Fondant Class

Kaye & I have signed up to take the 3rd Wilton cake decorating class. This is my first introduction to working with fondant. I had a nice time tonight learning about it and actually using it for the first time. The only thing we really made tonight were the tiny little rose bud starter pieces for the full rose. The pieces need to harden so we can build the rest of the roses during next week's class. The last time I took a Wilton class was around 1999 (I think). It was fun practicing some new skills and having someone give me some helpful pointers.

Thanks for going with me, Kaye! There were 4 of us total in the class, which was a nice small number. Several others had signed up, but didn't show up so our class may grow next week.

Neighborhood Darwin Award

And the award goes to.....the idiot neighbor! Congratulations neighbor. This neighbor earned this award by trying to burn down the whole neighborhood.

Vince & I came home Sunday from church around 12:30pm and noticed the houses across the street had black back yards and people were moving sprinklers around all over the yard.

After asking his kid what happened, we found out that his dad was burning "dead grass" in their back yard & it accidentally spread. The two neighbors directly across the street from me now have black back yards. His house backed up to their back yards. He also charred his next door neighbor's fence.

The point to note is that we don't have dead grass, it's dormant Bermuda grass that turns green in the spring. It's also sod, not seed, so it shouldn't be burned. Sod is expensive. I hope he has good insurance. The last time I checked, he is not a farmer that needs to put nutrients back in the soil from a good crop burn in order to plant crops for the next year.

I managed to get a few good pictures of the black grass. The award winner owns the hill. His property ends right at the end of the hill. Congratulations neighbor! Job well done.

Water Shoes & Wet Suit

Vince and I have booked our 1 year anniversary cruise so I have been trying to think of things I may need. One of the islands we'll be going to is Belize. Several people have recommended cave tubing to us so we are planning on doing that. They have a series of caves that you just swim through on an innertube. Knowing how cold I am in water (especially cave water), I knew I wanted something warm to wear. I was searching on ebay for some swim shorts when I came across a nice wet suit. I had a bidding war with 2 other people in the last 5 minutes of the on-line auction, but won it in the last minute. I also went by Academy yesterday to see what kind of shoes they had for water wear. I found a great pair for $4.99. I think Vince is going to get some too. We were told that you have to walk a little distance over rocks before you enter the water. I may be the only one with a wet suit on in Belize, but at least I hope not to turn blue from being so cold.

The other places we'll be visiting on the cruise are Cozumel (jewelry!!), Honduras, and Grand Cayman. I've never been to Belize, Honduras, or Grand Cayman so I'm excited to see these new places. Our cruise is 7 nights long - woo hoo!!! I'm definitely in the mood for a nice warm vacation.

Irish Festival

Vince & I ventured to downtown Greenville. It was held at the Peace Center Amphitheater. I had no idea that the Peace Center had an amphitheater behind the indoor building. It was really crowded. I think they didn't anticipate so many people coming to a free event since the sun was shining and the weather was so nice. We listened to several types of music including the traditional bag pipes and some not so traditional Pink Floyd songs. The amphitheater had one of the best notices posted that I've seen in a long time. No smoking & no pets.

We only stayed for about an hour and then walked around the river area. I forgot my digital camera, but managed to take a few pictures with my cell phone camera.

New Blog Book

I ordered my 2008 blog book near the end of last year. Since then, I've been patiently (or impatiently) waiting for a coupon from that website so I could order the blog book for 2009. They finally sent one. Yeah! I ordered my 2009 blog book and hopefully will receive it within the next week or so. I love having all my blogs and pictures in one big album for the whole year. It's such a great way to keep all my memories in one convenient spot.

Happy birthday to Jerry today! Jerry is Vince's stepdad. I couldn't ask for better in-laws than Jerry & Barbara. I hope you have a great birthday Jerry!

Visitors

Vince's parents came in town this week and stopped by the house this evening. We ventured out to O'Charley's to eat some good grub. They have new options on their menu that are 2 meals for $14.99. The three of them ate one of those entrees, but I just love their salads. The best part of the California salad is the candied pecans. They just make the salad so good. I can't stop eating it. Now I'm so stuffed, but in a very satisfied kind of way. It's always great to see Barbara & Jerry as well. Come back & visit us soon!

Sugar Free Recipes

I had to make a cake this weekend for a diabetic family. I looked around on line to find a sugar free cake recipe and found a great one on the Splenda website. I had a hard time finding a sugar free icing recipe. I finally found one that tasted great & had some stiffness to it so I could decorate, but it was still more of a pudding consistency. I'm glad I finally found a recipe that turned out well. I made sure to post it to my tastebook.com website (along with all my other recipes) so I won't forget it next time I need it. I still refer to this website often for recipes I've created before. It's so great to have my recipes on line so I can access them from anywhere.

I ordered the hardback cookbook with all my recipes in it over a year ago. Since then, I have several more that I need to get printed & mailed to me so I can add them to my book. I highly recommend putting all your family recipes on tastebook.com so you can have them forever & easily pass them to the next generation.