A Breath of Fresh Air

One of these days I'm going to get a dogwood in MY yard. They are all in the woods around here. But my yard does have this... ...and these... For me? Awww...how sweet.

Man in Kilt

For Elsie...and every other red blooded woman in blogland. But, most especially ... for me. P.S. Ducky, Your mother does NOT want the visual of you wearing your kilt on your motorcycle. Shudder!

Bit Part

I was watching "It's All About Me" last night. It's a Billy Crystal movie. Guess who had a "bit" part on the movie? SEAN CONNERY!!! When Sean Connery walks on stage, there's no such thing as a BIT part. OH MY...I'm still fanning myself. Sigh...

Apron Time

Carol and I were 'antique' shopping a while back when we stumbled across some cute Texas tote bags. We were going to buy one, take it apart, then each of us would have a panel. Then one of us turned around and found TWO napkins. Here's mine now: Hmmm...I really need to hire a skinny model. :o(

To make ME feel better:

Baking

Finally got the apple pie photos downloaded to my computer. I love pie dough. And biscuit dough. A former co-worker yucked me one time when I mentioned tasting dough. There's no raw eggs - I don't lick cake batter off the beaters. THAT is a yuck-o for me. But I do taste dough. That way, I can make certain that I remembered the salt. Yes. I have forgotten before.

I made a double crust recipe of pie pastry. I cut off 1/3 of the dough and set it aside. Then I rolled out the remaining 2/3 in one big sorta circle; placed it in the pie pan. Filled it with sliced Granny Smith apples that had been tossed with sugar and a bit of flour and cinnamon. Almost forgot to sprinkle it with brown sugar! Dotted it with butter. Pulled the dough up over the apples. Occasionally I will make a regular 2-crust fruit pie or a lattice topped pie. That's when I forget to do it this way. With this style "presentation" I have never had the pie juices to leak out. There's no seal to break.

While the pie was baking, I rolled out that remaining 1/3 piece of dough. Buttered it and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Rolled it up like cinnamon rolls, sliced it, and baked it for about 10 minutes. I like baked dough too. ;o) Here's the pie after it has baked on the bottom shelf. Yes, it is as good as it looks! If you want recipes, scroll down the sidebar on the right. Look for apple pie and pie crust.

Remember those gorgeous bluebonnets? There's a downside. You can not mow them down until after they have seeded. Sam barely bears it. ;o) Our neighbor, Dorothy, who owned this property two deeds back likes it even less. LOL She thinks the bluebonnets are gorgeous, but can't stand the seedy/weedy look. I know her. She would have bluebonnets only the first season.

Here's some blooming pretties. Sigh...another pretty. And what about these pretties?! Our cruise photo. Nancy, Beckle, Me, Earlene.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I'm getting ready for a girlfriend weekend. Melanie, Kathy, and I are going to Shreveport tomorrow. Our high school classmate, Richard, his wife and their band are performing at Sam's Town. http://www.myspace.com/ladychazzandthetramps (One of these days I'll learn the correct way to insert a link!) Melanie and I are leaving before noon tomorrow to go get Kathy, then we are headed east. Sam decided to take the opportunity to go visit his son and finally take my Harley there for him to sell for us. But I have a Monday obligation. Cookies. The library's Friends group is taking sweets to City Hall Monday for the employees and the city council. Figuring that I'd need a nap when I get home Sunday, I decided to do my baking tonight.

I just love the cookie dough scoopers. They make short work of scooping out peanut butter cookie dough. I don't have to roll spoonfuls between my hands any more.


While the cookies were in the oven,

I cleaned the kitchen. Put everything away. Could NOT find the lid to my sugar crock. Looked high and low. Finally put the crock back in the pantry and looked all around the kitchen again. I even looked in the trash can! I had a saucer in my hand to put on the crock for a lid...

See the first post for today below...I had a hard day at school...

Finished product...minus a few.

Since these weren't chocolate...how about some eye candy?!

No, drat it! I did not take this photo.

I cruised blogs a bit earlier this evening and noticed someone was showing off their cookbooks. Why not?! My pitifully small collection is located on a bookshelf in Sam's office - right off the kitchen. When we bought the house and moved in, he questioned me about MY bookshelf in HIS office. shoulder shrug Either in his office or in our dining room. ;o)

I truly drool while perusing this cookbook!

Chocolate Anyone?

I woke this morning before the heater cut on (see below post about thermostat war). The inside temp was 70 degrees. Not cold at all...but still 2 degrees shy of the heater kicking in. So. I had a mug of hot chocolate. If I hadn't been dressed in my summer pajamas without a robe, I would've gone outside where it was a crisp 54 degrees and sat in the screen room to enjoy it. Alas. The heater kicked in...Note to self...set out robe for tomorrow morning.

To continue in the chocolate mood, I decided to bake a Chocolate Pudding Cake.

This is such a good cake. Without eggs in the batter, I even licked the whisk, bowl, and spatula. ;o) This looks weird with water floating on the top.

During the baking, that water sinks taking with it the brown and white sugars and cocoa sprinkled on top...

...making a pudding layer on the bottom.

After it cools, scoop out a slice and flip it upside down on the dessert plate with the pudding on top. A bit of a drizzle of chocolate syrup (since I was watching Julia and Jacques on PBS).

About as good as an orgasm. OH! Where'd he come from? Gotta turn the ceiling fan on again!! (I admit it. I did not take this photo.)

How to make your own...

Chocolate Pudding Cake (If Sean ever comes to visit...I am NOT sharing him!!)

1 1/4 cup sugar, divided (3/4 cup and 1/2 cup)
1 cup flour
7 tablespoons cocoa, divided (3 tablespoons and 4 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/4 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Blend in milk, butter, and vanilla; beat until smooth with a wire whisk...it doesn't take long. Pour into an ungreased 8- or 9-inch square baking dish. Stir together remaining 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, and remaining 4 tablespoons cocoa; sprinkled mixture evenly over batter. Pour hot water over top; do not stir.

Bake at 35 to 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Let stand 15 minutes. Spoon into dessert dishes, spooning sauce from bottom over top.

Garnish with whipped cream or sprinkle with powdered sugar...then do the Julia thing with the chocolate syrup if so desired. ;o)

Makes 8 to 10 servings. hahahahaha Unless one is a chocoholic. Me!