Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 18: Calmly through the day

[MissConductUS]

I've started a new one. Please join us and share the boring and mundane things happening in your world. It will be calming for all.

Here is the link to the prior thread:

Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 17: Calmly through the day

My apologies for letting the prior thread fill up before opening this one.

All of this talk of cakes has made me feel a bit guilty that I haven't done much baking recently. I generally do pies, brownies and cookies, not cakes. We have a fabulous local bakery and it's a lot easier to just pick up a small cake there for birthdays. Each of the kids has a favorite that they make.

I'll be Zooming shortly with my MIL and the kids. I did some cleaning and took a brief nap this afternoon.

Lemons, I shall refrain from any further discussion of Mus musculus and ask that others do the same.

@MissConductUS I often wonder after seeing American cake on US cookery programmes what they actually taste like?

I love making brownies too but find cookies really hard for some reason.

Enjoy the FaceTime.

DS awake with wind it could be a long night.

DD4 baked a Victoria sponge for us all this weekend. There's plenty left it will be gone by the time I get home tomorrow

I put out four bikes and two razor scooters in the alley on Saturday night in hopes someone would take them and save me the bother of schlepping them to Goodwill. Down to two bikes now.

That’s a reasonable attrition rate math bikes were hugely in demand here during lockdowns but there aren’t lots more cyclists around now.

lemon that chocolate cake looks delicious! Hope MiL appreciates it.

Green and blue bins went out. Kids went to school.

I am having boiled eggs and dunkers for brunch, tonight we are having pizza and prosecco and chocolate drip cake with macarons as chosen by DD.

DH will do his piano lesson online. I have sent emails to school as they asked for my help with strategies for DS. I have ordered him a bear fleece onesie from Boden as they had 20% off and he loves fleece, bears and onesies and a velvet dress wine coloured in the sale for me.

@Silkieschickens am a tad jealous of having bins. We have boxes here which look so messy.

Bear fleece onesie sounds lovely.

Sat at DM starving DS fast asleep he needs it. He was up all night last night. Roll on bedtime!

Good that school have asked as so many just know best in my experience.

Silkie, I had endless meetings with DS's school over his IEP (individual education plan) to deal with his language delay. It's really good when they involve the parents.

Lemons, what have you seen on the cooking shows that makes you wonder how Amercian cakes taste? Supermarket cakes can be pretty grim, but cakes from a real bakery can be fabulous. Here's the website for my local go to bakery:

Homestyle Deserts

If you click on the menu option you will see a list of their standard cakes. They also do custom wedding cakes and anything you want really. We're very partial to their chocolate mousse and black and white cakes. The gallery option has lots of pictures of their cakes. I've never had a bad one from them.

We had our Zoom call last night and set dates for Thanksgiving. DS will be home for over a week. He and I are going to pick up DD on the 23rd, so hoping for good weather.

That’s very e citing news about going to collect your daughter for Thanksgiving @MissConductUS.
The people with a marquee in their garden behind our garden still have the marquee. I am beginning to wonder if they plan to keep it in place until Diwali (4th Nov).
I am loving the cake photos.

Nydj Slighty more interested in your marquee-neighbours than I ought to be: Perhaps they bought one and it now takes pride of place in their garden for all sorts of winter gatherings?
Or they have created a SEP-field around it?

Lol, @Prokupatuscrakedatus, the woman who lives there came and warned us about the marquee and whilst it was DH who spoke to her at the door and, admittedly, he can be annoyingly vague at times, he assures me that she said that it would only be up for Navratri.

And although it is of interest to you, I think it is sufficiently dull and uninteresting for this thread so I will update you on any developments. Especially if the people taking it down are wearing hi-vis!

Nydj Thank you - your news about marquee-persistence will lighten up the times I sit at my desk watching DS work.

October as a month is dedicated to Maria, but we (RCs) only have to up our rosaries. No fun celebrations.

@Nydj, can you post a picture of the marquee, or would that be too exciting? We Episcopalians have nothing going on in October at all. Well, we did get a letter stating that the parish was running short of money and could we please pay our pledges if we hadn't. Normally they get money for renting out the parish hall, but covid put an end to that.

It is exciting about DD finally coming home. I was starting to think we'd never see her again.

Sorry @MissConductUS, but in the oft used phrase on mumsnet, “it would be too outing” to post a photo! But I promise to keep you all updated on any dull developments.

@MissConductUS what a list of cake flavours. Have watched cake boss and ace of cakes the cakes look amazing but have always wondered was it a case of style over substance?

Also can I ask is Thanksgiving dinner like you see on the films?

Sorry for the questions but I know nobody American IRL.

How long haven’t you seen your daughter for?

@Prokupatuscrakedatus the statue of Our Lady in our Church has moved from the back to the front for the month… exciting times!

@HelenaJustina
She is the protective saint of the Ruhr area:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Madonna_of_Essen

She is my personal patron, we share a birthday!

Lemons, I've watched a few episodes of Cake Boss and I don't really know how those actually taste. I do know that my local bakery's chocolate mousse cake is to die for delicious. My wedding cake, which was pretty elaborate and from a similar local bakery was delicious as well. You get to do a tasting to verify you like the flavors before you order the wedding cake.

Thanksgiving is very much like you see in films. Vegetables vary a bit regionally, but the basic menu is pretty standard. It's really a lovely holiday given the focus is on being thankful for what you have and not about giving and receiving gifts.

I quite enjoy answering questions about life in the US, so please keep asking. Lily from MNHQ once asked me if we drank squash in the US.

We dropped DD off at uni, about 3 hours from home in January, and went to visit her for the day in June. We also do a weekly Zoom call with her.

HelenaJustina - Maria is the only female name that can legally be given to boys here, and still is - I know a toddler named Ralf Maria.

Thought there were not enough cake pics so adding DDs. 🎂 DH seemed especially impressed and has gone on about how amazing it is for an hour or so and says I chose the bakery lady very well. Never used her before but she had excellent reviews.

Will be nice to have you DD back MissC DH took my computer back to shop to be repaired but brought it back just to tell me they can repair it and to check I want it repaired. Its barely useable at the moment and they are offering to repair for free. He did get the pizzas and took DD shopping which is what she asked for and cancelled his piano for her, he is a lovely Papa.

Omg tasting wedding cakes sounds amazing! My friend made mine and had one layer chocolate one layer plain and a small carrot cake for me 😂

A holiday about being thankful actually is lovely never really thought about it.

One day I will come to the USA.

So exciting re your DD coming home.

@Silkiescatz that cake looks lovely. So yummy!

My DS is teething another long night for me!

I seem to remember actually seeing a Gilmore girls episode back in the day where they tasted cake for her wedding.

My favourite bakery doesn't have photos on its website, just a pdf.

3bfa2f5e-1fb4-413e-89df-9bb552b7c653.filesusr.com/ugd/77c127_644526e9c5614423b1972ca405701f91.pdf

www.shokoladpastryandcafe.com/

One of my grandfathers had such a wildly clunky first name that he was known by his middle name, which was Mary.

I had the traditional Christmas-style fruitcake for my wedding cake, made by an aunt, with marzipan and fondant icing. I decorated it with fondant flowers.

That’s an amazing looking cake @Silkieschickens hope your daughter had a super 16th!

Good morning - lovely cakes!, but to balance it out:
we will have brussel sprouts today (Rosenkohl) , they are in season and DD loves them