by lcreekmo on November 28, 2009
I asked Ashby a couple of weeks ago what he wanted for his birthday, and all he said was, “Red velvet cake.” I figured out some presents, but I knew we had to deliver on that cake, as well.
As much as I love red velvet, I’m not sure I’ve ever made it before. I may have made it one other time…I have some vague memories of not being entirely pleased with a recipe. However, I do remember soliciting red velvet cake recipes several years ago, and my friend Summer sent me her mother’s.
I spent some time on Thursday comparing 3 different red velvet recipes I have. I ended up deciding Summer’s mom’s was going to be the best. But she had a buttercream frosting recipe with it, and I knew Ashby loved cream cheese frosting, so I substituted that from another recipe.
The cake was a big hit. Here’s how we did it.
Red Velvet Cake
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 oz. red food coloring
1 t. vanilla
3 T. cocoa powder
1 t. salt
1 c. buttermilk
2 1/4 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vinegar
Cream sugar, eggs and butter. Mix in food coloring and vanilla. Mix together cocoa, flour and salt. Beat in buttermilk and flour mix alternately. Combine soda and vinegar and mix in. Beat 2-3 minutes.
Bake at 350° for 30 minutes in 3 8″ well-buttered pans. Cool completely in pans before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick butter
8 oz. cream cheese
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1 c. chopped nuts
Cream butter and cream cheese. Sift in powdered sugar and beat well. Add vanilla and nuts [which we didn't use].
by lcreekmo on November 27, 2009
When I started this blog, I was looking for a topic unrelated to my work that I could write about every day, so I choose cooking. For a long time, I wrote almost exclusively about cooking, sharing lots of recipes and my thoughts on food in general.
In the past couple of years, I’ve been a lot more sporadic about blogging here, for several reasons. I’m using Facebook for lots of friend connections [and indeed, I cross-post Fixin' Supper there and often get more comments there than here on www.fixinsupper.com] and Twitter for daily commentary. I’ve moved my professional blogging to my company site, Creekmore Consulting. And I’m really busy, what with having 3 kids now and running my own company.
But I’m reluctant to let this go. So now I’m thinking hard about what to do with Fixin’ Supper. I’m contemplating returning to my roots and focusing lots more on food and cooking again, perhaps with a regular publishing schedule. If you’re out there reading this, I’d be curious about your thoughts. What makes you read Fixin’ Supper? What do you like best? What do you dislike? [You can comment below or email me at lcreekmo at gmail dot com.]
Thanks for any ideas you want to share. I’ll keep you updated on my thoughts.
by lcreekmo on October 31, 2009
So we have these two stray dogs that hang around our front yard all the time. Absolutely drives me crazy. They are aided and abetted by our tender-hearted neighbor, who leaves water and food out for them. And yet, they snooze the day away in my yard, not hers.
It’s not a big a problem as it could be, since our back yard is fenced and that’s where the kids play. But I do worry that having these stray dogs there will inspire our dog to try to leave the yard whenever we open the gate.
I’ve contemplated calling animal control about them, but these are wily dogs who only appear when animal control is closed. And I am just tender-hearted enough to dislike the idea of sending them to a kill shelter when they are clearly just worn-out old stray dogs who enjoy the shade in our yard. So mostly, I’m just annoyed by them with no real way to resolve the situation.
Today, we drove up into the drive and the 4yo and I had a discussion that offered some alternative ideas.
Me: I’m so annoyed. Look, those dogs are here again.
4yo: I hate them!
Me: Do they bother you too? [Thinking, I am going to have to do something about this. We can't have the 4yo being scared at his own house.]
4yo: Yes. I don’t like them.
Slight pause.
4yo, with the enthusiasm born of a brilliant idea: Maybe we can have Sally fight them! [Sally is our 14yo, very slow, gentle, and passive dog. No aggressive. Just passive.]
Me: I don’t think that’s a good idea somehow.
4yo: I know! We can have those two dogs go chase a CAT! [With such enthusiasm, again, that it was clear the point was to catch and dismember the cat.]
Let me know if you need a new perspective on your situation. We can rent him out.
by lcreekmo on October 30, 2009
I’ve lived in Davidson County for 20 years now. I enjoy living in the heart of the city, right in the middle of the action. I like the advantages of a large urban area, the services and the businesses that you can’t find in a smaller town. The culture.
