This Is So Wrong... But So Worth It!

... these are things that should just not go together. Not in my kitchen, at least.

However, I was asked to make a Barbie cake for one special little four-year-old. How could I refuse? At first I was all, "Of course I'll be making the cake and frosting from scratch! Hello? Have you met me?" But then I realized: this is for a four-year-old's birthday party, and this is my first Barbie cake, and am I crazy? So I used mix and canned frosting. It made the whole process *so* much easier since I could just focus on the decoration, because this is a Barbie cake, and it's all about being fabulous, right?

I started with two cakes (half white and half strawberry batter: two boxes total). Baked one in a bundt pan, and one in a large Pyrex mixing bowl. Then I stacked them and put on the crumb coat.

Then I stuck in Barbie. (I wrapped her legs in plastic wrap first.) The cake split a little , but that's what frosting is for.

Then, I used this white-chocolate 'dough' which I colored, and a bunch of sprinkles and a ton of frosting, and voila: fabulous Barbie cake (complete with birthday banner):

Barbie needs a close-up:

The cake-making was fun, but the very best part was that the recipient couldn't take her eyes off the cake when it was brought in.

Her mom is probably my oldest friend (I've known her since birth). I was so honored to make her daughter's birthday cake!

I look terrible (I'd been slaving in the kitchen all day, whaddya want?) but this is what it's all about, folks. Happy birthday, Lindsay.

(PS: Thank you, Lara! Your advice made a huge difference!!)

Couple of Perfect Days

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, and Cupid delivered a special treat for us: Terri felt well enough to go "out" for a few hours. So we took advantage of this and had a lovely day.

We took a cue from this cutie-pie guy sitting in the car across from our house and decided to hop in the car and see where it took us. (don't you love blondes with long floppy ears?)

We headed to Temescal neighborhood nearby us, full of cute little scrappy shops and Oakland hipsters.

Then we headed over to Rockridge, another cute little Oakland neighborhood, and popped into Market Hall, a sort of snooty yuppie fancy food market, just to have a look around and look at pretty displays. It was crowded.

But pretty displays of fancy foods always please me to no end, so we put up with the crowds for a few minutes and browsed. Chocolates were tempting, but we had cookie dough chilling in the fridge at home, so we managed to escape with empty hands (even though this display of salts and spices was quite compelling).

Lots of pretty Valentine flowers out for sale as well.

Then we headed up to the cemetery to enjoy watching the storm roll in.

This little angel looked very forlorn so we chatted with her for a minute.

Lots of corners and interesting gravestones to explore...

I don't know if these are cherry blossoms or what, but they are blooming all over and are so pretty, pink and frothy.

Sort of illustrating the transition from bare winter branches into spring bursting forth.

Remember those cookies I mentioned earlier? They were good. I had no heart-shaped cookie cutter so I just carved these with the tip of a knife. What's not to like about pink sugar cookies?

So yesterday we spent out in the world, and today we spent hunkered down inside against the storm. It's been gray, rainy, cold and very windy -- my favorite sort of weather. We have had a fire in the fireplace all day, and have been watching movies and munching cookies all day long. Warm and cozy. I never *ever* spend all day watching movies, so it's been quite luxurious.

Speaking of movies, we've been on a scary-movie kick. Last night we watched the 1963 version of The Haunting, and the 1979 version of The Amityville Horror (romantic, right?). Neither were particularly scary although they were nice and atmospheric. However, afterwards I got totally spooked out and once in bed, had to send Terri out back into the apartment to get my book, and then to get me a glass of water, and then to shut the closet door. What am I, five? Yes, exactly. I could not get out of bed again -- too scared. It didn't help that the wind was whooshing around our bedroom, rain pounding on the windowsills. Um, it was actually sort of great.

I haven't done any painting or drawing or anything else I'd planned to, but I've had a wonderful, wonderful couple of days. We don't get those too often right now (the Valcyte is no fun for anyone) so they are even more precious and we are enjoying them.

Thankful

Katie and her bedroom eyes...

