Prudence and patience and knowing when to make a move

There was a Hushamok baby hammock on eBay recently that I bid on and didn't win. I had a maximum bid of $200, which is 1/3 of retail, and I was winning at $110 for the whole week, then at the end, within the final 20 minutes, I was outbid. I didn't get caught up in the last-minute battle because I'd determined early on what I wanted to pay, and I wasn't going to pay more than that.

I'll still keep my eye out for a good deal, but I know how much I want it versus how much I'm willing to pay for it, so I don't feel any kind of pressure. If I don't get it, we just go the "traditional" route of static sleeping; besides, ThinkGeek had an awesome sale and we were able to get this funky bouncer at an AMAZING price a few weeks ago.

This is how I tend to operate: I decide I want something, I research, and I wait. It helps not to be in a position of desperation, which is where being a gleeful planner really helps.

James once had a car die and borrowed cars from friends until that wasn't an option, then got a new job and HAD to have reliable transportation, so he ended up with the car he has now, which he does not love and which he particularly hates because his need put him in a position to pay a lot more than he wanted to pay. This happens. It sucks, but it happens.

I have always loved Chevy Astros and have known that eventually I wanted another one. My car was quirky with the reverse, but it was drivable. When the a/c went out, though, I knew I didn't want to put any money into the car and started looking for Astros. Fortunately, this happened during the fall and not during the summer or else I would have had to make a more prompt decision. As it turned out, I found a van I liked, but it was $10,000 and it was in Kansas City, so I'd have to pay to have it transported.

Because I was in a position of leisure, I waited... and then happened across the van we eventually bought through Craigslist. It was the same age but with lower miles and 1/3 of the price of the first van. And at that point, we were in the perfect position to purchase it.

It's been that way with a lot of the baby stuff, too. I'll find something I want, and because I have time, I'll wait. I did a lot of research on carriers and slings and ended up deciding on one that eventually came up on Zulily, which was also 1/3 of the cost. Also, the rug we ended up getting for the nursery (which was part of the baby bouncer deal). And the bookshelves I bought for our room because I wanted to get rid of James' old black shelving.

Last but definitely not least, it's kind of the way it was with James, too. I've mentioned (often and at length) that I had an unrequited crush on him in high school. I really did make a play for him, but right as it was hitting its crescendo, he started dating another girl. I waited and went for it again two and a half years later, as he was going into the Navy. We wrote when he was in training, and I did my best to flirt via the USPS with him. But he ended up falling in love with someone else. Again.

The next time I tried to see if we could work something out was in late 1997. By the time he wrote me back, it was my turn to have met someone else. In typical James fashion, when I told him this, he asked, "So? What does that have to do with me?" Ah, yes, I love his boldness.

Finally, in 2012, I got the awesome deal I'd been waiting for. I have to say, I'm even happier with it than I am with the van, and I adore that thing.

Chocolate cake with chocolate fondant

I used to bake and decorate a lot. I love it. Then there was a hiatus when I moved into the RV for two years. I couldn't get the propane oven to cook evenly; everything was burnt down the middle where the burner strip was. Also, it was so small that I had to bake everything, each layer, each piece, one at a time. Then there was the reality that I didn't have anywhere to store what I'd made until I was ready to take it somewhere, both because of space and the evil cats. So, after a few tries, I took a break.

It occurred to me this week that I don't have an excuse anymore, so I decided to try again. Starting with something simple and pretty straight-forward. Re-wetting my feet, so to speak.

First, I made three small cakes using this recipe. Sort of. I was out of granulated sugar (believe that or not) so I used half brown and half powdered. I figured the excess moisture/cornstarch combo might cancel each other out.

Then I made this frosting.

Yes, I sampled a generous portion of this frosting.

I stacked and trimmed the sides of the cakes, but left the tops "fluffy" because they were already so thin, I didn't want to straighten them out, making them even flatter.

If I weren't using fondant, I would have done a thin layer of this as a crumb coating and then another prettier outer layer. But I didn't have to.

Next was this fondant, which requires that you wade through some typos or perhaps drunken typing. But you get the idea.

