I deciced to buy lard & then felt all superior when I noticed another shopper buying a loaf of french bread. Clearly I need a smug adjustment since this is my first attempt at bread and for all I know it's going to turn out just like the yorkshire pudding.

When I got home I learned that if you use your shirt instead of a towel to open a stubborn bottle of champagne (or in this case, cava) you are likely to get a bruise on your chin.

Despite never having actually made Yorkshire Pudding from scratch (bad Yorkshire native! No cookie! Or, more to the point, no Yorkshire pudding!) I'm going to say that in that case, the pan wasn't hot enough.

I have in fact made Yorkshire pud from scratch, and it is awesomely good with roast beef.

The penguin story is excellent (and the smell is exactly how you'd notice there's one on the bus). I'd heard the Snopes thing before, I do rather enjoy it being true.

I think my error with the pudding was trying to cook it in a pot that had veggies cooked in it as well as beef so the drippings were diluted too much by the moisture from the vegetables.

Sparky, that was adorable!

I have an update on my 2nd cousin. She's being released from the hospital but she will have to be on strict bed rest through the rest of the pregnancy. Also her doctors have said she can't get pregnant again, it's simply too dangerous because of her heart.

I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and ~ma and I'm just praying that she'll be able to carry the baby to term.

tons of healthy baby~ma for your cousin, askye.

Lots of health~ma to your cousin and her baby.

Health~ma for your cousin, askye, and to her baby-to-be.

Laga, I've told you about this book, right? The five minutes thing is a lie, but not by much once you've done the initial prep work. The dark whole wheat bread is sooooo good, and it doesn't take long to get the hang of it and make good bread every time.

Pix, how ya doing?

I've moved into the swollen glands/no voice portion of teh sick, but I'm feeling better. I'm just a little nervous because my doctor left me a voicemail saying he needs to talk to me about my bloodwork. I had some routine physical-type bloodwork done on Tuesday, so he clearly just got it today. Calling me right away like that makes me think the news, whatever it is, isn't good. I'm hoping it's just the normal caution (I have genetically high cholesterol overall, though my good/bad cholesterol ratio tends to be fine), but I'm concerned it might be something else. If there's any extra health~ma floating around, I'd love to borrow a little.

I've gotten a phone call like that when they messed up the test and needed to draw more blood. It's-nothing~ma and continued feel-better~ma to you, Kristin. That chocolate bread looks fantastic.

~ma to you Kristin.