Random bullets of buttermilk

I was having coffee with a colleague yesterday afternoon when my phone buzzed and presented this reminder: Valentina butyermilk. This enigmatic message was prompting me to stop at the grocery store on the way home to pick up some Valentine cards and buttermilk, but people who type with big clumsy thumbs on tiny smartphones ought to take the time to proofread. (My bad!) My colleague agreed that Valentina Buttermilk would be a great name for a character in a children's book, some large ungainly yak-like beast that wants to be a ballerina. Someone could make a pile of money on that idea but that someone will not be me.

I used the buttermilk to make a chocolate cake, part of my pantry-clearing effort. When my husband moved back here from Jackson and we combined households, suddenly the pantry was overflowing with duplicate items. I don't know how we ended up with five containers of paprika, four jars of peanut butter, or three containers of cocoa powder, all of them already opened, but what can't be combined is being dined on. Here's a box of graham-cracker crumbs, a can of cherries, and a can of sweetened condensed milk; add lemon juice and cream cheese and we've got that no-bake cherry-cream-cheese-pie that my mom used to make for special occasions. I loved it as a child, but last week's version was cloyingly sweet.

Yesterday's buttermilk chocolate cake made a dent in the cocoa powder supply--and it was scrumptiously rich, creamy, and satisfying--in fact, I have a piece in my office right now that will serve as a reward after I finish meeting with all my first-year composition students. Yesterday two-thirds of students showed up for their required conferences, and, as usual, the ones most in need of help on their drafts missed their meetings. But this morning I'm batting a thousand, so maybe this will be a better day.

It will definitely be a warmer day. The forecast calls for highs in the low 60s this afternoon, which will continue to melt the remaining snow while turning my ice-rink driveway into a mudslide. But I'll accept the warmth! Warmth is just what we need right about now, along with a little chocolate, a little comfort, a little Valentina Buttermilk.