In the midst of this current yuckiness, I do have much to be thankful for:

* My own health
* Terri (and her amazing humor)
* My family & Terri's family
* The fact that my mom is here
* My amazing, angelic friends
* My best friend coming next weekend from Oregon
* My job, and my co-workers
* Our new beautiful apartment
* Our adorable therapy-kitties
* Puppies
* Libraries
* Heaters
* Electric blankets
* Handmade quilts
* Pie
* More pie

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I'm thankful for the people who read this blog, too. Thanks for hanging out with me during this stressful time. I do know that good things are around the corner. But I am also thankful for this present moment, for life as it is, right now. In each moment, I am happy. I need to remember that.

So go have some more pie. Um, we have plenty here at my house.

Already?

Wow, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I am so not in the holiday spirit.

My mom surprised me this morning by saying she's coming down tonight to spend Thanksgiving with us, and to help with the move stuff! I was so touched. I don't think I've spent Thanksgiving (the actual day) with my mom in probably at least 8 years. I know the circumstances aren't the best, but it will be really nice to have her around this weekend.

Since we are having Thanksgiving at home, I went out this afternoon to forage for food. My initial plan was to just buy a ready-made dinner from a grocery store or chain, but they were all sold out. So it's going to be a combination of easy homemade and instant and pre-made.

Menu For Thanksgiving 2008
* Pre-stuffed 2.5lb turkey breast from Trader Joe's (apple-cranberry stuffing). We'll have to cook it but it's little and won't take long.
* Instant garlic mashed potatoes (Trader Joe's)
* Instant gravy (gotta have the easy gravy!)
* Stuffing from a box
* Fresh asparagus
* Fresh carrots
* Fresh salad (just lettuce), bottled dressing
* Cranberry rolls (from Trader Joe's)
* Pumpkin pie (Trader Joe's)
* German chocolate cake (Safeway)
* Lemon meringue pie (Safeway)

Usually I would make all this stuff from scratch. Not this year! It will be nice, just enough work (put the turkey in the oven, steam the vegetables, add water to the potatoes) to feel like dinner's been 'made' but not enough to tire anyone out. Then, football and dominoes. Sounds perfect.

Also, please note that there are three desserts, for three people. Like I said, perfect.

The Universe Has Spoken

OK, for as worried and stressed as I've been the past week, I'm that happy tonight.

We found a place!! It's one block off our favorite walking neighborhood in Oakland, full of cute stores, restaurants, a lovely old movie theater, everything you'd ever want or need in a cute city neighborhood. Also -- it's safe. And no mold!! Yippee!

The apartment itself is also lovely -- we totally lucked out. Or maybe it wasn't luck. More on that in a minute. It's a big, pretty upper apartment in a pretty old-fashioned fourplex. Hardwood floors, a big working fireplace, antique built-in in the dining room, etc. The compromise is the kitchen -- it will require a little 'fiddling' to make it how I want. Plus it's old-fashioned. But, the minute we walked in, we both loved it. We knew at once.

Not just liked, loved. I had a feeling we would, so I had prepared credit reports, applications, references, everything -- all in advance. I wanted to be able to just hand it all over and give it to her right then, if we liked it. And we did.

All during the day we'd gotten signs that something good was coming. All the other places we've looked at hadn't felt right, but this place felt right, even before we saw it. We got multiple signs all throughout the day that this was the right place (or that it was coming). Terri's little totem animal, a hummingbird, came up to the bedroom window this morning. Our neighbor had another one of his gigantic water leaks (spilling through the floor into the garage below, flowing out into the street). Church bells rang when we were inside the apartment, falling in love with it.

After worrying so much about this, this feels like such a gift. Not only do we get to move away from the mold, we get to move somewhere beautiful in a neighborhood that we are so excited about.

Thanks, universe. We really, really needed that. Ok, actually, because I don't want to jinx it, we have it on contingency that our references check out. So... if you get a call this weekend, please say nice things about us. :)

"It's not a matter of making history books; this may be the *cover* of the history books"

I heard this quote from Juan Williams, apparently not an Obama-lover, on Fox News. He gave an amazing summation of what it means for American to have an African-American president:


Where were you when it happened?

