Cake Pops & Cake Balls!

My sister Stephanie found the recipe for these cute little cake pops on Bakerella's blog http://bakerella.blogspot.com

My roommate Shauna and I bought the stuff to make these little bundles of sweetness weeks ago.
This morning I decided today was the day we would try our hands at Cake Pops and Cake Balls

The brown candy melts had a better consistency than the blue after melting. Our first attempts at dipping in the blue resulted in a gloppy mess. So Shauna put some of it into a baggie and used it to decorate the brown pops.

We used a cake mix with pudding in the mix. That was a mistake. After adding the frosting to the crumbled cake, it was just way too moist. I guess that's what baking is all about, huh? Learning as we go...

Six Degrees of Seperation...Elko Version

1. My little sister Jessica works at a Sinclair gas station.
2. One of the owners is Mike, our mayor.
3. Jessica's husband Gus works for the city street department, so his boss is also Mayor Mike.
4. One of Gus's co-workers is Rich S.
5. Rich's wife Susie is one of the co-owners of Ruby Dome Construction.
6. Ruby Dome did the foundation for my dad's house.
7. Dad worked for Ruby Dome when he first moved to Elko back in the 80's.

Ok, so that's 7.

Useless Trivial Information

It's once again Friday and that means it's time for Useless Trivial Information!



Roomie Jeff collects Hot Wheels. He's got ALOT of Hot Wheels. The den in our house is a shrine to little metal cars. And he's turned one of our sheds into what Roomie Shauna and I call Hot Wheel Hell, where he spends many an evening in the warmer months customizing Hot Wheels for his fellow HW buddies.

Jeff's younger brothers, Brandon and Beaux are also involved in collecting. And when they are together, the conversation will always turn to Hot Wheels. Beaux and his family live across the street from us and it's not unusal for him to call here at 8:30 at night and say "Let's go hunting!"


In honor of the little metal cars that have brought these brothers together, here's a bit of trivia about them:


1968 - The first sixteen Hot Wheels cars were introduced into the market. They featured redline tires, spectraflame paint, a metal collector button, and some had roofs painted black to look like vinyl. The public saw the Hot Wheels Custom Corvette first before the actual car was introduced by GM.

Enjoy you weekend, people!

A Garden Update

Friday I made a trip to Home Depot to pick up

the material I needed for our raised veggie bed.

Here's the first section. Roomie Jeff and I built it on the patio

and carried it over to the spot that we cleared.

Here's Roomie Jeff & Roomie Shauna's son Jesse clearing the weeds that he and Jeff weedeated. And a picture of the finished box. Can't you just see the zuchini and other yummy green goodness spilling over the edge?

Farmer Jeff is hauling dirt from the driveway to the bed.

We need a little bit more dirt then I can start planting my

yummy veggies!

Today I think I will work a little bit on the flower beds in the front of the house.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Useless Trivial Information

I have a brain that stores mass quantities of useless information that will probably only serve me well if I was picked to be a contestant on Jeopardy. For instance, while playing Trivial Pursuit with the gang one evening, someone asked me the question "Who won the first gold medal in Women's Pole Vaulting at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney?"

"Stacey Dragila!" I blurted out...

...I was right.

I won the game.

Ha!

So now I've decided that every Friday I will share with you some Useless Trivial Information.

In honor of the opening of the new Star Trek movie:

Chris Pine, who is playing a young James T. Kirk, is the son of character actor Richard Pine.

Most of you are probably saying "Richard Who?"

Richard Pine played Sgt. Getraer, Ponch and John's boss on CHiPs. Now I bet you're all saying "oh I remember him!"

Does anyone else hum the theme from CHiPs when they see Highway Patrol Officers? I do.

And speaking of humming theme songs...here's a funny little story:

A couple of years ago, my housemates son went to church with his Aunt & Uncle. When the acolytes (don't know if this is the proper term in LDS speak) walked up the aisle looking so serious, Jesse started humming, ever so quietly, the Imperial March from Star Wars! Too funny!

Garden and other updates

Got dirt yesterday. Good dirt. Already has mulch and some other nutrients or whatever in it.

Here's my dirt. Don't ya just wanna take your shoes off and stick your toes in it? Now all I have to do it buy the materials for the raised bed. Home Depot here I come!

In other news:

Dexie the cat is still M.I.A. Roomie Shauna went to the animal shelter to see if she got picked up, but no luck.

Frick & Frack went to the vet yesterday to get fixed. (Yipee! 2 down, a gazillion to go!)

I went to feed my dad's horse, Tank, yesterday morning. He tried to eat my hair.

That's about all I have for you now...

Lost

Our cats decided to break out of the house early Saturday morning. Three of them - Fearless, Frack and Dexie - pulled the spacer out from between the window mount air conditioner and the window sill and took off. I discovered it right before I left for work at 5:30 a.m. When I went outside, I found Fearless & Frack right away, but there was no sign of Dexie. Walked around the house calling her name, but nothing.

There's still no sign of her. My roomies and their son have walked the neighborhood and Jesse has combed the fields around the house. We keep hoping that she's going to show up meowing at the door.

Hopefully she's suffering from a burst of wanderlust and will be home soon...