THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

You may ask what I do to amuse myself when I'm not baking or scouring the Internet for new recipes or eating what I've baked or what Judy has come up with or napping or . . . well, you get the idea.

The other day I noticed a blue bag high up in a neighbor's tree.

It's still stuck there and what I do is watch it to see when it will finally get loose or just rot and dissolve.

But it *is* plastic so that may take a few light years.

Anyway, we people more advanced in age have to have something to occupy our daily lives and that's mine.

But let's get to the business at hand, shall we?

It is Friday, after all.

Well this plot has run out of rows to hoe.

So let me urge you to have a hifalutin, higgledy-piggledy, hob-nobbing, historically high-spirited weekend.

Just don't hog out.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . uh, oh, I think I see a caterwauling weekend ahead . . . )

A LOGICAL CONCLUSION

Why, you might ask, does Catalyst post so often here about food?

And seemingly fattening food, at that.

Well there's an obvious reason.

WHAT WILL SHE THINK OF NEXT?

I can imagine the BAD looking around her home and lighting on a plain ol' plastic electrical outlet plate and exclaiming "AHA!"

And a short time later, this is what came out of her artistic imagination.

Now if you're thinking she lives with some guy named Tolkien, you'd be wrong.

Those "rings" all came from her visionary brain and fingertips.

I had to ask her how it was done and here's what she told me (I think).

It was created using a polymer clay, then baked in her oven and painted with chrome bumper spray.

I thought it was done but today she said she's going to add some black and copper touches to it with a paintbrush to make it "pop" a bit more.

I can hardly wait to see what amazing creation she will turn out next.

(p.s. She said I should add "It's for sale for one million dollars.")

"GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT"

A photo today to show you what the inside of my Lemon Poppy Seed Cake looked like.

As you can see, it's loaded with poppyseeds but I think it could have used more lemon flavor.

The recipe called for zest from three large lemons mixed into the batter but I thought it was a little bland.

One could always add more.

The glaze on top of the cake did add some more lemon flavor.

Anyway, as SWMBO always says, it tasted better this morning than it did yesterday.

But whipped cream, or in our lazy case, whipped topping from a can is a given to make it pop a bit more.

By the way, our first taste followed an indoor picnic or to get Frenchy "a charcuterie board".

Several kinds of cheese, sliced summer sausage, grapes, apples, crackers . . . it was wonderful!

SWMBO (Judy) put that together!)

BAKING AGAIN

So I'm a little bit jealous.

Whenever I post one of the BAD's creations, she gets lauded to the heavens.

When I post one of my creations, I get applauds for making something tasty and not burning it (too bad).

Nevertheless, here's my latest effort in the kitchen.

It's a Lemon Poppy Seed cake with a lemon glaze, garnished with lemon zest.

That ought to be enough lemon, shouldn't it?

SWMBO, who helped me "un-pan" the thing, said I made the house smell like heaven.

Or maybe she said "lemon".

It's un-tasted yet but it looks, as my dad used to say, "good enough to eat."

(p.s. I'm not really jealous.)

THE BEADY-EYED BAD

It's time once again to present to you the latest creation by our daughter, known here as "The BAD (Beautiful Artistic Daughter)".

The flamingo and it's backdrop were all created with beads.

And fittingly for this time of year, some of them are leftovers from a visit to Mardi Gras in New Orleans many years ago.

She not only has artistic talent, she has a past.

Enjoy the talent of this latest creation by Gayle Vanessa Bolton, artist.

POOR KITTY

 

"Wow, it's cold.  

I'd better pull the blanket up a little tighter.

Wait a minute!

That's SNOW!"

MARCH SNOWFALL

Just to show you that it's not always sunny and hot in Arizona, let me show you what it's like in my little corner of the world today.

While Spring may have given us some false hints, this year is like most years when we get a snowfall in March.

And keep in mind that we're only in the Central Highlands of Arizona at about 5,000 feet elevation.

Much of the state is higher, colder and gets more snow in an average winter.

