ALL I WANT IS A LITTLE SWEETNESS

 

OKAY, NOT A LITTLE, A LOT!

Baking shows are my guilty pleasure. Friends call these my porn. My current favorite is The Great Chocolate Showdown. What I wouldn't give to be a judge on that program and have the privilege of tasting all of those deliciously tantalizing concoctions. M-M-M!!!

Many of the cakes on these shows are unbelievable. I've never understood that old saying: "You can't have your cake and eat it too." -- What else can you do with a cake??? You can't bowl with it, display it as a lawn ornament, or wear it on your head like a hat!

Cake is a marvelous dessert! One of the great mysteries of life is how a vegetable as odious and repugnant as the carrot is miraculously transformed into a cake that tastes as if it fell from the higher reaches of heaven. But I'm sure the raisins, walnuts, coconut, cinnamon, & other spices, along with the cream cheese frosting have something to do with it.

As much as I love desserts, I've never cared much for pie. Cake is similar to a lovely and elegant lady with whom you are instantly intrigued and find yourself fantasizing. Pie is like her squat dumpy cousin tarted up beyond her beauty.

To my taste buds, crust and sweetness rarely go together well. Pie bakers should forget the crust altogether. Save it for quiche where it works perfectly! Serve the filling in goblets topped with tasty & decorative flourishes. That would make for a truly special dessert!

However I do enjoy Key Lime pie (Our official Florida dessert!) but the cake version is even better! And I made a fabulous one! I'd start with vanilla cake batter & add 2 packets of lime jello. If I couldn't find a lime frosting, lemon worked just as well. Pillsbury sold the best one! Sometimes I'd add shredded coconut. For the finishing touch I'd sprinkle green-tinted sugar on top. It tasted every bit as delicious as it looked, plus it was simple & easy to make!

When my father was alive, I did lots of baking. He was also a voracious dessert lover. There were two of us to eat everything. After he passed it became too much. And nowadays I'm trying to cut back for health reasons, plus weight gain accelerates with age.

I'm incorporating lots of fresh vegetables & fruit into my diet now. -- However the pleasures of the palate must not be denied. Ah, I still have my cheat days! Eating dessert is one of the few creature comforts I can still afford.

UNINTERRUPTED SLEEP, AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

 

Fractured sleep!  Both my parents suffered from it and now so do I!

In bed I fall gradually asleep, but in my recliner I plummet quickly. All I do is just throw my head back, close my eyes, and in mere seconds I'm almost unconscious. -- But I'm not dead, at least not yet and I'm often awakened by outside people noise.

On one occasion during a Saturday afternoon snooze I was awakened from my slumber by a high-pitched voice hollering: "She's taking a nap!"  I heard this twice.

I got up and saw 2 young girls around 11 or 12 years of age. They were taking turns trying to pull a frond from one of my Areca palms. I grabbed my camera and tapped on the window. They fled!

Nowadays the neighbor directly behind me is a major source of noise pollution. I strongly suspect he is running an illegal garage. His yard is littered with cars in all stages of disrepair and the noise from back there is horrendous. This goes on into the night. I've even heard it during the wee AM hours. Zoning will do nothing! My next door neighbor and I have both complained. The guy even has a lift to place one car directly on top of another. Who needs this unless you're running a business!!!

Thankfully, there's a thick strip of greenery between my property and the neighborhood behind me that hides his place from my view but does nothing to muffle the noise!

I've considered sleeping the entire night downstairs in my recliner. However if a burglar should ever get inside they'd have the drop on me. I feel safer up in my bedroom, it's weaponized, plus I have a steel door guard should they pop the lock.

A few years back I awoke between 2:00 - 3:00 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I was debating with myself whether or not to get up and watch a movie. Then I heard a car drive in! -- I rarely have company at that hour of the afternoon much less the AM! I jumped out of bed and rushed to the window. A dark van was parked directly below my window way up my driveway rather than close to the street.

Quickly I switched on my bright overhead light! I wanted to make them aware someone was awake and knew they were there. I stood in the window gazing down at them. The motor started up and they backed out and left.

Friends said I should have called 911 immediately! But I live close to the Fort Pierce border and by the time the police arrived they would have been in another county. Also I was unable to discern the make of the van or even the color due to the darkness.

Thanks to my fractured sleep I'm grateful that I happened to be awake at just the right time!