monkeymom's Diaryland Diary
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All the small things.
We got a very informative letter from Scott today. He�s in a new area, Creston, BC. He says it�s near Idaho, and it�s full of polygamists (!), hippies, and old people. He sounds good, and he is working with a new companion that he likes.
Rachel is looking for a job now. She wants to go back to live near St. Louis, since all of her college friends live in that area and it�s a lot closer to where her boyfriend lives, so she is looking for jobs down there. She got a call from someone today, about a microbiology job, and she spent a couple of hours yesterday working on applications for jobs in hospitals in the St. Louis area.
In the meantime Rachel is all about decorating cakes since she saw a program on the Food Network about it and has many plans to make cakes for practicing, which means a constant supply of cake in our house for a while � at least until she gets a job. Last night she baked a very rich, dense tea cake, and she tried lining the cake pan with waxed paper, which worked beautifully, allowing the cake to slip out of the pan with no damage at all. She covered it with clingfilm and let it sit overnight, and today she worked on the frosting.
Don�t think she is just pulling open a can of frosting to slap it on the cake, oh no, she first has to roll out some marzipan, which is made of almond paste and smells like heaven, and then she covers the cake with apricot jelly and that allows the marzipan to stick to the cake. I�m not sure why the frosting needs the marzipan base (I can see some internet research on cake decorating in my future,), but the marzipan is not the frosting. The frosting is called fondant, and is made of � lb of powdered sugar and 4 tbs of light corn syrup. It makes a very stiff dough that is rolled out and shaped over the marzipan. Then it all has to dry overnight, into a hard crust and tomorrow she is going to paint on a design. The fondant and/or the marzipan can be cut and shaped into sculptured designs, but she is starting with something simple.
So far my contribution to the cake decorating efforts has been just to do the shopping. She needed all the basic baking supplies, and first she went through our cupboards, searching out flavorings and food colorings, and then I had to go out for flour, eggs, butter, corn syrups, marzipan, sugar, powdered sugar, a rolling pin, and I looked at a fancy mixer, but I�m putting off that purchase until a little later.
I did buy a can opener though, since none of mine actually open any cans, at least not when I�m using them. Rachel and Rich can both manage to make them work. I got a cool can opener that separates the lid from the can at the seam, not by cutting around the inside of the lid, thereby leaving no dangerous edges. Now Rich won�t hurt himself when he recycles!
This is Kim�s last week of school and today she went to a meeting for the cross-country team to discuss their summer training schedule. I�m not sure their coach knows anything about physiology, as he has made a schedule that shows them running 3-4 miles a day, seven days a week, building to 6-7 miles a day by the end of summer. He doesn�t seem to know that muscles require some recovery time! When you do strenuous labor with your muscles, the fibers of the muscles shred and, if they are allowed some recovery time, they will repair themselves and build more fiber, thus becoming stronger. I�ll be modifying Kim�s training plan, but I�ll do a little research first.
Knitting news:
Almost finished with the blue denim cable rib vest. I made a buttonhole band, following the pattern directions, but I thought as I made it that it wasn't going to come out right, so when it didn't look right when I finished, I had already made a plan in my head to reknit the band, and I am almost done with it now. It looks much better now.
My work and DVD-watching knitting is the Lush (angora/wool blend) sweater from the Summer Braids pattern. It's fun and easy but the angora is shedding on my mostly-black clothes.
A new Patternworks catalog came in the mail today, and I saw a cotton t-shirt that I thought about making for myself. I've had a couple of ideas for a knitted summer t-shirt for myself, and I might actually start that. I'll look and see what yarn I have for it in my stash tomorrow, as Rachel is excited about cleaning up the yarn room so she can sleep in it. (When the weather gets hot, her bedroom is an oven!)
3:35 a.m. - 2004-05-25
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