persephone33

I had this at a birthday/anniversary/fourth of July party last week and it was one of those desserts I found myself thinking about all week. So much so that I decided I had to make one myself. It's moist and sweet inside with a caramelized and crunchy outer crust. Served with whipped cream or ice cream (or in an ideal world, both), it's just plain awesome on a plate.
( Recipe and pictures... )

We went to the family's cabin in Childress, TX (which is right between Quanah and Estelline, thanks for asking) for the long weekend. Below are the pictures to come out of it all.

Warning: There are a lot of pictures. I'm not kidding. A LOT. And there are cows. And strangely dressed children. And one victim of a hunting excursion. Be forewarned. I'm not listening to any whining.


The best thing about the cabin is that there's literally NO ONE AROUND. No people, that is. There are lots of cows. And deer. And cranes (minus one). And various other wildlife. You can imagine my moue of distaste on my face. But this weekend was fun. It was just the four of us. Well, six if you count the dogs. And we do.

( Home, home on the range... )

And I showed restraint by only posting HALF the pictures. The other half got lost in my second crappy camera. I think I'll buy a new one with my birthday money. Then I can inflict GOOD cow pictures on you, and not the slightly blurry ones.

So we went to the cabin.

( Y'all pull up a chair and have a glass of tea. This is a long damn story. )

You know what folks? THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME.

A truer word was never said.

My boys have gone with their grandparents to our Cabin in Childress until Thursday, so I'm on my own until then, and I'm sitting here, crying into my coffee because I miss them so much.

*snort of epic proportions*

No really, I love my kids; but I adore being alone.

In other news, the economic crisis has hit us, and hard. Nolan has had to lay off 15 of our employees in the last two months, and he feels like a failure, as if the lack of work available is somehow his fault. Intellectually, he knows it isn't, but he still feels responsible for the men and their families. He even went so far as to call around to other contractors, to find them jobs, and that was met with varying degrees of acceptance. I told him that he had to cut them a little slack, they'd been fired and had worries of their own. He's stressed and grumpy and stressed. Did I mention stressed? I keep telling him it's going to be okay; even if we have to downsize and sell the cars and move, he'll still have me and the boys, and we're all healthy. We're blessed. I don't know what more I can do for him.

In writing news, I am still plugging along at dg_ldws; it's a lot harder than I thought it would be, this drabble writing business. I've got one staring at me that's due tonight, and I'm simply not moved. That's always been my problem. My muse doesn't perk up on demand, and she gets distracted oh, so easily.

On the up side, I have lots of time and quiet to bang out 450 words. I think I'm also going to hit the shops and buy myself some new tennis shoes today. (Workout shoes? I don't play tennis, that's just always what I've called them.) The five miles a day is killing my feet.

So, have a lovely Tuesday, friends. I'm off to not hear children bickering for a few days. :)

 It's been one heck of a busy week.  

My mom's been in town, I've had several meetings (unpleasant, at best) Ethan's gotten in trouble at school twice, and I may or may not have screwed up something (that I love) royally.  I just don't know.  On top of all that, my sweet Katie Belle (no, not you, elle_blessing) had to go to the vet again yesterday; she's on four different kinds of medications.  She is, thankfully, feeling much better today, I think, but I've been worried about her, nonetheless.

We leave this morning for our cabin, I think we'll be gone through Monday unless Nolan has to come back early for work.  Oh, I forgot.  Nolan. Nolan is having a bit of a mid life crisis.  I wish he'd just buy a car and have done with the whole thing.  Being moody and morose is just not cutting it for me.  I'm moody enough for the whole family, thankyouverymuch.

I also started a new project. 



Aaaand it's embe11ished's birthday on Sunday!  *hugs*  I'm sending you a great bottle of virtual wine.  That really sounded better in my head.  Ah, well.  Best wishes, and I hope you have a lovely day.