Bits and pieces

On Tuesday of this week, I was driving home late at night, and there was the most fantastic lightning storm. I wish I had been able to get pictures or video, but even if I had, they wouldn't really be as good as the real thing. It was so incredible. I kept wishing I could just pull over and watch. But it was so beautiful.

The next morning it rained, and I love rain. There were puddles in the gutter and my nieces and nephews went out and played in them. I used to do that when I was a kid. I loved playing in the gutter. (Hmmm, that doesn't sound so good...) We'd build dams and splash up and down, whenever water ran through the gutter--watering the lawn, rain. The kids had so much fun, and it just made me happy to see.

I made a cake for my sister's birthday. It's kind of become a tradition. She and her family were expats for a while, and they tended to be visiting the states around her birthday. Somehow, it always ended up that she was traveling between grandparents houses, and would often stay with me on or near her birthday. So, the kids and I would make her a cake (her husband usually had to be back at work, so he couldn't be there). And the last couple of years, I've been nearby, so we've done the same thing. This year, she requested this one, which my niece and I made once before. It was just a little too rich. We'd also had leftover frosting and ganache from the last cake. I had just enough frosting to frost the layers (I made it into 2) and sides, but not the top. But there was enough ganache to do the top. So, that's what I did. Then the kids helped me decorate with Peanut Butter M&M's.

 It was perfect. The first cake had been just a bit too rich--we had frosted the entire thing, and then put ganache on our individual slices, because the place the cake was on didn't allow for ganaching. It would have dripped over the sides. Anyway, with all the frosting and the ganache, it was too rich. But this way--without a layer of frosting under the ganache, it was just right. Not too rich, and the M&M's were a nice touch. I mean, what a perfect touch for a Chocolate Peanut Butter cake. Anyway, it was a beautiful cake, and I was so pleased. It seems silly, but my sister seemed really excited, and it made me feel so good. Just a little thing, but I needed it.

Anyway, just a few little tender mercies. And I'm sorry if you are now salivating and craving cake. Place an order, and I'll see if I can put in a good word with the Cake Fairy.