Cake Waffles?

Before MJ, JJ and I made it to Sarasota last Monday, Miz Shoes and her Sister-Girlfriend-Girl (who I shall refer to from here on out as “The Divine Miz M”) went thrift store hopping. And scored a waffle iron. Yes, a waffle iron. Ever since she discovered the “recipe” on Ravelry (an online knitting & crocheting community) Miz Shoes has been dying to make Cake Waffles. It’s all I heard about for weeks. Except that she didn’t own a waffle iron. Until now. God help us all.

It was my turn to cook for our little group of rabble-rousers (let’s see, that would be Miz Shoes, her husband – The RLA, The Divine Miz M, her partner – Little Miss M, Star, me, and my hubs – MJ) on Wednesday night. I made my “famous” Roasted Garlic & Spinach Pasta, and MJ lubed us all up with a vat of his famous Citrus Cosmos. Here was the result:

That would be Miz Shoes pointing up at the night sky on the beach. “Is that a satellite? It’s moving! See it?” Yes, dear. A satellite.

And in this condition, all and sundry thought it would be a fine idea to break in the waffle iron and make Cake Waffles. Apparently, you mix up a boxed cake mix according to package directions and cook it in portions in a waffle iron. Layered with Miz Shoes’ Springfels and my Nam Doc Mai mangoes, and a touch of whipped cream, this is what they looked like (feel free to click on the image to get the full effect):

And then Star took over, as usual – though I can’t say I blame her, since she was the most sober among us (I think) – and they actually started coming out looking like waffles. I’d like to show you what happened next – I really would – but it would go against my policy of not showing recognizable faces. Of my family and friends, anyway. Let’s just say that it wasn’t pretty. Delicious and hilarious as hell, but not pretty.

Okay, fine. It’s not my recipe, and I didn’t make them. But I did get to clean up the table full of dried cake batter and errant cooking spray the next morning. Does that count?

Go ahead and try it yourself. Sober. Or not. Your choice.

The real Recipe Monday post is below this. In case you care.

Part of my vacation, color-coordinated, beach-y persona. Don’t get used to it.

Actually, I had to go to the complex next door to get an internet connection, and while I’m waiting for the barbecue to begin (shout out to Miz Shoes, her Sister-Girlfriend-Girl, the May Queen, and Star! among others who I don’t think have alternate names, but are equally fabulous!), I thought I’d drop you all a line.

Sarasota replenished its beach, this year, and while the shelling has been magnificent, the Gulf is angry and wants its sand back. I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time, but the usually placid and agreeable Gulf of Mexico is now rough and inhospitable. Sucks. Tossed me on my ass, and all I was doing was just standing there. I swear!

Anyway, no more posts till I get home, next weekend… Well I might do a quickie Nature Notes for Thursday, but otherwise, see ya later!

OMG! Dial-up sucks! Especially if you’re on AT&T, because there are no access numbers for dial-up in Sarasota. Geez! I’m sure there was a way around it, but by the time I cared enough to try, I also realized that the cute little place I stayed at charged 50 cents for the first half-hour and 50 cents for every minute over that for dial-up access! They seriously did not want you to use their phone lines for internet access, and really – with dial-up, how long must it take just to check mail much less write anything?!?

But there were some saving graces:

How’s that for a sunset, y’all? Or this one:

Nope, it just doesn’t get any better than this. Two full days of lying on the beach doing zip. Nada. Squat. Hangin’ with The Shoes & Co. If it weren’t for the presence of the RLA, it would have been an all-estrogen fest. No Cosmos, though.

I got back home on Tuesday – not nearly long enough – and have been having a tough time getting my head back in the game. Truly.

More later, but first:

We’re coming down to the wire now, people! Please continue to click here, or on the Daily Click, and help save lives!

Well, not literally – in fact she’s curled up next to me as we speak – but tomorrow all the bosses will be away at a seminar for 2 whole days. Yaaayyy! I’m hoping to clear away a whole bunch of crap, so when we go off to Sarasota on Saturday, I won’t have anything to think about or remember.

I very patiently explained to MJ that I don’t want to do anything, don’t want to plan anything, don’t want to sightsee or visit any museums or tourist spots. I just want to sleep, lay on the beach or by the pool and drink his very special Cosmos (I need to come up with a catchy name for these things – white peach cranberry juice, vodka, Grand Marnier and fresh lime juice. Mmmmm.) Okay – coffee in the morning, easing down into the Cosmos. Maybe a book, some cribbage, get together with The Shoes. But that’s it.

So why is he looking up stuff about the Ringling Museum, etc.? What part of “I don’t want to do anything” is being missed here? Why do we have to do anything? Hmmm? Frankly, the whole point of blowing off a third weekend in a row is to just Stop. Otherwise, why go to the effort of getting away?

I think the biggest challenge is going to be figuring out the bathing suit portion of our program. Fortunately, from what I understand, I don’t have to worry about being confronted with any of the “beautiful people”. Thank G-d. The last thing I want to do is suck in my stomach all weekend. I might give myself a pedi, though.

C’MON, YOU GUYS! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? CLICK! Time’s starting to run out to get those 8,000,000 Clicks on The Breast Cancer Site’s June challenge. Don’t wait – Do it now! And don’t forget to remind everyone you know to CLICK to get Free Mammograms for women who can’t afford them. It’s FREE to YOU and FREE to THEM — all you have to do is CLICK! The clock is ticking, so keep on clicking!