Last night, I left home to go take my test and it looked like Obama was winning. I raced through my test (I don't really even want to know how I did) and ran back to my car so I could listen to the radio again because I had a feeling things were going to move fast. By the time I hit the freeway for my half-hour drive home, it was pretty certain: Obama had won. I cheered in the car -- I would have raised both hands in joy, but I was driving on the freeway. Not only because the candidate I liked had won, but because of what this means for America. Because of the hopes of possibilities that truly, the best people can now rise to the top ranks of leadership, regardless of the color of their skin, their gender, their sexual preferences, their religion. Because of the historical import of this moment.

I got home, stayed in the car to listen to the rest of the speech (it was a very good speech) and then ran inside to watch the news. As the TV screens filled with crowds of ecstatic people, it started to sink in. The nightmare of the last 8 years is over. Now we can start fixing things. Whether you like Obama or not, now we can start fixing things. And, we get a young, energetic, idealistic, hopeful, serious, hard-working, cooperative, intelligent man WHO IS NOT WHITE as our leader. This BLOWS MY MIND. I could not be prouder of my country!!

I read this today on Salon.com: "All Americans, whatever their political views or party affiliation, should feel an enormous sense of pride today. The bitter legacy of America's enslavement and unjust treatment of black people remains. But Nov. 4, 2008, will go down in history as the day that, on the highest symbolic plane, the Rev. Martin Luther King's dream that one day his children would be judged "not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" ceased to be a dream and became a reality. Fifty-four years after the Supreme Court ruled that separate schools for black and white children were illegal, 33 years after the Voting Rights Act was passed, and just 31 years after the last miscegenation laws were struck down, a majority of Americans chose a black man to be their leader. How many of us thought that we would live to see this day? The tears and the laughter and the disbelieving exultation across America give the answer." (me wiping away a couple more tears...)

When President-elect Obama came out on stage with his beautiful family, his happy little girls, his terrific wife, I started to cry. And then the speech began. The story about the 106-year-old black woman made me cry uncontrollably -- I thought I wouldn't be able to stop. I was so deeply moved at the emotion and amazement and thankfulness for this moment beyond measure. I thought I would start sobbing when I saw Jesse Jackson's face, tears streaming down. (I'm crying right now, as I write this). And then, realizing that for the first time in a long time, anything is possible -- then I felt like joining the people I could hear out on the streets, cheering and crying and jumping up and down in joy.

All day today, as it really sinks in, I just have to take a moment now and again to hold back the tears. I'm so moved by this. My best friend and her mother were pictured at a Jesse Jackson rally, in our small-town newspaper way back in 1988 (remember that?). I can only imagine the tears of joy at her house last night, when everything that they've believed in and worked for, for so long, came to pass.

It won't be easy. He'll make mistakes. People are going to be upset. I'll probably be upset sometimes. But right now, all I can do is marvel at this magic. I'm 34 years old. I've managed to see The Wall come down, gays able to marry (although it looks like that right is now taken away. Makes me sick.). And now, a black president of the United States. Things are changing. Wahoo!!!!

O That I Could Be There When It Happens: Updated

As I write this, we still don't know what's going to happen. But we have a pretty good idea. I hope it comes to pass. I hope, I hope, I hope. Wouldn't we love to be in Chicago tonight?

I'm no Obamamaniac, but I am FIRMLY in the Obama-supporter camp and I don't think words can express how excited I am that a person of color (ANY color!!) is this close to being elected President. I can't imagine a better way for our country to start healing that aching rift. Also, I think he's pretty great and will manage this huge mess we're in while still doing good things. I live in one of the the most diverse areas of our entire country, and I can only imagine the parties that are going on tonight, and the cheers that will (hopefully) erupt later.

I am thrilled to be able to vote for a candidate without feeling cynical or bored or simply plain old dutiful. I feel inspired and excited and like there are actual possibilities. It's also just a really nice change to feel EXCITED on election day, like there's something to be excited ABOUT.

I might as well just throw in the towel for my test right now. I'm not thinking about it at all. I'm trying to some studying but nothing is sticking. Could it be because I am riveted to CNN?

