timing is everything!

I finished up a six week temp gig a couple days ago. And while there are a couple opportunities to work again, I am fortunately in a place where I can wait a while. I need time to finish this wedding planning thing. Crate & Barrel keeps telling me how many days I have left ... and well, its in the forties.

Today, I stayed home, and prepared some baked goods for my lovely roommate Sharon who is turning the ripe age of 25. I don't enjoy baking. I love food. But I don't enjoy baking. I even love reading about baking or watching baking shows, but I just don't bake. Maybe its because I live with two roommates who are very bakerly. Maybe its the measuring and this is and that about it. Either way, I love my savories and I've stuck to the pots and pans versus the cookie sheets and muffin tins. Yet today, I had to bake -- with Sandra at school and Stephanie prepping for an international vacation, the girl who loves all domestic arts (except baking) was left to bake. No problem, I said, just don't expect any chocolate violet cake cookies with tangy ginger raspberry creme outta me. Its gonna be cake mix.

In the morning I meticulously laid out everything. Including the five million bags of powdered sugar we own.



Recently, I picked up a vintage (well, from 1982) cookbook by Sunset magazine. I love this cookbook. I got it for three bucks from a very sweet elderly lady at the Beverly Hills public library. The instructional pictures in it cover alot of basics. Cookbooks nowadays showcase fancy photos but I love how this one really does a step-by-step.

So here's what came out of the oven:

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Stephanie gave me a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa for this. Instead, I used cakemix. (Sorry Ina, we're not on Martha's Vineyard, right now). The frosting turned out awesome. I'm very excited.

Lemon Shortcake Bars

From the Sunset magazine cookbook. The shortcake is butter and flour. You mix it up, bake it and then when its halfway done, you pour the lemon batter on top of it. I was upset with myself when I poured the batter -- the lemon juice had separated! I didn't think it would turn out right but like Sandra said, thanks to alchemy and heat, it was great.

Butter Rum Cake

This cake is so simple, so awesome. I never knew I could like something without chocolate so much. The first and only time I had it, it came piping hot out of the oven. Its basically buttercake mix with rum extract and pudding mix. It makes for an intoxicating combination and its a crowd pleaser. Before serving, pour the buttery rum syrup over it and you'll earn some brownie points -- or butter rum points!

My day has revolved around the kitchen. I'll post photos tomorrow of the final results!

Outside our house, various flora and fauna have been responding to Mother's Nature clock. Its spring time and our garden shows it.

A beautiful hibiscus bush that has many blooms on it already....



The otherwise very sparse and uneventful plant on our terrace is showing off its inner beauty as well ...



Our hydrangea bush outside is a bit of a late bloomer. Meanwhile, its providing some shade for our garden gnome.



There's a rose bush right outside my window. For months, it was just this thorny, scrawny plant. I wasn't sure if it was gonna make it. Our gardener trimmed it back. With its truncated stems, it looked even uglier. Yet, a week ago, this started happening:






You never know what's around the corner. It goes with the nature of things that before things fully realize their potential, a difficult trial comes right before it. It is like this not only with plants, but relationships and even our physical bodies. When mending a broken bone, the bone being set back into place is very painful. However, when it is set back into place, it is stronger than before.

And so it is with Jesus. He hung on a cross, bleeding to death, having already suffered hours of agony at the hands of those who used his body for trivial sport. His reputation was tarnished. His disciples abandoned him. He was alone. Yet three days later, he rose from the dead. So you see, nothing is impossible. If you are facing a trial, hang in there. You never know what's around the corner if you just wait a bit longer.