A Sunday hobby . . .

Some sewing happened today! When my husband is off from work, we have so many errands to catch up on that getting to my fabric stash and sewing machine doesn't usually become a reality. Today, I got my chores done and even cleared out a shelf which was hoarding dust behind my books. I set up the ironing board, ironed my husband's work shirts, and still had time to sew.

The project at hand is a twelve-square quilt with a print of Our Lady of Guadeloupe in each one. It is simply bordered with contrasting fabrics but the colors really play on your vision when you look at it. Dinner hour approached so starting the real work on it has to wait until tomorrow.

Did find another recipe! This one looks elegant yet very simple to throw together and impress.

Poppy Seed Cake

1 yellow cake mix
1 small package of INSTANT vanilla pudding
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup lemon juice
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients until well combined. Pour into greased Bundt or tube pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes. Cool and invert onto a plate. You can take the easy way out and just frost it with canned frosting. Chocolate is always good!

Contrasts . . .

The mobs in Wisconsin are still fighting to maintain their entitlement status while doing damage to the capitol building and claiming they are the voice of Democracy. Still don't understand how they can be teachers when their math is so bad. Still can't understand how they can be teachers when they are giving young people such a bad example. Still can't understand how they can be teachers given that they are willing for the rest of the people to sacrifice to continue all their freebies.

While they do petty chanting, deliberately destroy property, and threaten the governor with recall, Japan is strugging to find food, water, and shelter for homeless people. Japan is strugging to find comfort when they have lost family. Japan is working to rebuild their country in the face of this disaster.

You look at Wisconsin and you look at Japan. Seems to me it is pretty easy to determine who are the ones that are really suffering.

The rainy days seem to be over for this year . . .

California doesn't seem to be entertaining any thoughts of more rain this year. The warm days are luring my husband out and he is happily planning and preparing his garden. As always, lots of tomato plants. Fresh produce is expensive and the bumper crop we had last summer is still being enjoyed right now with the ones I froze and saved. Not sure what other crops will be coaxed into providing us with vitamins this summer but my husband has almost doubled the size of the garden. Our dog is watching anxiously as she has buried any number of bones in the currently 'vacant' dirt and she is worried that my husband might turn over a clump of dirt and expose her hiding place.

With the planting of the garden begins my dog's annual contest with my husband. Where will the weak links in the fence be and will it require her to jump over or dig under to access a tomato. Unfortunately, our dog prefers tomatoes over dog food if she can get them.

Not sure if I'm looking forward to the heat of the summer, however. We don't use our air conditioning and it often gets up to 90 degrees IN the house! Too bad the season can't be temperate all year long but a perfect temperatue would probably get weary until it was in Heaven!

Just rediscovered . . .

Cleaning house always turns up forgotten treasures. Today, it was dust, sort, and clean my cookbooks. I enjoy reading cookbooks like some people read a novel so I have a good many books. I was just browsing through one of them and found a recipe of my own tucked into it's pages! This is a great cake that works for dessert, a snack, or something to go with the breakfast coffee or tea. Some like it warm from the oven. I like it cold as I think it brings out the flavors. Anyway, here it is!

Orange Sheet Cake

12 ounces canned frozen orange concentrate, thawed
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 cup light raisins
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Sugar-Nut Topping

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Grease and flour bottom of 13 x 9-inche cake pan. Combine 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate with flour, sugar, soda, salt, milk, and eggs. Blend at lowest speed of mixer for 30 seconds. If the batter seems to dry, add a bit more of the orange concentrate. Beat until well combined, stir in raisins, and walnuts. Spread into prepared baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Touch center of cake gently with your finger and it should spring back. Remove from oven and drizzle remaining orange concentrate over warm cake. Sprinkle with topping.

Natural disasters . . .

As we all attend whatever churches we belong to, today, we might take a good portion of our prayer time to remember the people in Japan. According to a news report, this could be harder to recover from than World War II . . . and that's going some! It's impossible for me to even begin to imagine the suffering this natural disaster has visited upon the country. It really makes you stop and think about how small each of us really are in comparison to the magnitude of the world and nature. Besides the many people who are lost or died in the flooding, fires, and earthquakes, there are many who are mourning each of those losses. A tsunami of tears has certainly followed the tsunami of nature. It makes one realize that no matter how advanced we become, how scientific we can be, the world is still so far beyond our human control.