A couple of things about chocolate fondant: For me, anyway, it has to be kept thicker than regular sugar fondant. But that's okay, because it also tastes better. Fondant is sort of a "love it" or "leave it" prospect for most people, like Peeps or Circus Peanuts (fondant is actually a lot like circus peanuts, composition-wise). But chocolate fondant is richer and not as sweet. For the two parts sugar, there is one part cocoa, and that makes it a lot less treacly. It's described rightly as recalling Tootsie Rolls.

Adding the gelatin mixture in the well of the sugar and cocoa.

Use the dough hook! It gets really thick.

In any case, making fondant at home guarantees it will taste better than the stuff you buy in tubs at the store, and it's pretty forgiving, in terms of covering cracks and uneven spaces and being able to pull it off and start over if you mess up. But the even finish and keeping the cake inside moist is the main point of fondant, so if people eat your cake and leave the fondant, don't be offended. It's sweet, and to some people it's just too much. (I'm not one of those people.)

Fondant rolled and ready to move!

Draped over the cake.

With regular sugar fondant, you can even out the corners and make seamless edges. I haven't been able to do that with chocolate fondant, ever, so I wrap it like a present.

After a good trim.

Fortunately, you can cover the folds, and any over-enthusiastic trimming you might have done that allows some icing seepage, with frosting or other fondant or whatever you're doing to finish your cake.

Recently, I got a bunch of supplies from Amazon. This included a cool fondant kit I'm eager to use, but decided not to make flowers or anything for this cake, and I didn't want to pile the fondant and make it too much. I did use the sharp edge, which was so much better than my kitchen knives.

Also, when I was ready to do the final touches, decoratively, I was able to move the whole cake with this genius 8-inch cake lifter.

Oh, how I love this thing.

I used the buttercream recipe from the Wilton 53-piece cake decorating kit book. I learned that their pink gel is pretty intense, and I could have used less, because it came out super dark and orange-y.

Anyway, here's the final product. I made the cake for our small group, and the birthday girl will likely prefer a bagel, but that's okay. It was fun starting to get back into the swing of things, anyway!

Gelato World Tour

Long time, no blog! We were on vacation, so preparing for and recovering from that took a while, but now we're back, settled into the Nuthaus and enjoying our increasingly hot and humid surroundings.

Today, which also happens to be Mother's Day, my husband and daughter walked me downtown to Republic Square Park for the Gelato World Tour! Yes, that's a real thing.

If you're not familiar, gelato has less fat and air than ice cream, but most importantly (to me) it's served at a higher temperature. If you're someone who likes to let your ice cream melt a bit before you eat it, then you'd love gelato. Because of the higher temperature and less air, it "tastes" creamier (i.e. less crystallization) and, to me, more decadent.

The Gelato World Tour is what it sounds like, a chance to educate people about gelato, and it also has a competition element. Although admission is free, to get 5 tasting tickets is $10 (I got a bonus, I suppose because I'm a mother? or pregnant? I didn't ask questions!), and at the end, you use your ticket stub to vote for your favorite.

Here are some of the flavors I sampled:

Salted Pecan with Montmorency Tart Cherries & Tahitian Vanilla. This is from the Bella Gelateria gelato shop in Vancouver, British Columbia. The first thing I tasted, and it set my tongue on edge, in a good way, were the tart cherries. After that mellowed, the salted pecan kind of came up at the end and was a mildly sweet caramel finish.

Raspberry Beet from Bent Spoon Gelato in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Pretty straightfoward, flavor-wise. The raspberry was dominant, and the beet gave it the very beautiful color and a depth beyond just a berry-fruity flavor. I think it's raspberry enough that a kid would like it, though. 

This was a delightful pistachio gelato, but it wasn't part of the competition. The booth had a "Hello Kitty" flavor that looked like maybe vanilla (or white chocolate) gelato with some cherry or raspberry jam swirls. They also had a chocolate that Daphne got, and after she ate that cup, she said she was full, so James and I each got one extra ticket!

Goat cheese cashew caramel from Black Dog Gelato in Chicago. This was another very balanced flavor: sweet, but not too sweet. 

