So, I highly recommend the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes I mentioned in my last post. They are fantastically delicious, and so moist!

As I was browsing The Kitchn's site the other day, I came across this recipe, and the pictures were so appealing that I decided to try these this weekend. So, tonight I baked Cheddar and Leek Muffins.

I liked the idea of savory muffins versus sweet. So many baked goods are sweet, so having a savory option was nice. These will be nice for meal accompaniment or lunches, or if you don't want a sweet start to your morning.

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/vegetarian/recipe-cheddar-and-leek-muffins-132109

Also, for breakfast this morning I made Blarney scones, from one of those Katie Reilly packages. I made it per the directions, but next time will portion the wet stuff, rather than tipping it all in at once, as it was so ridiculously wet and sticky that I ended up adding in probably about a cup of all purpose flour to be able to get it off my hands and to anything resembling kneading consistency, as required. I'm also used to Devonshire scones, which I make from scratch, and which aren't sweet, as these are.

So, the former, highly recommended. The latter, not so much.

A recipe from Apartment Therapy's The Kitchn blog.

Originally I'd had grandiose plans of making this on Christmas Day, but it ended up being either New Year's Day or the day after that. It's pretty time-consuming, due mostly to the various periods in which the dough needs to rise. It IS however spectacularly delicious.

It keeps well, and when the recipe says that it can be made a day or two in advance, that's definitely the way to go if you have any plans on serving it in the morning without getting up at Oh-God-Thirty-Ayem to have it freshly done by the time people trot in for food.

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/breakfast/from-the-email-holiday-breakfast-wreath-072783

I didn't use brandy to soak the cranberries in, but Grand Marnier, which was the only thing at hand at the time. It was delicious. Next time it'll likely be Cointreau, as I still have some of that left that has otherwise been employed to make things like Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Cloud Cake.

I'm on the Freecycle mailing list for this county. This list provides some hilarity to me at times, watching what people will ask for. Some people seem to forget that this is a list where items are offered for free, this also would generally mean that you shouldn't be too picky about what comes your way, because, you know, it's FREE and not costing you anything.

Earlier in the week, someone posted a Wanted for a horse. Yes, one of those 4 legged furry breathing ones that you can ride on. And it had to be tame/friendly too. Let me just get that for you, one sec, I have a spare in the closet... *eyeroll*.

Another that got me was someone asking for Le Creuset ware. Le Creuset is enameled cast iron cookware, it lasts a long time... my mother has a dutch oven and a saucepan of theirs, and has had them for at least 25 years now. You easily pay $100+ for the pans. So this someone was asking for them, and on top of that, was stipulating that the enamel had to be chip free. It doesn't bother me that they're asking for expensive stuff, hell, what do you have to lose if someone is actually looking to get rid of some... but to be that picky about the state it's in is just rather obnoxious when it's a freebie. Especially considering this county (being the most expensive to live in the country) isn't lacking in well-to-do people.

For now, I'll keep giggling at people asking for high-end items that are unlikely to really appear on a Freecycle list though...

And the bats were out too: ragged patches of silent blackness against the deep night-purple star-bespattered sky.




And that's why Neil Gaiman is a writer. And an amazing one. I just wish I could explain something so simple in such a beautiful way. ♥

From his journal entry here

- DO actually show up on time when you make an appointment with your tenant. Showing up on Wednesday instead of Tuesday is unacceptable. Especially when you couldn't even call to say you couldn't make it on Tuesday. It's a good thing I don't have to take time off work for that kind of nonsense, but it's rude, thoughtless and inconsiderate, and people do have shit to do instead of just wait around for someone to show up, who eventually doesn't.

Showing up at 2pm instead of 11am on a separate visit days later, also not acceptable.

- DO NOT show up when there really isn't anything you have to contribute. Showing up a second time to look at the broken washer (which broke a week ago today!) to then tell me that the repair guy hasn't gotten back to you yet, and you'll call him on Monday, isn't helpful. In fact, it only makes me laugh on the inside when you hurt your hand badly with the washer snapping something onto it as you pointlessly look inside it for a second time.

