Mom’s Birthday Flocking

For mom’s second birthday during Covid, we got her a flocking. The night before, Think Pink Flamingo Flocking set up these friends to surprise her.

We were hoping she wouldn’t hear them and she didn’t. I also learned that my mom doesn’t put up the shades in her front room at the crack of dawn. Her excited phone call came much later than I would have thought.

This was a very fun gift and that was before I saw that the flamingos were wearing hats and stuff. Those additions made it much more fun.

I also made her one two-layer cake that I cut into four pieces and frosted so she could freeze three of them and defrost as needed. When you aren’t having a big gathering, a whole cake is kind of a lot.

And here are the frosted cakes! Even though I made five cups of frosting, you will note that the frosting diminishes as the cakes go along. I forgot that more sides means more frosting.

They are all plated on 8×8 dishes because we had no cardboard I could cover with aluminum foil.

It was a fun birthday celebration.

Brigham City to Boise to Spokane to Portland

At some point across the border in Idaho there was a huge traffic accident that added 40 minutes to our itinerary. It didn’t look like there were any fatalities, thank goodness.

I continued to enjoy the landscape from the farmland to the sagebrush outside of Boise.

At the Boise Airport, I enjoyed this sign. The person sitting next to me on my Boise to Spokane flight had to be talked to by the flight attendant. She told him he was at the point where she needed to start filling out paperwork and if he could keep his mask on from that point on she wouldn’t have to inconvenience them both. He complied after that.

The Boise airport seemed smaller than I remembered. But it wasn’t as small as the Spokane Airport, where I had a middling French Dip sandwich and a huge glass of wine. Eventually my flight to Portland boarded and I landed in my fourth state of the day.

Fun Times at the Hospital

My mom had to go to the emergency room at the hospital Thursday night, and I went to. Happily, it was at that point before the Delta surge, and I was allowed to stay with my mom. When she got a room, it had this lovely view.

I also enjoyed this delicious sandwich, chips and chocolate.

After a few days, my mom was discharged and was on the mend after that.

Matt’s Birthday: Heat and Spanakopita

We are in for some craziness the next few days. Even in the very hot summers of my Boise years, the temperature never got very far above 105 degrees. But Matt’s birthday forecast is 107 and the two days after are in temperature ranges I’ve never seen, ever.

Matt wanted spanakopita for his birthday celebration and so I got the recipe from my Aunt Pat.

Here is my spinach.

And here is the finished product. It wasn’t a winner. There was way too much moisture coming off of the pieces.

The diagnosis: don’t cook it in a 9×13 inch pan with sides (what I think of as a 9×13 inch pan) but use a flat cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. My aunt uses a nice round sheet.