use real butter

Recipe: perfect party cake

Oh ho, it is that time again – time for a Daring Bakers Challenge. Because I just had another round o’ chemo and I am feeling very much this side of Ass, I’m going to settle with posting the progression of photos that led to my Perfect Party Cake last week and let you get your own party on wherever or however it is that you see fit. Good on ya.

Our lovely host this month was Morven.

You will find more perfect party cakes than you ever dreamt of here.

Let’s get this gig rollin’.

some lemony zest

**Jump for more butter**

Recipe: teriyaki pork chops

The university is on spring break this week which means very little to Jeremy other than the fact that he gets a reprieve from teaching relativity (special and general) and cosmology. His trusty graduate students are still in town and working on their research (I’m going to send them some cookies because they are such sweet, hilarious, and conscientious students), and he still has unbelievable amounts of work to do… But since he doesn’t have to teach and his students are quite smart and self-motivated, he has opted to spend this week with me! What a champ he is. Our intention was to ski on Monday, but the winds were ridiculously insane. So he worked at home while I baked and baked. Then we planned to ski Tuesday, and the National Weather Service LIED about high winds and then decided to update and reduce the winds after it was too late to drive out to the big mountains. Again – more work for Jeremy and I can’t recall what the hell I did yesterday (more baking and cooking, I suppose and then we had dinner with Beth in Boulder).

But today, I said screw the National Weather Service and we’re going skiing. Which we did. We chose Breckenridge because Vail charges $20 for parking and A-basin doesn’t have express lifts and we like Breck (well, we like them ALL). It wasn’t crazy busy, but it was busy for a Wednesday because everyone else was also on Spring Break or Rich Person’s Vacay or whatever. No new snow, but lots of nice groomers and damn it if it wasn’t a roasting hot day (40s?!? that is insane!). See here… some of the nearby hills are melting out.

heartbreaking for some, like me

**Jump for more butter**

I spent a good part of my day making and baking an ass ton of cookies. Some of them are already making their way out of the state (or sitting in the back of the Boulder post office waiting to skidaddle).

our quality control inspector looks on

When I began my treatment two months ago, I heard several dire warnings about having a weakened immune system. Don’t touch people. Steer clear of small children and anyone remotely sick. Don’t eat raw foods that can’t be peeled. Wash your hands all the time. Don’t drink anything with ice in public restaurants. Bring your own silverware. Disinfect everything. And for the love of God, don’t lick doorknobs or rental DVDs! Seriously, I got a lot of excellent advice [as well as some hilariously wacky advice from my well-intentioned parents], because a minor infection to anyone else could land me in the ER. Which leads me to wonder why the hell the waiting area for Oncology is right next to the waiting area for Infectious Diseases at my medical center. WTF?

**Jump for more butter**