Geek of the Week: MHLsmom

Who are you, really?
Favorite book?

Who are you, really? My first name is Karen. I am a 39 (soon to be 40 year old) mom of 3. I am married for the second time to the RIGHT guy, this time. I am a SAHM and I work part time from home as a medical transcriptionist. I am super shy until you get to know me. I am very open about things. I love TV-mainly documentaries, my sci-fi shows, some cooking shows. I love books! I love to cook. My kids are my life. I love the way Home Depot smells! LOL.  I have never really fit into one group or another. (A dork that does not even fit in with the dorks, I guess you could say). I could go on and on but I don't want to bore anyone.

Favorite book?  I am not sure I can pick a fav...there are so many that I haved loved! As a kid, I read whatever I could. The Trixie Belden series was great. Anything by Charles Dickens. When I was in 7th grade we had to read The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and that I think definitely had an impact on me. As an adult, maybe The Red Tent by Anita Diamant....Joyce Carol Oats is one of my all time favorite authors. Love HP and Rowling. I have been enjoying Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books.

Is that what you were looking for?
:-) Karen

Which movie would you rather be trapped in: Legend, Labyrinth, or Lord of the Rings?

What kind of car do you drive?

Do you have matching pots and pans?

Curtains or blinds?

Duff Goldman is going to bake you a cake to represent you.
It has to be 5 layers tall, with each layer representing an aspect of yourself so that anyone who sees and then eats this cake would go, "Oh, yeah, this is TOTALLY MHLsmom!"
What flavor cake would it be, what flavor filling would be used, what colors would the layers be, and what decorations would be on it?

Which movie would you rather be trapped in: Legend, Labyrinth, or Lord of the Rings? Lord of the Rings- I would want to live with the Fairies.

What kind of car do you drive? An old 2000 Dodge Caravan

Do you have matching pots and pans? Yes. And no. Both.

Curtains or blinds? Both. I love the option of layers of privacy or openess.

Duff Goldman is going to bake you a cake to represent you.
It has to be 5 layers tall, with each layer representing an aspect of yourself so that anyone who sees and then eats this cake would go, "Oh, yeah, this is TOTALLY MHLsmom!"
What flavor cake would it be, what flavor filling would be used, what colors would the layers be, and what decorations would be on it?

OY VEY! This is a tough one! (And funny that I looked into getting my hubby a Duff cake since we both are fans but since we live nowhere near Baltimore, it would have cost us a fortune in delivery alone!LOL!)

Ok so, layers, in no particular order as I would defer to the experts as to how to put it together:

Yellow/vanilla layer: I am a pretty basic "no frills" kind of chick. I like simple, classic things.

Chocolate layer: because who doesn't like chocolate? Maybe with some cranberries in there to add some rich tartness and sophistication.

Pumpkin layer: to add  a little spice.

Almond poundcake layer: to add some density and rounded flavor.

Brownie layer: you can never have too much chocolate! Brownies (with NO nuts!) are simple but fun!

So as for the fillings: chocolate ganache alternated between layers with a dulce le leche filling! Rich, smooth, decadent! (But again, these are made with very basic ingredients).

All covered in a white fondant. Lavender, burgundy, hunter greens and golds airbrushed in a whimsical pattern over the tiers. Representations of each of my kids, (maybe their names along with my hubby's airbrushed into the patterns), books, baking utensils, ice cream, TV reference, and nature scenes would all work. A hodgepodge of my favorite things, if you will.



whew....Now I am worn out AND hungry!!! LOL!

:-) karen

If you had five hours to yourself what would you do?

What do you do for a creative outlet?

Do you have a favorite board game?

If you had five hours to yourself what would you do? hmmmm....well, I love to read but I am not reading anything right now that I am really into. I could easily watch TV (maybe a Twighlight Zone Marathon or some documentaries on ancient Egypt, or even US history) and nap for 5 hours, especially if it is a chilly, gray day. And I would probably bake something. When I have time completely uninterupted (not very often at all), I like to make cakes or pies or some kind of dessert that is a bit more labor intensive than if I have kids running through the kitchen!

What do you do for a creative outlet? Geez....I don't think I have one. I have tried scrapbooking but it takes be FOREVER to lay out a page. Years ago I enjoyed doing counted crossstitch and was getting into photography. But these all take time!

Do you have a favorite board game? I love Balderdash but no one ever wants to play it with me. Trivial Pursuit is another fav.

Love your answers, especially because as I was reading them I was saying (you know, in my head, not out loud or anything), "Me too!"

What are five 'Must Reads" in the Sci-Fi Fantasy genre that you'd recommend to people?

How old are your kids?

What are your main interests/hobbies?

What are five 'Must Reads" in the Sci-Fi Fantasy genre that you'd recommend to people? Actually, I have not really read much in the genre at all so I am not sure how good my "recommendations" would be. My most recent favorites are all 7 Harry Potter's, Caluculating God by Robert J. Sawyer (I hope to try some of his other books out since I was surprised I enjoyed this one so much!) and a very recent book by Melissa Marr called Wicked Lovely was great and I do highly recommend this for any Fairie fan!

How old are your kids? 10 yrs, 2 1/2 yrs, 17 months

What are your main interests/hobbies? When I have time alone, I really enjoy browsing recipe books and cooking magazines for new dishes. I especially enjoy baking! Baking is very cathartic for me and making even very labor intensive recipes are relaxing for me! I try to make most of my things from scratch or nearly from scratch. An example: today my hubby watched the two little ones for about 45 minutes so I could make these delicious Blueberry Cinna-burst muffins and tomorrow we are having friends for BBQ and I plan to make two kinds of homemade ice cream; coconut and key lime pie flavors. (It is amazing we do not weigh a gazillion pounds! I try to make lighter things and not often otherwise we would be in trouble! LOL).

I also really enjoy reading. I can spend hours browsing a book store for all kinds of books!

:-) Karen