Cupcakes are old news. The future has beamed in CAKE POPS! Brides and husbands have been among the first to join in the hub-bub; these treats have exploded at hip weddings across the nation. I don't think we'll see the end of this fad any time soon. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to hear the most snooty Michelin-star chef exclaim, "Put a stick on it!" So, Ariel and I went with the flow, and allowed ourselves to get swept up in this trendy new wave of playful confections, doling them out on a hike last weekend for my birthday. They present a super convenient solution to the dilemma of how to make cake last for multiple parties (Attempts to repair a half demolished cake with icing for another party have proven disastrous. Yes, I've seen it happen!). In fact, their utility trumps their convenience: you can wield them, like we did here, in a sweet-sabered Muskateer salute!
While I enjoyed my birthday on Thursday in Point Reyes with Ariel and her parents, my father-in-law held me hostage with his husky, broken-record impression of Marilyn Monroe's performance of "Happy Birthday, Mr. President." (Truth be told, a part of me did appreciate his enthusiastic and surreal baritone delivery.) On Saturday, Ariel and I escaped with friends to the serene summit of Mt. Tamalpais for a peripatetic stroll through a wide palette of pale greens, as seen through the rice paper fog that provided a soothing filter for the day. We took our old, combat-ready Rebel camera for some nature photographs and quasi-candid portraits of our friends.
