A Poll of Utmost Importance

Last night, I put together Simply Recipes' Strawberry Shortcake Sliders. The biscuits didn't exactly rise as much as Elise's did, but no matter. They tasted great.

However, making this dessert sparked a debate. What is the best component of strawberry shortcake? Vote on the left.


..and here's a hint. It's the whipped cream.

Charleston maps, in 3D!

While I was in Charleston, Calli pointed out a series of cool maps to me. A park on the east side of the peninsula has a set of four sculptures representing the city of Charleston as it was in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

In the 17th century, the city takes up just the southernmost tip of the peninsula. Of course, it only had 20 out of those 100 years to grow.

The 18th century saw some growth north on the peninsula. I like the emerging pier on the Cooper River.

Charleston exploded in the 19th century, reaching the base of the peninsula. The docks on the Cooper River expanded as well.

Charleston in the 20th century saw two significant changes reflected in the map - the giant bridge over the Cooper River, and the elimination of several piers for the construction of Riverside Park.

I can't decide if the bridge is more impressive while you're driving over it after an overnight drive from Wisconsin, or looking at it cast in bronze or whatever.

Cupcaniac

cup·ca·ni·ac /ˈkʌpˌkeɪˌniˌæk/
- noun
1. a person who displays overly fervent desire or enthusiasm for cupcakes


I first found out that Calli is a cupcaniac while we were in Charleston, although I didn't create the word until we were in Savannah. Charleston has a tremendous cupcake shop on King Street that we visited one day after lunch. I had a chocolate chip cheesecake cupcake:

...while Calli devoured a chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting:

( I was a tad more patient at this particular restaurant).

Such is her love for cupcakes that she then debated getting another.

Ultimately, we left Charleston without a second helping of cupcakes (or manna, depending on your point of view/propensity to exaggerate). However, the vacation was not done yet. While we were on a ghost tour in Savannah, we happened across a cupcake emporium. This, of course, was the highlight of the day for one of us.

In the spirit of Easter, we had chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting and a chocolate bunny garnish.


Calli Matzke: cupcaniac.

Excited anticipation

Why am I excited?

1. It's friday.

2. I get to hang out with JODY!??...

3. ...here. (arrow pointing down).

MtD Book Review: Sum

David Eagleman's book, Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives is an engrossing imagining of forty versions of what happens after we die. It clocks in at 109 pages, so you can easily read in one evening. Expect to keep it longer than one night (past its due date, like I did) because you'll keep skimming the various scenarios, thinking about what it would be like to:

live all the moments of your life over again, but with them rearranged and sorted by categories (sleep for decades, then shower for a while, etc. etc. etc)

walk through a heaven populated by all of the gods that have seen their followers disappear on earth. You know, play frisbee with Zeus and Thor.

get to heaven and be disappointed, what with all the heathens there too.

...and 37 more!

This book has the early lead for Jeff's favorite book of 2010, with Kitchen Knife Skills and Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.

Get it here.

Favorite Thing Ever

I think I may have found the best website on the internet.

The Grilled Cheese Academy features 30 varieties of grilled cheese sandwiches, narrated by Jenna Fischer. They look delicious, although sometimes the descriptions are a little...cheesy. I'm sorry.

Which would I be most interested in trying?

#6 - The Flatiron.
#7 - The Heartland.
#10 - The Monroe.
#29 - The Cheshire.

I can't imagine not enjoying any of them, though. They're full of cheese! Some of them have bacon! What's not to love?

Giving up

I've just returned to Wisconsin from a Spring Break trip to Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. Originally, I had planned to write a week's worth of posts prior to leaving for the southeast, but time ran short. Writing wasn't the only thing that I forgot, either. I remembered that I had completely missed a tux fitting deadline while walking through the Charleston Museum's exhibit on wedding dresses. Thankfully, that appears to have been more of a soft deadline, and I have remedied that mistake.

However, the missing blog posts are a different mess. I set a New Year's resolution to write something here each day. So far, I've been able to accomplish this (albeit with the considerable help of Blogger's feature that lets you post in the past. I've been using 14" of pine tar for this resolution, or HGH, or hair gel, or whatever. I cheat.).

Anyway, I'm giving up the strict one post/day resolution. The vacation set me back too far, and the feeling of having to catch up for those missing days is making me feel less likely to write new things. I can't quit while there are still rules to be written and muppet videos to be watched!