The Weekend

Good Monday morning friends. How was your weekend? Ours was really nice and I hope yours was too. We celebrated our anniversary on Thursday, which is a little bit early but when your calendar looks like ours you grab the blank space and go for it. I'm going to write a separate post about that and just talk about the weekend today. 

Our anniversary celebration involved an out of town overnight but we were home by 11 Friday morning. I unpacked, started some laundry, and then sat on the porch and spent some time blogging. At some point hubs needed to pick up something from Daughter1's house and I tagged along for a ride in the MG. 

Once home we got ready for a neighborhood get together poolside and I made an appetizer to take along. I did not take a single picture but it's a yummy recipe.  A friend shared it with me, and it's easy and delicious. A water cracker topped with whipped cream cheese, smoked salmon, chopped hard boiled egg, chopped red onion, capers, and cracked pepper. We had a nice time catching up with neighbors and the food is always good. 

Saturday morning hubs and I took our coffee down to the lake and enjoyed the view. 

The dock guys finally came to do the staining (the weather created multiple delays) so hubs moved the boat to the neighbor's dock in case there was any mess. There was not and it looks almost new. 

The mancub made the All-Star team and they had a full weekend of games on tap. Game one was Thursday night and we missed that as we were away, but we made it to the first game on Saturday and it was fun to see him play. 

It was hot so after game number one hubs and I took Little Miss and Max back to our house to bake their momma a birthday cake, and the Mancub and his parents stayed to play the second game. 

We had lunch on the porch then got to baking. Their momma loves angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream on her birthday, but explaining a-why there's a hole in the middle of the cake, b-why there's no icing, c-why there's no sprinkles, and d-why we have to wait until tomorrow to eat it, was a whole conversation. 

It looks tastier with the whipped cream and berries, but someone forgot to snap a picture. Oops. 

They colored pictures for their mom and we watched a movie. Everyone was worn out from all the baseball, the heat, and the going going going so it was nice to chill for a while. 

Their parents picked them up then I made another appetizer to take to a neighbor's house that evening. We were invited with another couple to watch game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, and it was a fun night. The host said bring a very light and easy appetizer so that's what I did. I had a jar of blueberry lemon thyme jam I'd bought when I was at my Daughter2's in Tennessee a couple of months ago, and poured it over a brick of cream cheese with crackers and pita chips for dipping. It's sooo good! 

My team didn't make the finals, but it was an exciting game nonetheless, with two overtime periods, and we didn't get home until after midnight. 

Sunday morning we went to church, then popped home for a quick lunch before taking the cake and the berries and the whipped cream, and the candles, and the gift over to Daughter1's house to celebrate the birthday girl. 

Okay so she's a few years older than this now, but whatever. Mommas gonna mom especially when a birthday rolls around. 

She had a lot of help opening her gifts and everyone loved the cake. We didn't stay too long because they were hosting a pizza party for the baseball team and we were pooped. We came home and I took care of some paperwork that needed taking care of for Monday, then worked on my blog and relaxed. 

We had an easy pizza dinner too, then watched a really sweet older movie I'd never seen-The Magic of Belle Isle. If you've never seen it I recommend. 

And that was pretty much the weekend. If you've chatted about yours on the blog today, hop over to add your link with Holly and Sarah. 

A Puzzler Of A Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Or all the bloggers before you if you've got the time. Here we go-

1. Many of our earliest presidents created words or expressions widely used today. Teddy Roosevelt is credited with mollycoddle, pack rat, frazzle, and loose cannon...which of those words/phrases currently relates to your life in some way? 

Hmmm...none truly apply at the moment. We try not to mollycoddle the grands and I'm married to the opposite of a pack rat so neither of those work. Am I frazzled? A teensy bit, mostly about three or four semi-large bits of paperwork/organization I need to take care of, but just can't seem to get to. 

I guess I'm going with frazzle. 

2. Have you visited many (or any) of the US Presidents homes, monuments, libraries or related sites? If so what's been your favorite? Are there any you particularly want to see? Here's a link to presidential sites listed by state which is kind of fun to read-Presidential Places by State. And since several bloggers who participate in the HP each week live outside the US, here's a link to Presidential Places Outside the US. Have you seen any of those? 

I've lived a fair chunk of my life on the East Coast, with easy access to many historic and presidential sites. I'm not sure I can even list them all but...Mount Vernon, George Washington's Birthplace, the capitol building in Annapolis, the capitol building in Austin Texas, the capitol building in Richmond Virginia (all of these buildings have a lot of statues relating to Presidents), Monticello, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, allllll the Washington D.C. Presidential memorials/monuments, the White House, the U.S. Capitol building, Arlington National Cemetery (JFK and William Taft are both buried here) and then further west the LBJohnson Library in Austin TX, and the Reagan Library in California. 

3. February 20th is National Cherry Pie Day...will you celebrate? Given your choice of cherry pie, cherry cobbler, cheesecake with a cherry topping, or black forest cake which would you choose? 

I'm not opposed to celebrating but someone would have to bring me the cherry pie because I also have no plans to bake one. I like all of the desserts mentioned so it would kind of just depend on what I was in the mood for at the time. Right now I'd go for the pie or cobbler. 

4. Last time you worked a puzzle of some kind? Something that had you puzzled recently? 

I worked a puzzle with my two oldest grandsons over the weekend. It was a map of the United States. 

Something that's had me puzzled recently? 

AI, 4D printing, the size of our galaxy, and hypocrisy in politics among other things

5. Of the early blooming flowers (January-early March depending on your zone) which one's your favorite? 

snowdrops, lenten roses, pansies, violets, snapdragons, reticulated iris, crocus, winter jasmine

Do you have any of these in your own yard/garden? 

I love them all...how do you choose a favorite flower? We had snowdrops in our English garden and they're definitely a favorite, but I don't have any here. We have lenten roses and iris in our garden and I sometimes have pansies, violets, and snapdragons in pots but currently do not. I love iris and they always make me think of my mom who used to have an enormous bed of iris in one corner of our yard. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

This year I'm trying to bake all the cakes on the Southern Living calendar. They suggest one for each month and I mentioned January's cake in a post here-Buttermilk Cake. 

I made the February cake on Sunday-Raspberry Molten Chocolate Cake-

before baking

This was scrumptious! Normally lava cakes are made in ramekins and baked individually, but this version was baked in an 8 x 8 pan, and it was really easy. 

I wondered if you'd get the 'lava' texture and you definitely do. This cake needs to be eaten pretty soon after  removing it from the oven, and needs a  scoop of vanilla ice cream on top as it's quite rich. It's surprisingly light too, and sooo good! I'll absolutely be making this one again.