Worth Mentioning

My dream kitchen. A little french country? Fantasizing about off-the-grid living and picture a wood cookstove off to the right there. I can almost hear the rooster calling from outside that window.

Darklord

In the stale air of the castle
Melted by the muted sun
I see you shadow against the bony wall.
You walk listlessly,
As if just awoke from sleeping.
You watch the town from your high steeple.
They scurry to their destinations with no time for pleasures.
Laughing at them you think it must be tiresome.
You absentmindedly direct yourself to your room.
It is dark and unconnected.
Your bed next to you,
You forget it.
Wanting never to remind yourself of sleep
While it is such a beautiful night.
You settle on your chair and wait for nothing.
Vials of red ponder on the tattered shelf.
Shadows fall upon your face
As I open the door.
The moonlight sneaks in.
Your face pale.
Blood rushing to my head.
My face flushed.
Something only you could appreciate.
I float to you and shiver.
Your lips reek of death.
I look to your eyes,
But you say nothing for the time is not right.
When will it ever me?
I walk back to your bed
And position myself ideally.
Here you come.
Your silhouette casts upon me
I will not remember.
There's no other choice.
Breath moistens my neck and touches make me tingle.
You raise your head.
Then I see your face.
Gentle.
Blameless, voiceless and generous.
Pointy teeth gleam toward me
Dripping something.

Jimmy's Arms

Finally alone.
Nothing to say.
I never did have anything worth saying.
Blue-green eyes...
Why must I think of YOU
And remember everything I hate in MYSELF?
You never let down your arms.

Finally I'm lonely
And you can no longer do anything for me.
I just put my shoes on
And find comfort in my precious masochism
Alone
By myself.
You never let down your arms.

If January comes
And she comes
Alone,
By myself,
Then finally this box will be gone
After being dropped,
Then picked up.
After it rained,
And finally dried.
And after it was left,
And then remembered
Once you finally had a use for what's inside.
You never let down your arms.

Could you see me
All those nights I walked
And stood in the rain
With my arms open
Waiting for you,
Crying?
But you'd never know it.
The rain just washed my tears away
Finally landing at my shoes.
You never let down your arms.

Candy coated words.
Finally,
Dirtied kisses.
Beautiful flowers for Valentine's
That just got distracted
And forgotten like the box.
It's not the thought that counts
Anymore.
You never let down your arms.

If there's nothing I can do
Then why am I here?
Did I ask to be?
Tell me,
I forget,
Did you ask?
My shoes didn't walk me here,
But my feet hurt
From my new shoes.
You never let down your arms.

Can you hear my tapping red shoes when I play?
Watch my flying hands, Jimmy.
It's a rush like going down in an elevator
Except without that irritating music.
But eventually after I go up the stairs
And down the rushing elevator
I get sick and tired.
You never let down your arms.

When I was young,
My favorite ride was the merry-go-round.
All it does is turn you around and round.
Sometimes they pushed too fast
And I guess I fell down
I still can't seem to find my balance.
Why must my life be a masquerade?
I never used to like parties...
I guess things change, my dear.
You never let down your arms.

And that party.
That stupid Christmas party!
You remember her name, don't you?
Guess you weren't that messed up.
It seems your twin was the one
Standing in the rain
Holding my hand,
Right next to me.
Waiting.
Hey! What are best friends for?
Funny.
Mine seem to like Jimmy's bed.
You never let down your arms.

And what am I supposed to do?
Sit with my red shoes
And wait for you to call?
...You remember her face but not her number.
And now all you remember is her voice
And her breath,
But nothing she has said.
You never let down your arms.

I can't stay any longer.
I'm being dropped and rained on and forgotten.
And I'm lonely and crying
Finally, this time,
ALONE in the rain.
I'm sick of promises,
And elevators,
And this fair with my merry-go-round
And all that annoying circus music.
"Sorry ma'am. We seem to have lost your safety net."
Maybe you could've caught me.
You never let down your arms...
Guess you were waiting for something else to catch.
You missed me.
Somewhere, there,
In your parade
I mistook the ideas you spoon-fed me.
I guess I mistook the offing of your pants
For the offering of open arms.
I'll just put on my red shoes for playing,
Lay back and show MYSELF another way.
You never let down your arms.

Will you hold my shoes for a moment?
I'll try and remember I left
That box there
With the little red playing shoes on it.
I'll be back in a minute.
I have to go see if he's still out in the rain, waiting.
Oh! There he is.
This time I'll take his hand
And let our arms down.
Funny.
You never let down your arms.

GF Dark Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

GF Dark Chocolate Cake
1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill GF Pancake mix
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1 cup cocoa powder, sifted
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 sticks butter at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or sub 1 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar with 1 1/2 cups milk*)

*I used a whole large can (1 1/2+ cups) of evaporated milk.

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan and set aside. If using milk and vinegar, pour milk in cup and add vinegar. Let rest until ready to use.
2.In a medium bowl, sift together the pancake mix, tapioca, and rice flours with the cocoa powder, xanthan gum, baking powder, and baking soda.
3.In a large mixer bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the brown and white sugars; whip until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla. On low speed, alternately combine the buttermilk with the flour mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan. Batter will be loose, like pudding. Let rest for 20-30 minutes and it will thicken. (This is an excellent time to mix the frosting!)
4.Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan.

Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
1 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 stick butter, room temp
8 ounces cream cheese
coarse salt, such as himalayan sea salt

Directions:
1.In a sauce pan, melt 1 1/2 sticks butter, sugar and one tablespoon water and let caramelize over high heat, stirring constantly.
2.Remove from the heat and add cream cheese. Whisk until incoorporated. Beat with mixer until smooth. Add remaining 1 stick of butter 1 tablespoon at a time until thoroughly mixed. Let cool at room temperature and spread on cooled cake. Sprinkle coarse salt on top of frosted cake. Refrigerate.

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It fell in the middle a little, but you could shave it down to even it out or frost more heavily in the middle. ;) Or just roll with it like me!

For you non-gluten free folk, perhaps try 1 1/2-2 cups flour. Cake flour would be awesome!

Unplugged at Norshor, Duluth, Minnesota

Gluten Free Baking Day

I've been perpetually hungry this past week. I also have several days of 5 kids in the house (along with a new kitten, until someone adopts her) which leaves me little time for food preparation. Yesterday, I cleaned the kitchen only to fill it with just about every last dish and utensil I own. I made GF broccoli cheese soup. Two strawberry rhubarb pies; one with fresh strawberries and green rhubarb from my garden and the other with the neighbors red rhubarb and strawberries from out CSA share. THEN I made a gluten free pizza crust topped with turkey pepperoni and sausage, mushrooms, black olives, onions and green pepper. YUMMO! I made two non-GF pizzas for the rest of the fam; one like mine for John and one with just cheese on half (for Victoria) and one with cheese and meats (for Isobelle.) Now the fridge is crammed with GF food to sustain me through the next crazy, kid filled days!

♥

First Cities Gig!

I will be solo-ing it at Acadia Cafe in MSP tonight June 18th at 9:30!