Profumi di Silicia. This was from the Versace Galeteria Italiana in Doral, Florida, and we had such high hopes for it. The ingredients included nougat, ricotta cheese canoli, pistachio grains, and chocolate chips. As a footnote, it mentions "lightly flavored with orange zest" and swirled with caramel. However. The main flavor that came through was orange zest. Not in an "I'm an awesome foil to dark chocolate" way, either. It was bitter and totally eclipsed the caramel or chocolate or pistachio and definitely the mild ricotta. Oh well. 

Sweet G's Candied Bacon from Sweet Ginger's Gelato in Fort Myers, Florida. This one delivered on its promise. The tiny bits of candied bacon added a smoky contrast and textural difference to the creamy gelato. There was also the nice additional flavor boost from some cinnamon. Delicious.

This was James' turtle gelato from The Turtle Gelateria in Brownwood, Texas. It's only 2 hours from here, but since we just drove through it last week on the last leg of our 900+ mile road trip, we're going to hold off visiting for a while. James and Daphne tried several other flavors that I didn't: Chocolate Guinness Caramel Crunch (which James said I would have hated, what with my not liking beer in general and probably stout specifically; he enjoyed it, though); Carmastachio, which was marscapone swirled with caramel and pistachio; and Nuts, peanut butter and chocolate hazelnut. Fortunately, that last one was from here in Austin, so I can try it some time!

This, though. This is the one for which we voted. It's the only one that James got, and after I tasted it, I had to go back and get my own. It was La Grande Bellezza, or the Great Beauty. Avocado basil. If you know me at all, you know I'm all for using avocado as a substitute for pretty much any fat in any food. I love it. And the basil is a perfect complement, giving a spike to the otherwise pretty laid back flavor of avocado. There was also some sea salt, and though this was a dessert, it was not, by virtue of the ingredients, overly sweet. Definitely our favorite.

I can't wait to see who won!

What Not to (Under)Wear

(In case you're wondering: Yes, this post is about drawers for pregnant ladies. If that doesn't interest you, you should come back another day... though I can't promise it will be much better.)

As I've mentioned before, this pregnancy is very different from the one I experienced 13 years ago. Not because I'm older, no; actually, I'm in better shape at 41 than I was at 28, believe that or don't. I actually LOVE being pregnant (until the last week or so) and my body responds really well to it. Also, this time I have access to much more attractive clothing than I did before. It seems like maybe 2 years after I was expecting Daphne, maternity clothes got super cute. While I do still prefer the more loose, forgiving stuff over the uber-body-conscious curve-hugging stuff, I appreciate the variety that's available now. (I also appreciate my husband, who hasn't flinched at the many Zulily packages we've received over the past couple of months.)

However.

One of the first things I noticed, when realizing it was time to bust out the maternity clothes, was that my normal undergarments -- the lower installment -- had no waist around which to rally and therefore were prone to slide off of my hips and disappear forever.

This led to my first (unsuccessful) venturing online to locate some comfortable underpants. If you look at Motherhood Maternity's underwear selection (and I don't recommend that you do, because, frankly, I am moderately disturbed by out-of-context pregnancy bellies in varying degrees of expectancy), you will notice that they have precisely ZERO over-belly selections. They have "high cut" and "fold over" and bikini and hipster (the hipster underpants do not flatter any of the models, by the way), but no over-belly "these definitely won't fall off and if you're really worried, you can tuck them up under your bra" underpants.

I found a few pair on Zulily and Amazon, but they're all in the $20+ range, and it's difficult to break out of my cheapskate propensity to justify paying $5+ a month to rent a pair of underwear.

Not much better.

Thus far, I've bought nothing of this ilk, but I have learned a lot. One thing I've learned is that there are some products that should just not exist. For instance:

What? Why? NO.

Dude, I like to look cute... but I can't imagine any scenario in which I would want to be messing with a thong right now.

Note that these maternity thongs are unavailable for men. Sorry, friends.

You might think that wearing a thong would be... uh, invasive enough. But wait! There's more!

I can't. Um, let's say only that the models in these pictures are definitely *not* pregnant. Speaking of which:

Hot Milk doesn't seem to understand what pregnant women look like. A) I don't look like this when I'm not pregnant. B) As much as I don't like seeing other women's naked prego bumps, there are mannequins for the below-belly stuff, and like actual baby-incubators for the rest of the stuff.

