked at a number of times, is a combo air fryer / toaster oven.  It is spendy so I knew it would take a good sale price before I would take that leap.

So, it was on sale.

Originally $279 ( what??)

On sale for $219

40% off, so less $87

For $132, I thought I could not go wrong.

I mean I 'saved' 147 dollars!

So, I clicked 'buy it'.

Kohls has a nice curbside delivery service, so I drove to the store where a nice store associate brought the oven and loaded it in the car for me.  This makes it very easy to spend money.

Once I got it home, I could see this thing is huge!  It took a day to figure out how I could/would fit it into he kitchen.  For a while I was considering re-boxing it and returning it.  But the lure of an air fryer won out.

It's in, 

and now I am just waiting for a silicone mat to arrive from Amazon.  

My countertop is laminate, so I think some heat protection is required.

I'm looking forward to air roasted veggies and toasted bagels.  Many of the HomeFresh meal kits that I get will lend nicely to the use of the air fryer or toaster oven for healthy cooking of the meat.

And, I think it should make good pizza too!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Cardinals at The Diner

The male and female Cardinal have been regulars all winter, but now that it is mating season, I have seen some of the behavior where he feeds her.  

I love seeing them and hope that they are nesting near by.

Mary's husband Rick is making 'diner bird feeders' out of odds and ends pots and pans.  He donates them to the thrift store for the Chequamegon Humane Society in Ashland, WI.

I love that these stray lids and pie pans, etc are getting repurposed instead of into landfill.

The 'diner' is a very popular feeder here at my house.

 They even share their space.

I am expecting to see a few new birds around this next week.  Migration is slow but I did see a Chipping Sparrow & a Yellow Rumped Warbler yesterday.  By next weekend, we might see the first Oriole.  I have restocked my grape jelly supply, I am ready.

Prom 2021

 Tonight was Prom night around the area.

Laila & I chatted on the phone while we each watched the livestream of the grand march at Spring Valley. It was fun to see the dresses, the planned poses for photos & the hair on both boys & girls.  (The mullet has made a comeback.)  Turned out we didn't know any of the kids. 

Then we watched the livestream of the Luck prom grand march.

Great niece Stella was escorted by friend Wyatt Jensen. 

Screenshot while watching livestream via WeAreLuck

Again, it was fun to see the many pretty dresses and tuxes.  I'm happy for the kids that they get to have this night of fun.  I hope all are safe and sound come morning. 

Two proms from my living room, in my sweats.  Big night.

Photo by Heather, Stella's Mom.

Ansgar and Frederikke

Today, I read a booklet about my Grandparents while I was waiting for my car to be serviced.

This was a labor of love by cousins Ron & Fred and chronicles the homesteading experience of my Dad's parents.  The documents and artifacts that they found were impressive but then there was a visit to the current land & landowner coupled with anecdotal remembrances from relatives who are since gone.  All together it makes for a good telling a of story that I've heard bits and pieces of for years.

I'm so sorry my Dad will never see the work done to really document Ansgar & Frederikke's homesteading in the Dakotas.

I've had the booklet here for a month or more,  the first page brought tears to my eyes,  so I had set it aside until today.   I wasn't too happy with the slow service on my car today, but the upside was that I had time to read the booklet cover to cover and then re-read most of it.  

♥️♥️♥️

I sat outside in the sun while my car was serviced.  Brought my own lawn chair & bottle of water and settled in to read.  It wasn't long before I heard a noise like a big mosquito.  It was a large drone.  I watched it move around the area just South of my location. I couldn't spot the drone operator and had to make up my own story about what it was up to.  Eventually it hovered right above me. I waved and off it went.  Curious.

 

🛸🛰🚀

My lawn / plow guy Jim came by today to blow the debris off my driveway. I mentioned to him that I wanted to get the asphalt driveway re-sealed & he offered to do it.  Right or wrong, I said okay. We agreed that he would wait until the weather warms up a bit. Hope that goes okay 🤞

🏡🚗

402 days

 It has been 402 days since I started my Safer at Home lifestyle.  I have recently eaten breakfast at a restaurant, but otherwise, have continued to maintain a kind of self-quarantine.

I am about to branch out and begin a few of my old normal activities.  Next week, I'll meet Mary and Sharon for lunch in Hayward and am looking forward to our visit. We would have been together for 3 quilt camps over the past 402 days.  I am also about to start playing bridge with the Cameron group again.

I'm a little nervous to resume close contact like playing cards, but we are asking that all who come be symptom free and be fully vaccinated.  And, if I am not comfortable, I will stop going, but it is worth a try.

***

On another note, the George Floyd murder trial ended today with a guilty verdict on all counts.  I am relieved.  I was holding my breath as the judge read the 3 verdicts.  It is a step.

