Weekend linkage

"Well, it's a lot easier for you to sound condescending than it is for other people."
-Jared

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Pregnancy happenings: Did you know that pregnant women tend to burp a lot? Neither did I. Until this week. Ha.

[while watching Planet Earth]
Me: Look, the penguins can sled on their bellies.
Jared: Soon you'll be able to do that too!

Lucky for him I have such an excellent sense of humor. Another woman would have slapped him upside the head.

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From Thabiti Anyawile: "I'm tired of hearing The Gospel." So great, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who is thinking this. :) (I suspect that only those who attend a particular type of church will fully appreciate this article. Jared and I sure did. How easy it is to rely on shorthand rather than think deeply.)

The hipsters strike again, this time in a remake of Campbell's soup.

Besse Cooper, the world's oldest person, probably did not eat a lot of Campbell's. "I mind my own business and I don't eat junk food." ha.

Splendiferous paper art.

Well Written Wednesdays: as small as a world

{image credit: The Family Dog}

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:

and may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea

-e.e. cummings

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No beach for us this year-- first we lacked time, now I lack energy--but we do love it. There's nothing like the ocean horizon, the whisper of waves, and a wide expanse of sand. Thankfully, we got a good dose of the sea in Maine earlier this summer! Oh, how I wish I could be there now. Fresh air makes all the different in my current queasy state, and salt air? The best.

summer flora

As it turns out, I made some excellent choices for the flower garden this year. Mostly by luck, with a wee bit of brainpower. I haven't really paid attention to my flowers for three weeks (thanks to the tadpole) and yet! They live!

It helps that in the spring we put down some mulch to discourage weeds, but apart from that, I think I just picked nice hardy plants that manage to thrive on neglect. They aren't worthy of a spread in Martha Stewart, but they are still blooming and not ugly, and that's all that matters to me right now.

At the top of our stone wall we have nasturtiums, lobelia, zinnias, and marigolds. (Most of the marigolds started out in the vegetable garden, where I planted at least two packets in hopes of keeping away pests. They all got enormous down there and were actually crowding out the tomatoes and chili peppers, so I transplanted at least half of them to this flowerbed, where they continue to grow.) Zinnias are one of our favorite flowers to plant because they are just so irrepressibly cheerful.

In the pine tree flowerbed-- that's how I identify it-- there are mostly shrubs, and nothing grows very well because the stupid trees suck up all the water. However, last year I discovered by chance that coleus will survive even in this acidic soil. So coleus it was, with its pink, lime green, and rusty orange foliage.

In the last flowerbed are my beloved lavender (done blooming now but still fragrant) and pink stargazer lilies (also finished for the season). Right now the chrysanthemums are taking over, along with autumn joy sedum. To fill in the gaps, I picked up some annuals on a whim: I liked the colors, really, and had no idea how they would turn out. I think they were called "cotton candy." Well, they took root and produced some lovely pink and white blooms!

So there you have it. I'm not much of a green thumb, but I have found that if you pick the right flowers, you can make things look half-decent despite your own ineptitude. And sickness. :) When we move-- hopefully this fall-- I look forward to transplanting some lavender and lilies to our new home!

Weekend linkage

Me: I like the name Genevieve.
Jared: How would you spell that?
Me: G-E-N-E-V-I-E-V-E. And I like Eliza too.
Jared: How would you spell that?
Me: With an E. I also like Rose.
Jared: How would you spell--
Me: OH MY GOODNESS JUST STOP IT.
Jared: hahahaha

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Pregnancy happenings: At least being sick 75% of the time gives me a legitimate excuse to lounge about with books. Yesterday I read Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers (yes! the whole thing!) and about half of Kim Edwards' The Memory Keeper's Daughter--which is extremely good so far. Though I managed to get some work in too, mostly I am working my way through the stack of Stuff I Haven't Read Yet.

In other news, I want Chipotle and our baby looks like a tadpole. (A cute one.)

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Hipsters: visit Applebee's ironically! I love the Onion.

Interesting animated history of LEGO.

What ho! Another BBC period drama in the works.

Now that is a brilliant flash mob.

Climbing wall inspired by Alice in Wonderland.

Someone please buy this for us.

my quarter-century celebration, part II

{image credit: queenofthemoodswingset2}

Last time we talked about the healthy side of dinner. Now, less so. This torte does have good stuff like eggs and butter, but then there's all the sugar . . . aw shucks, who cares? It's a birthday cake!

This torte is wonderful. Very intense chocolate base with a rich cheesecake swirl. (Mom, I think you'll really like it.)

I served it in small wedges with a tart strawberry-peach coulis, which nicely offset the rich cake. And believe me, you only want to serve it in small wedges.

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Chocolate Cheesecake Torte
(slightly adapted from Cooking for Seven)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

10 ounces semisweet baking chocolate
10 tablespoons butter
3 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon rum
1 teaspoon vanilla

cocoa powder for dusting cake

1) Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.
2) In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until very soft.* Add 1/2 cup sugar, egg, and vanilla; beat until smooth. Set aside.
3) Break chocolate into small chunks and cut butter into pieces. Using double boiler** melt chocolate and butter together, stirring until completely smooth. Let cool slightly.
4) In second mixing bowl beat eggs, 1/3 cup sugar, rum, and vanilla for several minutes, until thick and glossy. Pour in melted chocolate and beat thoroughly.
5) Spread about two-thirds of the chocolate batter in the prepared pan. Add the cream cheese batter in several scoops, then top with the rest of the chocolate. Swirl the chocolate and cream cheese together with the tip of a knife.
6) Bake 35-40 minutes (a toothpick inserted several inches from the edge should still come out coated in soft fudge). Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 1 1/2 hours. The cake will be puffy and cracked when it comes out of the oven, and will sink as it cools.
7) To separate cake from pan, tilt pan so that it is almost perpendicular to the counter; rap pan's edge firmly on counter, rotating as you do so, in order to loosen cake completely. Once cake is free from pan's sides, invert onto large plate covered in parchment paper. Lift pan off and peel away parchment circle. Sift cocoa powder over bottom of cake, then invert onto serving plate and remove remaining parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.

*You can use a stand mixer or hand beaters for this. I used a large fork and elbow grease!
**Lacking a real double boiler, I just put a glass bowl over a simmering pot of water. Works just as well.