I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. I sure did! It was Jason’s birthday, so he came out to visit and we had a little birthday weekend that included the most delicious cake I think I’ve ever had in my entire life (except this one time when I tasted something called “Banana Cream Cake” and I practically reproduced that  Meg Ryan scene while I was eating it):

It was made by Vinman’s Bakery here in Ellensburg. It was very not vegan, but it was what Jason wanted, and it’s his birthday, so he gets what he wants. I had to order it a few days in advance, but it was well worth it. The thing tasted about ten times as good as it looks. I was suitably appreciated for my efforts:

The kids, who would probably eat Cheez-Its and neon-colored “fruit” roll-ups until they puked if I let them, thought the cake was horrible. All those cherries inside! How do you get to the sugar when there’s all that real fruit in the way? I keep thinking how I fed the kids so many vegetables as babies; what happened? Are sugar addicts made or born? That’s a whole other can of posts….

Greg and Sonja and Liz all thought it was the bee’s knees of course, and we all had to work hard at not decimating the thing, which ended up being 9″ across and double-layered. I’m pretty sure this is what heaven tastes like. Except all the cream is vegan (but tastes the same).

We also spent some time at the nursery, where I picked up some herbs. Now when something calls for “fresh parsley”, I’ll have some right out my back door, assuming I can learn how to use the watering can every morning and not end up with dead plants in a week. I got the whole song: parsley, sage (two kinds), rosemary, and thyme. I also got some cute little chives. It’s practically a garden!