New favorites!

"When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it."
-- Bernard Bailey

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday."
-- Don Marquis

Even a crazy world can be funny . . .

My husband ran across some article or report that said a Canadian Anglican 'priestess' had given communion to a dog. I share it with a priest friend and his reply was: "Let's 'paws' and consider this . . ."

An over blessing of lemons . . .

Citrus is ripening at a rapid pace and everyone is trying to find homes for their excess crop. We have a lemon and an orange tree plus an abundance of extra lemons from the branches that hang over into our yard from the neighbor. I was gifted with two, huge bags of lemons, yesterday, and am trying to plan the best way to use them so as not to waste any of the bounty.

My first line of defense in saving the lemons from loss is going to be my favorite dessert - the Lemon Pudding Cake! There are so many recipes around with so many tweaks and enhancements. I just like one that is sweet with the tart lemon taking charge.

Lemon Pudding Cake
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs - separated

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease or vegetable oil spray an 8-inch square or round pan. Have a pan larger than the greased pan ready. Bring to a boil a kettle of water and have it ready.

In a bowl, combine sugar, salt,a nd melted butter. Whisk in the flour. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and extracts. Thoroughly combine the milk and egg yolks and add to lemon mixture.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter and then fold in the remaining whites until no egg white is visable. Pour into prepared pan.

Place the large pan in the oven. Set the pan with the batter into this pan and carefully pour enough of the boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the cake-filled pan, be careful not to get water into the batter. Bake for approximate 30-40 minutes or until top is golden. Can be served warm or cold.

When you put it that way . . .

Familiarity with evil breeds not contempt but acceptance.

- Roy Hattersley

Quilting Day!

I got my chores done, a cake baked, and time to start on a quilt for my daughter's birthday. My art major, older daughter helped me decide on the fabrics. I wish the camera would show the colors up better, however. I am using a log cabin pattern and am fascinated at how many different designs you can come up with using the same squares. I only got 12 squares started but am getting excited at how it is turning out, so far. It was nice to get back to work on my sewing machine after the long 'vacation' over Christmas.

College starts for my son the following week. He was only able to get one class with the cutbacks and all but he is happy it is history and glad to quit the homeschool classroom for the outside world! :-) Age does that to a kid. My daughter is taking a class, too. She is finished with her four-year college but wants to pick up a class or two before heading to grad school. It is kind of amusing to have my youngest and second oldest going to the same college right now. My daughter doesn't find it quite as funny. No sense of humor!

Our little visitor . . .

Our visiting cat is getting a bit braver this evening. The flash of the camera or the fact that there was a person behind the camera didn't seem to phase him/her as she dug into her dinner kibble. My daughter and I were admiring the little cat when I turned around to find our dog, Chick, standing behind me. She didn't tear off after the cat but is now in the backyard. Chasing down a dog in the dark of the evening didn't sound all that appealing to me. Chick is at the sliding door, upset now that she has verified there is a cat on her property!

Makes you think about attitude . . .

When unhappy, one doubts everything; when happy, one doubts nothing.

- Joseph Roux