What about you? No matter who you're rooting for, I hope you went out and voted today (or earlier). It's a big day. I'm so happy I can participate.

Update: It happened!! Every single cell in my body is wiggling in happiness. So amazing to have hope and new possibilities. I'm beyond thrilled. Thank you, America!!

(boo!! 8 is passing! That's the only downer right now...)

Happy Halloween!

Some last Alameda Halloween photos...

We're going out for a walk tonight in this neighborhood to see all the kids trick-or-treating. Hopefully we'll be going with some friends, but either way, it's fun to see all the little ones, especially since the houses are done up so wonderfully. I'll try to get some more pictures but it's so dark (and rainy) that I may not be able to.

I like how the entire house in the photo below is done up as a Jack-o-Lantern. Can you see? The eyes in the top windows, the nose, the mouth in the bottom...

I have always loved the ritual of going out on a Halloween night walk. Even when I was in high school and way too cool for trick-or-treating, I would put on some ghoulie makeup (not that far of a stretch as I was in my 'goth' period then) and go out for a walk and imagine the ghosties swirling around me.

In my 20s I usually went to San Francisco to a party each year, but I secretly would have been happier just wandering around Alameda, watching the kids, listening to the spooky music that the classical station plays each Halloween, answering the door for trick-or-treaters.

And now, in my 30s, I get to do just that. Plus, the streets of Alameda are sort of one giant Halloween party tonight, so it's like getting everything all at once: party, kids, trick-or-treating, spooky music, answering the door... etc.

Last night I carved pumpkins and we watched The Omen. I didn't think it was very scary. In fact, I thought it was very NOT scary and was quite disappointed that I had wasted all that time during which I could have been finishing The Terror.

My costume was a hit today. Although, people either thought I was Sarah Palin (which got really annoying) OR they told me I should dress more like this every day. Maybe it's time to bring out the vintage jewels again. I used to wear them a lot more. Although frankly I think people just liked the beehive hairdo.

I always get sad at the end of Halloween. September and October are my favorite months, and I find the early onslaught of Christmas stuff incredibly depressing. I think I'll have to make a super-excellent winter TBR list to perk me up.

Can I Get You Some Coffee, Sir?

My office is pretty fun at Halloween. A lot of people dress up and we have a big party at lunch. I didn't want to be a party pooper but kind of totally forgot about a costume until yesterday. Then I thought -- I know! A 60s secretary. I have the jewelry and the cat-eye glasses. So... here's me at the office today, doing my filing and getting ready to make another pot of coffee for the boss.

The beehive was the hardest part. I wanted it bigger but I don't have enough hair!! I did the best I could. Here's a closeup.

And another shot. Vintage cat-eyes, vintage jewelry, and my own clothes.

Fun. I actually love the makeup, big Egyptian eyeliner and tons of mascara. But it's a little high-maintenance for every day.

Although everyone keeps calling me Sarah Palin. Um, no. What does that say about Sarah, I wonder??

Counting Down

Geez, and I couldn't even get my act together to carve ONE pumpkin last night. Tonight, I promise. We have The Omen on TiVo. And The Witches. Sounds like a good night to me.

I found myself getting a little bit of that butterfly-stomach feeling today when thinking about the election. It's on my mind a lot. I've been afraid to hope, but as the days are ticking by and I'm reading the news reports, that little flame of hope for something better in our political system is starting to fire up! I don't think one man (or woman) is the answer to all our problems, but damn. It would be so freaking exciting for Obama to win. For so many reasons.

I got Halloween candy (for the kids, of course). Somehow both packages got opened. I don't know how. Smarties and Kisses were just dying to get out of the bag, I guess. I don't know what we'll tell the trick-or-treaters. "Sorry, you'll have to split one tube of Smarties between all of you."

I don't know if I'll finish The Terror by tomorrow night... I'm so close!! But my evenings keep being sucked up with other things, and I'm not letting myself stay up very late because I'm trying to recover from this stupid flu thing (cough, cough). I'm going to try, though. It's getting down to the bitter end. It's completely fascinating. And horrifying. It's probably the most horrifying book I've read in a long time. I can't wait to review it.

