Unlike last year, Mr. G had a specific request for this year's birthday treat: He wanted a cherry pie. Having never made a cherry pie before, I went straight to my America's Test Kitchen cookbooks to find the best recipe.
The ATK folks did not disappoint. Per their recommendation, I hunted up some jars of Trader Joe's Morello cherries, which apparently make the tastiest filling (and they certainly look more lovely than the canned cherries I've bought at the supermarket). I did not end up having the time to make the crust from scratch, but ATK says that refrigerated Pillsbury pie dough is almost as good as homemade (and I know Mr. G loves it, anyway). For the sake of time, I also decided to forego the traditional lattice for the full top crust (it's not as pretty, but having more crust can't be a bad thing!).
Here is the absolutely DELICIOUS end result, which we ate for Mr. G's birthday breakfast today (warmed up and topped with a generous scoop of vanilla frozen custard, of course!):
Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I woke up early this morning and the bed was shaking. I thought that maybe Pepper was taking a very vigorous bath (hee), but she wasn't even on the bed. And Mr. G was laying there like a log. I figured I must still be dreaming, so I went back to sleep. And then 20 minutes later we woke up to the news that we'd had a moderate (5.2-magnitude) earthquake!
When I was living in Peru, I remember waking up in the middle of the night and going out to the dining room, where all the plates were shaking and the room was tilting side to side. I have no idea what the magnitude was, but it was pretty scary for a little kid. I know that there were other earthquakes during the years we lived there, but that's the one I remember.
You'd think that, having experienced a terremoto before, I would have recognized what the bed-shaking meant. But we just don't get earthquakes around here! And I thought animals were supposed to warn you about this kind of thing ... Pepper, you failed!
Today I cohosted a baby shower for a friend who is adopting a little boy from Ethiopia. Although all baby showers are joyful occasions, this one was even more special because my friend and her husband have waited such a long time to be parents. Their journey inspired me to create this:
I experimented with using fringe (rather than ribbon) and shredded paper (to cover the tops of the diapers), and I was pretty pleased with the result. Ingredients were mostly purchased from her registry and included 42 diapers, 8 washcloths, 4 receiving blankets, 3 bottles, 2 combs, a brush, baby lip balm, body wash, and lotion.
I had such a good time putting this cake together, but the best part was seeing my friend's reaction to the surprise on top: a miniature baby (hand sculpted by Nancy), nestled in a silk peony and wearing a diaper fastened with beads in the colors of the Ethiopian flag. Here's a close-up:
