Monday, April 13, 2009

Cooking Oops & Cowardly Confession & a bit of baby

I made a coconut cake this weekend. Usually, I make this particular cake from scratch because it's pretty easy and, minus the coconut, I typically have all the ingredients on hand so no need for an extra trip to the grocery. However, this weekend I was feeling a bit tired and a bit lazy and decided to use up the box of white cake mix I had stored away in the pantry. I got out my handy, dandy cookbook staple (Better Homes & Gardens) and proceeded to determine what I needed to convert my boring box mix into a fabulous coconut cake. I did not succeed in transforming the box mix, let me tell you. It came out flat and dense - more like a poundcake, and the flavor was barely there! I was so disappointed and couldn't figure out what went wrong. At church, I was mentioning this to some of our friends and complaining a bit and through the conversation it was realized that I am an idiot! No, seriously, I am! Apparently, coconut milk is not at all the same as creme de coconut!! I reallly thought they were the same thing and creme de coconut was just a fancy term for coconut milk! I was so wrong! Creme de coconut is actually more like a paste (think Cream of Celery soup)! And, that explains everything regarding my failed cake! People still ate it and pretended to enjoy it but I am bitter and disappointed that I messed it up so badly! Next time, I'll stick to making it from scratch 'cause I know all the ingredients for that recipe!

My cowardly confession: This winter one of my primary goals was to begin making bread...yes, from scratch. I have about 20 different recipes - all for "beginner" level - that I wanted to try out and I made zero. Every time I had the opportunity I would put a lot of thought into what I needed to do and I would really study the recipe and then I would become a little overwhelmed by the process and end up doing something else! How sad for us, right? So, maybe (a big maybe), I can manage to overcome my fear of making bread before Urban Cowbaby makes his/her arrival? Wish me luck...

Speaking of Urban Cowbaby - This kid has caused my abdomen to become HUGE! I look like I swallowed a basketball! And, sometimes when I'm in public I worry about people looking at me and seeing the strange (and sometimes creepy) movements in my abdomen. The kid is head down, according to our midwife, but likes to roll from side to side so I often get views of what I think is a little butt moving from left to right. And, the kid has also become quite adept at surprising me (usually in public and usually while I'm walking) with a good punch to the cervix which is really painful for a split second. Luckily for me, 'cause I know a few girls who's little ones liked to do this a lot (like, all the time and with vigor!), it has only happened a few times. Whew. (I'm knocking on wood as I type this - don't want to jinx myself) I'm also experiencing the appropriate number of practice contractions (aka Braxton-Hicks) each day. Sometimes they're a little "stronger" than others and I have to slow what I'm doing until they pass. But, really, most times I can recognize their presence without needing to slow down or decrease an activity. Certainly, Urban Cowboy and I are excited for the baby's arrival but we're also happy it's still 8 weeks away because we're trying to enjoy spending time together and trying to finish physically & mentally preparing (ourselves & the house & our lifestyle) before the baby is here.

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