A friend of ours has been working on clearing a spot for a new house and was told to get rid of the cactus. Well, we couldn't pass up the offer of this large barrel cactus so last Monday Dad and I planted it. It stands about 3' high! And it was heavy!! I've been busy with my folks all week and today I managed to get some time to myself. I actually made dinner last night!! This afternoon we're going to a "garbage can" dinner at the Baptist church. We're supposed to dress up like hobos so I found a pair of Dean's bib overalls which I'll wear. That's about as "hobo" as I'll get.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Barrel Cactus
A friend of ours has been working on clearing a spot for a new house and was told to get rid of the cactus. Well, we couldn't pass up the offer of this large barrel cactus so last Monday Dad and I planted it. It stands about 3' high! And it was heavy!! I've been busy with my folks all week and today I managed to get some time to myself. I actually made dinner last night!! This afternoon we're going to a "garbage can" dinner at the Baptist church. We're supposed to dress up like hobos so I found a pair of Dean's bib overalls which I'll wear. That's about as "hobo" as I'll get.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Honey Bun Cake
Here's another recipe from Everyday Cheapskate Newsletter that is just so good! Kinda reminds me of a coffee cake.
Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
3/4 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 8 oz. container sour cream
Filling:
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. brown sugar
Icing:
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. milk
Preheat the oven to 325 F. In a large bowl add all 4 cake ingredients. Mix well with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 - 3 minutes, or until fully incorporated. Spread half of this batter into a well-greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Set aside the rest of the batter.
In a small bowl mix the brown sugar and cinnamon with a fork until incorporated to make the filling. Sprinkle about half of this filling mixture on top of the cake batter in the pan. Spread the rest of the cake batter over this. Sprinkle the remainder of the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture over the top of the second layer of cake batter. Using a butter knife, swilr the top just slightly into the batter to make a pleasing pattern.
Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the over. Mix icing ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the warm cake. Servings: 8 - 10.
I cut the cake into smaller pieces so I get about 20 servings. It works really good for Dean's lunch box. He'll be going on graveyard shift in a week for 3 months and will have to take 11 days of vacation during this time (or lose them). Freeport-McMoran has a hiring freeze as the price of copper has dropped in price by half. And today our area set a new record cold temperature of 35!! There was a light frost on the car!! A classmate from Riverton, WY called Saturday and said they had at least 3" of snow! Brrrrr! We had some rain Saturday morning and winds, a result of Hurrican Norbert. It's going mostly east of us but we still got some weather results. We'll be back up to a high of 85 on Wednesday (back to shorts and Tshirts!). All weekend we've had water well issues (we're on a community well) with the submersible pump buring out and electrical problems. Today I started some laundry and had to turn off the washer before the rinse cycle as, again, no water. A bunch of us paid anywhere from $120 - $300 to help pay for the very costly repairs (will be applied to our monthly charge). Well, I better get dressed and check my emails. Hope you have a real blessed day!
Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
3/4 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 8 oz. container sour cream
Filling:
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 c. brown sugar
Icing:
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. milk
Preheat the oven to 325 F. In a large bowl add all 4 cake ingredients. Mix well with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 - 3 minutes, or until fully incorporated. Spread half of this batter into a well-greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Set aside the rest of the batter.
In a small bowl mix the brown sugar and cinnamon with a fork until incorporated to make the filling. Sprinkle about half of this filling mixture on top of the cake batter in the pan. Spread the rest of the cake batter over this. Sprinkle the remainder of the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture over the top of the second layer of cake batter. Using a butter knife, swilr the top just slightly into the batter to make a pleasing pattern.
Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the over. Mix icing ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the warm cake. Servings: 8 - 10.
I cut the cake into smaller pieces so I get about 20 servings. It works really good for Dean's lunch box. He'll be going on graveyard shift in a week for 3 months and will have to take 11 days of vacation during this time (or lose them). Freeport-McMoran has a hiring freeze as the price of copper has dropped in price by half. And today our area set a new record cold temperature of 35!! There was a light frost on the car!! A classmate from Riverton, WY called Saturday and said they had at least 3" of snow! Brrrrr! We had some rain Saturday morning and winds, a result of Hurrican Norbert. It's going mostly east of us but we still got some weather results. We'll be back up to a high of 85 on Wednesday (back to shorts and Tshirts!). All weekend we've had water well issues (we're on a community well) with the submersible pump buring out and electrical problems. Today I started some laundry and had to turn off the washer before the rinse cycle as, again, no water. A bunch of us paid anywhere from $120 - $300 to help pay for the very costly repairs (will be applied to our monthly charge). Well, I better get dressed and check my emails. Hope you have a real blessed day!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Cheaper & Tastier than Canned Biscuits Recipe
I got this recipe for these biscuits from Everyday Cheapskate newsletter. Click here for the main website, Debtproof Living, and look down the left menu for the newsletter to subscribe. This is a great newsletter with wonderful recipes and ways to live cheaper (and with the stockmarket and economy the way it is we all need help nowdays!).