So much so that for years, I’ve taunted friends who moved to Williamson County when their kids turned 5. [It's a real phenomenon.] Talked about how white-bread our southern neighbor is. How these friends were giving up, taking the easy way out.
Yet now, I am trying hard to figure out a good reason to stay in Davidson County, and I’m having trouble coming up with one. I’m just going to put this out there in hopes that you can help. Tell me where I’m wrong.
No one would argue that our education spending is anemic. In fact, it’s pretty good. But we have a student population with significant challenges in our county’s public schools, challenges which require greater funding. We have a high English language learner population. The poverty rate among Davidson County public schoolchildren is dramatically higher than the county’s rate, because so many middle and upper class families aren’t in the public schools. Last year’s budget woes eliminated real classroom teachers, not just theoretical teaching positions. While I am sometimes encouraged by Dr. Register’s work, I see too many daily examples of poor decisionmaking in the Metro schools to remain heartened for long. And, I have a 5th grader, a 4yo and a 6 month old. So this remains my personal problem for at least 18 more years.
Right now, my family lives 1 1/2 blocks outside [OK I'm biased; the 10yo is a proud graduate] of the best elementary school zone in Davidson County. We were in the zone when I bought the house — that’s why I bought it. Zone changed the next year. I am not even remotely comfortable with what I’m hearing or reading about the school we are zoned for, though I do still need to check it out in person.
A larger problem is that our family is too big for our house. Our 3 kids are spaced just so in gender and age that it would really be best for each to have his or her own bedroom. And in our hip, urban neighborhood, homes with 4 bedrooms are still awfully expensive, even in this economy. For several years now, you’ve been able to get more house for your money in certain parts of Green Hills and definitely in Bellevue, and that’s still the case.
And so for a while, I thought we’d just have to move to the southwestern part of the county. It’s not hip nor nearly so urban, but still not too far out, and we’d get the house our family needed. In a good school district.
But lately? I am trying to wrap my head around it, but I think it makes more sense to move to Brentwood. Here’s why:
* Good schools. Period.
* Good housing value for the dollar is available in some parts of northern Williamson County.
* I don’t hear any bitching in Williamson County about spending on parks and schools. From the outside, those “amenities” of the community seem to be highly valued by a large part of the population.
* They aren’t talking about mortgaging the city or county’s future on a convention center that is difficult to demonstrate the concrete value of. No doubt making it even more difficult to spend on parks and schools in the future than it is now.
There are some downsides, for sure. I’ll be a political minority, but I get along with most everyone. I do know all my elected officials here, and that is nice, but when the awfully smart folks I vote for aren’t able to stop these fool-headed actions by others, I guess that’s not doing me a lot of good, is it?
Sorry if I sound kind of depressed about this. I’m not really — I’m annoyed. Annoyed that housing prices are so high in this neighborhood I love. [It's happened since the local school opened and was immediately so wonderful.] Annoyed that our Metro government is so obsessed with this convention center. Annoyed that my realistic choice is moving so far away.
by lcreekmo on October 5, 2009
Well, before the FTC lost its mind today, I’d planned to tell you that I’d received a review copy of Marcus Buckingham’s new book from his publisher, Thomas Nelson, and that in exchange, I’d agreed to post my review of the book on this date.
I suspect I would even have mentioned that if you buy the book from Amazon at this link, I’ll make a few cents.
Now, I’d really prefer to spend my time railing on the FTC, but I’m going to tell you about the book first, then go over to my other site for the FTC rant.
I’m a Marcus Buckingham fan from way back. I am not generally a fan of the whole self-help genre, but at some point, someone convinced me to pick up his book, “Now, Discover Your Strengths,” and I found it an incredibly helpful personal and professional development tool.
I haven’t read any of Buckingham’s other books, but they all seem to play on the same theme. In the newest book, Find Your Strongest Life, he focuses on the roles women play, and what we find satisfying and draining about our daily lives.
I will tell you up front, I had my feminist back up, and I was prepared to be offended at the slightest provocation. And perhaps in the end, what I learned was that I should scold myself for thinking a man wouldn’t have something useful to say about women’s roles in our society.
I think Buckingham is really good at two things:
- Helping you clarify who you are and what you do well
- Giving you simple tools to make that role more satisfying
If you’re looking for an in-depth psychological analysis, you won’t find it here. But you will find practical steps you can use today, this week, in taking better control of your life.
