Month: April 2023

#FridayThoughts: Something different.

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It’s a gray day, again, we seem to be having a lot of them since I’m kind of keeping track. We’re supposed to get rain tomorrow, but I’m not sure the weather is going to wait.

The weather, as always, does what it wants.

It’s a week that went by quickly somehow, it was Monday, then it was Wednesday, then it was Friday and I can’t even tell you where Tuesday and Thursday went. Maybe they never happened.

Maybe someone is messing with time again.

Maybe the news of a Supreme Court more corrupt than we’d imagined makes the time fly by. Who knows.

I decided to try a cashew/date frosting for my dairy-free and ultimately vegan cake. I made it as a test batch, really, as I didn’t believe such a thing was possible. It only has cashews and dates, which you soak, some vanilla plant milk (I used almond, that’s what I have) and a pinch of salt. I added some vanilla, because why not.

And it is amazing. Truly amazing. It’s its own flavor, it’s own thing, and a perfect texture on top of a cake. No powdered sugar so it’s not that intense sweetness.

One caveat though, you really need a powerful blender. I have a Ninja with a spread/smooth cup thing that you turn while making stuff like nut butter. Even with that, I went three of the “spread” program rounds.

Otherwise, though, it’s a wonderful option to have, even for non-vegan baking. It’s likely healthier than buttercream, given the base is nuts rather than butter, and is gluten-free. I’m not sure if powdered sugar is, I haven’t checked, but I have a gluten-free friend who loves cashews. Seems like a win.

And something different.

My experiments in baking this week were fun and a success.

Anyway, that’s it for me this week, have a great Friday and a fantastic weekend.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

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#ThursdayThoughts #ThursdayTen ten word photo prompt: Spring

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Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

It’s THURSDAY! And that means #ThursdayTen time! But you already knew that, right?

Using the image above as as prompt, write a ten word story.

EXACTLY ten words.

Easy as pie! In that pie isn’t actually that easy to make so I don’t know why that’s a thing.

Anyway, ready?

Here’s mine:

The most peculiar of skin conditions, she bloomed every spring.

#WednesdayWisdom: It’s OK to experiment

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My second cup of coffee is on its way, only the milk left to froth. Soon. Very soon.

I am bringing a dessert to a family friend’s, and it has to be dairy free. I never bake dairy free, butter is like the beating heart of all baked goods. I tried a shortening frosting but I did not enjoy it at all. I don’t know if it was because the vanilla didn’t add enough flavor, if the organic shortening doesn’t have the same lift as something like Crisco or what.

There’s a vegan ganache I make all the time, though it’s not vegan when I make since I use semisweet chips, and I figured I could make it with the vegan chips. But I was concerned it would be too dark with the vegan chocolate cake, which isn’t overly sweet. The cake itself, despite having no eggs or milk turned out really well.

But finally I found a vegan butter, made from cashews, I can actually eat. So I’m going to try to make a vegan buttercream.

This dessert didn’t have to be vegan. It only had to avoid dairy, and I’m sure I could have substituted just for the butter; I use almond milk mostly anyway. Only I saw it as an opportunity to stretch my baking legs.

So now if the occasion does arise that someone needs a dessert to be vegan, I have something I can use. I’m also glad I tried it out ahead of time, so I know. Better now than later.

It’s OK to experiment.

Sometimes we’re really stuck on doing things right the first time, on knowing how to do something even when it’s the first time we’ve tried it. Why?

We don’t have to be.

Instead, give things a shot. Maybe you’ll enjoy them. Maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll decide somethings are best left to the professionals. Or maybe, like I did in this instance, you’ll marvel at the chemistry that creates a moist, flavorful chocolate cake without eggs or milk.

Failures are fine. As my mom used to say, “trashcans tell no tales.” Mine better keep its mouth shut about that shortening frosting.

Have a great Wednesdsay.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#TuesdayThoughts: What a nauseating embarrassment as an American.

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First, #ChatTuesday, “Mother’s Day season.” And now Tuesday.

It was rainy and might still be, once again I find it difficult to tell. On the heels of all the firings yesterday, today we learned that Neil Gorsuch, a SCOTUS Justice appointed by trump, apparently sold land he had listed for sale for multiple years just after he was confirmed.

He didn’t list the name of the purchaser on this disclosure form, and apparently the purchaser had nearly two dozen cases before him afterward. If that doesn’t sound corrupt to you, then nothing would sound corrupt to you.

And this is after learning about Clarence Thomas’ undisclosed benefits from Harlan Crow.

So Chief Justice John Roberts who has whined and complained about the way people say his Court is illegitimate, will have, as his legacy, at least TWO justices under him who, if not doing something improper (!) certainly have the air of impropriety.

And Kavanaugh did have a lot of debt before he became a SCOTUS Justice. Shouldn’t we be the least bit curious about that?

Republicans, of course, won’t do anything about this, even in the face what looks like blatant corruption. Anyone on “their side” does no wrong, no matter what wrong they do.

But what a nauseating embarrassment as an American to have these stories about money actually changing hands, and Republicans completely unconcerned about it. It’s like it’s only their country when they get what they want and they don’t care how they get what they want.

On a global scale, how humiliating to have a party like Republicans who will stand firmly with what appears to be overt corruption, who will revel in never, not once, doing what is right for the sake of what is right because they might “lose.”

