cream cheese frosting | Morning Rounds

*Had it been warmer and sunnier, I imagine this first jonquil bud might have opened. Still, grateful to see its nodding little sleepy head.*

Today was so cold, grey, and windy relatively speaking, and I had so much computer work to do, that it was a great day to stay inside. I’m grateful for choices. I left the patio pot filling and potato planting for tomorrow. I’ve caught up on all my work assignments, and now I have the rest of the week to finish coursework, and plant potatoes, and simply sit in the joy of pure being in this little sphere of influence.

Probably about time to bring the cacti out. Listen to those fat cows bellowing! Where will I put potatoes? Here’s a stray marker. What happened to the parsley? When will the sweet peas emerge? Give them time, time. Those hard dry pea seeds need to soften, relax into the ground where they’re now dwelling before they’re willing to burst their fragile boundaries and reach upward to the light.

OK, I see I’ll have to make time to simply sit this week. There’s always something new, something more, to do in the garden, or some question to consider. Not just in the garden, in the woods as well. The sphere of my influence has slowly extended outward, like the proverbial ripples on a pond, at a glacial pace. Almost thirty years here, how little I still know, yet how familiar I am with this land. Deer trails criss-cross the slope of this ancient alluvial fan. The first wildflowers are in bloom, shy buckwheats. I’ve watched these little pinions grow from seedlings to saplings, then all in a cluster turn brown and die. They’ve been a landmark first as they grew, ah yes, this is where I am, this is how far from home and which direction, and now as standing dead. Will I cut them? Will I leave them? I feel they should all be cut, taken out, this space opened for something less flammable.

But for now, it’s time to decorate cupcakes. Choices.

Last night I baked, and this evening I made cream cheese buttercream frosting, all so I could practice piping skills. Just because I burned through all episode of the Great British Baking Show doesn’t mean I lost interest. I mixed four colors, and put them in the fridge to chill since previous experience taught the frosting is too soft at room temperature.

Then we went for our evening walk, longer than expected since Stellar did so well! And Topaz tagged along as usual recently, playing hide and seek with herself behind us. See her in the sagebrush, lower left? The hills and rills of this landscape resemble soft folds of fabric fanned out.

Back inside, as the sun set, Topaz and Stellar slept, while I frosted zucchini-chocolate cupcakes, trying out nozzles and techniques for the third time since I chose this skill to learn. I’m getting better with the roses, and discerning which patterns which nozzles make, and how to squeeze and twist the bags. What’s happened to green food coloring since fifty years ago? Who chose to make it neon green? Eew. I chose to stop after eight cupcakes as the frosting softened and roses sagged. Where’s the eighth cupcake? Well… I’m grateful for choices – it was delicious!

A day without cheese is like a day without sunshine. I was discussing cheese last night with a friend on the phone and we concurred. I’m so grateful for cheese! I’m grateful for cheddar and brie and havarti, for parmesan and cream cheese, for gruyere, gouda, feta, mozzarella and bleu cheese; for hard cheese, soft cheese, and melted cheese, for cheese on crackers, cheese on toast, cheese on bread with mayo. I’m grateful for the people who make cheese and sell cheese, and for the animals who provide the milk that becomes cheese.

Herbed havarti on rolls, with avocados, and cranberry sauce

I’m grateful for cow cheese, sheep cheese, and … ok, I’m even grateful for goat cheese, because it makes some people happy, and leaves more cow cheese in the world for me. If I had to pick only one thing that I could ever eat again, I’d pick the cheese sandwich: Bacon, brie and avocado grilled in bacon fat on bakery-fresh sliced French bread, with mayonnaise; cold cheddar and potato chips on plain white store-bought bread, with mayonnaise… Technically, pizza could count as a cheese sandwich, and for sure panini would: You can put anything on bread or between bread and call it a cheese sandwich, as long as you include cheese. I think it’s a pretty versatile pick.

Cheese, bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich

Cheese, avocado, tomato and bacon sandwich

Grilled cheese, pepper, tomato and bacon sandwich

Even pizza is a cheese sandwich – open-face

I like to keep a few kinds of cheese in the fridge at all times. You never know when you’re going to need some kind of cheese. This afternoon I needed cheese. I had some leftover carne asada from the other night, and no tortillas, so I made cheesos: taco shells of melted cheddar cheese, with lettuce, red onion, carne asada, homemade salsa, and sour cream, what I had on hand. Simple. Delicious. And so cheesy. Yes, I’m grateful for cheese.

Morning Rounds

let me remember to be grateful every living moment of every day

Tag Archive | cream cheese frosting

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