The Absence Theory

  

I started off writing today's post as a fairy tale. Partly because I wanted to offer some fun light reading this first day of the ultra busy month of December, and partly because fairy tales have morals. And one of the many things we, in this country, seem to have a dwindling supply of, it's morals.

I wrote my first fairy tale on this blog 9 years ago. I called it, Fairy Tale. Original, I know, but it was well recieved with thousands of page views. I've written a few since, including my recent Patience and the Tooth Fairy.  

Now the thing about today's little piece of fiction, as it evolved, is that it doesn't actually have a moral per se, but a lesson learned nonetheless. So, maybe fairy tale adjacent? Well, you decide . . .

Sue had broken up with her boyfriend of six months. It was a difficult break up, mostly because, although she was the one who ended the relationship, she really hadn't seen it coming.

They'd gotten along well, she and Carl, and although it had been too early to be thinking anything permanent, she did have hope at least for the near future. In their mid twenties they were both college educated, starting their careers, and finding a comfortable balance between work, friendships, and dating.

They'd met through a mutual acquaintance, Sue's co- worker knew Carl through her previous job. When she and her co-worker, Eve, met for coffee, Carl happened to walk in and later asked Eve about Sue. Although you can't be too careful these days, Sue liked that someone she knew could sort of vouch for him. She met him for a date.

And they really got along.

But now it was over. He'd lied to her and she ended it with him.

It was a stupid lie, inconsequential really, but for Sue, who always felt that dishonesty was a relationship deal breaker, that made it even worse. If you'll lie about the little things . . .

It had been almost two weeks. Carl wanted to talk about it, explain, but Sue knew that no discussion would make that big red flag disappear. Lies erode trust and she'd lost hers in him. His calls and texts were slowing down, but the hurt was still front and center. 

She been doing the obligatory break-up activities like watching chick flicks in her PJs and eating copious amounts of chocolate. 

Brownie Bundt with Cream Cheese Frosting  

Of course she poured her heart out to her two besties, Kara and Di. They felt that given this specific lie, canceling a date because he was exhausted after a tough week at work and then going out with friends, that Sue should reconsider, at least talk to him. But they also understood how she felt, fiercely supported her.

Although Sue had not joined her friends for drinks, this particular Friday night they'd finally talked her into it. "Come on Sue, there's a new cocktail we've discovered and you need to try it. It's made with Absinthe and champagne. You know you love champagne," Di had said. "And I have a theory I need you to help me prove," Kara added. "I even bet Di $50, we need you to settle it for us."

Sitting at the bar with her closest friends sipping drinks and chatting really was exactly what Sue needed. That drink though, called Death in the Afternoon, was a bit strong. To say the least. With each sip Sue grew more relaxed. And tipsy. It was at this point that her friends brought up Carl, how good he and Sue had been together, how it might be worth it just to hear him out.

And in her current state, Sue started to let her guard down a bit, acknowledging she'd missed him, admitted that maybe it wouldn't hurt to hear what he had to say.

"Hand it over," Kara said to Di, holding out her hand. Di plunked $50 in Kara's hand.

"Oh, the bet," Sue said, "what was that bet anyway, and how did I help you prove it?"

"You proved it by what you just said," Di reluctantly admitted.

"About missing Carl," Sue asked, confused.

"The bet wasn't so much about the result as it was about the vehicle," Kara boasted.

"Huh?" Sue was still confused. "Maybe I've had a bit much to drink, but I'm just not getting it."

"The bet was that," Kara began, with a smirk on her face, "Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder."

P.S. to my readers: Sorry, not sorry.

Brownie Bundt with Cream Cheese Frosting         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 stick butter

1/2 stick margarine

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 - 2 TBSP baking cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup flour 

1/ tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

2 oz cream cheese, softened

1 TBSP butter, softened

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp milk

OPT: sanding sugar and/or sugar pearls for decorating

Directions:
*Melt together the butter, margarine, and the chocolate in the microwave at 30 second intervals, until completely smooth when stirred. Set aside.

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan and "flour" it with the baking cocoa.

*Whisk the sugar and 3/4 tsp vanilla into the melted chocolate. Whisk in the eggs until completely incorporated, then whisk in the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

*Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 minutes. 

