Birds Make Good Neighbors

An immature black widow spider has taken up resident on Robert and my cactus in the front yard. I’m thinking it’s a male and hoping there aren’t more nearby. I haven’t had the heart to kill it, since widow spiders are not aggressive (in fact I hate to kill any bug, insect, etc., so I’ll just leave it be).

Click images to enlarge:

(c) BMGN 2009

The immature stages of both sexes and adult male widow spiders may have many red or red-orange or yellow spots and strips on the top of their abdomen. Immature females can be colored gray or pale brown, with numerous banding patterns. Darker coloration increases as they get older. The presence of an hourglass pattern on the underside of the abdomen occurs throughout their development.

(c) BMGN 2009

Male widow spiders are much smaller (about 1/4 size) than the females. They usually are not black in overall color, instead appear light brown or gray and banded. Male widows may have an hourglass pattern, but coloration often is more orange and sometimes yellow. When mature, they have large knob-like structures originating from the head. They are similar in appearance to immature females.

(c) BMGN 2009

Widow spiders build loose and irregular mesh-type webs (which are extremely strong), often on plants, in loose stone or wood piles, or in the corners of rooms, garages or outbuildings. They do not produce the symmetrical web typical of orb weaving spiders or the distinctive funnel pattern web of the funnel weaver spiders.

For more information on the black widow, visit Desert USA. And be kind to spiders.

For Mother’s Day, my mom and I decided to bond and bake a cake together – a triple-decker boston cream pie cake. We certainly didn’t need the bonding, we’re close enough; however, it did take two of us to whip together this, what seemed complicated, version of a boston cream pie cake.

Be aware: this cake takes fourteen eggs! 8 whole eggs are separated and used for the cake. 6 eggs yolks are used for the vanilla custard. If you don’t want to throw away the egg whites, you may freeze them for future use in a soufflé or meringue. Some cooks like to freeze single egg whites in ice cube trays and store them in a plastic container or a freezer bag. If that’s too complicated, or you simply don’t want to mess with freezing six egg whites, use them to make a delicious, low-calorie spinach egg white omelette for later!

If you’re short on time, make the cake part ahead of time, along with the custard. Throw each cake in a separate gallon size plastic bag and toss the bowl of custard in the fridge. The day of, prepare the chocolate and assemble the cake. The vanilla custard will be nice and chilled and the cake just as fresh – and ready to eat!

Triple-decker Boston Cream Pie modified from Sky High

Cake Ingredients
2 cups cake flour (we used Pillsbury Softasilk Cake Flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ cups sugar
8 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (we used pure vanilla extract, which made
the custard really strong in flavor)
Vanilla Custard (see attached recipe)
Chocolate Glaze (see attached recipe)

For complete recipe, download the PDF. | For the book Sky High:
Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes, buy it at Amazon!