***

I hung a new bird feeder today.  Mary's husband Rick has been making these 'pots and pans' bird feeders out of discarded cookware parts.  They are selling them at the Dog Shoppe to benefit the Chequamegon Humane Society.  This one is stainless steel.  Sometimes they paint them fun colors.  I added this to my feeder line up today after I took down 2 suet feeders.  I have to quit the suet feeding as the bears are probably coming soon.  A few Goldfinch found it right away.

I'm afraid that we have a pregnant Red Squirrel.  I hope the nest is NOT under the house.  I've had lots of trouble with Red Squirrels chewing on the house and until this one, had not seen any around for a couple of years.  She looks like she might be about to have babies.

Checked out the trailcam pictures today and I wonder if this is a coyote?  I sure think it could be.

Stay safe.

Potting Soil for the ages

 Nephew Kris was nice enough to pick up a load of potting soil from Rosenholm Farms in Waumandee.  Roche's brother John runs the farm these days and compost & potting soil is a nice side business that also disposes of their by-product.

I met Kris in Eau Claire to make the transfer.  It was also really nice to have a little visiting time with Kris, the last time I had seen him was on March 12, 2020 at the last basketball tournament game.  We hads about 25 minutes to catch up before he had an appointment and I headed home with my car loaded.

This will last me beyond this year I am pretty sure, 

but my big flower pots have not had new soil for at least 10 years, so it is time.

I noticed that a renegade daffodil is blooming in the woods far from the other daffys that I planted.  

I'm not sure how that happens since they are a bulb, but I'm hoping this one will thrive and form additional plants.

We are starting to see life.  This patch of what I call wild geranium is behind the garage, and it is off to a good start.  Sure is nice to see the perennials coming on strong.

Now, once the weather warms up a bit, the work list is long.

My anti-racism list update

  My list of reading & movies to learn and unlearn the history of racism in our country continues to grow.  Not that you can't just watch the daily news to get a dose, but learning some history and hearing the insights of black Americans helps broaden my thinking.

I am listening to Don Lemon's book now, it is called 'This Is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism'. Don Lemon is a CNN journalist and so far the book is a well-written but emotional roller coaster and a very sad history of racism in America.

One Night in Miami was an entertaining movie about a real life event where Sam Cook, Cassius Clay, Malcolm X & Jim Brown happened to meet up in Miami by chance.  The storyline is fictitious in that there are no historical accounts of the conversations, but the movie takes a an educated guess.  The acting is excellent.

✅ Black Panther, the movie.Starring Chadwick Boseman.  T'Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country's past.

✅  Marshall, the movie.  Starring Chadwick Boseman as Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court Justice, and focuses on one of the first cases of his career, the State of Connecticut v. Joseph Spell.
✅ MSNBC "Hope & Fury: MLK, the Movement"  This documentary includes segments of some of the other programming listed below, but focuses more on Martin Luther King and his story of peaceful resistance.

✅"The Untold Story of Emmett Luis Till".  Another disturbing story of hatred, bigotry and murder in our country's history of racism.  A 14 year old boy, who made the mistake of whistling at a white woman in 1955, was brutally beaten and killed.  His mother was courageous through it all and did not let it go without shining a light on the crime. 

✅Freedom Summer

I'm so impressed with all the young people who went to Mississippi during Freedom Summer. This documentary was full of history that I missed, partly because I was a young teen, but mostly because we didn't study the contemporary history after this happened. Black lives matter.

✅Documentary on Netflix called 13th

✅The movie I Am Not Your Negroe

✅The movie Selma

✅The Central Park Five by Ken Burns

Documentary of the accusation and false imprisonment of 5 boys in New York.

✅When They See Us on Netflix

The story of the Central Park five as a movie.

✅America in Black and Blue: PBS Newshour Weekend Special Report

 A special report hosted by Alison Stewart.  It was a very interesting selection of interviews and worth viewing for sure.  I have also subscribed to Alison Stewart's podcast, "Need to Know".

✅Round table discussion on Zoom with other Barron County Democrats

✅The Uncomfortable Truth

This is a documentary that is revealing and includes history that is new to me.  The systemic racism is all about power and from the very roots of our country, there has been a baked in thought that blacks are inferior and that whites being superior was good for all.  This was designed into our government and the law, and made law enforcement dependent on white supremacy.

✅Juneteenth: A Celebration of Overcoming. 

The day that the slaves in Texas learned of the Emancipation Proclamation that had been signed 2 years before now celebrated across our country.

✅"The I Have A Dream Project" on YouTube

It was amazing, touching, sad, happy, and inspirational.

✅ "One Night in Miami " 

Based on a real event when Sam COOK, Cassius Clay, Malcolm X and Jim Brown meet up in Miami.  