- DO NOT talk to me about how tough things are in this economy. I know how much you charge for this tiny no-storage-space place, and I know you put in the cheapest fixtures and things. We also know you rent the place out behind ours too. And, we know you work as a bank manager, not exactly a minimum wage job. If things are so fucking tough for you, sell one of your rental properties, or maybe that gas-guzzling Chevy Suburban. Or put your wife on a smaller budget, she could do with feeding your fat ass less.

Expect no sympathy from your tenants in regards of the cost of things. At least you own your house. Fucker.

- DO NOT take forever to finally get around to repairing things and doing maintenance. I mean, I laugh because it will cost you more in the long run, but seriously, we shouldn't need to wait 6+ months to get a tap and light socket fixed. Or for you to come power wash the exterior. Or paint the flaking and rotting fences. You may see the light of day when you have to replace those fences though and it really costs you...

- DO NOT give me all kinds of excuses as to why you couldn't get around to [insert whatever needs doing, and was supposed to have gotten done months ago]. I don't care that your mother wanted you to fix her stuff, or weed her yard. We pay you rent, we do so on time, you should do things for your paying tenants in a timely manner.

- DO NOT use the fact that you renovated the kitchen with cheap-ass stuff 8(!) years ago as some kind of selling feature. After 8 years, it's not exactly newly-renovated. It's really just kinda old now. You might be able to mention it if it was a particularly stellar job involving nice materials. It wasn't. Get over it. Move on.

IN CLOSING. If you can't be a proper landlord who gets stuff done on time, without doing the "woe is me, it's so expensive" whining, either stop being a landlord, or get a management company to do your shit for you.

Happy Birthday Dashiell!

I can't believe you are 4 already. It seems like no time at all since you were born, and now you're definitely not so little anymore.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I love you :)

Mmm... new layout, and rather light for me. Heh.

Nothing like being on the verge of opening up the brand new containers bearing the fortnight's contacts, and realising that the idiot shop assistant at the store gave you DOUBLE your prescription strength. I guess maybe wearing -4.00 instead of -2.00 and getting drunk might be an interesting trip, but for daily wear, kind of obnoxious and not very practical.

Of course I had just thrown out the previous pair too, moments before grabbing the new ones and realising the error.

Luckily for me, when I got my prescription renewed the other week, they were 3 boxes short which I picked up earlier this week from the actual optometrist herself, not the shop assistant. And, thankfully, the optometrist can read and gave me my proper prescription.

To top it off, when I went to the store earlier to go exchange them, Lenscrafters was actually closed too *headdesk*.

At any rate, I'm thinking the shop assistant might need reading glasses...

On Tuesday I'll be leaving for South Africa with Matilda, to go stay with my dad and stepmum for a month (I'll be back on Thursday the 11th of June).

The boys are staying here, one has work, and the other has school and of course all the therapies he receives there. I didn't want him to miss any of that. A month is a long time in therapy terms really, especially as he's already had really patchy Physical Therapy this school year, between the late start of the first PT Alexis, and then the 2+ months where she wouldn't treat Dashiell until we got the medical all-clear from a neurologist to prove he didn't have epilepsy or seizures, and then Alexis left to work somewhere else and it took a while for the school to attract a new PT.

My youngest brother will be staying with my dad and stepmum too, he just graduated with his degree (Earth and Planetary Observation Science), and it will be really cool to get to spend some time with him, and for him to get to know Matilda, as he hasn't seen her yet. He was always really awesome with Dashiell, so I think he's going to really dig spending time with his niece too this time around.

Part of me considered taking my St. Petersburg cross-stitch piece with me, but I think that might be a little involved, so I figure I might get some reading done. Of course, most of the books I want to read seem to be hardback or trade paperback size, which sucks, as I don't really want to stuff too many of those into my suitcase, and risk the ire of airline staff and their luggage weight limits *sigh*. Time to go find other books to take with me instead I guess...

Oh, and while away, I'll only have very sporadic internet access, once or twice a week is usually the frequency with which the 'rents go to the internet cafe (they have no internet at the house at the moment), so odds are I won't be in touch much. My gmail would probably be the easier email address to contact me at (malediction @ ...) rather than my goth.net one, as it receives less mailing list and spam stuff, so easier to separate the wheat from the chaff and all that.