Pineapple Upside Down Cake . . .

 Making this kind of cake has become one of my favorite recipes. My first attempt, however,  was not quite as successful. I didn't think out the concept of 'upside down' carefully so happily prepared my cake, spread it into the baking pan, and artistically arranged my pineapple rings on top of the batter. Upon checking my cake about 20 minutes into baking, I discovered the pineapple was gone! Uh, the pineapple, brown sugar, and butter go on the bottom of the pan then the batter so that when you turn the cake . . . you got it . . . upside down, the pineapple is now right side up!

Beware! No doctrinal basis in the last quote! :-)

"A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight. "
-- Robertson Davies

"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity."
-- Frank Leahy

"Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck."
-- George Carlin

He's back!

 We had kind of gotten attached to the ancient orange cat that moved into our front porch even with his wheezing, sniffing, coughing, and gas problems. When he disappeared more than a week ago, we missed his daily race into the house to stake a claim to house ownership every time we opened the front door. We hoped he had either found his way back to his original home or, if he died, had done so peacefully.

I opened the front door, this morning, and was surprised to see Humperdink (what my daughter named him) stroll casually into the house. Nothing much changed. He is still coughing and sneezing and had a leaf glued to his nose.

The Best Ice Cream Parlor in Town . . .

 Years ago, my friends and I used to drop by Farrell's for ice cream on our way home from the beach. We always looked forward to the food, ice cream treats, and the happy atmosphere there. When my children were growing up, Farrell's seemed to disappear and we didn't get a chance to take them there. For some reason, the chain has opened up, again, with the same menu, same great ice cream, and the upbeat, happy atmosphere.

Farrell's is pretty agressive about celebrating birthdays and has several 'Happy Birthday' songs they will sing to suspecting and unsuspecting guests. Yesterday, one of our happy group teased and got teased by the waiter a bit too much and was given a 'very merry UN-birthday' song fest including a rendition of their Farrell's Boot Camp song. Our friend claimed the whole place needed an exorcism even when he was presented with a free ice cream Sunday. One guess which one in the picture was the recipient of the free ice cream and songfest even though it was definitely not his birthday.