Mr. Lincoln, again . . .

 
Although I shared about our visit with 'Mr. Lincoln' a month or so ago, I recently discovered some more pictures I wanted to post here. Still in awe of how this Lincoln presenter lives through the persona of Abraham Lincoln. Amazing how he captures your attention by speaking in the first person as President Lincoln and relates personal events in the life of this president as if he IS this president. I've met 'Mr. Lincoln' on two, different occasions and he is wonderfully fascinating and imparts history with such a joy that you just can't help but absorb it.

Reinventing memories . . .

 

Okay, my son and I got spoiled with all the wonderful bakeries we saw . . . and indulged in on our vacation. I looked up a few recipes, today and tried my best to recreate some of the scents and tastes of the treats we enjoyed overseas. Just sharing the work and results of my day. Oh, and I used the special cookies cutters I brought home with me, too. My son declared the day of baking a success and the cookies came close to recalling some of our favorites. I have to admire the efforts of those bakeries, however! Each recipe made less than a dozen cookies each yet it took a lot of picky work and care to turn them out.

How far have our rights been diminished?

I imagine that many of us either have a student loan or have children who are paying off on government student loans. Well, beware if this article is a sign of the future. One family woke to a 15-man SWAT team breaking down their door because the estranged wife owed on a government student loan. Six hours later, the family were 'released' from custody as the errant wife was not found in the residence.

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/100591/education-department-sends-swat-team-for-student-loan-payment/#1

Our Guard Dog?

 
This is our dog, Chick. She came to us with the name as I might have chosen something different. Chick, however, seems to suit her. The pictures show Chick's basic day from waking up to getting ready to face the dangers ahead to the hunt. Oh, what is she hunting? What is her 'game' of choice? Lizards! She dislikes lizards and her main occupation is trying to rid the world of lizards. Fortunately, for the lizards, they are usually quicker than Chick.

On our way to the Eagle's Nest . . .

 

 

 

 

 

It is a long way up to Hitler's Eagle's Nest. First, you have to go by your own transportation up and up and up until you get to the bus stop. Only specialized buses are allowed to make the trip up and down. It is a rather scary drive with too many deep views of the valleys as the experienced drivers race around curves that seem too narrow for the length of the bus. I took this trip up to the Eagle's Nest on a trip over 30 years ago and vowed, never again! Okay, I went, again, with my son but if his siblings want to make the trip, they are on their own. I really mean it . . . this time!

Heading up to Hitler's Eagle's Nest . . .

Okay, so we can't resist men in uniform! As we were climbing our way up to the bus for the ride up to the Eagle's Nest, this group of men were changing guard. They seemed flattered at the sudden camera attention.

Golden Vanilla Pudding Cake . . .

This will definitely be on my cooking radar until I get a chance to actually make it for the family. I've seen a lot of recipes for Chocolate Pudding Cake but this one seems a great departure for the usual. A bit of freshly whipped cream on the finished product can only mean good things!

Golden Vanilla Pudding Cake
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking power
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1 cup dark, brown sugar
Nuts, optional

Cream the butter and sugar thoroughly before mixing in the vanilla and egg. Fold in the dry ingredients with the milk. Beat until well-combined. Spread mixture into a buttered 8 or 9" square pan. Sprinkle the top of the batter with brown sugar and carefully spread the sour cream over it. If you are using nuts, sprinkle them on top of the sour cream.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. The batter will rise to the top and the sugar and sour cream turns into a caramel sauce. Invert onto a platter/plate immediately after removing from the oven. Be careful as it is hot caramel.

Can be served hot or cold but I'm thinking warm with the whipped cream!

Proof of a productive day . . .

 
A few pictures of my completed and almost-completed projects of yesterday. Schedule for today? Get the butter out to soften for baking and finish the prayer pouches!

Baking in Process . . .

 
Just lining up ingredients for dessert. I'm happy to say that all the fruit pictured came from our garden. Can't take credit for the berries. They showed up the first summer after we purchased the house. By mistake, my older son mowed them all down when he was doing the lawn which seemed to really activate their growth the next year. Now, we enjoy a short but abundant season. They go really well with freshly whipped cream and homemade custard!

We also have a lemon tree and our neighbors tree hangs way over into our yard and also provides us with some fruit. Given the cost of an individual lemon in the store, we save a bit of money here.

Jet lag be gone . . .

Okay, it has been exactly a week since I returned to my normal world and had to leave the cobblestone streets of vacation behind. Sigh . . . I miss the corner bakery for breakfast but have to resign myself back to my healthy world of morning oatmeal!

Anyway, the tiredness doesn't leave quickly but, yesterday, I finally got my sewing machine into action and cut out and got three of six prayer pouches completed for an order I received on Sunday! I have just finishing work on the last three and I'm feeling I've returned to the correct time zone now.

Today, after I finish the remaining three bags, I'm pulling out a Christmas quilt I'm making for a family. I got a good start on it before the vacation so just have to push away any residual after-vacation blahs and work on it!

I do have some pictures which I will post later.

Oh, and I did make the Eton Mess dessert receipt and it got rave reviews from my menfolk. I posted the recipe last week when I was in the 'thinking' stages on this. I've made the coffee cake recipe I posted, too. I did one with an apple filling (aging apples in the refrigerator that deserve a good send off!) and then did one with cranberries and raspberries. The family jury is still out on which one is the best although my daughter leans heavily towards apple as she hate cranberries. Go figure on that attitude!

My son and I are still getting up at early hours but we are edging towards a return to normal existence.

Fruit and Nutty Cake

Another find that will find it's way into my oven soon! Not only did this cake sound good, it seems very quick and easy to get assembled, baked, and on it's way to work, a picnic, or just the evening dinner table. With the onset of summer heat, it wouldn't have the oven going TOO long, either.

Fruit and Nutty Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts (or nut of your choice)
1 cup crushed, canned pineapple

Please the first six ingredients in a large mixing bowl and blend together. Fold in the walnuts and pineapple until well blended.

Spread in a 9 x 13 greased baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.

For an extra special treat, you can drizzle it with lemon icing soon after it exits the oven for a tart glaze.

Lemon Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Enough fresh lemon juice to form a pourable glaze

Honoring Jewish Traditions

 

 

 

The first time our tour group visited one of the American cemeteries, our guides warned us to NOT brush off any pebbles we might see on the Jewish headstones. There is a Jewish tradition of leaving a pebble or stone on the tombstone signifying that someone has honored the deceased with a visit to the grave. There are other superstitions surrounding the custom such as the stones were to keep the soul in the grave. A more practical evolution of this was probably putting the rocks on graves to keep scavanger animals from digging them up back in the olden days.

In any case, the first thing we started looking for was the sight of these pebbles on the Star of David tombstones at the American cemeteries. The 'devotion' really touched us and we started keeping an eye out for pebbles to have on hand in case we found a 'neglected' grave. We didn't! Note the large memorial on the left of the collage also has some stones left there.

A smile for the day with all to much truth!

Children really brighten up a household - they never turn the lights off.

Ralph Bus