sinks full of dishes

 Before I write about anything else I’ll give an update on Mr. Naughty. He’s doing well! His eyes are open and he’s able to see. big sigh of relief.

I was happily chained to the stove today - while Carm did some grocery shopping and picked up my parcel from the post office. The first order of business was making a cake for tomorrow’s zoom birthday celebration for Dad. I had tagged a ‘Vanilla Buttermilk’ to try. It’s reasonably tasty, although I might prefer my Mom’s Golden Glow Cake. I think I’ll make it again with a simple change. They had me divide the batter into 3 pans for a triple layer cake. Next time I’ll only do 2 layers and bake for a bit longer since I’m not making a towering cake, and in fact aren’t stacking the layers at all. I like more cake than icing so the skinny layers are not my favorite.

what is? 4 bowls, 4, 2, and 1 cup measuring cups, a bunch of measuring spoons, a dish to weigh the butter, spatula, whisk, kitchen aid paddle, a knife for cutting the butter, and who knows what else. Answer: the mess created by making 1 cake.

After dessert was made it was time to work on supper, a special supper for my Italian honey. I started with making 50+ meatballs. Some in a skillet with Carm at the helm, and some in the frying basket of the actifry. We decided that the actifry does the best job. Little ribs were sauteed in the instant pot. Then the pot was deglazed with some wine, San Marzano tomatoes and tomato sauce was added. Some of the meatballs and the ribs were added back to the pot then all was cooked for 30 minutes with a natural release.

Cue the music for the tarantella and get ready to swoon. Oh so good. Not as good as Carm’s mom’s of course, but a fine replacement.

At the end of our giant carb glut, I had leftover pasta & meatballs for one night, 1 jar of sauce, 34 extra meatballs for the freezer, and some of the little riblets. I looked at all of this and felt a little sad as I enjoyed my afternoon, but with all this extra food I won’t be able to do a repeat for a month or more.

The sun shone brightly but not strongly enough to warm past -14C, no wonder Spike didn’t want to stay outside long enough to do his business! (he did eventually, but he was 3-legged cold).

"You ask me why I spend my life writing?

Do I find entertainment?

Is it worthwhile?

Above all, does it pay?

If not, then, is there a reason? …

I write only because

There is a voice within me

That will not be still.”

~Sylvia Plath