I'm baa-aack
I've returned from my whirlwind tour of lovely Wichita, Kansas, where I mostly sat around and wrote. And wrote. And wrote. 32,000 words. Not on any of the projects I could use 32,000 words to finish, but on a new project, of course. All the same, 4,000+ words per day is nothing to sneeze at. My new project involves a narrator on death row and the ugliest girl in the world. Oh, and I got some more good news: the essay about my very brief stint as a topless waitress is going to be published. As that's my 4th acceptance since January, that makes 2008 a pretty good year, and it's not even over.
I told my sister she should open a writer's colony in her little WW2 era brick ranch. She said that would be fine, as long as all the writers baked for her like I did. I've heard Tobias Wolff makes a mean carrot cake.
(Speaking of dessert, try this: get a pound cake mix and bake it up. Then take a block of cream cheese, softened to room temperature, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 1 tsp. of lemon zest, 2 cups of powdered sugar, sifted, plus a small carton of whipping cream, whipped. Mix the lemon and cream cheese, then sift in the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream. Frost the pound cake with the goopy mixture, then refrigerate for two hours. Throw away pound cake and eat frosting with a spoon. This is the best cake frosting ever, and I say that to you as someone who was raised on home-made buttermilk-and-vinegar red velvet cake, which is now the second best cake ever. The thing is, it doesn't matter what cake you put it on, the frosting is so insanely delicious. I plan to try putting the lemon frosting on the red velvet cake, but I'm worried about the potential for a bacon-and-chocolate like culinary Armageddon.)
I actually got back on Monday, when I came into the office, I discovered that my office was still inaccessible due to construction. Ditto Tuesday morning. This morning, I am finally back in business, pushing all my paperwork and blogging. Because that's what I do at work.
Hope you all had fun and didn't throw any wild parties while I was gone.
Comments
Had to laugh at the "throw cake away and eat frosting" --- too funny! And my mom made that red velvet cake too, so I know where you're coming from with that.
Good for you with the writing and writing --- 4 acceptances so far this year is awesome, Redz. You're on a roll!
B) Wow! Humungous output! Congratulations. And congrats on selling the essay, too.
Yay! welcome back, I was starting to get really sad and withdrawally.
Congrats on the acceptance! see, our encouragement was right on. Excellent.
Welcome back! 4K a day! 4 acceptances! You should go play a lottery number with multiples of 4!
I cannot wait to try that frosting--I'd probably stir a blob of whipped cream into the cream cheese to lighten it, then fold in the rest of the whipped cream (<--cake nerd, sorry).
Also, red velvet bacon? Done. (Not by me.)
You can streamline the dessert process even more by buying a frozen, pre-made pound cake.
MomH buys a pre-made pound cake and then makes a chocolate-fudgy spread for it. I can't really call it icing, because it's more like chilled, gooey chocolate. Anyway, you slice the pound cake in horizontal layers, spread the chocolate add a layer, spread the chocolate, etc., cover the entire cake with chocolate and then chill in the fridge.
I suppose you could make the pound cake from scratch, but that is unimportant as compared to the chocolate topping. I think she uses chocolate chips, an egg yolk, powdered sugar, and I can't remember what else.
Congrats on getting so much writing done! And on more acceptance letters!
And the frosting sounds to die for. Yah, who needs cake?
Re wild parties...yeah...sorry about that stain on your carpet. I'll pay for it, I swear!
Redz, there were no wild parties here. The fact that none of us is wearing pants has to do with another matter which is best not discussed here.
Congratulations and the frosting sounds like a valid replacement for the salad I plan on having for lunch.
Sigh...Mr BA has balked on a promise to bake me a red velvet cake for my birthday the past two years running.
And another "favorite" for the frosting recipe!!! *drooling*
If you know someone who is a lemon fan, whip up a batch of this stuff and then ask them for anything - their car, firstborn child, a kidney.
Non-lemon fans: you'd just get the car out of 'em.
If you are a diabetic: don't ever try this stuff. It's like heroin to you.
Good work on the 4k+/day. That is hard! Dang!
Also, plz update on the lemon frosting/red velvet-ageddon.
*tries to shove 40 beer cans under throw rug*
party?
Congratulations. I'm insanely jealous you know.
Oh my god. I want some RIGHT NOW. Even though I'm not sure what red velvet cake is. I'll look it up.
And CONGRATULATIONS!
I can haz frstng?
:-)
OH! It's Devil's Food Cake! That one I know. But ooooh, red colour! With beets!
Seriously though, I need some frosting. I'm flipping tired today.