Thanks, mom

My mom used to make a simple yellow cake that always sent us into orbit. This past weekend, I pulled out her recipe to try to make a version of a summer berry cake I fell in love with recently.

Mom's version usually had white icing and bananas between the layers. I added a few twists like fresh berries, a lemon mascarpone filling and a bit more butter, but the foundation is still that wonderfully dense and rich yellow confection that I remember as "hot milk cake."

This version isn't too shabby, I must admit. Oh, and since my photo editing skills aren't so good, I cut off the baking time. You bake it  for 30 minutes at 375.

I picture mom taking a bite of this fancied-up version, smiling politely and saying "I liked it better with the  bananas."

A steal

Is there anything sweeter than Rainier cherries? There is, as it turns out - getting Rainier cherries for a quarter of their usual price.

My brother was gleeful when he saw the sign at his local grocery for Rainier cherries at 99 cents a pound. Alas, at checkout they rang up at 3.99 a pound. My brother said nope, the price should be what was listed on the sign. The flummoxed clerk called the produce manager, who put it all in context.  "Rainier cherries never sell for 99 cents a pound. Someone stole the 3."

Seriously? Someone stole the 3? Is that the best you've got, produce man? My brother held fast. Years in banking had taught him many things. First, if your signs are so lame that they can be that easily altered, then you live with the consequences. And when a sign - altered or not - offers a product at 99 cents a pound, by golly, then that's what the customer should pay.

He won. And those cherries tasted sweeter than ever.

Now will someone please return the stolen 3 to the Kroger store? Their stock is plummeting as we snicker.

Tortuga, tortue, tortoise

No matter how you say it, getting to pet this cool-looking guy was one of our adventures when we visited the zoo with our grandsons last Friday.

We learned that this one was a land turtle, which is why he has clawed instead of webbed feet at the end of those thick, stumpy legs. He was a baby, about the size of a mixing bowl now but will grow to be about 250 pounds.  His shell is much more intricately designed and colored in real life, very art deco in design. This quick sketch did not do it justice. But I seem to say that a lot.

The green thing coming out of his mouth was a piece of grass he was munching on, not the creepy lizard-like tongue it seems to be here.

We also learned that he can feel things through his shell, the way we can feel it when we touch or squeeze our fingernails. I thought back to all the times as kids when we thumped mercilessly on turtles' shells, thinking they were hard and impenetrable. Is it my imagination, or was he looking at me as if he knew that?

Lo siento, tortuga.

This is what garlic is supposed to look like

My kids brought this garlic from the organic farmers market in Lexington.  It's remarkable how it in no way resembles the bleached-out white kind we get at the grocery.

I can't wait to use it but wanted to draw it first. I'm afraid my sad attempt at painting didn't do it justice - the colors in it are so subtle and varied. Quite beautiful.

I wonder if it will taste as good as it looks. I almost hate to spoil it. Maybe it could just live on the windowsill, like a little sculpture.

Remember WKRP?

This is the fountain that was featured in the opening segment of the old television show, WKRP. I never actually watched the show but I do remember the theme song. This fountain is still the centerpiece of our downtown area, although thanks to some renovations a few years ago it was moved slightly from its original location.

I drew this on the Sunday that was the last day of the FIFA world cup, so the square was very lively, filled with people watching the game on the big screen there and cheering on the teams. Most of them seemed to be cheering for Spain. It was a beautiful sunny day and everybody seemed happy.

Anyway, it's a pretty fountain and I'd never noticed all the detail (like the dog lapping at the water) until I went to draw it recently. I'll have to do some history on who all those people are and what they represent.

Just another reminder of how little you see until you really take the time to look at something.