February 3, 2008
Mad steed
To determine the strangest item in The Joy of Cooking would just take too long, I think (though Page 515 would be high on the list, what with the line “If possible, trap ‘possum and feed it on milk and cereals for 10 days before killing”, and other recipes for porcupine or raccoon). But the “Birthday Bread Horse” is especially weird, if in an understated way:
“As our children have always demanded a piece of their birthday cake for breakfast, we concocted a bread horse to be supplemented later in the day by the candlighted cake of richer content… You will need a well-rounded loaf of bread…. Use the loaf for the body. Mount it on four of the candy sticks. Break off about a third or less of the fifth candy stick. Use it for the neck. Stick it into one end of the loaf at an angle. Put the oval rolls on the other end for the head. Use the braided rolls for the mane and tail, the raisins for eyes, the almonds for ears, and the piece of cherry for the lips. Bed the horse on leaves or grass. Add a ribbon bridle to keep this mad steed under some sort of control.”
February 2, 2008
Specific Requirements
Well done, Type Books! We went down there this afternoon (and Trinity Bellwoods Park was winter wonderland, though my right boot sprung a leak in the slush [bollocks]), with very specific requirements, and they satisfied every one of them. Plus they’ve started stocking Miffy. (The girl who worked there said she was the buyer and they’ve always been stocking Miffy, which is absolutely untrue, but I didn’t question her authority). Anyway, enough with the brackets.
Specific requirements: we got When You Were Small for the baby we’re going to visit in California– whose name is Henry, like the boy in the book. We bought Townhouse for his mom. And then, of course, just because I was there, as soon as I saw the hard-to-find Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk, I had to have it. Brilliant!
February 1, 2008
Snow Day
Gobsmack! The university has closed and I’ve been sent home early. Today is officially a miracle.
