Did you like it when a week was like a full year long?
And this afternoon was my father's birthday observed, canceled last night after my niece began to cough her face off and then reactivated this morning when she had stopped coughing at all. We made him a Pesach-compliant Queen Mother's Cake, known more traditionally in our household as a brick of chocolate. My mother had bought little white chocolate sheep from Burdick's. I made a meadow of green icing to graze them on. Of course I took pictures.
I also took pictures of things that weren't cake. I was pleased to have captured this turquoise inset of sky.
And I could not ignore the weeping cherry, which had exploded into mono no aware when no one was looking.
I am glad our street is not entirely bereft of cherry blossoms this year.
The icing comes from a recipe for hermits: melt two tablespoons of unsalted butter, whisk into a cup and a half of confectioner's sugar with a half-teaspoon of vanilla extract, whisk in an additional two to four tablespoons of boiling water as the desired consistency calls for. For hermits, it is poured on as a glaze. I made it thicker, so that it could be brushed roughly with a sort of grass effect. It looked good by candlelight.
I can take no credit for the strawberry and elderflower filling of the sheep, or their adorable little faces.
The exodus from the erosion of the party. One survivor on its chunk of sugar turf made it as far as our dining room table, where it was carefully prevented from encountering any cats.
I came home in the evening and made dinner with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
spatch of which I took no pictures, but it was mushroom ravioli with sage and basil alfredo sauce, much to the interest of Autolycus. I am exhausted, but celebrations are important, especially in times of hardship and chaos. Being seventy, my father is now insisting on being referred to as Agent Double-X-35. His birth year was full of flying saucers.
I also took pictures of things that weren't cake. I was pleased to have captured this turquoise inset of sky.
And I could not ignore the weeping cherry, which had exploded into mono no aware when no one was looking.
I am glad our street is not entirely bereft of cherry blossoms this year.
The icing comes from a recipe for hermits: melt two tablespoons of unsalted butter, whisk into a cup and a half of confectioner's sugar with a half-teaspoon of vanilla extract, whisk in an additional two to four tablespoons of boiling water as the desired consistency calls for. For hermits, it is poured on as a glaze. I made it thicker, so that it could be brushed roughly with a sort of grass effect. It looked good by candlelight.
I can take no credit for the strawberry and elderflower filling of the sheep, or their adorable little faces.
The exodus from the erosion of the party. One survivor on its chunk of sugar turf made it as far as our dining room table, where it was carefully prevented from encountering any cats.
I came home in the evening and made dinner with
spatch of which I took no pictures, but it was mushroom ravioli with sage and basil alfredo sauce, much to the interest of Autolycus. I am exhausted, but celebrations are important, especially in times of hardship and chaos. Being seventy, my father is now insisting on being referred to as Agent Double-X-35. His birth year was full of flying saucers.
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I can eat them, too, since the ganache of their interiors has a white chocolate base!
I hope your father felt well-celebrated with the verdant excellence of his cake.
Thank you. I think he did. He was certainly delighted by the sheep.
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Thank you for the mono-no-aware of those blossoms and that sky, too.
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Oh, no, Jiji! Tell him I think he's cute!
Thank you for the mono-no-aware of those blossoms and that sky, too.
You're welcome! I didn't want them to get lost in the holidays.
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The sheep! The elderflower- and strawberry-filled sheep! Like something you'd dream about.
I might be tempted to make the icing mint.
Happy birthday to your dad!
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I would send you a piece if not for the practical considerations, like the fact that I'm not sure there is any left.
The sheep! The elderflower- and strawberry-filled sheep! Like something you'd dream about.
It's a great flavor, too. There used to be an elderflower soda that I could get from a local market.
I might be tempted to make the icing mint.
You should! I expect to make it almond the next time.
Happy birthday to your dad!
I will tell him!
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Happy birthday to your father.
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They may be even cuter than the chocolate mice. It's ridiculous.
Happy birthday to your father.
I'll tell him so!
Happy birthday to your father!
Re: Happy birthday to your father!
It was both fun and delicious! I will pass your birthday wishes on.
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I will convey them! I believe the cake came out, technically speaking, stupid cute.
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Happy birthday to my age-mate.
Nine
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Their little strawberry-blushed noses!
Happy birthday to my age-mate.
I'll tell him so from you!
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Thank you! I believe the sheep were new this spring, but I hope to see them next year.
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It was not complicated to make and there were no survivors.
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Sheep!
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IT WAS LUDICROUS.
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Thank you! I was glad of both.
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The weeping cherry is so lovely.
P.
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Thank you! I will tell him so. For years we just made ordinarily complicated cakes, and then representational art got into the mix.
The weeping cherry is so lovely.
Wherever we live next, it needs to have trees.
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I'm glad you were able to properly celebrate your father. ^_^
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I missed this comment! I think any future cake we make for anyone's birthday has a high bar now.
I'm glad you were able to properly celebrate your father.
Thank you.
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I have even more belatedly passed it on!
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Thank you! I'm so glad you have local cherry blossoms.