Philly Flower Show 2019: Flower Power

My mom and I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show again this year. Unfortunately, we both agreed this was the worst one we have ever attended. The theme was vague, the exhibits weren't very good, and there were hardly any of the usual big exhibits. Here's the main entrance.

Those white walls you see are booths for the FTD World Cup. That was a huge problem. The competition space took up two thirds of the floor, where the big, beautiful exhibits usually are. That might be okay if the competitors were ready. But THEY WEREN'T. We were there for the member preview hours on the first day of the show, and the World Cup booths were half empty and people were still setting things up.

My mom and I were done with the show in less than an hour. We heard other people talking about how there was less to it this year than in the past, too. While my mom and I had a nice time walking around and going to Reading Terminal Market after, the flower show was incredibly disappointing this year. Next year's theme is Riviera Holiday, which sounds great, so I hope the show gets back to its usual standard.

London Fog cake

This is a cake I've been wanting to try for a long time. Earl Grey is my favorite tea, and this is chocolate cake with an Earl Grey buttercream! Also, caramel sauce.

I took this to my parents' house so we could all try it together. My dad is also a fan of Earl Grey tea. Here's the cake pre-caramel sauce. Those black specks are vanilla seeds.

I continue to fail horribly at icing cakes. A rotating cake stand may help...but I don't get enough practice, really. I'm thinking I should have put it in the fridge to firm up a bit before I used the icing comb to make the design around the outside.

This cake was very rich! My eyes are always bigger than my stomach, and I should have cut a smaller piece for myself. As much as I like caramel, the cake didn't need it.

The Earl Grey buttercream was AMAZING. I melted butter and boiled and steeped loose Earl Grey, as if making tea. Then I strained it and put it in the fridge, and the melted butter firmed back up into hard butter. The cake part was moist, but it didn't taste very chocolatey to me. My parents liked it, Dave didn't, and I can't decide. I kept the recipe, but I'm not sure if I'll make it again.

Doctor Who: The Time Monster

The Whoathon returns! This one is a classic with the Master, UNIT, and yet another explanation of how Atlantis was destroyed. But what would Doctor Who be without its continuity inconsistencies? I love the Master so much. As this one starts, he's incognito as Professor Thascales...which is Greek for Master. Hee!

the Brigadier, Jo Grant, Mike Yates, and the Doctor

The Doctor is suspicious that the Master is back and causing trouble. Of course he is. He's trying to gain control of Kronos, a time eater with a connection to Atlantis. Honestly, it's not really clear why, but I'm sure it's to take over the universe or something. The Master's plan isn't going well, so he summons Krasis, high priest of Kronos, from Atlantis.

Krasis and the Master

The Master takes the seal from Krasis' neck and summons Kronos, who is just as brilliant as you'd expect a Classic Who one-off creature to be.

Kronos and the Master

The plan still isn't going well. The Master finds out that he doesn't have the entire crystal that he needs to control Kronos. That's in Atlantis. Off to Atlantis they all go!

The Doctor and the Master each try to get Atlanteans on their side. The Master has some luck with the queen, while the Doctor has the king on his side.

How YOU doin'?

The Master takes over Atlantis and releases Kronos...

Atlantis is destroyed. Again.

THE RUNDOWN

Doctor: Third
Companions: Jo Grant
Episode: #64, "The Time Monster," six parts
Adversary: the Master

Classic Lines: the Brigadier, to the Doctor: "This isn't a picnic! One moment you're talking about the entire universe blowing up and the next you're going on about tea." 

Tuck This Away to Impress Your Friends: Jo Grant understands Greek. 
Next Up: "The Three Doctors"

Saucy clams and shrimp with wild mushrooms

I asked Dave to pick out a few recipes I've saved over the years to try. This one came from Food & Wine.

I thought this would be okay because Dave loves shrimp and he likes clam chowder (although he prefers the weird tomato-based clam chowder to the correct New England clam chowder).

I liked it. After trying it, Dave said, eh, I don't know if I'm a fan of clams. Yep.

More Plated

Another box from Plated brought two more yummy meals. First I made spicy calamari linguine.

Dave said this was the best Plated meal yet. It was delicious. Next was blackened tilapia with tomato rice and a creamy sauce.

Also good. The tilapia was excellent, and the rice was fine. I left the cilantro out of the sauce because I don't like cilantro.

YUM!

Color Me Mine

Dave and I checked out the Lehigh Valley Color Me Mine recently. In case you aren't familiar, you pick a piece of pottery and paint it. Then they fire it in a kiln and you come back later to pick up the finished product. It was hard to decide what to paint! Dave and I went with Christmas pieces so we could put them out every year as decorations.

Before...

Mine is the odd colored reindeer. Dave's is a gingerbread house that has an opening in the back so you can put a light inside. The colors you see aren't the colors as they appear after they've been fired. The finished pieces are much darker.

After!

They turned out so cool! They ended up being much better than I expected. Dave and I are both very excited about how they look.

It was fun! It took a lot longer than I expected. We were there for over three hours. The people who work there were very friendly. They suggested at least three coats of paint for the pieces not to turn out streaky.

We wrote the date on the bottom, and Dave suggested coming back every year to paint more Christmas decorations.