Besides, I don't get the French Kicker thing... You know who is seeing my underwear right now? NO ONE. Not even James. It's not that I don't feel attractive when I'm pregnant, because I do! But I can't even see my own underpants, so I can't be sure I have them on, say, right side out or correct side front or any of that, so no one else is looking, either. I'm playing to my strengths.

Oh, and here's something else that super frustrates me that's available for those of us whose bodies are hosting increasingly sentient other beings.

Ugh. No. Just. NO.

"Support" is one thing. "Control" and "slimming" is another. I'm freaking pregnant. My body is changing. It's kind of awesome. I don't owe it to anyone to look particularly "slim" or in "control." This is a utilitarian weight gain, and I have enough to think about without wondering if this pregnancy makes my thighs look meaty.

Yeah. Spanx has a maternity line, too. Just be grateful I didn't show you the big picture.

Speaking of which, I saw this picture (or one of the many taken on this occasion) in a popular weekly gossip magazine. Don't judge. I was stuck in a waiting room.

This is actress Kate Winslet posing by her brand-spanking new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Do you know what the headline said? "'Divergent' star Kate Winslet flaunts her post-baby body for Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony." REALLY? She just had her vocation's accomplishments acknowledged, and you have to draw attention to the fact that she doesn't look like a frumpy milk factory? And so what if she did? It's bad enough to assume that "fat" means "ugly" or "unhealthy" or "lazy" or "unmotivated." It's even WORSE to pressure women who have spent 9 months with their bodies changing to care for a child to "look" a certain way in the few weeks after delivery. For what it's worth, I have friends who can "bounce back" right after having a kid (or two or three) and others whose meat hangs on a while. In my experience, a LOT of it is genetics. But either way, what the heck? Kate Winslet was being feted for her ACTING. Way to strip the meaning out of that whole thing!

I wouldn't buy these because they look exactly like "normal" drawers, and, besides, all of the models look uncomfortably bound at the "waist." You know how usually underwear models have no rolls or pulls or even mini-muffin tops? Not so with these.

Two more products you didn't know you needed, but you... don't.

Apparently, this is for those times you might carry your cell phone in your pants pocket. Upon further inspection, I found that there is actually a whole market of maternity anti-radiation clothing. I'm filing this under "I have exorbitant amounts of cash sitting around in piles, and not nearly enough baby stuff to purchase. TAKE MY MONEY!!"

And, finally...

I think this might be for new mothers. If you're expecting your first, then I need to tell you something: Nursing only affects the top half of your undergarment-clad areas. I mean, true, you might be sitting down. But these briefs don't have a cushion or anything, so probably not strictly a true "nursing" item.

The whole thing is an education, isn't it? You're welcome.

What I Learned from Pike's Peak

When we rode the Manitou Springs Cog Railway, we were not cleared to go to the top of Pike's Peak due to high winds and snow. The danger was that wind could blow a snow drift in behind the train, trapping us at the top. As disappointing as it was not to have looked out from the crest and gotten a picture with the summit sign, we had no desire to get trapped on top of the mountain.

On our ride up to 12,500 feet, we learned several things about the area, the railway, and the mountain itself.

First of all, the man after whom Pike's Peak is named set out with an expedition to ascend to the top in November of 1806. However, due to conditions much worse than what we encountered (waist-deep snow, and without the right gear), he and his team had to turn back. The first Euro-American did not reach the pinnacle for almost a decade and a half. But because of the work he had done describing it, eventually the mountain became known as Pike's Peak.

Secondly, there are a lot of mountains in Colorado, what with that whole Rocky Mountain chain and all. Pike's Peak is not the tallest. It's not even in the Top 10. It is in 31st place. There are a whole thirty mountains taller than Pike's Peak in the state of Colorado, but you'd be hard-pressed to think of any that are more well-known.

Why is that?

Pike's Peak stands alone. It's not surrounded by other mountains. If you look at it from the satellite view, it dwarfs everything around it, including Garden of the Gods, other peaks, and Colorado Springs. It is visible for over a hundred miles from the east, across the plains of Kansas. This is why "Pike's Peak or Bust" was a famous gold-rush slogan; gold wasn't actually found near the Peak, but it was a landmark. It can be seen from Denver, and for miles around in every direction.

