super tuesday

a sore shoulder and a twinge in my elbow this morning was enough, in the interests of discretion, to keep me out of class. i was disappointed because the rest of me woke up feeling as if my muscles are somehow binding themselves more closely to my bones.

i did manage to get all sweaty on the treadmill, and then i spent twenty minutes doing the sort of kicking drills the instructors have us do... the kind where you do five crunches, run a few yards, kick the bag, and run back and do crunches. i worked up quite a reasonably satisfying sweat.

i re-read enough of a prayer for owen meany that i can have an intelligent conversation with the cosi-girls book group tonight about it. the cake, the same sour-milk sponge everyone enjoyed so much last month, is baked and frosted with almond buttercream.

i need to put together dinner, and spend some time packing up more of the deck. i have a reading this afternoon, and then - because i will be half way to her place, anyway, a visit to my grandmother. in lieu of glazed doughnuts, i bring bananas and sour-milk cake.

Granny Annie's Sour-milk Sponge Cake - adapted from The Joy of Cooking, page 939

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour any size pan you please.

Cream together 12 Tbs softened butter (1 1/2 sticks), 3 eggs, 1 1/3 cups sugar, and 1 tsp of vanilla. you don't actually have to add vanilla. you can leave out vanilla, or substitute something else, like rum, or almond extract or espresso. you might even be completely bold and add something like lavendar or minced rosemary. blend in 2 and 1/3 cups cake flour. (yes, it's worth it to use cake flour. you can use self-rising cake flour, but i don't recommend it. you can also substitute as much as 1/2 cup of cocoa powder for 1/2 cup of the flour of you want to make a chcolate cake.) if you are not using self rising cake flour, add 1 1/2 tsps of baking poweder and 1/2 tsp of baking soda. alternate the flour with 1 cup of milk into which you have added 1 Tbs of white vinegar - not cider vinegar. when smooth, pour into pan or pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25 - 35 minutes later, depending on the size of your pan and your oven.

Butter cream frosting:

Cream together 2 sticks softened butter, 1 box confectioner's sugar, dash cream to taste. this time i added almond extract and sprinkled slivered almonds on top.

these recipes lend themselves to endless variation. be free!

and furthermore, the war must end. blessed be.