Cake Update and a Funny Picture

I guess I really have lost my touch. Cakes were never my strongest cooking genre, but at least I used to be able to turn out something that didn't stick in the throat like a lump. Let's just say thank goodness for ice cream, and for Daryl's cream cheese frosting which both added some lubricant to the whole disaster.

Yeah, I'm still taking the cake to work today to get rid of it, but I'll have to cut off all exterior edges. They're just too "substantial" to be eaten, crusty and dry as dirt. It's possible I mistakenly used bread flour, but that's what I get for not marking the stuff I buy at the health food store.

Next weekend it's pie, and if I can't pull off something that easy, I'm done! I have, over the years, probably made at least a thousand pies of various kinds from apple to gooseberry to sour cream raisin and lemon meringue.

I thought I'd post a birthday picture that I find hilarious for several reasons: One, it looks like I'm trying to be sexy, but actually I was just straightening out my sweater; two, it'll serve forever to remind me of the "Air Supply" turned "Rod Stewart" haircut (which I had taken care of yesterday afternoon) and my new motto: "friends don't let friends cut their hair"; three, if you look to my left you can see my heating pad lying on the couch, waiting for me to gimp toward it; and four, it'll remind not to combine too many patterns in one outfit.

Ah, the dignity of age!

I'd ask a sober, thoughtful birthday-related question of you all, but I'd much rather know about your top five (or however many you want to share) pies. Here are mine in random order:
sour cream raisin
chocolate peanut butter (especially from Pumpernickel's Deli)
pecan
sweet potato pecan
coconut cream

Frohe Montag Jedermann