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Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Little Things

Yesterday, I bought myself a Snuggie. I was feeling down, and fourteen dollars seemed to be a reasonable amount for retail therapy. Paul laughed and told me never to wash it, because it would fall apart instantly. I didn't care. I was happy.


They are much bigger than they appear in the commercials. My friend Carla pointed out that I'm all set for my Pepto-Bismol Halloween costume next October.

I was also thinking Polyphonic Spree. Remember them?



***
Every Christmas, I make a digital scrapbook for my grandmother. She's in an assisted living home, and doesn't need trinkets. I hate, hate, hate scrapbooking, even though I know that it is a good thing. So, to make it less painful, I scheduled a scrapbooking get-together at my house on  Sunday. A couple people said they would come.

Tuesday night, I sent out this email: "Eff scrapbooking, let's have cocktails instead. We'll scrapbook when we're dead." Instantly, a acid-free paperweight lifted off my shoulders.

And more people are coming now. Not surprised. Not. One. Bit. 

***
We get Bon Appetit magazine because we ordered a lot of housewares off of Amazon.com last year. We never make any of the recipes, because they usually involve grinding your own corn or making your own savory blend of ketchup. Way out of our league.

I was flipping through the pages, and one of those renewal postcards fell out. The picture was of a two-layer chocolate fudge cake with white chocolate truffle filling and whipped chocolate frosting. It also featured three-dimensional chocolate stars. Chocolate Stars, people.

 Are you frackin' kidding me?

Owen was really taken with this cake. He slept with the postcard until it was a wrinkly mess, and on Monday morning, he asked me to call Paul at work.

Paul: Contracts.
Owen: Daddy! Hey!
Paul: Hi, Owen, what's up?
Owen: You need to get ingredients for star cake, please.
Paul: You want to make the star cake?
Owen: Yes! With sprinkles.
Paul: Sprinkles?
Owen: Yes, Daddy. Chocolate. Sprinkles. Don't Forget.

I asked Owen for the phone. I walked into the other room, and said, softly, "Just buy a Betty Crocker mix and some vanilla frosting."

Paul said, "No, honey, Owen said he wanted the star cake."

"OK," I replied. "It's your funeral."

Paul made the stars the first night. On day two, I made the actual cake, and Paul and Owen made the frosting. It took almost three days in total, but let me tell you two things:

1) It made Owen deliriously happy. Although he only ate about two bites, all we heard was, "Star cake! Star cake! Yummy, yummy Star Cake!"

2) Truly, it was the best cake I have ever had in my entire life. Orgasmic. Transcendent. No words can adequately describe the glories of this confection. Here's the recipe.

Take a gander...




It's true what they say: sometimes, it really is the little things that count.

14 comments:

erika said...

1. You are the only person on this planet who can get away with that Snuggie.
2. I like you more every day. Today, it was the "Eff scrapbooking" remark.
3. That cake looks plain sinful.
4. Your word verification hates me.

Nancy C said...

I thought I got rid of it...and thanks for the lurve. Right back attcha.

erika said...

You disabled the godforsaken word verification!!! THANK YOU!!!

Coby said...

Not only did you BUY the snuggie, you are WEARING it! Feckin' hilarious! (That's the way the Irish say it).

Re: yesterday's post. Shayne and I were talking, and it doesn't matter if all of the ailments Joel is experiencing are treatable - the fact is, it's your baby having to undergo these things, and he's undergone a lot for being on the planet for such a short time.

And yes, some days, I too feel like I've been emotionally battered by my children. Like I'm their freakin' house Negro or something. You're doing a great job as a mom! Besides, other people we know who have grown children are still alive. We, too, can make it!

Alice said...

I also can't imagine anything much worse than scrap-booking.

Grandma is quite happy with just ordinary pictures that she can carry around and show off and/or display on her walls.

Don't bother with putting the pictures in a book!

Claudya Martinez said...

You make that Snuggie look HAWT!

Oh man, that cake looks divine. I am so addicted to sugar right now, I want it something bad.

michelle said...

First of all, I love the new header pict.
**you look like a pink christmas angel
**cocktails are SO MUCH BETTER than scrap booking
**that cake looks awesome. thanks for the recipe

Corrie Howe said...

We got Snuggies last year. We love them. I bought them for Christmas presents, one per family. All families went out an bought another to end the fighting over it.

The cake you made was beautiful! I had to laugh at the fact that it was on a watermelon plate.

Tracie said...

Will it freak you out if I say I think I love you? I would love to have a t-shirt that says "eff scrapbooking".

Maggie May said...

this post just made me happy. you are a witty wonderland. and star cake? ROCKS. i must have.

Caution/Lisa said...

Don't wear that snuggie on the stairs, please. Is it warm?

You had me laughing at your decription of those recipes. I always see something that looks wonderful, but then I can't even pronounce the ingredients.

Your cake is amazing, so now you have to stop talking about how you don't use those recipes. Paul made the stars? Okay. That's impressive.

won said...

I kept reading, hoping the recipe was coming.

Thank you for that.

Your snuggie and you? Adorable.

Sarafree said...

I have Snuggie envy! Is it all that glorious things it is advertised to be? That cake looks darn good. I hope the kiddo was happy.

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

Pretty sure I need the star cake as much as your little dude did! Ah ha