And really, that’s what his books come down to for me: Figuring out who you are, and feeling empowered to act on that knowledge.
In fact, I found myself thinking at several times throughout the book, that he really could have pitched it to people, and not just to women. I know plenty of men who feel powerless to change their lives. And that’s what a lot of the book is about: Determining where you are most powerful, most at ease, and making more of that happen.
Who should read this book: People who are looking for a clearer direction in their lives, or who don’t feel fulfilled in their current career choices.
Who won’t like it: People who don’t care for self-help/personal development.
by lcreekmo on September 8, 2009
The 4yo has a little figurine that’s supposed to be Noah. He came in a set with an ark and some other stuff. He’s elderly and white.
Today, the 4yo brought Noah with us on the ride to school. And he was happily chattering away to Noah in the back of the van, when suddenly I caught a snippet and felt compelled to interrupt.
4yo: “And the parents killed people.”
Me: “WHAT???”
4yo: “I said, the parents killed people.”
Me [racing in my head to think, I can't say parents don't kill people, because sometimes they do. But heaven forbid, does he think that's normal? What the hell am I supposed to say??]: “Well, let’s hope not!” [and thinking, that sounded lame.]
4yo: “God is going to kill them.”
Me: “Now, I know that God does not kill people.”
4yo, in his most exasperated tone: “Mom, it’s just a story.”
He then proceeded with several minutes of what God does and doesn’t like. For the record, God likes mommies, daddies, babies, boys named with the 4yo’s name, trees, ladders and houses. God does NOT like older sisters, motorcycles or steps.
You heard it here first.
by lcreekmo on August 31, 2009
I’ve been thinking about food a lot this summer. If you’ve read this blog very long, you know that I spend a lot of time figuring out how to please a very picky 10yo vegetarian at the table. And perhaps it was the media blitz surrounding Frank Bruni’s new book Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-time Eater
[no, I haven't read the book yet], wherein he talks about his love affair [and tortured relationship] with food — but at any rate, I’ve spent a while considering how much I enjoy food. I love growing it, thinking about it, preparing it and eating it.
I love no holiday more than Thanksgiving — a gathering of family and friends, careful preparations and a groaning table.
And I have been thinking about how this feels like a very positive part of my life, this love of food and sharing it with my friends and family. And I notice that the 10yo — honestly — could care less about food. She eats every day, but much more because she is hungry than because she likes food, per se. She’s a fan of Cheetos like any other 10yo, but her food cravings and desires don’t go far beyond that.
There’s a part of me that can read all that and say, OK, probably a healthy thing. Why on earth would you be concerned about a child who eats when she’s hungry?
I’m not really. But I wonder about what created this love of food in me, and I wonder if there’s a way to consciously share that. I enjoy thinking about how to make better tasting, more nutritious meals for my family. And in this day of instant anything, that seems to me like an enormous gift to them.
by lcreekmo on July 17, 2009
After more than a week of the list being down over the 4th of July, and then the institution of a replacement list on Yahoo, Google saw fit in its infinite wisdom to reinstate the East Nashville list.
So I’ve deleted the Yahoo group, and we’re back in business at the old location:
http://groups.google.com/group/East-Nashville
What I learned:
- Google is not a benevolent dictator. It’s a bit of an oblivious bully. That sounds contradictory, but over the 10 days or so I was dealing with this mess, I saw both clueless and churlish behavior on the part of Google’s representatives. Neither impressed me.
- Apparently there’s a decent chunk of the web-going population out there who believes that Google retaliates against its critics, as well. So if I suddenly stop appearing in Google search results, I guess we’ll all know why. I’m not quite that much of a conspiracy theorist, myself.
- More people than I could hope to personally thank helped spread the word about the list situation. My gratitude to you all!
by lcreekmo on June 30, 2009
EAST NASHVILLE LIST UPDATE
Join the list now by sending a blank email to eastnashville-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or by visiting the group
home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eastnashville.
After the fiasco that Google Groups created for us over the weekend, I received so many kind emails and phone calls from folks wanting to help — to help fight Google, and to ensure we restore our group. Thank you all — it means a lot to me that so many neighbors feel the same way I do about the East Nashville list.
I did a lot of research the past couple of days. I was really hoping to find a PHP-based forum software that I could host myself, that would have the same or better features offered by Google Groups and Yahoo! Groups. To avoid this sort of wackiness in the future.
