New month, new theme.

I am not a fan of April Fools’ Day. Most often it is seized upon as a reason to be a jerk. I am also not a fan of pranks. No, thank you. But I am a fan of the mild unexpected. I’m complex, okay?

The April theme is going to be the Unexpected Ingredient.

Take today. I saw a recipe for deviled brownies and I knew I could re-create that using white cake and golden frosting. I considered using blondies for the cake but I didn’t think the contrast was going to be enough. Consider the devil’d egg. White egg, creamy golden goodness made up of egg yolk and mustard piped vacancy left from the egg yolk. I wanted that kind of contrast.

And did I mention I was doing a gluten free version too? With a brand spanking new recipe?

Well, I did.

I also made plain chocolate chip cookies for our new manager. Yes, an entire batch. As a welcome to the department gesture.

For those playing along that is white eggs, gluten free white eggs, gold frosting, and chocolate chip cookies.

Oven #3 got a workout.

After I delivered the make, several of my coworkers expressed amazement that they weren’t actually devil’d eggs. Which was exactly the point of the theme.

These little cakes were tender and the frosting was creamy and luscious. They were the perfect make to kick off April. In a nice way.

Because April Fools’ doesn’t have to be mean.

But frosting still isn’t my favorite thing to make.

The gluten free devil’d egg cakes were saved by the frosting. I found them a bit dry, as a lot of gluten free makes are. Next time I make the recipe I am going to sub in 1/2 -1 cup almond flour. To see if that would give it more moisture.

When you are on call, it is the expectation of the department that you arrive to the hospital, ready to work, within 30 minutes.

Not 45.

Not 35.

Thirty.

I know that it is part of the onboarding at my current hospital and also at past hospitals.

But the recovery room in particular has been pushing it and pushing it.

That is not a Salt-N-Pepa reference.

They leave messages to give them 45 minutes in when calling them in at the end of a case.

I have to keep all surgeons and their preferences for all cases in my head. At all times. For all cases.

And you are telling me that I now have to keep a mental map of all the locations of the recovery room nurses on call? And do the mental gymnastics of making sure I call them at the exact right time during the surgery that I am actively participating in? Because if they are called too early, they complain to management. If they come in after the surgery is completed, the CRNA and I have been functioning effectively as the PACU team.

Wow, this is a much angrier post than I intended.

I do my utmost to honor the requests for a little extra time for call back.

But that is not always possible.

I will end up cooling my heels in PACU until they come in. But when is it too much and merits a talk with management?

Age old question I guess.

Yeah, the title is meant to be a call back to Poltergeist.

I am, of course, referencing covid. Always referencing covid. It is exhausting.

The variant this time is tricksy. Wicked, tricksy variant.

Yeah, that was a Hobbit movie reference.

The newest out to kill variant is called the Cicada variant. So called because it waits and emerges to cause chaos when you least expect it. This variant is called the cicada because after emerging in 2024 it laid in wait. And is now the fastest growing variant in the United States. It has been found in the waste water of at least 25 states.

Oh, joy.

Of course there are mutations to the spike protein that allows it to elude immune systems that have been vaccinated. Or previously infected.

Double oh, joy.

The symptoms that are prevalent are the run of the mill respiratory symptoms. Long gone are the tell tale no taste no smell symptoms.

Ever time we are growing closer to the one variant that knocks aside the vaccines and we have to start ALL OVER.

Make sure your vaccinations are up to date. Make sure you wash your hands. Make sure to avoid crowded spaces. And, for the love of pete, stay home if you are sick and test.

We’ve done this since 2020, get a clue people!

This recipe proves that I can’t help tinkering with a known recipe. I thought as I was zesting the lemons for the 2 and a half tablespoons needed for the recipe why not add white chocolate.

Other changes that I made
1) I added Fiori di Sicilia. This is a lemon vanilla flavor enhancer from King Arthur, There was no vanilla in the recipe as written and a little vanilla is always a good enhancer
2) I added 3 tbs of lemon zest.

And that’s pretty much it.

I just wanted to enhance the lemon flavor.

The white chocolate was for its own sake.

I have been scheming and planning what to make for April. New stove, new themes, am I right?

I have had a lot of fun designing the recipes for the next month.

But I am not sure what to name the theme.

April 1st is the prime prank day. But I hate pranks.

So it has to be something special to go along with the special April theme. And also to celebrate getting back to a regularly working oven.

I can’t wait to reveal,

Wait and see.

Just typing that made me smile.

I read the Canterbury Tales in high school and lived to tell the tale. I couldn’t resist that pun.

Not only that, she’s a woman.

Dame Sarah Mullaly has been enthroned as the Church of England leader. Today, March 25th, 2026.

She is the first in so many ways.

First nurse.

First woman. Women have only been able to be priests since 1994. Women have only been able to be bishops since 2014.

The new Archbishop worked as a senior nurse and a midwife and a cancer nurse. She also was the Britain’s chief nursing officer.

You don’t understand, she is the first.

In 1400 years.

Yes, the office predates the Crown of England. It is older than the monarchy.

For nearly a thousand years, the Church of England was closely aligned with the Catholic Church. Until Henry VIII broke the Church of England away from the Catholic Church to marry Anne Boleyn. To do this, he needed a divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. And we all know what happened after that.

So this is a nice full circle moment from that unpleasantness.

I am sure she has been tasked with modernizing the Church and bringing people back to the churches, and looking after the poorer churches in the nation.

Do the impossible with no money and no time.

Just like a nurse.

CTIAT is playing hooky today!

That’s okay, the department will survive.

It is also Certified Nurses’ Day and, as someone who has been certified for 15+ years I am taking the day off from baking.

Certification is a credential that you get when you take a very long, very important test in the certification’s world.

For me, that is the CNOR. This is Certified Nurse Operating Room.

There are certifications for just about every other kind of nurse. There is med-surg, ER, critical care, OB, NICU. There are a lot.

Every single one of us studied and took the credentialing exam for that service. Not only that, we keep it up through CEUs.

It’s a time commitment.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

But now I want a cookie. Perhaps on my way to the hospital to close out the evening shift.

Is it still shame on me if it is a completely different president who lied about sending troops to the Middle East?

W did it with the weapons of mass destruction.

5,000 Marines are heading to the Middle East to guard the Strait of Hormuz.

Apparently what is going is known as a Marine expeditionary unit comprised of several warships and 5,000 troops.

As a country we’ve seen this before.

As a country we’ve lost a lot of Americans to the sand of the Middle East.

For no good reason other than the president’s vibes. Or at least that is what the kids are calling it this days.

No intel, no data, nothing but death to people who have been sent there on a vibe.

Oh and for the oil, don’t forget.

It is always the money.

No, who I want to shame for this is the fuckheads who looked at this man and said yes, please, can i have another.

He is not a good business man. He is a liar and a cheat. You’ve just been mesmerized into thinking that is true. And also because he was on television for one show.

You just couldn’t vote for a woman, could you?

You dumb fucks have gotten us into an infinitely messier situation without a clear objective and a clear exit strategy.

Because you know these fucks don’t have one.

I was in high school when the first Iraq war happened. Desert Storm. I was a new grad during the other forever war that started with 9/11 and the lies about WMDs.

I knew this four years was going to be difficult and shitty. But this is beyond what I had feared.