The Latest Cake Project

For David's birthday today, I made a mille crepes cake (using this recipe from my favorite food blog, Smitten Kitchen). I didn't put my decorating skills to work on this one -- how exactly do you decorate a mille crepes cake? I tried to sprinkle sugar on top and caramelize it with a culinary torch, as the recipe suggests, but it didn't really work. The sugar didn't caramelize fast enough, and the top layer was starting to scorch. In the end, with that sparkly sugar on top of an otherwise beige cake, it ends up looking a lot like a sesame-seed bun:



The side view is a bit more attractive, if rather sloppy:



But the inside is what looks really cool:


Oh, and it tasted pretty decent, too.

Cozumel, by the numbers

Hours spent in flight total: 8

Minutes spent running through the airport to catch our first flight: 15 (a very fun run with two three-year-olds and a bunch of luggage)

Average temperature in Cozumel: 75

Average water temperature in the resort swimming pools: 32

Times the sound system at the swimming pools played "Copacabana," immediately followed by Smash Mouth's "All Star": Eleventy billion

Rainstorms: 2

Dolphins kissed: 1

Members of the family who upchucked at least once: 3

Friends made by the girls: 5

Parents of those new friends who are now my Enemies For Life: at least 2

Car seat laws in Mexico: none, apparently

Taxis in Mexico that have no seat belts: at least half

Timeshares purchased: zero

Animal sculptures our maid crafted from bathroom towels: 5 (stunning, every one)

Time each morning when the twins woke up, announced that it was "awake time," and threw aside the dark curtains to let in the oh-so-bright Cozumel sunlight: 6:00 am

Submarine adventures: 1

Wildlife spotted: numerous iguanas, flamingos, peacocks, fish, turtles, cats...

Good times had by all: countless

Happy Holidays

Heedless of the Wind and Weather

A kind (and hardy) soul took video of the Chicago Chamber Choir's caroling stint at Millennium Park last Friday (in 16-degree weather -- fun!). Check it out. I'm in the front row, third from the left.

Prop 8: The Musical

Seen everywhere:

Yes We Can

And yes we DID.

In preparation for tonight's election-watching marathon, I printed out a map of the United States that we could color in with blue or red as each state was decided. I got out red and blue colored pencils, and for a while the twins would happily color away at the states I pointed to, blue for Pennsylvania, red for South Carolina, and so on.

But soon they became bored with their color choices. While my back was turned, they grabbed a new color and filled in the rest of the map without my interference. Their chosen color? Purple.

Like President-Elect Obama, Evie and Sophie would like to remind us that we are one nation, one people, one United States of America.

Vote!

We took advantage of early voting last week, so we're done. Wondering who the girls decided to vote for?

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

The Endorsement

Pay particular attention to what General Powell has to say about Muslims in the United States. Finally, a powerful figure in American politics says what badly, badly needed to be said.

Choosing to Read

"[T]here's lots of ways to be entertained, and a good many of them are more gratifying and appealing, at least at first, than sitting down and reading a book. Therefore, if you choose to read a book today, it's not like a hundred years ago, when that was your only option. Today, when you read a book, you're making a conscious decision not to play a video game, not to surf the web, not to watch a movie, not to turn on the TV." -- Neal Stephenson

If you're in a reading mood, pick up Anathem.