On the east side of the mountain, the view from what is now called "Inspiration Point" moved Katharine Lee Bates to write a poem she entitled appropriately "Pike's Peak" but which later was put to music and became a little song you might know as "America the Beautiful."

Pike's Peak has a mystique. It is host to a summit race wherein competitors speed up the 13 mile trail ascending 8000 feet to the top. A record of 2 hours, 8 minutes and change is held by Matt Carpenter; that's a consistent 10-minute mile under extreme conditions, even when the weather is "good..." In summer the average high temperature is in the high-40s, and there is only 60% oxygen compared to what those of us at lower elevations are accustomed.

All of this to say: You don't have to be the biggest (or best or most spectacular or superlative anything) to be the stuff of legends. You don't have to succeed in every endeavor to be remembered throughout history. Being set apart, true to yourself, uncompromising, naturally beautiful, trying and even failing, being who you are where you are... that is enough.

I need to contemplate this some more, but for now, that is the wisdom with which I walked away from Pike's Peak.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Incidentally, when I was fact-checking to make sure I remembered some of this correctly, Google's search parameters tried to wrong my right grammar...

Nope, Google. I meant "after whom." Look it up.

Team Dave's Road Trip, Day 5 - Boulder and Nederland

We hung out at the hotel for a couple of hours this morning, ate left-over dinner stuff for breakfast, and then drove out to Boulder to Celestial Seasonings for a tour. Daphne said, "I hope the workers here don't look like slaves like they did at Hammond's Candies." Well, the candy people were VERY focused, as they only had a few moments to work before the molten candy hardened. But there were not a whole lot of people working on the floor at Celestial Seasonings, as it's not their busy season anymore.

While we waited for our 11 o'clock tour, we got to sample teas; they had about a dozen made and in dispensers, but you could ask for any of 80 varieties. I learned a lot on the tour, like that Sleepytime is their best-seller and that it's not actually a tea because it's made with herbs and not, you know, tea leaves. Also, that white, black, and green tea are all made with the same plant, just varying methods. White tea is made from the flowering buds of the tea plant and can only be harvested 1 week a year. Green tea is heated to make sure it won't ferment. Black tea is withered and left to ferment. Now you know.

After our tour, we drove up to Nederland, where James used to live. He took us to lunch at Backcountry Pizza, and it was excellent. Daphne had a meat pizza and chicken wings, I had cheese and garlic pizza, and James got two specialty slices: Nedeteranian and something with ham, pineapple, and jalapenos *shudder*.

Daphne was exhausted after lunch; I'm pretty sure she's full-out sick now (this girl's sinuses do NOT travel well). We walked through a nature center, then she laid down in the car while James and I visited an alpaca shop and hit the grocery store. Then we drove down the road to where James used to live. Memory Lane then took us to Boulder, to the Pearl Street Mall. We got Ben and Jerry's, walked around, and finished up at Dushanbe's Tea House. That was five hours ago, and I'm still stuffed.

When we got back to the hotel, James and I went to check out the hot tub and learned that: 1) It's outside on the second floor and 2) it's barely lukewarm. I'm too chilly, so we came back to the room and watched the awesome sunset instead.

Pictures have been uploaded here; hope you enjoy them!

Team Dave's Road Trip Mini-Update 4.5 - Miscellany

So, we've talked about the stuff we've done and enjoyed on our trip. Now for some real life that's maybe not so much fun or interesting, but is definitely a part of the vacation experience, anyway.

The Astro has cruise control, but it doesn't work. Driving from about 500 feet above sea level to over 6000 feet above sea level at 75 miles per hour is a lot of right leg work in a high-profile van. Also, because of the wind, most of the drive up was a battle. The passenger side door doesn't seem to seal all the way, which we don't notice in Austin because there are hills and wind breaks that aren't out in west Texas. At one point, north of Amarillo, it was getting so bad that it felt like it was grabbing the van and hurling it. I pulled over to see if I could shut the door more securely from the outside, but could barely OPEN my door because of the winds. It was intense. It didn't make much difference, so I just had to hang on with both hands and we all had to deal with the noise of air streaming in through wherever the crack is.

Obviously, the altitude takes a couple of days' acclimation. Last night, James and I ran a couple of blocks without too much trouble, but the first day, just walking up stairs would wind us.

James having lived here before and Daphne's and my having lived in Las Vegas, we've experienced dry air before, but now we're not used to it. We've all had dry sinuses and the ensuing busted nasal capillaries... you know what I'm saying. Daphne's had it the worst. Last night, she was awake a good deal of the time (or not awake, and blowing her nose in her sleep) trying to breathe. Her throat is sore, her tonsils are swollen, and this morning we spent more than $20 on nasal moisturizer/decongestant and Ricola cough drops from the hotel shop.

Also, originally, when I started looking a couple of weeks ago, the highs here were supposed to be in the mid-60s. That quickly changed to mid- to low-50s. We brought coats and were prepared, but I'm very uncomfortable in the cold right now, and I am basically running from door to door. We were blessed by sun and being in a wind-sheltered valley at most of Garden of the Gods, but otherwise, I've had to appreciate the gorgeous Colorado landscape from inside. My face is wind-chapped; I am actually putting lotion on it, and that's saying a lot since I tend toward oily skin and typically don't like to put any product, especially moisturizer, on.

Then, of course, there's the reality of traveling with a pre-teen who really appreciates her online time to chat with friends and the like. And that's all I have to say about that.

None of this to complain, of course. It's just that since I'm posting the fun, I thought I'd show you the keepin' it real, too.

Finally, we've had three different showers on this trip. The KOA shower took a long time to heat up, but once it did, it was gloriously scalding. My skin was pink from enjoying it for quite a while. The pressure was even, pretty much perfect.

The shower at the lodge was ridiculous. It wasn't that it was low-pressure, per se. It had like six or seven very thin, very pointy-feeling streams of water jetting out from around the edges of the shower head and pointing randomly at places that were not where one typically stands in the shower, except that if I leaned over to adjust the water temperature, a couple of streams would poke me in the eye or try to shear my shoulder off. There was allegedly (according to James) a substantial enough stream right in the middle, but I never could get it to feel like much more than someone shooting a water gun (one of those little plastic ones; not a Super-Soaker) at my hair. this doesn't bode well for rinsing shampoo, especially as the water felt pretty soft.

The Westin shower is incredible. It is a rain-down shower head, but they also have an attachment in case you want to spray anything that's not easily accessible to straight-down water (like, say, your armpits; fortunately, mine do not require maintenance as they are self-cleaning and smell like roses). The water takes a bit to respond to changes in tap settings, but is plenty hot and the pressure is even. The soap is shaped like a leaf, and their shampoo and conditioner is super high quality. They also have a bathrobe available for use. Yes, I did.

The only drawback of staying somewhere vaguely hoity-toity like this (thanks, Hotwire!) is that EVERYTHING cost extra. This is the first more upscale place where I haven't had to pay for parking, but we are having to shell out $11 a day for internet. The 20 ounce soda I bought yesterday was $2.90; I bought one for $1.50 at the KOA. The breakfast burritos in their hotel restaurant are $12 ($19 if you order them through room service), and the fruit parfait I got Daphne at the hotel Starbucks this morning was $6.50.

Fortunately, we're on vacation so we have budgeted for "extras," but it's still crazy how you can get free continental breakfast and wi-fi at the Super 8. There is an indoor pool here; we haven't used it yet, but might tonight. The humidity would likely feel GREAT.

We took it slow this morning, and are just about ready to head out to see where James used to live. Tuesday's Focus on the Family was for Daphne; yesterday's Hammonds tour was for me; and this afternoon is for James. Tomorrow is for nobody, as we drive. And drive. Aaaand drive (after we pick up my phone). But, you know what? We're a pretty cool team; I bet we'll manage to have fun, anyway.

Oh, we listened to the audiobook to "Holes" (Daphne's and my pick) on the way up, and have started "Summer Knight" (James') so will probably be able to finish that up between today's route and tomorrow's straight shot southeast.