Catch up

I'm home. Once of the best things about living in Ventura is coming home. Of all the places I've lived in my life, this is the first that I've actually felt joy and anticipation whenever I come back from a trip -- as opposed to the letdown I'd feel in Ohio or Colorado or New Jersey.

Coming back here is a joy. I can't wait for my first glimpse of ocean nestled in mountains. I yearn for my deep blue sky and my quaint little seaside town that always feels like vacation.

I also can't wait to get to my farmer's market in Ojai where I found some really cool looking wildflowers for sale. Rob had to take a picture because he fancies himself some kind of Ansel Adams, but with a gay sensibility.

I also had to make my obligatory cake for my monthly meeting. Our oven, however, was broken. I went to use it and it wouldn't get hot. I looked online and it said it was probably the ignitor, which is the element that has to get hot to ignite the gas -- thus the name, I suppose.

A few years back our oven decided to quit. The house was covered by one of those home warranties and we called them and they sent out repairman after repairman, who ordered part after part. As they started to replace parts they'd already replaced, I threw a fit and demanded a new oven -- it had been 4-plus months -- which we got. They left the parts behind and I went through them and found an ignitor.

Rob took the oven apart and found where the ignitor attached, but the connecting wires went into a little hole in the back of the oven. We were flummoxed. Did we have to take the entire oven apart to get to the connector? How were we going to get to the connection to install the part? So I had a repairman come out after the first guys refused to if we already had the part(WTF?.) The first thing he does is pull on the old ignitor pulling the wires and their connectors out of the hole in the main oven where it easily connected. Rob and I were pissed. We essentially paid $84 to have some guy pull the damned wires through the dammed hole. Dammit! He was nice and didn't charge us much because we'd "already done all the work."

This entire drama led to my having to come up with a cake that I didn't have to bake. So I decided to make a trifle. It came out great and was really easy to make and it feeds about a million people because I put it in this really cool, giant trifle dish my friend Kim gave me.

Strawberry/lemon trifle

2 family size Sara Lee pound cakes cut into 3/4 to 1 inch squares
4 tablespoons Torani hazelnut syrup
2 10.5 ounce jars lemon curd, available at Trader Joe's (this is all natural and better than the bright yellow curds sold elsewhere). It's the store brand.
2 large boxes instant Jello vanilla pudding prepared according to directions
3 pints fresh strawberries sliced lengthwise into fourths
1 pint heavy whipping cream whipped
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Spread 1/4 of the pound cake squares in bottom of trifle dish. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon hazelnut syrup. Top with one jar of lemon curd spread over top. Spread another 1/4 of the pound cake squares. Top with syrup. Put half the strawberries on top. Put one prepared box of pudding spread on top of the strawberries. Put another quarter cup of the pound cake on top, spread around. Sprinkle with syrup. Spread second jar of lemon curd on top. Spread the last 1/4 of the pound cake squares on top. Top with remaining strawberries -- reserving a few for decoration. Top with second box of prepared pudding. Refrigerate. Right before serving top with the pint of whipped cream -- reserve a portion for people to serve themselves separately.