There’s someone else who needs to learn to let go: Jay Leno.
I have NBC on my TV right now, and I couldn’t help but notice the permanent “Jay Leno, Monday Sept. 14th” advertising on the lower left side of my screen. And I found myself asking, Does anyone really care?
I used to watch Leno sometimes when he was the host of The Tonight Show. I didn’t think he was the best thing since sliced bread, but I also didn’t really have any problem with him. But when it came time for him to retire, I was ready for him to retire. Plus, I really like Conan and I was looking forward to him taking the earlier spot (you know, so I could maybe watch him every once in a while).
When it was announced that Jay Leno would not only be coming back to TV, but coming back EVERY.DAMN.NIGHT.OF.THE.WEEK, during primetime no less, I found myself giving that idea a big ol’ W-T-F. Because seriously. No one wants to watch Jay Leno every freaking weeknight at 10 p.m. I normally avoid speaking for everyoneontheplanet, but in this case, I think it’s appropriate.
Bottom line: I give it until November sweeps, tops. Leno’s a goner.
P.S. What is it with these people and not wanting to retire? If I had their money, I’d have retired at least 10 years ago. Too bad I can’t strike a deal with them–They work, I’ll play. Everyone wins.
Our nephew, Brendan, officially turned 2 today. I can’t believe how fast the past two years have gone by. It seems like just yesterday that he was born!
He is at such a fun stage right now. He talks so much, repeats everything anyone says, and his little personality is hilarious. He learns new things all of the time, and we love when we have the opportunity to see him and get him to perform his latest tricks.
Here are a few photos from his party on Sunday:
Opening gifts with mommy
Happy 2nd Birthday, Brendan!
It occurred to me that it’s been a while since I’ve posted any photos of Tessa. Or talked about her, for that matter.
Children exclaim, “It’s a hot dog!” or “It’s a wiener dog!” and ask us if they can pet her. (We always let them, but believe it or not, Tessa’s actually a bit hand shy. She will walk up to someone boldly, but the minute they try to put their hands on her? She cowers and wants us to pick her up. She’s a sissy.)
Adults coo over her. We also get a lot of “Is she full grown?” questions. I think their first impressions are always that she’s a puppy since she’s so “small.” In reality, she’s just healthy. Most dachshunds are overweight, so people aren’t used to seeing dachshunds of Tessa’s size. You know, the size they’re supposed to be.
Even when people drive past us in cars, you can always see their expressions change when they notice little Tess. We’ll see them smile, or sometimes can even read their lips when they say, “Look at the hot dog.”
But several weeks ago, we heard a new one.
We have a Blockbuster within walking distance of our house. On nice weekend evenings, we’ll sometimes walk Tessa over there to rent a movie. (We always pick her up and take her inside with us–She’s really good, just hangs out in my arms, and the Blockbuster people are really nice about it.)
Anyway, we walked over there and as we approached the door, an elderly man came walking out, took one look at us, and goes “Oh! A sausage dog!”
He then told us about how so-and-so’s uncle’s friend’s mother had a dachshund when he was growing up. (This is a common occurrence, too. Everyone knows a dachshund somehow.)
After he left, Michael and I laughed. A sausage dog.
There’s just no arguing with that.
I’ve had a couple of comments about problems seeing the photos on my blog. For one person, I know the cause. For the other, I don’t. Because of this, I wanted to pose the question to all of you… is anyone having trouble viewing the photos on my blog, particularly over the past month or so?
If the answer is yes, I have to ask: Are you checking my blog at work? If so, is Flickr a blocked website? Because if it is, that’s your cause. Unfortunately (but soooo fortunate for me), I’m now hosting my photos on Flickr.
With that, I’ll move on to the PSA portion of this post.
I’ve heard many people complain about Blogger and it’s horrendous photo uploading process. First of all, no mass uploader. Secondly, once uploaded, photos all end up at the top of the post, regardless of what you do. Third, it displaces text and makes the post spacing all wonky. In other words, IT SUCKS. That’s right, Google… something you do actually SUCKS. Shocking, I know.
Anyway, last month, it was brought to my attention that there is a new, totally easy way to insert photos into your browser. This not only applies to blogs, but also to message boards, e-mails, etc. Want to insert a photo? It’s as easy as dragging and dropping. Quite frankly, this discovery rocks my world. It is so awesome that I feel the need to share it with all of you. I’m actually sorry I’ve held out on you for this long. That’s how great this is.
So, let’s get started, shall we?
First, you have to host all of your photos somewhere. I know a bunch of bloggers that use Flickr, so I chose to go with that. But it’s my understanding that this will work using Photobucket, Picasa, and other services, as well.
Once your photos are uploaded to Flickr, open a new browser window (or tab), and go to your blog (or message board, or whatever). Start a new post.
The nice thing about this method is that you can start typing, and insert a photo whenever you want. No more worrying about it messing up your text formatting. So write as little or as much as you want to. Ready to post photos?
Click back over to your open Flickr window. Go through your photostream, and “open” the photo you want to include in your post. By “open,” I mean make sure you go to the page that actually displays the photo. Don’t use the thumbnail from your main photostream page, as that will show up really small on your blog.
Then, click on the photo and hold down the mouse button. Drag the photo to your blog window or tab. Here’s the thing, though… don’t let the button go yet. Hover over the blog window or tab until the browser window opens, then continue to drag your photo until you are actually IN the text editor box. Then, let go. And… your photo will appear!
It’s as simple as that. Drag and drop, people. Drag and drop.
You’re welcome.
*curtsy*
Our nephew, Brendan, turns two on Thursday. I can’t even believe it–seems like just yesterday he was born! It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that not only has it been two years since he was born, but he also has a baby brother now. Life can change so much in so little time…
Anyway, his party was today. Last year, fresh out of my cake decorating classes, I made his 1st birthday cakes (Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, too!). A few weeks back, Melissa asked me if I’d be willing to make his 2nd birthday cake, too. Of course, I accepted the assignment with pleasure.
Melissa told me that she was planning a “Cars” (the movie) theme for Brendan’s birthday party. She said that his favorite character from the movie is Lightning McQueen, the main character.
This is Brendan’s finished cake:
I was pretty happy with how it turned out, and Brendan seemed to love it (as much as a 2 year old is going to love something, ha!). I had a lot of fun making it on Friday afternoon. More pics from Brendan’s birthday to come soon…
Storing: The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to 2 days.
In the meantime, I want to share the recipe I used for the cake. All of the frosting and the filling was simple vanilla buttercream, but for the cake, I used Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake recipe. It was the first time I had ever made it, and it was really tasty–it had a subtle lemon flavor that was nice. I’ll definitely use it as a “go-to” cake recipe in the future.
I’ll include the full recipe for the cake, including Dorie’s buttercream and filling recipes, even though I didn’t use them. Enjoy!
Perfect Party Cake
(Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan)
For the Cake:
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
For the Buttercream:
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For Finishing:
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves, stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves, stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.
To Make The Cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the tough – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)
To Make the Buttercream: Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. During this time, the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny, smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.
To Assemble the Cake: Using a sharp, serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Spread it with one third of the preserves. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with the third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream left over). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top. Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.
Serving: The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but it’s best to let it set for a couple of hours in a cool room. Serve it at room temperature with anything from milk to sweet or bubbly wine.
Storing: The cake is best the day it is made, but you can refrigerate it, well covered, for up to 2 days.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