*Gently run a knife around the edges and the post of the bundt pan. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then flip over onto a serving plate. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate to cool completely.

*Beat the cream cheese butter, and remaining vanilla until smooth. Carefully beat in the powdered sugar. Finally, beat in the milk, frosting will be thick. Drizzle or pipe onto the brownie. Decorate with sanding sugar and/or sugar pearls. 

*Store, covered, in the refrigerator, bring to room temperature for serving.

Patience and the Tooth Fairy

Bet you'd never imagine a little girl, with a newly lost tooth rolled up in a tissue, about to put it under her pillow while saying to herself "I hope the tooth fairy doesn't come, I hope the tooth fairy doesn't come."

That's 'cause you didn't know me.

The reason I hoped that tooth fairy was extra busy tonight? Well, that had a lot to do with the last time I'd lost a tooth. The tooth fairy taught me a lesson. An expensive lesson. About patience. 

Let me explain.

But before I tell that story, let me just tell you something about my mom. When it came to celebrations, she did it all. Not just Thanksgiving and birthdays and Valentine's Day, etc, but so many more. She had Hanukkah and Passover because we're Jewish. But she also had to be Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny because it wouldn't go over well to have the Jewish kids telling the Christian kids that neither of those exist. So we got the best of all worlds. It would be understandable if sometimes, rarely, she might miss something.

Add to all of that, she was also (I found out much later), the tooth fairy. 

Everyone loves the tooth fairy. You lose a tooth, or pull one out, as the case may be, wrap it up, put it under your pillow, and the next morning you've got a whole quarter to spend. That's a lot of penny candy, friends.

So, one day, when I'd finally worked the latest loose tooth out of my mouth and, as kids will do, pulled it out at the dinner table, showed it off to the family, and gushed about my upcoming 25 cent fortune.

Roasted Green Beans

I went to bed with that little money maker under my pillow, anxiously awaiting its transformation.

Morning came, I reached under my pillow, and there it was. The tooth. I reached again but no, nothing but the tooth.

I was, well, apoplectic. Crying so hard it was hard for mom to even know what I was saying. And when I produced the tooth, didn't even see the stricken look that must have been on her face.

Needless to say, this was the topic of conversation for most of the day. The tooth fairy had snubbed me, skipped over me, forgotten me altogether.

Now mom tried her best. The tooth fairy sometimes gets overwhelmed (this was mom's story and she was sticking to it). I wasn't forgotten, there were just more little teeth than she was able to collect that night. I needed to be patient, put the tooth back under my pillow tonight.

Patient? I was not a patient person. I was not going to wait another whole day, it just wasn't fair.

After a day of talking, cajoling, begging, pleading an explaining, mom had clearly had enough. She offered to buy that tooth from me for the 25 cents I (felt I) was owed. 

Hah, patience my foot, I turned over the tooth and grabbed my quarter.

And, she would then put it under her own pillow to prove to me that the tooth fairy had not skipped or forgotten me.

Good luck with that!

The next morning, we checked under mom's pillow. The tooth was gone. "See," mom explained, "you just needed to be patient."

But what about the money? Had the tooth fairy left mom a quarter?

Nope.

She'd left mom a dollar!

Roasted Green Beans         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
8 oz fresh green beans

1 thin slice of onion, cut in half

4 mushrooms, sliced

1 TBSP butter, melted

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup Canadian bacon, chopped

Directions:
*Lightly grease a shallow baking pan or dish. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

*Arrange the green beans in the dish, then arrange the onion slices and mushrooms along the sides of the green beans. 

*Drizzle the melted butter over the green beans. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and top with the Canadian bacon.

*Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and toss all of the ingredients together to serve.

Appraisal: Monthly Poetry Group

 

Last Friday of the month is for
Monthly Poetry Group to rhyme.

Diane, Mimi, and I take turns,

All That Glitters, the theme this time.

 

As usual, today I'll try,

a poem to write . . . or fudge.

Whether I'm successful or not,

you get to be the judge.  

 

Appraisal

All that glitters is not gold,

that's the story we've been told.

Just because something is pretty,

doesn't mean that's its nitty gritty.

Don't look only at the outside,

open up your mind, (really, really wide).

