Now I'm Just Making Shit Up

Today was a big day for Ophelia and me -- we had our first dinner party at our new house. We've had guests over, but this was our first major event with more than a couple of people. I have some really nice new colleagues here, so I thought it would be nice to bring some of them together for a little party. I had a great time. I hope I speak for everyone. :)

So, what you're seeing with this post is a cake that I just made up. Ok, well, it's not that ingenious, but whatever. I'm calling it "Inverted Oreo" -- chocolate with a whipped cream and oreo filling/frosting. It was hella good. And hella messy. Ophelia did a bang up job with the chocolate cake and the frosting -- you can see her in the background after having just worked super hard. She's posing, spatula on her hip and everything. What a show off. I suppose she's entitled.

In other news, I tried to light my kitchen on fire tonight, too. Apparently it's a bad idea to set a towel on a burner you forgot to turn off. Huh. Lesson learned. Of course, one of my new colleagues was in the kitchen talking to me, and as I'm thinking "huh, something smells weird," she's yelling, "holy shit, fire!" and taking the towel off the stove and throwing it in the sink. And all these years I thought I was really reactionary. I guess not. A little embarrassing. Also one of my favorite towels. I also told said guests that they needed to kind of fend for themselves with drinks, etc. -- it was just too many needs for me to handle. I am not, as it turns out, the hostess with the mostest. Whoops.

I am also failing, miserably, with this whole "cake of the week" business. I think I might have to re-group and come back at it in January. Too much going on, I tell you. Ophelia doesn't mind, she says -- she's still getting used to her new perch, anyway.

Hopefully we'll have more next week, and we'll still have a house standing around us. :)

Love,
M&O Productions

Cakes and Pies, Cakes and Pies

Ok, so it's more like "pies" than "cakes and pies," but I was pretty excited about this find, mostly because it's apple season here in WI! The bro and bro's GF came to visit, so we went to the apple stand, and got some apples -- can you see those beauties? Wow.

So, we're also way behind with our cake a week plan. Ophelia has been yelling at me, but I told her yelling wasn't helping, so she toned it down a bit. This job is a little, well, intense, which is a good thing but doesn't leave me a lot of time to recover. So, we're behind. We're dealing.

A funny teaching moment the other day: In prof/tech writing, I bring in a press release from the DNR about cougar attacks. I am sure you are reacting just like my students did when I started saying things like "interesting, these tags -- don't provoke a cougar, don't move if you see a cougar in your path." None of this registers with me until I see a non-traditional student in the corner crying because he is laughing so hard. My teacher bad.

More later -- we're exhausted, but hope you're well!

Love,
M&O Productions

Put a lime in the coconut...

This is my new colleague, D. We just had eaten a wonderful meal of homemade Indian food, and I was to bring dessert. When I got back from having a pedicure (yay, pedicure before school starts!), my plan was to make a coconut cream cake. But, I had no cream cheese, and I kind of wanted trifle. So, I made this recipe up. First, Ophelia and I made a white cake with macerated coconut. Then, we began toasting some coconut for texture. Then, we made some coconut pudding, and some whipped cream. Then, we put it all together. And seriously, it was amazing. I might have had, um, 3 servings. Normally I don't like anything we make that much, but this was really light and good and coconutty. YUM.

We were a little late with this post this week -- lots happening! It's meetings week here, and I sent off my first full article for review to a journal! I am sure it will get rejected, but those who know me know that even just sending it off was a big deal. I'm still working on syllabi, of course, because when do I not work on things up until they are due? I also finally have my office set up, I think -- now I just need to put some pictures in it.

Tomorrow I head to Chicago to see T&A (yep, that's right) and go to a Train concert. Should be great. I have missed Chicago, horribly, and will be glad to drive up Lakeshore once again. It's good to be a gangsta. Wait, I meant back in the Midwest.

This week also marked my Grams' 87th birthday. She visited our new house, and even commented on how nicely the kitchen color matched Ophelia. And she ate a cookie or two -- Ophelia was flattered.

More to come next week -- we sound so boring these days! We're tired; sorry. Hopefully once we get in the groove, things will get a little easier and we'll be a little more humorous. :)

More soon!

Love,
M&O Productions