✅ 'This Is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism'. Don Lemon is a CNN journalist and so far the book is a well-written but emotional roller coaster and a very sad history of racism in America.

This is not allowed

 Lucky I was home today when I saw this cat and his 2 pals acting like they were going after the birds at my feeders.  

This is not allowed at my house.  

You might hear me shooing them off at the end of the video.  I watched them beat it across the street, heading up towards a house behind my neighbor. 

All three had collars on.  I don't approve of pet owners who let their cats out to roam. It's not safe for the cats & it's really bad for song birds. 

'Predation by domestic cats is the number-one direct, human-caused threat to birds in the United States and Canada. In the United States alone, outdoor cats kill approximately 2.4 billion birds every year. Although this number may seem unbelievable, it represents the combined impact of tens of millions of outdoor cats.' According to abcbirds.org

What the hell

So, I needed the Shingles vaccine & booster, & since I was headed to my annual doctor visit anyway, I figured I would just get it there.  

A friend suggested I do some price checking.  

I called Walgreens, they quoted cash price of $198/each. 

I called Marshfield Clinic in RL, they quoted cash price of $330/each.

I went to Walgreens, ended up paying $178 with my insurance. 

Saved $152 X 2!

Lesson learned to do my homework.

It drives me nuts that drug costs vary so much.  After I posted the above on Facebook, there were another 5 or 10 prices that people had paid.  Some of that has to do with insurance, or Medicare Part D, but seriously that difference is insane.

I'm off my soap box now. Oh, my arm was a little sore today, but no other side effects.

Masters

It has been a rainy weekend.  

I took advantage and have watched many hours of The Masters golf tournament.

Barley has been napping too. I've been scooping her up often in an attempt to convince her that she might like sleeping on my lap.

 One new behavior; a few times she has jumped in my chair after I get up.  Maybe this is a sign that she kind of likes being held. 

I'll keep working on her.

Spring

 Yesterday I just started seeing the yellow buds of the daffodils in the backyard.  

This morning, many of the buds were open.

The trees have done some work overnight too.  Yesterday I noticed one or two maples had flowered, but by today, almost all the trees are showing their Spring work.  This is a bud on a crab apple tree that flowers but produces almost no fruit.

I installed a new shower in the master bath today.  I'm starting to prepare for having my knee joint replaced and it will be handier to have a handheld shower.  It is not fun to get used to a new shower, I did love my old one.  I guess I'll get through it though. 😁

Okay, this made me laugh.  

The Amazon algorithm must be broken, several times I have received an notification that this pair  of shoes, that Amazon thinks I am interested in, has a new price.

I think I'll pass.

Easter 2021

 I spent a quiet day at home.  Zoombridge filled a couple of hours, then NCAA Women's Basketball Final Championship followed by a tasty Hellofresh dinner.

The meal was delicious, a little bit of work, but nothing too serious.  I'm starting to feel like I'm on Top Chef making these interesting meals.

The weather was warm,  70+, overcast and breezy.  Tomorrow will be about the same, I should get out in the yard and start the Springtime work.

Happy Easter.

51 years later and still the gift that keeps on giving

 I had my 3rd injection of the  Sodium Hyaluronate (Viscosup) in my left knee.  Trying everything to delay the total knee surgery that I am facing eventually.  In 1970 I had a bad accident skiing which started the life long trouble with my left leg.  In 2014 I had my left ankle fused as a result of the treatment that I got for my fractured tibia / fibula back in 1970.  That fusion helped a lot with my chronic ankle pain, but now my knee is showing the signs of cartilage deterioration & arthritis.  And so it goes, so I'm hoping the gel will give me another 6 to 12 months of pain reduction, and if not, I will start trying to figure out he logistics of surgery & recovery.  That ski accident turned out to be a lifetime irritation.

🐈🐈🐈

Barley seems to handling being the only cat quite well.  She eats more, so there must have been some kind of pressure from Hops at the food dish.  Barley also meows a LOT more.  She is almost constantly talking to me.  

She has not figured out that she can be a lap cat now.  I scoop her up several times a day and hold her on my lap, and she's starting to tolerate it for longer each session, but so far, has not jumped up on her own.  I do find her sleeping on the bed with me some mornings. 

I had considered adding another cat to the family, but I think the chaos of that change in Barley's life might be too much so we will just be the two of us.  Our other cats are the outside cats that we continue to feed and see on the security cameras.

I miss Hops but am glad for Barley that she gets to be the Alpha cat now.

Cooper's

 I heard a whistle and looked out the window in time to see a Cooper's Hawk checking out the yard & bird feeders.  After a little Google work, I'm pretty sure it was the Cooper's voice that I heard.  The bird feeders cleared out with the exception of the squirrels.  

I guess they know what the pecking order is.

I just barely caught a crappy photo of this raptor.