Haunted Alameda

Some more pics of the best-dressed house in Alameda. I love that you can't even see the actual house because of all the amazing, beautiful, hand-painted decorations.

I don't know who creates all the decorations, but I think it's someone who lives there because they have decorations for all holidays (Easter, 4th of July, Christmas, etc.) all in this same lovely style. I love it.

Tonight is the Ghost Hunters show featuring the USS Hornet, docked at Alameda Point just a few blocks from our house. I'm very excited as this ship has personal meaning for me, my grandfather served on this ship. Should be a fun show -- ghosts plus cool old aircraft carrier ship. It's on the SciFi channel at 9, and I think they repeat it at 11. I've heard for years that it's very haunted; I can't wait to see what the guys find when they investigate it! They are having a big costume party/haunted-ship sleepover on Halloween; what fun! I would have volunteered to be a 'local' if I'd known the show was coming to Alameda...

Tonight is our 'date night', where we cuddle up in the living room and watch favorite shows while eating yummy dinner (tonight it's leftover butternut squash soup). I will be carving our pumpkins, too. I usually feel some obligation to get all creative, but generally I find carving pumpkins sort of difficult so I'm just going to do Mr. Traditional Jack O'Lantern. I always think using a pattern is cheating somehow, but I'm not a very good carver, so my pumpkins always look a little boring. Oh well.

I'm sure someone else in Alameda will make up for my lack of pumpkin flair.

**
A few random declarations that for some reason I feel like sharing:

1. I will be participating in NaBloPoMo. Because I need more things to do.

2. Every year, I vow to make the holidays simpler. Holiday decor is showing up in the stores already. Therefore, as a reminder to myself, once again I am stating my holiday intentions: "I will do nothing, make nothing, buy nothing, and participate in nothing except what makes me happy."

3. The all-scary all-the-time readfest is almost over. I kind of like reading by theme. I think now I'll move into the cozy-classics mode. Some oldies, some new books -- but the focus will be on cozy, homey, snuggly winter goodness. Enough with the spooky. For now.
4. And finally, I hereby state my intention to find a volunteer position (working under an Occupational Therapist) by the end of the year.

There. Enough housekeeping. Back to Halloweek Week!

Supper Time

But first, some more Alameda Halloween fun...

I had a crummy day today. Well, it wasn't that bad, but it had crummy bits all throughout it, which sort of ruined the overall day.

I left work and needed a good dinner. The meal that would Make It All Better. I have always been inspired by Marion Cunningham's The Supper Book introduction when thinking about dinner (or, rather, supper):

"I love supper. The idea of supper always conjures up a simple, easy, flexible meal marked by the intimacy of family and friends... sitting down to one dish, with bread, butter, and a dessert, can put the world back into a pleasant perspective... Supper is more a state of mind than a meal bound by rules. Above all, it shouldn't be prepared watching the clock and racing through all the cooking. Nothing destroys the pleasure and natural rhythm of kitchen work so quickly. The kitchen should always be a soothing place, especially after a hectic day at work. Cooking supper for yourself and others can be a welcome change of thought and tempo. It can be one of the nicest times of the day."

I couldn't agree more. I generally look forward to making dinner (thinking of WHAT to make, on the other hand, frequently tries my patience). I like chopping and stirring and mixing and tasting and adding bits of this or that. I like having something delicious to eat that I've made. I don't like buying ready-made dinners. There is something soul-nourishing about good home-cooked food that really tastes good, and I've happily invested lots of time figuring out how to do this trick.

So what was the soul-nourishing dinner that I made tonight? Curried butternut-apple soup, brown-bread muffins, and chocolate loaf cake for dessert. It sounds like a lot, but each dish was super-easy to make and it was probably an hour and 15 minutes prep total. Which is a lot if you have kids, etc. But I don't, and I like to cook. So, it was a nice diversion from the stressful day.

And now we have the best soup in the world, yummy dark muffins to nibble on, and fudgy fresh cake to have for dessert. Bad day, begone.

