no cake

I know I promised you cake, and I have exactly the cake it was going to be in my mind's eye. I don't have it on a plate, though, because instead of blog posts and baking in our house, today we have the chicken pox. Well, only one of us does: my son, who is enjoying either his second bout of them or a big "Guess You Were Wrong About That!" moment with our former pediatrician.

So, together we can look forward to cake on Monday, among other improvements in everyone's general circumstances. Have a very not-itchy weekend, and if you were counting on me for a recipe, please enjoy the following dairy-rich breakfast items that I think look quite delicious, and if you try them out, let me know how you fare.

These simple and amazing-looking gluten-free African Pancakes

The same chef's equally international and tempting-looking Salvadoran Muffins

These little hand-held cheese pies

This nourishing polenta

get a hold on

Are you surfing while you wait, 7th in line to talk to a customer service representative who will not be able to answer your question or solve your problem or shed any light on who may have those powers, but will nonetheless ask, when your chat is over, if there is anything else they can help you with? We do appreciate your patience. As your estimated hold time (mwah ha ha) ticks by, you might want to click around the They Draw and Cook site. I haven't cooked anything over there yet, and the recipes are posted more for beauty than utility, I think, but I do like to look at it all and think of what I might be hungry for later.

surf's up!

Well, you can't put this in your lunchbox but you could eat it. Some of the kinds of loony behavior going on in the world and documented here on the time-drain highway are alarming, and best not discussed. Some are strangely soothing. Some move me to wonder what this person might be up to if their thoughts had led them in another direction, and I feel grateful they've found an outlet.

Let this be the only time in your life that you encounter two separate rice-based reconstructions of Stonehenge in one day. Or may it be the first of many. Whichever makes you happier.