A Hello Kitty Cake

Hello Kitty!

Well I have to start with this:  My going-into-8th-grader decided she (who loves math) wasn't going to spend a whole year in pre-Algebra when she gets it. So she plopped a stack of papers down for me to enroll her in a four week concentrated pre-Algebra course at the nearby all girl Catholic high school. Where they were uniforms every day in summer. With saddle shoes. 

Really?

Well, it went very well. She loves her very fun, young teacher so much she wanted to make her a Hello Kitty Birthday Cake for the party today. As they review yesterday's final. 

Really?

It's all quite good and wonderful and don't you think cake is a great way to finish summer school?

We made this easy by downloading a picture of darling Hello Kitty, making a white on white cake (teacher's favorite) and decorating with rolled fondant. Fondant can be difficult. We had a few challenges, but all in all, my girl stepped in rather fearlessly to decorate and I'm quite thrilled with her outcome.

Care for a bite?

Coming soon: talking coffee

We start our day with a cup of the bean so, tell us: what do you think about it? 

Do you drink coffee everyday? Before breakfast? With? How do you prepare it? I have a friend with a Bunn, he swears by it. Me? I'm looking into a MoccaMaster. And Jemma wouldn't part with her French Press, (but she drinks my coffee from the Cuisinart Thermal Carafe).

We seem to love it. It's a tradition, a ritual. 

We'll be celebrating a couple of weeks on the perfect cup coming up quite soon and we'd love to hear from you. Guest bloggers from Paris to the Pacific shore have lots for us to talk about.

Enjoy your morning cup and let us know -- how do you enjoy a cup?

Chicken Broth Success

Don't freeze your broth in Mason Jars. They break. I know. I tried.

I am so happy with the success of the Chef John's Roasted Chicken Broth. Easy. Though, with my three days on the task you might not know it. But, believe me, that's just life with a high school schedule.

It is so very delicious. Rich, full of body and ready for carrots and onions, celery and the chicken breast remaining. Here's his recipe. We're having soup for lunch and saving the rest for later (in the freezer, of course).

When you make it (and you should), just give yourself the space on a Saturday. The flavor is much different than a standard homemade stock, which I love, but the richness and depth of flavor makes it just perfect as a simple soup base. And, it's not labor intensive, it just needs the stretch of 3 hours to cook.

I'm planning to add red pepper, tomato and sausage soup to one of these, too.

Beautiful. Just beautiful.