In the end, I decided there were two insurmountable problems with this approach:
- I couldn’t find a popular [that is, widely used and therefore well supported] but inexpensive software that included the option to email all posts, and to post by email, thus preserving the original email list concept that so many of our group still enjoyed.
- One REALLY important thing that Google Groups and Yahoo! Groups do is handle email deliverability issues. If you’re not in the web industry, this may not mean a lot to you. But the short version is, ANY email can be marked as spam by someone else’s email server, and Google and Yahoo! have relationships with ISPs and other Internet entities that make their emails far more “deliverable” than your average email.
So, I decided that moving the group to Yahoo! is the right decision.
[FYI, thanks to all who shared information and offered to help with Google. It is just a dead issue as far as I'm concerned -- they have not responded to my several contact attempts, and I'm truly not surprised by that. Google seems to operate as if it doesn't need any individual customer. A strange business model to my mind, but I was already aware of their attitude. Caveat emptor, I suppose.]
I am inviting everyone who’s emailed me to join the new East Nashville list, but Yahoo! only allows 50 invitations every day or two. So, please spread the word that it’s easy to join the list right this minute by sending a blank email to eastnashville-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or by visiting the group
home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eastnashville.
Once you’re in, you can post by emailing eastnashville@yahoogroups.com.
Thanks for being an important part of East Nashville!
by lcreekmo on June 27, 2009
Current status: As of right now, if you visit the East Nashville listserv, Google has deleted it: http://groups.google.com/group/East-Nashville.
I am working to find out if there’s actually anyone at Google I can ASK about this [they are notorious for not actually having customer service], or if it’s a moot point.
By 7/5, I will decide if it’s time to cut bait and make a new start for the list. Watch my blog and Facebook page for updates! And please, spread the word.
I do NOT have a list of group members. I would love to collect one, so if you were on the East Nashville list and would like to remain on it, please email me at lcreekmo@gmail.com with “East Nashville list” in the subject line. I will not reply to all immediately, but I will collect your address and let you know the minute I’ve figured out a solution.
History: Ten years ago, there was one email list in East Nashville, the
Lockeland Springs Neighborhood Association announcement list. It existed then as it does now — an announcement list to share word of your garage sale, your church picnic, your car for sale. The problem was [as many of you who weren't there then would still likely assume], East Nashvillians are a pretty opinionated bunch. And even on an announcement list, we found a lot of things we wanted to discuss.
After getting called out by the list administrator any number of times [no names to protect the guilty], some of us decided it would be nice to have another list, one for debate, discussion and general carrying on. Because as a neighborhood, we just didn’t get to do that enough at the local restaurant [we weren't the coffee-shop-haven that we are now] and the neighborhood association meetings. So I started one.
For years, it sat quite contentedly at around 300 members. Well, “content” is not the right concept. It was vibrant and lively. We were solving the problems of the world. Then a few years ago, it had edged up to around 750 members, and the Tennessean did a feature story on neighborhood lists. Within two months, we reached 1500 members. This year, we hit 3000.
We’ve been on the Google Groups platform for a number of years. It’s a nice, easy platform to use, and it allows me to moderate the first post of any group member — thus catching untold amounts of spam and letting me ban spammers before they can bother the group. Google did NOT, however, allow me to moderate pages and files — it only allowed me to either post pages and files myself, or allow anyone in the group to do so. Thus, I spent a lot of time deleting porn spam from both areas, until I finally turned them both off this week.
I have no idea if that’s related to what happened to our group or not. This week, Google reset its spam filters, and for some reason, the East Nashville group triggered the filters. They gave me the option to re-submit the site for review, so I did. Then this morning, they deleted the group. No warning. No communication. Nada.
Now, first of all, it says quite clearly in their Terms of Service that they can delete your group anytime. So I’m not arguing they did anything they didn’t warn me about in advance. But as a marketing tactic, Google’s approach fails on every level. They are the 800-lb. gorilla, but there are other options out there for a lot of their services, and I can’t imagine why they think it’s a good idea to anger people who work on web strategy for a living. I get it, I’m a tiny peon compared to the mighty Google. But seriously? This is how you treat the world?
I’m looking for a better solution for my neighborhood list, and spreading the word to re-compile my group. Still waiting to hear from Google. Not holding my breath.
