Pareidolia : the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern.
I used King Arthur Four’s Classic Birthday Cake recipe for this foxy little thing. It was just okay. The cake was a little too spongy for me. The HH liked it though. The frosting? Spot on. I wanted to rub it all over my face in hopes that using the frosting as a moisturizer would curb my sugar cravings. But then I remembered it was mosquito and bee season and thought better of it.
Pickety bits to go. {Packed the night before our trip to Shelburne, Vermont.} After two hours at the museum, we went out to the parking lot and sat in the back of the car with our feet hanging over the edge and ate our midday meal. It was lovely.
Pasta with homemade meatballs. I think he’s up to about a dozen recipes he knows how to make now. WELL DONE HH! You’ve come a long way from not even knowing where the dishes are, to actually being able to make dinner. 🙂 🙂 🙂
The last of my Panera gift card from Christmas… and their delicious cinnamon raisin bread {it really does make the best French toast}.
Market Basket $69.04
I have no idea why we bought the whipping cream. The English cucumbers were $0.89 each.
Intended demographic: Middle age men who are like, “Hey, I think I’ll surprise the wife and cook tonight.”
Finally, someone gets the shape of marshmallows right. A guilty pleasure of mine is picking up a bag of marshmallows off the shelf and sniffing it. Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this.
No comment.
Lucy, always keeping her eyes on the prize.
Even if she knows the chances are slim she’s ever going to get it. 😉 Long live beans and weenies.
And Carole’s Grape Salad.
And the best pot luck side dish ever – Broccoli Cashew Salad.
And last but not least…. After 2 long years in the number one spot for lemon curd tarts, Coyle’s Bakeshop in Seattle, Washington has been knocked off it’s pedestal. And I do mean KNOCKED OFF. The new champion… Birchgrove Baking in Montpelier, Vermont.
I simply don’t know how any other bakery could pull off a better lemon tart. Ever. The crust was incredibly light, the curd nice and tart and the meringue… out of this world billowy and soft. Even the HH was telling me to go back inside and buy another one. It was that good. But I told him no.
Anticipation. It’s everything, right? I WILL BE BACK. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Have a wonderful day Monday everyone.
~Mavis
Total Spent on Groceries This Week $69.04
- Total Spent on Groceries in May $262.39 {More meat!}
- Total Spent on Groceries in April $284.56 {My husband bought a smoker and a BUNCH of meat!}
- Total Spent on Groceries in March $321.69
- Total Spent on Groceries in February $220.92
- Total Spent in January on Groceries $41.19
- Total Spent So Far on Groceries in 2019 $1130.75 {Goal is to average $150 – $175 a month for the year}
You can go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.
Erin says
Just curious….what’s the stainless steel drawer next to your oven?
Mavis Butterfield says
A total waste of a stainless steel drawer. 🙂 You lift up the door and it’s just an empty space. We store cookie sheets and muffin tins there but I wish it wasn’t there. Lifting it up is super awkward.
Maria says
It would be fairly easy to remove the stainless steel door, just a few screws right? and have two doors made to match the existing ones that open outward. Much more convenient. Something for you to think about. Just because something is there doesn’t mean it can’t be redone. In your spare time, right?
Terry says
I think the door is upside down, It looks like an oven door that should open down. My husband says that kind of door is used in homes of people with disabilities.
Rhonda says
I was wandering about that Shinny little box next to Lucy, & figured you had a great & unusual use for it! I love your stories, & pictures, I haven’t been long X fan,but I look forward to reading every day, here on Texas! Thanks Rhonda
Mel says
Love the fox cake! (Or at least I see a fox)
I somehow ended up making a bunch of desserts this week: strawberry shortcake for a potluck, 5 pints of strawberry ice cream (plus more strawberry puree to make more ice cream later), whole wheat chocolate zucchini bread (ended up more like rich chocolate cake), and angel food cake (to use up the egg whites from the ice cream). I’m trying to get back into making homemade bread (I have for years, but things got too crazy this spring), so I also made bagels and pizza dough.
Mavis Butterfield says
Mel, How hard are bagels to make? I have never tried but maybe since my husband is really good at bread, he could attempt them.
Mel says
I’m pretty good at bread, but I find the truly classic recipes like King Arthur’s and the Washington Post’s time-consuming and tricky–maybe just because I’m not good at working quickly with simmering water. HOWEVER, I’ve found some less traditional recipes that work really well:
1) For fast, small-batch, I-really-need-to-use-up-this-yogurt bagels, I use Skinnytaste’s recipe (I actually add an egg to the dough and a bit more flour because I misread the recipe the first time): https://www.skinnytaste.com/easy-bagel-recipe/
2) For more traditional boiled bagels but without any specialty ingredients like malt powder that will expire before I use them up, I just found this recipe and found it easy and delicious: http://www.underthehighchair.com/2009/01/diy-bagel-tutorial-and-more-history.html
The chocolate zucchini bread I made is also from that second site: http://www.underthehighchair.com/2010/08/double-chocolate-zucchini-bread.html
Tanya says
Bagels are not hard at all! There is a step in between shaping and baking where you give them a quick dip in boiling water. The same with soft pretzels
Tracy L. says
Mel, how about the strawberry ice cream recipe? Pleeeease?!
Mel says
Now that is definitely easy! I just used Pioneer Woman’s recipe: https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/strawberry-ice-cream/
I don’t like berries, but my husband said it was the best ice cream he’d ever had. I had to freeze it in two batches in my 2 qt ice cream maker, and it made almost exactly 5 pints. It will take my husband some time to get through that, but we’re still picking berries, so I’ve been freezing strawberry puree in the amounts needed for the recipe to make more later.
I have a non-custard recipe as well, but I haven’t tested it yet.
Tracy L. says
THANK YOU!!!!!
Claudia says
Aldi has an apple strudel bread that makes an excellent french toast.
Taryn says
Bagels are super easy. I make double batches, freeze them, and my daughter has them in her school lunches – otherwise the husband would eat them all in one go!
Brenda says
I have made the grape salad recipe you posted ..it was a hit! Especially after the story that came with it!
Kelly Levesque says
I wish I could have a small budget for weekly groceries. We are 5. I cook gluten free. Everything from scratch. I can’t seem to get our budget under $160 a week.