MARCHING ON

We are five days from the Spring Equinox here in Sunny Arizona.

March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb, according to some Old Wives Tale.

March 1st of this year found the temperature to be around 65 F.

And this morning, on the Ides of March, it looked like this.

But there's hope on the horizon for Spring lovers.

The high temperature today is forecast at 47 and tomorrow at 61.

So maybe that lamb is just around the corner.

OOPS

 I forgot until Wacky Wally reminded me.

It may be Friday but it's also Pi Day!

Help yourself to a slice.

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.)