Terrible, terrible people, who, no matter how they crow about their religion, no matter how they use it as a cudgel, are utterly, utterly without morals.

And that’s it for this incandescent Tuesday. Have a great day and go let a Republican know what you think about their corruption.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#MondayThoughts: Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey…

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Well the good big news is Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News. No final show, no fanfare, just out.

Couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.

We don’t know why, or if there was a straw or what the deal was but it’s nice that it’s bad news for bad people for a change. Thank you balance of the universe.

It’s one of those sort of sunny, sort of cloudy kinds of days, which is fine with me because Tucker Carlson is gone. Though I guess we’re no longer in the days when that means he’ll disappear entirely, but you’ve got to have hope.

And I just learned Don Lemon is out at CNN too.

Big day for the news channels.

Hard to get myself back into the blogging brain, I’m distracted by these shakeups. What’s behind them? Who is to say. CNN got a very conservative person, one of trump’s former people, in charge of news in some way or another a while back so it may not end well for everyone.

It’s weird how truth isn’t a thing anymore, it’s all about who can grab fleeting attention by any means necessary. It’s how the Earth will end.

Well, on that cheerful note, I wish you a wonderful Monday. At least better than Tucker Carlson’s.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#FridayThoughts: Difficult to know.

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Gray today, but probably just for the sake of it, I’m not sure it’s going to rain. I went to check and got distracted by a story about a Russian war plane dropping a bomb on a Russian city. “Accidentally.”

You always have to wonder about these things. Was it an attempt to blame Ukraine or another country for the bombing, but didn’t work out that way? Is the equipment so unreliable?

Something else more sinister?

It’s very difficult to know.

Very precarious times. I wonder how many people were killed, just living their lives, likely in a country they didn’t choose. In the midst of a war they also likely didn’t choose.

So many ways our world could have gone and yet this is how it is. A place run by men with egos that cannot be satisfied, greed that is bottomless, and no souls to speak of.

It makes me even more glad we’ve gotten rid of such a person in favor of Pres. Biden, but they’re always, always banging at the gates. Look at that authoritarian wannabe in Florida.

Heavy thoughts for a Friday. Heavy thoughts for a heavy sky.

Anyway, that’s it for me this week, have a great day and a spectacular weekend.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#ThursdayThoughts #ThursdayTen: Heady.

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Photo by Joni Ludlow on Unsplash

It’s THURSDAY! And what does that mean? Yes, that’s almost Friday but ALSO that it’s #ThursdayTen time!!

Using the very weird image above as a prompt, write a ten word story.

EXACTLY ten words!!

You can do that, right?? And this image doesn’t have to haunt anyone’s dreams, right?

RIGHT?

Anyway, ready?

Here’s mine:

After sunset, the heads would make a break for it.

#WednesdayWisdom: Do it anyway.

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It’s cloudy today, and I’m in a place of I don’t wanna. Don’t want to post.

Don’t want to do the day’s tasks.

I just don’t wanna. Looks like the weather doesn’t wanna either.

But the problem with I don’t wanna is it doesn’t make anything less required to be done. Well that’s an awkward sentence.

You know what I mean.

Isn’t that the crux of being an adult, a life crammed with things that you have to do but don’t want to do. So what do you do?

You do it anyway.

Not complicated, not wildly insightful, but now and then we need the nudge to plod ahead. So if you, like me, don’t wanna, you, like me are going to square your shoulders, put a determined look on your face and…

Do it anyway.

Have a great Wednesday.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#TuesdayThoughts: Even the snow can be pretty.

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First, #ChatTuesday, “Nothing like a little dystopia on a Tuesday.” And now Tuesday.

It’s sunny but chilly, and it wouldn’t feel so chilly if it hadn’t been so hot already. Seems unfair to me. But I’m not in charge of the weather, unfortunately.

I’d go a different way if I was.

At least we should get the spring flowers. I hope. I like those the best. Until the summer flowers, of course. And the fall leaves.

Even the snow can be pretty.

Not that I want any more of that now, thank you. We’ve had enough.

A lot is happening here, trial-wise, and most of it seems to center around trump in one way or another. It feels like things may be coming to head, finally, for him.

Let’s hope it’s the case and he has consequences after a life without them. That would be nice. But there’s much to follow, and likely more to come.

So we’ll see.

Anyway, that’s it for me today. Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#MondayThoughts: Time accordion.

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Must I think? That seems like a lot to ask.

It’s gone from nearly 80 back down into the 30s, and last night it snowed. It snowed.

Snow.

There was a dusting this morning when I got up, but none of it stuck around, and now the grass looks greener, like it got a refreshing, tall ice water.

I suppose it did.

The bad weather doesn’t seem done yet, though, and I’m trying to get my wheels turning. They’ve been slow to turn lately, and I don’t know the specifics of why. I’m sure much of the last two years catching up with me. And now I’m losing my sense of time completely as I try to remember when my mom got sick, when the slide began.

It’s like an accordion, expanding and collapsing, events near and far all at the same time.

That takes a toll too, I guess.

What an upbeat note for a Monday! Perhaps I should throw in a few “we can do its!” and “we’ve got this” and “hang in theres.”

We can do it.

We’ve got this.

Hang in there.

Have a great Monday.

Check out  my full-length novels: 
Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   
Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 
Her Cousin Much Removed
The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.
And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.