lucy

lomo lucy sleeping
Originally uploaded by kjerstieb

I took this picture last year at the end of an awesome southern road trip that Lucy, Margit, and I took. Lucy looks so peaceful and gorgeous. I wish I could feel this peaceful....

you know you're a middle-aged middle-class white lady...

...when you spend a good half-hour on the couch (that you bought at Crate and Barrel) with your middle-aged middle-class white husband looking at pictures of NPR correspondents on their NPR bios and discussing which one is your favorite (Sylvia Poggioli), which one has the best name (David Folkenflik), which one looks like he/she sounds (Nina Totenberg), and which one is the hottest (both Sylvia Poggioli and David Folkenflik are quite the lookers, actually). Yikes.

eat cake, for real

Richard installed Google analytics on my blog so that I can learn more about my several readers. I thought I knew all three of you since I obsessively read your blogs, but it turns out that not only do I have readers in Delaware (Ran and myself), New York (Jocelyn), and California (Ally), but someone also visited my blog from Canada, and someone (maybe the same person) stumbled onto "Eat Cake" while looking for a recipe for cake, of all things.

So, for that person, and the rest of my faithful readers, I am posting my favorite cake recipe. Growing up, this is the cake that I always requested for my birthday. It was handed down to my mom by the cook in her sorority house, name of Smitty (if you know my mom, the idea of her in a sorority is pretty hilarious, by-the-bye). It sounds gross, but it is delicious, really.

Mayonnaise Cake (Smitty)
Makes a 3-layer cake

3 C. flour
2 C. sugar
10 T. cocoa
4 t. baking soda
1 1/2 C. mayonnaise
2 C. cold water
2 t. vanilla
1/4 t. salt

Sift together dry ingredients. Add water and beat 1 minute. Add mayonnaise and beat 1 minute. Add vanilla and beat 1 minute.

Pour batter into 3 greased, floured 9-inch round pans. Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean (this part of the instructions is missing....so use your best judgment!)

Butter Icing (Jesse)
(this recipe is courtesy of the sister of our old neighbor, Cookie)

3 T. flour
1 C. milk
1 C. butter, softened
1 C. sugar
1 t. vanilla

Combine flour and milk. Strain to remove any lumps. Cook over medium heat until boils and becomes very thick, stirring constantly. Cool completely.

Cream butter. Add sugar. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat with electric mixer until fluffy.

I am becoming a Buddhist....

...and I am going to this temple. Fo' sho'.

shout out to the passport people

Richard, Lucy and I are planning a big trip to England in March -- we've booked our plane tickets, London hotel, and English country cottage -- so exciting. In order to complete the planning, both Lucy and I needed passports (mine had gathered dust in the office for 10 years before finally expiring). Because we waited until the last minute in passport terms (about 8 weeks before departure -- the passport wait time is 6-8 weeks), we paid extra to expedite service. (On a side note, let me just say that the passport agent that we dealt with at the 30th St. Post Office in Philly was just lovely -- perfectly pleasant and helpful, in stark contrast to my expectations.) Expediting the passport was supposed to bring the delivery time down to 3 weeks, which would have worked just fine. Imagine my surprise when the passports arrived in the mail yesterday, just 10 days after we applied! That is service. Have you seen the recently redesigned passports though? They are hilarious. It looks to me like George Bush commissioned the Happy Painter Bob Ross (may he rest in peace) to paint the most patriotic scenes they could think of. There are the requisite pictures of eagles and flags and the Statue of Liberty, and then we have steamboats and Mt. Rushmore and cowboys. But the best? The picture of the moon and outer space on the inside back cover. Apparently, if Lance Bass ever gets that trip on the Space Shuttle, he will have to bring his passport.

obama 2008

I often feel like I am copying Jocelyn's blog...but, hey, she's super cool and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Like Jocelyn, I am using my highly-read blog to endorse a political candidate: Barack Obama, of course. He came to Wilmington yesterday, and I was one of the 20,000 or so people who waited around in Rodney Square for several hours to see him and hear him speak. The frozen toes were totally worth it. He was amazing -- just an incredible speaker with tons of charisma, saying all the right things. And hey -- it is a rare political candidate that can be bothered to spend time in little ol' Delaware, so that meant a lot. I hope that Super Duper Tuesday goes Obama's way. Yes we can, right?