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It’s beed busy at work. It usually is when you have about 5,000 inmates all acting like 2 year olds and whining about anything under the sun. He said this, he looked at me like this, he bumped into me… blah blah blah. Sometimes I want to hit them in the head and say “Atleast you get to walk around and enjoy the sun for a few hours, inmates in segregation are inside 23.5 hours of the day, so SHUT IT!”. But they still complain. Don’t get me wrong, I like my job there are even some days when I love it. 😛 It keeps my busy and keeps steady money in my bank account. But don’t forget, I’m a state employee so it isn’t much. If you have ever worked for a state agency you know it’s the bottom of the bucket. The county is a little better but the city employment is what you want to shoot for. On top of being a state employee, I also work for the department of corrections. We usually never get the funding we need, aren’t included in decision making and are seen as police department rejects. I don’t see it that way. These men and women are keeping over 38,500 men and women behind bars and in line. They over see the women on death throw, DUI offenders, child molesters, rapists, murderers and anything in between. Weather they are 4 feet tall or 7 feet tall (we have some 7 footers at my work) and up to 500 pounds. They deal with poo being flung at them to inmates with geniune illnesses even to the ones wrongly accused (sometimes it happens). They do a lot, put up with a ton, get paid pennies but come to work everyday prepared to keep us safe by keeping them in line and inside, they do it all withOUT any weapons besides themselves and their quick responsiveness. So next time you see a corrections officer, don’t call him a gaurd and thank him for what he or she does. *steps down from soap box*

So for all of my officer friends a sweet treat for dealing with some nasty working conditions. 🙂

This was a great recipe. I made mini-tarts because they are too stinkin’ cute. Noe isn’t a fan of lemon so I made the orange version. If you’d like to see other TWD member made, go here.

Here is the tart recipe, I will get the orange cream one up soon. 🙂

Sweet Tart Dough
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 T) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in- you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal fakes and others the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses- about 10 seconds each- until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change- heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate and dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

To press the dough into the pan: butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Don’t be too heavy handed- press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferable longer, before baking.

To partially or fully bake the crust: center a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

Butter the shiny side of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, against the crust. (since you froze it, you can bake it without weights). Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, carefully press it down with the back of a spoon. For partially baked crust, patch the crust if necessary, then transfer the crust to a cooling rack. To fully bake the crust, bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown. Transfer pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.

And I can’t live without my heart. I remember seeing the movie Blow right when it came out in theatres. I absolutely love it. For one, it has Johnny Depp, two it’s a true story and three it shows how drugs can ruin your life. Johnny (we’re on a first name basis =P) is the main character and basically ruins his life because of drugs. He wants to change though for his daughter Kristina. He told her “You’re my heart and I can’t live without my heart.” I feel that way about my husband. He is an amazing man and is wicked sexy too. hehe!

His 5.5 years with the Army, weren’t easy on him, I and our relationship. He was gone about 4.5 of the 5.5 years he was in the Army. He was always training, in Iraq, training some more and again in Iraq. He spent close to 3 years in Iraq. I told him that I couldn’t live without him, because he is my heart. I know people think, “Yes you can. One person can’t cause the death of another by leaving or dying.” But the love I feel for him is indescribable. My mom says that our bond and love is much more stonger than others because of what we have experienced and dealt with. I remember hearing about the passing of June Carter (Johnny Cash’s wife), 3 months later he died. They say it was because of a broken heart. I believe that 110%.

It wasn’t easy, but I would NOT change it for the world. He is my heart and I can’t love without my heart.

I found a lemon pound cake recipe that Helen made and she said it was the best she has ever had. I just substitued the lemon with orange. It was AMAZING.

Enjoy,
-M

Ultimate Pound Cake, adapted from Lori Longbotham:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 TB orange zest
1 tsp. pure orange extract

Preheat oven to 300F. Butter and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.

Sift the flour, baking owder and salt together twice.
Cream the butter and 1 3/4 cups sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flou. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon extract.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Poke holes all over the cake with a wooden skewer