I Need An Understudy

Of late, I've become slightly lime obsessed. Most likely, this intense lime desire is not a taste for lime at all, but for a gin and tonic. Unfortunately, I'm taking medication at the moment that would not go well with alcohol ("No, no" I insisted, "The label specifically indicates that anti-inflammatory drugs are especially good WITH alcohol."). In place of my favourite summer drink (with the bottle of Boodles sitting all by its lonesome in the freezer, untouched) I've been focusing on lime. Yes, I did actually consider a sorbet of lime zest cooked into syrup with juniper berries but then thought better of it. At one point I was tempted to make the horrendous-looking gelatine mould in the Women's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery with lime Jell-O and blueberries. Again, I thought better of it.

Weeks of lime cravings led me to decide my Friday Cakeblogging feature this week would be an extravagant gateau coloured pink with a reduction of blueberries into syrup and filled with lime curd. Pink and green-a Preppy Cake! Lily Pulitzer, eat your heart out. Wouldn't that look simply mind boggling as a jellyroll? The possibilities are so exciting. I woke up this morning planning to get a head start by making the curd on Thursday and then, as is often the case, my body had other plans.

I'm afraid there isn't going to be a cake tomorrow-at least I don't think there will be. I'm OK, and only really in pain if I try to turn my head too far to the left. I know what you're thinking, but as my mother *once said to me as I was learning to drive;

"Why do you keep looking over your shoulder? The law says if you're hit from behind it isn't your fault. Stop all that turning around and drive."

Ah yes, Mummy. God rest her soul, she had some very strong opinions about things. Anyway, I'm not about to be driving, loaded-up as I am on tablets to relax muscles and other assorted pain relief. My spouse stayed home to tend to our child and will chauffer me anywhere I need to go. Apparently I have some sort of bulge on a disk in my neck that has been there for a couple years. It gets better, flares up, gets better, and so on. As I'm decidedly opposed to surgery, I'm left taking it easy when it acts up. I'm looking at it as a sort of blessing-forced relaxation. I felt absolutely liberated, leaving the beds unmade for what must be the first time in years. You should try it (the day off of housekeeping-not the neck injury. The neck injury is most unpleasant).

Which brings me back to Friday Cakeblogging. I always thought it would be better as a participant event anyway. If anyone is interested in baking a cake, I'll create a link from this blog. Consider that an invitation for future Fridays as well. Here's what to do;
Email me by Thursday morning (or obviously late Friday for this week) with the URL at:

cornmotherne at yahoo dot com

Come on; don't be shy-everyone (save for idiots that believe not eating cake will let them live a year longer-in a nursing home, no doubt) enjoys cake.

Hope to hear from you. And I hope as well to be back to a reasonable range of motion in my neck soon-lest I be forced to drive like my mother.


*No, my mother did not die in an automobile accident, though I suppose it is remarkable in retrospect that she didn't.