Halloween In Alameda

I think it's fairly well-established by now that Halloween is my favorite holiday.

Apparently, it's Alameda's favorite holiday as well. One of the delights of living here is how enthusiastically people dress up their homes for the holidays, and they seem to go all-out for Halloween, even more than they do for the winter holidays.

Yesterday as I was walking around, I took some pictures of what people have done, and will post photos here all week.

This family seems to have taken the 'orange' theme a little literally. Orange house, orange pumpkin...

The central area of Alameda, called The Gold Coast area, is filled with beautiful Victorian houses. This is where the real trick-or-treating action takes place. We'll be there Friday night with some friends, enjoying the night's festivities vicariously through their little princess and bumblebee.

My wonderful friend Nicki gave me a new cookbook today, Pumpkins and Squashes. I'm going to make a roasted butternut squash and quinoa salad for dinner. I have about a half-hour before I need to start roasting the squash. That's another half-hour of The Terror that I can fit in...

Football on the TV, a book on my lap, squash roasting in the oven... if only it weren't 75 degrees outside. Oh well.

Pretty Much The Best Birthday Ever

You wouldn't know it from the frustrating weekend I had, but my birthday turned out pretty amazing. Full of everything that I love, I couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

My lovely and amazing boss (and friend) shooed me out of work early (after giving me an entirely too generous gift), so I was home by noon. Terri had cleaned up the house and was in the midst of birthday planning. She had a few 'errands' to run so suggested we go over to Old Oakland for a little stroll in the sun, so she could do her last-minute things.

I wore my very fun "Night Owl: Mystery Book Store" T-shirt. I love this shirt.

Old Oakland is right off Chinatown in downtown Oakland. It's just starting to get all fancified, so there are some fun places to poke around. We went to a game store and got some dominoes and a two-person card game, then stopped in at a fancy grocery and got some interesting-looking pasta and very delicious pasta sauce. And some amaretti cookies that I am now hooked on.
Came home to rest up, and then Terri MADE ME A BIRTHDAY CAKE. From scratch. With homemade frosting. No-one has made me a birthday cake since my mom, I don't think. My best friend, long ago, perhaps. But certainly nobody romantic. So this was a fantastic cake indeed.

Terri's sisters were awfully sweet and sent me a fruit bouquet, so while she baked, I munched on melon and chocolate-covered pineapple flowers. Um, hello?? Who knew that was so yummy?

Then we had some gifts. Terri did very, very well. She created a Readers Paradise. Including this creatively-wrapped armrest pillow.
She also hit it out of the park with this amazing comfy robe. This is the absolutely the nicest, coziest, prettiest robe ever. I never want to take it off. She also included some comfy socks, a compilation CD of fun dance songs, and three books which will totally get me started on the right track for my October Scary Reading Month: Ghosts Among Us, Peter Straub's Ghost Story, and The Ghost in the Mirror by John Bellairs. And my amazing, delicious, beautiful chocolate birthday cake.

My mom also sent me some beautiful flowers which were a perfect backdrop for the candle-lighting portion of the evening.



And then came the eating part. And the tummyache part. But, I think we've discovered the secret to Birthday Baking Success: someone ELSE needs to do the baking. Thank you, my sweetie. And everyone. For a lovely birthday. Just perfect.

Happy Birthday To Me, Plus Sticky Cinnamon Rolls

Apparently, this is what 34 years looks like. On me, anyway. Not too bad, I guess. I hate photos of myself, so I'm trying to push myself to take more self-portraits. I'm not happy with my hair right now so it's all pinned up until it gets a little longer. Thought I would take a photo for posterity.

In other news, my birthday baking adventures have been a complete failure. My tarte tatin was not only too sweet, but stained our teeth. In the trash it went.

Yesterday I spent all day on my second project, making yeast-raised cinnamon sticky buns, only to find out, after 5 hours, that my yeast was dead. It didn't rise much during the first rise, and then didn't do anything during the second rise -- little sad flaccid rolls of pale dough, sitting hopefully in the pan, trying their best to rise. They couldn't, er, rise to the occasion, so they, too, ended up in the trash.