Look beneath the surface, there's no doubt,

if you don't, you'll be missing out.

Sometimes things aren't as we'd planned,

not being pretty doesn't make food bland.

Take time to check out what's within,

that open mind is the best way to win.

Chive Quick Rolls (no yeast)

An important lesson, I'll concede,

one of value, we all should heed.

And don't judge a book by its cover too,

what doesn't glitter could be gold to you.

So listen, if I may be so bold,

sometimes what glitters is, in fact, gold.

Appraise opportunities as they come by,

Don't be left holding the bag and wondering why.

 

Before you go, stop by these blogs for more poetry:

 

On the Border

Messymimi's Meanderings

 

Chive Quick Rolls (no yeast)

                                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups plain Greek yogurt

2 3/4 tsp freeze dried chives, divided

1 TBSP butter

1 2/3 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
*Mix 2 1/2 tsp of the dried chives into the yogurt. Set aside.

*Melt the butter, add the remaining chives, set aside.

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

*In a large bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder and salt. Remove 1/3 cup of this mixture and use it to flour a kneading surface.

*To the bowl with the flour, add the yogurt and chive mixture. Stir to incorporate, then turn out and knead for 5 minutes. It will still be a little sticky.

*Divide the dough into 8 equal sized pieces, then roll into balls. Place on the baking sheet, brush the tops with the melted butter and chives, and bake for 25 minutes.

Upside Down with Purpose

 

Upside Down. 

 

Sometimes, upside down is OK. 

 

Not, of course, if you're stuck at the top of a Ferris Wheel, but maybe just in the course of day to day life.

 

Because sometimes you do just feel upside down. Not really wrong exactly, but not quite right.

 

It happens to me a lot in the fall. I love the hot summer days of flip flops and short sleeved shirts, longer brighter days of not always being chilled to the bone.

 

I hadn't seen my younger son in almost a year, it was getting darker earlier, I'd had a birthday and was getting . . . you know . . . older, prices were through the roof, our politics were in shambles, and the upcoming holiday season whirlwind has a tendency to be hectic.

So I was OK, just a little upside down. 

I walked out front one day a few weeks ago, and saw this little oak leaf on my walkway. We don't have oak or maple trees but, whatever, I'm sure the wind blew it here from somewhere.

As I walked past the leaf, I saw that it was upside down and, without really thinking about it, said under my breath "I know how you feel, buddy."

 

 

It was a dreary, cloudy day, in keeping with my mood, I guess. And it doesn't help that there's so little color mother nature shares with us this time of year, in contrast to the bright hues of spring and summer. I suppose that might be why, coming back into the house, I turned the leaf over saying (well, I said it in my head, I don't want you to think I was standing outside my house talking out loud to a leaf) "don't hide, show those pretty yellows and browns and greens." 

Sometimes, we need a little encouragement to show our colors to the world.

 

 

The next day, I'd been working in the kitchen and, as you might imagine, wasn't giving any thought to the leaf on the walkway.

Banana Spice Cake

(an upside down dessert)

 

When I went out to get the mail, I noticed that leaf, still there, right in the middle of my walkway.

 

Upside down.

 

And a little worse for wear. Curled in at the edges. 

 

I left it like that. Because sometimes you just have to feel your upside down for a while, keep your colors to yourself, and block out the world.

 

I get it.

Now, I'm sure you're thinking that I'm reading a whole lot into a biodegrading leaf on the sidewalk, and you could very well be right.

But I happen to believe that you take your life lessons from wherever they're presented to you.

"Tomorrow," I thought, "if that leaf is still there, and still upside down, I'll turn it over again."

Because sometimes you're just not ready the first time. But maybe, just maybe, it'll be ready to shine.

Banana Spice Cake         

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
about 1 1/2 bananas

2 TBSP butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 tsp cinnamon, divided

1 box yellow cake mix

3/4 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup speculoos (cookie butter)

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan.

*Slice the bananas into approximately 1/4 - 1/3 inch rounds.

*Melt the butter, mix in the brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and spread into the bottom of the pan. Place the banana slices into the butter mixture, singly, in two rows along the bottom and barely up the side of the pan.