I haven't baked any of these yet but they were super easy to make and freeze.
Cheaper & Tastier than Canned Biscuits
6 cups self-rising flour (0r 6 cups flour mixed with 3 Tbsp. baking powder & 1 Tbsp. salt)
1 cup solid shortening, like Crisco
2 cups buttermilk
Place flour in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening and mash it into the flour with your fingers or a fork or biscuit mixer until it is in small chunks the size of dried beans. Do not over mix! Stir in the buttermilk and mix with a fork only until you have soft dough. Knead the dough exactly 10 times. This activates the gluten in the flour just enough to make good biscuits. Roll the dough out into a nice thick slab using a rolling pin. Cut the dough into biscuit shapes. Use a clean can or glass rim, if you don't have a biscuit cutter. Tuna cans with both ends cut out are just the right size for big breakfast biscuits. Continue rolling and cutting until all the dough is used.
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Arrange the biscuit dough on the sheet and freeze overnight. The next morning take the biscuits out of the freezer and place them in a plastic freezer bag. Keep them frozen until you are ready to bake them.
When you want hot, fresh biscuits, take out the number you want and place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Bake in a preheated 450 F oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
These biscuits are better tasting and much cheaper than canned whack-'em-on-the-counter-biscuits. even if you can get them on sale. Yield: About 30 (I got 25) medium-sized biscuits, or about 20 grand breakfast-sized biscuits.
I haven't baked any of these yet but they were super easy to make and freeze.
Cheaper & Tastier than Canned Biscuits
6 cups self-rising flour (0r 6 cups flour mixed with 3 Tbsp. baking powder & 1 Tbsp. salt)
1 cup solid shortening, like Crisco
2 cups buttermilk
Place flour in a large mixing bowl. Add shortening and mash it into the flour with your fingers or a fork or biscuit mixer until it is in small chunks the size of dried beans. Do not over mix! Stir in the buttermilk and mix with a fork only until you have soft dough. Knead the dough exactly 10 times. This activates the gluten in the flour just enough to make good biscuits. Roll the dough out into a nice thick slab using a rolling pin. Cut the dough into biscuit shapes. Use a clean can or glass rim, if you don't have a biscuit cutter. Tuna cans with both ends cut out are just the right size for big breakfast biscuits. Continue rolling and cutting until all the dough is used.
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Arrange the biscuit dough on the sheet and freeze overnight. The next morning take the biscuits out of the freezer and place them in a plastic freezer bag. Keep them frozen until you are ready to bake them.
When you want hot, fresh biscuits, take out the number you want and place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Bake in a preheated 450 F oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
These biscuits are better tasting and much cheaper than canned whack-'em-on-the-counter-biscuits. even if you can get them on sale. Yield: About 30 (I got 25) medium-sized biscuits, or about 20 grand breakfast-sized biscuits.
A Day at Old Tucson
Freeport-McMoran Inc., the company Dean works for, treated their employees to a day at Old Tucson along with meals and beverages last Saturday. Old Tucson has had a lot of westerns filmed there such as Rio Lobo starring John Wayne, Three Amigos starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and ?? (I forgot). Anyway, also going on is their NightFest, a Halloween festival. We stayed for part of it, too.
Here I am with one of the ghouls. Isn't he a handsome rascal? He had special stilts on so when he stood he was about 7' tall! There were quite a few "characters" running around. Just funny, but some children were pretty scared.
Here's mom, dad, and Dean at the Grand Palace Saloon & Hotel. We were waiting for a stage show called "Cowgirl Up" which starred 4 gals singing and dancing. They were pretty good and had a lot of energy. We didn't take in any other shows in the Hotel but seen 2 gunfights out in front. Great fun. The weather cooperated with temperature in the 80's and a breeze. We did have a few raindrops. We took in a Halloween show but it was extremely stupid and not fun at all.
So, what have you done recently?
Here I am with one of the ghouls. Isn't he a handsome rascal? He had special stilts on so when he stood he was about 7' tall! There were quite a few "characters" running around. Just funny, but some children were pretty scared.
Here's mom, dad, and Dean at the Grand Palace Saloon & Hotel. We were waiting for a stage show called "Cowgirl Up" which starred 4 gals singing and dancing. They were pretty good and had a lot of energy. We didn't take in any other shows in the Hotel but seen 2 gunfights out in front. Great fun. The weather cooperated with temperature in the 80's and a breeze. We did have a few raindrops. We took in a Halloween show but it was extremely stupid and not fun at all.So, what have you done recently?
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