Most of what you see here today will be gone by tomorrow and certainly by Sunday when the high is forecast to be 60 degrees F.

But on a day like today with no errands to be run outside of the house, it's fun to watch it snow, snow, snow.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Just when you thought you'd never laugh again, here comes The Pre-Weekend Peregrination through the Humor Archives with your genial host, Bruce on the Loose.  (aka Catalyst)

So either stand on your heads or find some other way to turn those frowns into smiles and take a break from your cares and worries to spend a moment or two laughing at this silliness.

I guarantee you'll feel better.

You're laughing!

You're laughing!

Didn't I tell you you'd feel better?

Now get out in the sunshine this weekend, breathe in that fresh Spring air and . . . oh, you say it's snowing where you live?

Well then get out there and throw a few snowballs or build a snowman.

Wherever you live and whatever the weather, try to have a wonderful weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

HEY!

In response to my post of yesterday and all of the comments . . . I am well!

I am alive!

I am not depressed!

Just to prove it to you, I made a loaf of bread (well, the bread machine did it) this morning to please my darlin'.

Whole wheat studded with dried cranberries.

Her fave

And, let's see, I washed some dishes and I took a shower and shaved with my last blade.

And tossed on some Bay Rum aftershave.

And later I tried a new "recipe" and made my darlin' a New York Egg Cream.

Which, as some of you may know, doesn't contain either egg or cream.

She liked it.

And so did I.

We're about to dine on Brie cheese, tuna salad, mango salad, the bread I baked this morning, and who knows what else.

Life is good!

In spite of Washington.

Keep the faith, my friends, and remember to always keep laughing!

MY PULSE IS STILL BEATING

This mini-post is just to let you know I'm still alive and well.

Just lazy and inspiration-less.

But don't worry.

I have a couple of baking projects I'm tossing around and I'll have to bore you with photos of the results.

That is, if I ever get off my . . . butt.

I did do some vacuuming today.

But most of the rest of the time I'm just doing enough to keep from turning into an amoebic blob.

According to the Almighty Google, that's another term for a slime mold.

I need a nap.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Now that we've all conquered that Pepperoni Pizza Bake from earlier in the week we can get down to things more serious.

Maybe I should say we can seriously get down to things more humorous.

Of course by the end of this post some of you may by in high dudgeon.

Let's see, shall we?

Or . . .

I think SWMBO wrote that one!

But I know how to get her back, said the Merry Punner!

So, fellow pun-lovers and pun-haters, that is the sum total of my humorous outlay for this week.

Now save up a couple of those for your weekend dinner party and see if the groans and sneers don't make your day.

At any rate, have a grate one . . oops, of course I meant a great one!

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . ah, I'll bet you know which one is mine, don't you . . . )

DO YOU LIKE PEPPERONI?

After a couple of cancellations from both sides, the BAD finally made it over for a visit with her mother and me today.

And a recipe for which I had all the ingredients ready last Friday finally emerged.

It's from Aaron Hutcherson at the Washington Post and it's called Pepperoni Pasta Bake.

It combines tomatoes and sauce and spices and pasta and a lot of  diced pepperoni.

After that has baked, it's topped with a copious quantities of mozzarella cheese and broiled for a few minutes.

Here's what came out of my oven when it was done.

It was a little wet, a little soupy, but everyone pronounced it wonderful.

And I don't think that was just for me.

I liked it too and went back for seconds.

SWMBO said it's a keeper recipe and not to lose it.

Coming from her, that's the highest praise I could receive.

HERE ARE SOME JOKES, FOLKS

Many times I have mentioned the Humor Elves that keep my Friday Funnies going.

But they keep coming out of the woodwork.

Today I got a passel of puns from an old friend of mine who will hereby go by the sobriquet Raucous Rajah.

I added them to the Humor Bank (Banque to you Brits) but I couldn't resist sharing a couple of them with you ahead of a Friday.

So brace yourselves.

I sincerely hope you all won't hang up on me.