*Whisk together the cake mix, remaining cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg. Separately, whisk together the oil and speculoos. Add to the cake mix, along with the eggs, milk, and sour cream. Beat for 2 minutes.

*Slowly pour the batter into the pan with the bananas, trying to keep the bananas in place as much as possible.

*Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, until the center of the cake springs back to the touch. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge and inverting onto a serving plate.

Multifaceted: Secret Subject Swap

 

 

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 5 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: What if April flowers brought May Showers?

It was submitted by: Sarah of the ever-changing identities, whose current incarnation is What TF Sarah. 

 

You can change your name all you like, Sarah, I'll always find you. In a non-threatening, non-creepy way, of course (please don't get an order of protection against me, I'm harmless, I swear).

What isn't harmless, though, is the rain. As spring settles in, water from melting snow adds to the rain and for the last couple of years, this has been a problem for us. The side of the house where my lilac shrubs await the warm sunshine is also where the sump pump from our basement drains. And drains and drains and drains. It's gotten to the point where it's dug a gully resulting in mud puddles in our and our neighbor's back yards. Not pretty. Not good for the lawn either. 

 

We've had to extend the drainage tube all the way into the middle of our back yard, at least stopping the mud from pooling in the neighbor's yard, but not a solution. So if April flowers bring May showers, meaning a deeper canyon in the side yard and a second round of mud puddles, my first thought is "crap!"

Despite crap being my first thought, it's not my final answer. Because, flowers.

 

 

I've spoken before about the flowers I have in my yard and those I plant in pots both on my front porch and my back deck. They've always brought me joy, not just in their symbolizing the end of another long cold winter, but in the gift of the colors of their blooms. In the one year plus of my Covid isolation (I'm still not fully vaccinated) the beauty of spring has become even more meaningful. I've mentioned that the only way I could safely buy plants for my pots last year was to go to an outdoor nursery in the early morning of a pouring rainstorm.

So if the price of having these in my life (and my surroundings) . . . 

 

 

 

. . . is dark and wet and dreary days, even if it's a repeat of the mud slide and all of the required clean up, I'll pay it.

 

It's also because of the rain that I can sit on my back deck between showers, looking out over the green lawn and the woods behind the house . . .

 

 

. . . contemplating the marriage of cupcake flavors . . .

 

Lemon Filled Strawberry Cupcakes

Happy Birthday, Mom ❤

. . . and being treated to sightings of all of the wildlife that emerges after a storm.

 

And as if all of that isn't enough, there's the aftermath of the storms, painted on the skies.

 

And out front, the colors of the night sky serve as a reminder that even if tomorrow brings rain, it will also bring so much more, as long as you remember to look for it.

 

In this time of absolutes in terms of our opinions about each other, I hope that we can all temper our judgement with the lessons taught to us by Mother Nature. Rain has the ability to cause destruction, it also has the capacity to be nurturing, to bring life and beauty. We, like rain, are multifaceted.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Wandering Web Designer 

Climaxed 

Part-time Working Hockey Mom 

What TF Sarah

Lemon Filled Strawberry Cupcakes

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe


Ingredients: 

1 box (15.25 oz) strawberry cake mix

1 box (3 oz) strawberry jello mix

1 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

3 eggs

1 can (1#) vanilla frosting

1 box (3 oz) lemon pudding mix

2 TBSP Strawberries and Cream liqueur (can substitute milk)

1 TBSP lemon juice

 

OPT: decorating sprinkles and/or sugar pearls

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake papers into 18 (for extra large) to 24 (for regular sized) cupcake pan wells.
*Beat the cake mix, jello mix, milk, oil and eggs for 2 minutes. Divide the batter into the cupcake pan. 

*Bake for about 15 minutes for regular sized cupcakes or about 18 minutes for extra large cupcakes, until the centers spring back to the touch. Cool completely.

*Using an apple corer, press down from the center of the top to about 3/4 of the way down into the cupcakes. Twist and gently remove, leaving a hole in each.
*Beat the frosting with the pudding mix, liqueur or milk, and lemon juice for 1 minute. Place into a piping bag. Pipe the frosting into the hole in the cupcakes made by the apple corer. Swirl the remaining frosting onto the tops of the cupcakes. Decorate with sprinkles and/or sugar pearls if desired.