Dish towels, dogs and dingos

We just finished a fun and interesting weekend.

Son Dan and daughter-in-love Jenny arrived, along with dog-in-law Bauer. The occasion? Daughter-in-love-to-be Jill's bridal shower. Bauer wasn't invited to the shower: no boys allowed. But he certainly brought, shall we say, vitality to the weekend.

Bauer's presence reminded me of having toddlers underfoot. He's young with lots of energy. He clamored through the house, chewed up tennis balls, enticed our dog Ellie to play, and left slobber on the glass doors. I hadn't heard so much thundering up and down the stairs since Christmas morning when the kids were little.

We looked for activities to wear out the dogs. Dan and I took them to a nearby park to romp the trail, a sort of mowed mile-long path around a meadow. Now, Ellie generally, obediently follows the trail, however Bauer had other ideas. Off he lunged, into the thicket to see what he might find. Ellie willingly followed. Trouble was, the weeds and wildflowers are high and every so often, the dogs bounced up to get their bearings. Dan called them dingos.

OK, enough about the dogs. I like dogs, really. Better than cats or goldfish and certainly better than birds, who shouldn't qualify as pets. Ever. But dogs aren't the beginning and end of life and please stop me if I ever get too long-winded about them. They are, after all, just dogs. Not people. And not "children with fur."

So. The focus of the weekend, when it wasn't dogs, was Jill's bridal shower. She was a bit nervous, but it went beautifully, thanks to Jill's long-time high school friend Jamie and her mom Becky. This photo: Jill and Jamie.



We played shower games (this is why boys aren't invited) and Jill opened lots of fantastic gifts, including many, many dish towels. In an envious moment, I wished it was me opening all those gifts. I sure could use some new dish towels; ones I don't have to pick out myself.

Every shower has food. Jamie and Becky made a mountain of quiches, all delicious. And now, I will brag. Jenny, Katie and I made white chocolate pound cakes. I don't like the expression, "to die for," but they almost were. One of Jill's relatives told me it tasted like some special German recipe her grandma used to make.

Well, this cake uses a cake mix. With a classy name like White Chocolate Pound Cake, no one's the wiser! Here's the recipe. Feel free to impress at your next gathering!



White Chocolate Pound Cake

1 plain white cake mix
6 ounces white baking chocolate
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 stick butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

To avoid burning it, melt chocolate in a double boiler. Empty cake mix into a large mixing bowl and begin adding all ingredients, mixing with electric mixer until smooth.

Recipe says to oil ("Pam") and flour 3 loaf pans; I used one bundt pan and it was perfect. Pour batter into pan(s) and bake at 350 until done. 35-45 minutes? You know how to test cakes.

Let cool after removing from pan. Sprinkle w/ powdered sugar through a little strainer. Sliced strawberries and mint leaves can be added for beauty.

You might even be able to hire these beautiful young ladies to serve for you!