Monthly Archives: April 2016

April 17, 2016

Adventures..Um…DISASTERS in Baking

My daughter’s baby shower is next weekend and it is everything yellow. I thought some Lemon French Macaroons would be really pretty on the table, but I’m intimidated by anything French so I decided to give it a trial run today!

I found a recipe in Pinterest HERE. Just in case you want to give it a try.

The chef is confident that anyone can do it. (I hear you shaking your head and rolling your eyes right now…but I was determined!)

I assembled the ingredients and started with the merengue shells.
<img src=”https://katmyrman.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/img_6753-1.jpg” alt=””

I’m feeling confident. Just look at those nice egg whites! So far so good!

This is likely where things went downhill. Everything seemed to be going according to the recipe…

The chef issued several warnings not to over fold the batter…I I freaked a bit. I’m thinking in retrospect I didn’t fold the batter enough….

Note to self…sandwich bags are definitely a messy alternative to pastry bags. If there is a next time, get pastry bags!

I let the batter rest the prescribed time.

Baked them the shortest time called for in the recipe, but I think they could have used less time.

While the shells were cooling I made the Lemon Buttercream Filling.

The Verdict: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!! Just kidding! But clearly this takes a bit of practice. So do try it…several times before serving to your guests.

It’s a good thing I already planned a few tried and true recipes for the big day! This one will need to wait. 😊

On a bright note, Maxwell likes them! Haha! He gave it his drool of approval! So…..

How did you spend your Sunday? 😜

13 Comments | tags: kitchen disasters, pinterest | posted in Humor, Random Thoughts and Musings, Stone Soup and Other Delicacies

April 17, 2016

April Poetry Month ~ A Poem a Day #17

By Kat Myrman

The Tetractys, is today’s poetry form. It’s an invented form by Ray Stebbing, consisting of at least 5 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 syllables (total of 20). Tetractys can be written with more than one verse, but must follow suit with an inverted syllable count. Tetractys can also bereversed and written 10, 4, 3, 2, 1.   Double Tetractys: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1  Triple Tetractys: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 10  and so on.

Ray Stebbing had this to say about his inspiration for the Tetractys: “Euclid, the mathematician of classical times, considered the number series 1, 2, 3, 4 to have mystical significance because its sum is 10, so he dignified it with a name of its own – Tetractys. The tetractys could be Britain’s answer to the haiku. Its challenge is to express a complete thought, profound or comic, witty or wise, within the narrow compass of twenty syllables.”

It’s a simple form with no rhyme constraints; just follow the syllable rules. It’s the perfect poetry form for a restful Sunday morning. I came up with a few.

If there were spiritual advice columns…

“Soul
Seeking
Nirvana”
Find lasting peace
By refusing to entertain Ego.

yielding

Trees
Extend
To heaven
And burrow deep
Extremes of longing, that bend on a breeze.

Digital Wet Blanket

You
And me
This moment
Eternity….
Love is in bloom; we must take a selfie!

kat ~ 17 April 2016

2 Comments | tags: ego, Nirvana, Poem a Day, poetry form, selfies, Tetractys, Trees | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Essays, Humor, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

April 17, 2016

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 17 April 2016

By Kat Myrman

A familiar sunny Sunday morning scene…lounging in while my cat, Casey, waits patiently for shadows of squirrels and birds to flutter by. Routine is a wonderful thing. Once entrenched, you hardly even notice it, and when you do it’s beauty and simplicity has a way of calming us amidst the chaos of life.

This week like so many recent weeks has presented with political undertones. But unlike some election seasons peppered with idealistic aspirations for the future, this cycle has been just plain angry.

And I get it. Things are not as rosy as we’d like them to be. Anger is a natural response to disappointment. But sustained, unchecked, venomous, fear-fueled anger accomplishes nothing. Like a raging fire it eventually burns out, but not without casualties.

Our better selves know intervention is called for to minimize the damage. Pure lunacy is adding more kindling and logs to the pit, which current politicians are loath to do. Alas, are beset with lunatics!

This week’s ReVerse is smattered with sparks of this hotbed of incessant blustering. Embers sucking air. But come Sunday I rely on the cool balm of routine. Casey chasing shadows. Sun-streamed bliss on a mattress. A call to pause and breathe. I live for moments like these! And I hope you have a Sunday time and place where you can rest and recharge too!

I would be remiss if I did not pause to remember the victims of recent natural disasters this week…Japan…and now…Ecuador. Peace and healing all.

And so…be safe this week my fellow word-pressers. Flex those word-bending super powers of yours, penning the light as well as the darkness. Each have their place; the light to warm and inspire us and the darkness, exposed, allowing us to release and to move toward healing. And one more thing…don’t forget to breathe. Peace.

Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 17 April 2016

This I can’t deny
Truth settles on shuttered minds, spinning in sound bites
suffer(ing) no regrets
promises to keep
each twisty turny
I remember when
Sowing seeds, midst fussy plots of weeds, their empty plates to fill
…because EVERYTHING is better with a little Sriracha!!!
It’s too late to regret
There’s nothing left to do but rise
There were a few brave souls but even fewer customers
Intrepid trekkers
engaged in trysts with metaphors
drunken noodles sweating steam
When the rose bush bursts in bloom
Sometimes fear is good.
Politicians count on this.

~ kat

5 Comments | tags: digital art, Poetry, sunday review, week in Reverse | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Social Issues, Week in Review

April 16, 2016

Fear – A Few Haiku

By Kat Myrman

It’s a wise person
Who trusts their intuition
Sometimes fear is good.

Using fear tactics,
Politicians count on this
To win elections.

kat ~ 16 April 2016

For Haiku Horizon’s Challenge, prompt word, “Fear”.

8 Comments | tags: Challenge, fear, Haiku, Poetry | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Haiku, Poetry

April 16, 2016

April Poetry Month – A Poem a Day #16

By Kat Myrman

We are over the hump, day 16! Today I am exploring the Terzanelle. For starters, isn’t it a lovely word to say…Terzanelle. 🙂 It is a combination of the Villanelle and the Terza Rima poetry forms.
A 19-line poem consisting of five interlocking triplets/tercets, the last stanza is a
quatrain with the first and third lines of the first triplet appearing as refrains. The middle line of each triplet is repeated, reappearing as the last line of the succeeding triplet with the exception of the center line of the next-to-the-last stanza which appears in the quatrain.

Yikes! Sounds complicated, but it’s not. Seeing it in diagram will hopefully dispel any confusion. The rhyme and refrain scheme for the triplets is as follows:
1. A
2. B
3. A

4. b
5. C
6. B

7. c
8. D
9. C

10. d
11. E
12. D

13. e
14. F
15. E

Ending Type 1:
16. f
17. A
18. F
19. A

Ending Type 2:
16. f
17. F
18. A
19. A

Each line of the poem should be the same metrical length.

Spring Longing

I remember you in spring
When the rose bush bursts in bloom
I remember you in spring

Its sweet fragrance heavy looms
The soft breeze caressing me
When the rose bush bursts in bloom

Waves of longing crushing me
Your breath dusting my warm skin
The soft breeze caressing me

Breaking my heart once again
Do you ever think of us?
Your breath dusting my warm skin

Love’s refrain fades in the dust
Oh to hear your voice again
Do you ever think of us?

Can’t accept this bitter end
Oh to hear your voice again
I remember you in spring
I remember you in spring

kat ~ 16 April 2016