Dear Suzanne,

Can you believe no one ever told me the cake part was supposed to be bigger? Apparently I have been doing it wrong all along. Oops.

And did you know you can shove the icing bag into the cupcake and squeeze icing into the middle of the cupcake as well? The mountain of icing on top will hide the abomination caused by forcing the frosting tube inside.

After I read your latest, I fell in a carrot cake wormhole and found two recipes dating back to the 1800s. One by a woman, which you can tell because of the initials. Only men used their first name. Women were always, A.B. or E.B. or something. Apparently, cream cheese frosting didn’t show up until the 1960s.

The frosting first appeared in a Philadelphia cream cheese recipe book that was given away free so that people would buy more cream cheese. It was invented by ‘someone in the factory’ which means a woman. Because if it was a man, you know we’d know his name. That’s how it was in the 60s.

Speaking of which, did you know cream cheese was an accident? Apparently, William A Lawrence (see, first name — not W.A. Lawrence!) was trying to invent a creamier Neufchâtel and got cream cheese instead.

Incidentally, a book is a frigging good idea. Did you ever read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society? It’s a collection of letters. I love that book!

It is rare to find someone who shares my bizarre habit of hopping around between eleventeen topics in one conversation and I am enjoying this immensely. So I should be saying thank you, but you’re welcome anyway.

I’m glad you’ll write for Medusa Wept. When you’re ready. Which gives me time to create the stuff like submission forms and such that I haven’t done yet.

Wild Hare is one of mine and I’m glad it gave you an idea. Hmmm. Funny. Ideas are kind of like rabbits, come to think of it.

I don’t have a site for Medusa yet, though I will. It’s on the list of things I want to do that I juggle with that which I have to do. Because want to and have to aren’t the same. Wouldn’t it be fun if we only had to to things we wanted to?

I like the bunny stamps! I wish my teacher had used bunny stamps. But no. Instead she used to work for military boot camp and walked around with a yardstick that she whacked kids with if they didn’t behave. She liked me, though, so I got away with a lot and never got whacked.

I did have one teacher that gave out gold stars. I used to get a lot of them. She would tell Mom I have a “wild imagination” which was much better than how some people expressed that same general concept.

Have a good Monday, too. Although, if Mondays were shoes, they’d be crocs. You just shove your feet into them when you need to shuffle out and take care of the trash. Might need to write about that. On a Monday. Ha!

xo
Linda