Happy Birthday to me
I used to be fifty-three.
Hm hm hm hm.... one more
Hmm hm hmm and so on and so forth.

Wait a minute. I'm looking at this picture just now, and it appears to me that my brother is trying to steal my birthday thunder by also blowing air in the general direction of my birthday candles! That is just so wrong.

All I did to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year was wear green on Wednesday. Bob was gone, so there was no annual corned beef and cabbage stinking up the house. On Saturday it was nice enough to take Maddie, the Amazing Barking Dog on a walk, (although she limped around afterward like her arthritis was bothering her). We walked through the cemetery, and on the way home I noticed the Jansen's had their turtle decked out for the holiday. These turtles travel all around their yard and wear various costumes. Glad I snapped this because today I noticed that Mama Turtle is already sporting an Easter bonnet. I think my squirrel needs an Easter bonnet too!
Here's a shot of the cemetery. It's a pretty place to walk and Maddie and I often encounter deer there.

We had some excitement last weekend, because STORMY blew into town for a whirlwind visit. She was here exactly 13 hours. We went to Biaggi's for supper and came back home for some pineapple upside down cake. She was gone by 8:30 the next morning, headed back to Wilkes Barre. Here she is in her Dress -Club-Approved brown frock, with the cake.

This is another recipe from Wolfgang Puck's former pastry chef, Marion Getz. It's made with fresh pineapple and the cake is very dense and moist and delicious. It's made with unsalted butter and no salt is added to the batter, and I missed it a little. When I make it again, and I will make it again, I'm going with regular salted butter. Enjoy!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

4 Tablespoons light brown sugar, packed

14 pineapple slices, 1/2 inch thick, core removed

14 fresh (or maraschino) cherries

Batter

2/3 cups sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg

2/3 cup pineapple juice

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 & 1/3 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan with 3 tablespoons butter, and then sprinkle brown sugar across pan. Twirl pan until the butter is evenly coated with sugar. Press the pineapple slices evenly across the bottom and sides of the pan into the butter. Press a cherry into the center of each pineapple slice.

In a bowl, combine all batter ingredients; mix well using a whisk until smooth. Pour batter into pineapple-lined pan and smooth out the top using a spatula. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes then loosen the edges with a table knife and invert the cake onto a serving plate.

So, last Friday night, Bob and I were driving over to check out the ribs at Mr. Ed's Tavern in Topeka, and I was talking to my sister, Lori, on the phone. We swerved a little to avoid a possum in the road. We'd done the same thing just a few miles back in an effort to miss a raccoon. I told my sister that "the night was teeming with critter. There was critter on the highway." Wait.....

Critter on the highway

Critter on the front porch

Critter on the hallway

Love Shack Baabeeeeeee.

How we laughed and laughed.

That's all I've got this week. No, really. That's it. I subbed three days and began tutoring a homebound student., so I have been busy, but nothing exciting to share. How about a Jack Handey quote?

"I wish I would have a real tragic love affair and get so bummed out that I would quit my job and just become a bum for a few years, because I was thinking about doing that anyway."

Jack Handey