Zoli's 25th Bday

Z turned 25 yesterday. On April Fool's Day...during the pandemic. (We are all perfectly fine. Even had a nice conference call with Matty at breakfast. Looking fwd to everybody playing MarioKart online again this weekend!) Despite being grateful for those things, I really kinda had a moment. I can't find this silly banner. I made cut out felt letters about 15 years ago. They spell out HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I put it up for each person's bDay. I am damn sure I remember putting it back in the ziploc baggy but I CAN'T FIND IT. I just wanted that one tradition. No Festifools, No big dinner out at Connor O'Neils. AND the $gift$ he asked for is totally on hold because VIRUS. I just wanted something familiar and sane. NOPE. I looked EVERYWHERE. I may have teared up a couple times.

He also wanted caramel INSIDE chocolate cupcakes.  I made caramels. But they sunk. I was unimpressed. I need a tip/technique that is like coating fruit in flour to get it to "hover" in batter, like blueberries in pancakes? Anyway, Iz and I made like three diff variations of caramel lava cakes and he proclaimed them all delicious. One batch we left w/no caramel factor just so dessert would be civilized. He chose pork chops, mac and cheese and green beans.

The cupcakes w/out caramel.

Snakebites (cider & Guinness Black & Tans)

The Leaning Tower of Potatoes

Amongst all the other drama I am watching our gardening zone shift from five to six. Climate change is real. It is warm. The forsythia is getting ready to pop. I am itching to get my garden settled. That would be silly. The weather is still too cold and like everything else in this world undependable. The soil is workable-- but frigid and soggy. The planting calendar at Farmer's Almanac says and I am paraphrasing here, "Most seeds will rot in the ground." That same trusted source assures me it is potato o'clock. YAY A PROJECT!

 I have done potato towers VERY successfully in the past and thus today I did a thing! YAY! Having learned from past endeavors I have secured the burlap to the edge of the cage and believe it or not, (I know she is NOT exactly level) I am confident it will not spill over as that metal stake is secure. What is funny about this is that the flip side of the bag is very glittery. The Labyrinth party projects had a lot of spray glitter involved and it was the "let's not spray the garage floor" protection. It is my last burlap bag.  It seems like so long ago that party... OK BUCK UP! Soon lettuce and spinach can get sown!

I did a couple other things today (gotta keep chores for when Pete is at the  office. Makes me twitchy  to just sit and worry.)  I steam cleaned the carpets CUZ PUPPY! That killed almost two hours.

I also took the practice strip off my loom. I learned about floating  selvedge (so I can change colors MUCH more gracefully) and how to hem/stitch the ends. Made a foot long, ugly, over tensioned cat toy for Ms. Peppercorn. Now I can start a nice strap for the basket I have in mind. Much like the garden. It really needs to be warmer to get basketry stuff out. I really like working on the patio for that.

The third thing  I did was start Z's birthday dessert request. He loves caramel and asked for chocolate cupcakes with caramel in the middle.  I made the caramel and it  is chilling in the fridge for tomorrow's adventure. I am thinking that the frozen discs of caramel should do a lava cake kind of thing? I dunno. There will be pics!

Spaghetti and meatballs tonight. Guess I should go start thawing stuff and start the sauce.

Fight Night at the Joe #23

"Blood on the Ice" a donnybrook cocktail.

Back in '97 there was a game that shall forever be remembered. The year before there was an incident between Drapes and Lemieux. It was nasty. https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2017/03/23/red-wings-avalanche-fights/99495676/ THEN THERE WAS VENGEANCE...301 days later The Ferda was strong and the rivalry between the Wings and the Avs was official.

We lived at the Wallace house then and my new fridge made crushed ice. Between periods I boogied out to the kitchen to make a new drink and of course took advantage of the crushed ice. Moving quickly, I dashed some vodka across the top of the packed snow and then some bloody mary mix, which pooled and floated on the chilled vodka. My drink looked A LOT like the ice did at the end of The BRAWL.

Mac was "my boy" (he still is... the big goof ball) and his honorable and passionate team spirit has been inspirational and so in honor of his loyalty... I created a drink I call "Blood on the Ice".