So then I was frustrated. Terri suggested I make the 'quick' version of the rolls to try and salvage any birthday baking. So I made these, which did turn out well. Not as good as the yeasted buns, and not what I was hoping for in terms of special birthday treats, but still.

They worked in a pinch.

Anyway, apparently birthday baking works best if someone else is doing the baking. Terri is going to make me Lara's famous Black Magic cake, with sour-cream-chocolate frosting. I can't wait. We got some fancy pasta and sauce from a foo-foo grocery in Oakland, and I got a lovely fruit bouquet from Terri's sisters, so I am very, very happy and well-fed. :)

However, if you'd like to give the quick buns a try, they're really quite yummy and perfect for Sunday mornings if you get up a little early and happen to have buttermilk in the house. If not, you can use regular milk with a little lemon juice or vinegar in it to thicken it up. This recipe uses a nice baking-powder biscuit base for the rolls. Quick and easy. And, they worked even in the face of extreme Birthday Baking Bad Luck.

Quick Cinnamon Sticky Buns

1 tablespoon unsalted butter , melted, for pan

Cinnamon-Sugar Filling

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter , melted

Biscuit/Roll Dough

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional flour for work surface

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted

Caramel Glaze

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

3 tablespoons corn syrup , light or dark

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 pinch table salt

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Pour 1 tablespoon melted butter in 9-inch nonstick cake pan; brush to coat pan.
2. To make cinnamon-sugar filling: Combine sugars, spices, and salt in small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon melted butter and stir with fork or fingers until mixture resembles wet sand; set filling mixture aside.
3. For the glaze: Combine all ingredients for glaze in small saucepan; cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until butter is melted and mixture is thoroughly combined. Pour mixture into prepared cake pan; using rubber spatula, spread mixture to cover surface of pan Set pan aside.
4. To make biscuit dough: Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk and 2 tablespoons melted butter in measuring cup or small bowl. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir with wooden spoon until liquid is absorbed (dough will look very shaggy), about 30 seconds. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead until just smooth and no longer shaggy.
5. Pat dough with hands into 12 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread evenly with sugar filling, roll, cut into 8 equal slices, and arrange buns in prepared cake pan. Brush with extra melted melted butter if you have some. Bake until edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes on wire rack before placing a plate over the pan, then quickly flipping to get the buns out.

And Then Sometimes Life Gives You Snow Leopards

I got a very special treat today. One of my pet-sitting clients works at the San Francisco Zoo, so she offered to show me and a friend (Terri was not feeling well enough to come, to her extreme distress) around 'backstage' with the big cats.

We saw the tigers who were currently off limits to the public (complete with in-depth Q&A session which was fascinating) and then off to the other big cats, also currently off-limits to the public.

I have a thing for snow leopards, and the "smaller big-cats" keeper was there and offered to give "Ming" a special treat so we could get an up-close view of her. This was kind of unbelievably cool and special. We were only about 6 feet away from her and she was soooo beautiful and majestic.

Delicately taking the treat from the zoo guy.

Eagerly watching to see if she'll get more treats...

Sitting down like the gorgeous princess she is.

I got to learn a lot from the zoo guy (keeper? handler?) as well. This was a pretty big treat for a die-hard animal lover like me! She put on a wonderful show of 'stalking' the man with the treats, which was also fun to watch. I know zoos can be controversial, but I do appreciate the conservation aspect and I saw how much love and attention these big cats were getting. I know it's not the same as being out in the wild, but I'm glad I got to see them. I'll remain somewhat conflicted, but appreciative of the opportunity I had today.

Here are some other cuties from the zoo.

Mr. Meerkat, taking a load off. These guys are so cute.

Richard, the 50-year-old Great Horned Owl.

Long-haired piggies. I just thought they were so cute like this.

(you know I'm at the San Francisco Zoo when I'm bundled up in two layers of sweaters and a scarf in early September) I liked the goats.

Lemur pile! We loved the lemurs best of all, after the snow leopard. I could have watched them all day.

Yep. Pretty much perfect day at the zoo.