car--argh

Well, you know peaceful moments never last long! We were all set to run errands today, like pick up the held mail (including all those bills due immediately), bring back library books that were urgently due, bring my husband to his office (he is moving offices across the building today), etc. Um...except the car wouldn't start this morning. We jump-started it and figured we'd run errands and have one of us in the car with the engine on until we were done, then drop it off at the garage (because our battery was only three years old). But halfway across town, really wonky stuff started with the electrical system, so we high-tailed it to the garage. That was this morning. Now the post office is closed, and 45 minutes after they said they'd FINALLY be done, I'm still waiting...and waiting...and waiting for them to call me back. Apparently the battery was a bad one. It's still under warranty, which I guess is good--but I sure wish I had my car back! 

At least it didn't go out on our trip. We were originally going to come back today or tomorrow. I'm glad we didn't--there is a whole lot of nowhere between here and everywhere else, and I wouldn't want to be stuck there.

ETA: Fabulous. They just called to say that a) the only 3YO battery was bad, but fortunately still under warranty, so they replaced that. However, b) when they took it out for a test drive, all the gauges went haywire, and something else is wrong with it, but they have no idea what. Glad we went grocery shopping on Saturday. Doubly glad we aren't cross country trekking it right now. But, I really hope they figure it out soon, because while I can walk to some schools, I can't reach others on foot or bike, and this week is pre-school registration for all my kids. Argh! (We only have one car.)

All about cake

So, this is one of those entries that has nothing to do with important life events, but it just for fun. Or maybe because it's NOT about car problems.

Once upon a time when we lived in Bonn, Germany, we had dinner at these people's house, and they served cake. Thus started a lifelong obsession for my husband to replicate this sublime experience. At first, he made things like Schoeppenstaedter Sahnetorte or Schartzwaelder Kirschtorte or this mousse and eclair cake he had on a French airline once. Simple things like that.



Then, he discovered plumbing hardware. And from that was born the exploding volcano cake.



Yes, if you run two tubes through the center of the cake, you can squirt raspberry syrup through one (lava) and spray whipped cream through the other (ash--and watch out, because it can hit as high as the ceiling).

Since moving to the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, the volcano has morphed into Mud Pot Cake. Similar plumbing, more viscous sauce. In this case, you tape your tube to one of those battery-run pumps for air mattresses.



This cake fixation hasn't gone without notice, of course. Every so often when we visit California, he ends up making a cake for his sister. The first one was a faux wedding cake.



Then there was the plaid cake.



Then my SIL did a semester in Israel. Her coming home coincided with one of our kids' birthdays, and said kid was really into the Civil War at the moment. So this is either that or Masada, depending on how you want to look at it.



A few years went by and then he made this one to "celebrate" various frustrations in the lives of his relatives. It's a flat tire (and yes, we did sterilize the nails).



This year's involved moveable parts. The chocolate fountain turned the wheel that made the bride's legs run as she chased the scared groom who would rather have a smart phone than a relationship.



DH has been trying to get me to make him cake ever since we got married. But seriously, why? I have yet to find a cake mix as interesting as any of these!