A Flyover Blog

Mystery Solved

This afternoon, I was wandering through Barnes & Noble trying to chill - which I'm lousy at, but I tried anyway. I stopped by a display of new cookbooks. Now, its common knowledge that I am no cook. I leave this arena to Paula Deen and Giada DeLaurentis and other culinary marvels (most of whom have new cookbooks out this fall.)

One book caught my eye - America's Best Lost Recipes. For years, I've been looking for a certain mystery cake my mom used to talk about - a chocolate cake made with ice water that my grandmother made from time to time. Mom didn't have the recipe and couldn't remember the name. She just remembered you scooped 3 holes in the dry ingredients and added ice water right before mixing. Mom passed away in 1985, and I've been looking for that cake ever since. On a whim, I opened the book and started browsing the cake section.

Low and behold, I found it. It's called Wacky Cake and it was introduced in 1949 when eggs, milk and butter were in short supply because of the war. Chances are, I'll never actually make a Wacky Cake; I've only fired up my oven twice this year. I'm just happy to have this little mystery solved.

Christmas Week Wrap Up

What a week it's been!  I haven't posted much in the past seven days; like you, I was trying to keep up with all the holiday "stuff" - 3 Christmas dinners - yes, I cooked - church activities, present wrapping, present delivering... Actually, I had everything under control until late last Tuesday, when my boss called to wish me a Merry Christmas.  During the conversation, he gave me a new assignment - corporate blogging.  I can't go into details, but by Friday we'd launched 2 new blogs and a big PR campaign and it's been a roller-coaster ride ever since!

I'd like to thank EVERYBODY who stopped by to wish Mitch and I a Merry Christmas.  I can't believe how many wonderful new friends I've met through this blog in the past few months.  Your kindness, good humor and interest in our little "goings on" has been overswhelming!  I look forward to getting to know you better in the coming year, and meeting many more new friends.

Now, about the holiday cooking... I only had 2 minor mishaps.  Yes, I was multi-tasking again; now that you know I was helping launch 2 new blogs last week, you understand why!  Mishap #1:  I forgot to turn the oven on when I put the apple pie in the oven.  Mitch found my mistake an hour later when the timer went off; he went to pull the thing out of the oven and discovered it sitting there still stone cold and doughy.  Mishap #2:  Pumpkin pie.  Okay, this time I DID remember to turn the oven on.  This pie was perfect.  Ten minutes into its oven time, I heard this "pop" and went to the oven.  The cookie sheet I put it on had buckled (it was new) and pitched the pie to one side.  The filling spilled over the edge, taking out a section of perfect crust with it.  I yanked the thing out of the oven, found another cookie sheet to put it on, poured the spilled filling and bits of crust back in the shell and slapped it back in the oven.  (I also tossed the new cookie sheet in the trash.) I told my friend Pat that it tasted great, but looked like it rolled down the driveway. 

All in all, it was a perfect holiday!  We had a great time with our families.  I ate too much junk, got WAY too many gifts, and had tons of fun.  I hope to put my TT list up tonight (Mitch's too) listing our Christmas gifts, so check back for more Christmasy news.  Until then, have a great day and get out there and enjoy the rest of the holiday!

I Really Should Stay Out Of The Kitchen

Remember I told you I am no cook?  Yeah well, I forgot.  Mitch and I have been on a dead run all week.  Today was no exception.  So, this evening we got home rather late. It's cold outside, very cold, like 10.  I decided to fire up the oven and bake a pie, something easy.  Custard.  Mitch loves custard pie and I haven't made one since last winter. 

So, I'm multi-tasking as I whip this thing up.  Never do that.  Mitch wandered into the kitchen and found it baking in the oven.  He was thrilled.  Came out of his office to check on it every 5 minutes.  He ran to the kitchen when the timer went off, pulled it from the oven, and watched it cool.  He cut us both a piece a few minutes ago while I was answering my mail. 

"Honey, you forgot to put sugar in it."

I thought he was kidding.  He wasn't.  Sure enough, my custard pie tastes like quiche... without the cheese or meat or veggies.  Pretty darned bland.  Disappointed, Mitch went back to his office to kill some Bad Guys on his xbox.  The custard quiche?  It's in the woods behind the house.  It's a cold night.  Maybe a possum will find it.

No Recipes Here

By now, some of you must have noticed that I do not share recipes on my blog.  There is a very good reason for this - I do not cook.  I should clarify: I have cooked - past tense.  I learned to cook from my mom; she was a very good cook and a master cake decorator.

Mom was a "scratch" cook.  So, I learned to be a scratch cook.  Mom died in '85.  I still have her old ingredient-stained recipes; they are all written in Scratch Cook Code - a dash of this, two scoops of that, a handfull of flour - you get the idea.  Scratch cooking is an art form.  It takes practice.  Problem is, if you haven't done it in awhile, you lose the knack.  When that happens, you are in serious trouble - and so are the poor innocents that eat your creations. 

I haven't cooked much since mom died.  I am well beyond rusty - approaching culinary menace.  I do have a few cookbooks.  Every year or so I'll take one out, pick a yummy recipe, show the tantilizing full-color picture to Mitch... then I put the book away and hand him a box of Cocoa Puffs.

Friday night I made 2 of the ugliest pumpkins pies I've ever seen for our church Thanksgiving potluck. I don't know what went wrong; they were just plain ugly.  We have a church full of Homeschool Moms and Domestic Goddesses, so I had Mitch sneak the pies to the desert table and prayed no one saw him.  I have given up making Pecan pies.  Last year they did not set up, just stayed in Karo syrup soup form.  Gross.  Expensive gross. 

I also do not make cheesecake.  I have the most decadent cheesecake recipe on the planet, given to me by "an insider" from a nearby deli.  Three years ago, I made my wickedly good cheesecake for our family Christmas celebration.  My brother, David, and his family came over.  We had a blast.  David ate 2 pieces of cheesecake, then he drove home and had a heart attack.  I have never lived this down.

So, I will be buying a pie at the Cracker Barrel tomorrow, or maybe I'll bake one of Mrs. Smith's Deep Dish Special Recipe pies, if the store still has them.  Whatever I choose, we'll all be safer.

Vintage Thanksgiving Image by Karen's Whimsey.

Thursday Thirteen - Week 11

Okay, now that Halloween is officially over, I'm ready to get the holiday season going!  About Halloween: Does anyone else think it's getting bigger and creepier each year, or is it just me?  Without further ado, here is this week's list:

13 Things I'm Looking Forward To This November

1.  Less than one week to go before all those irritating political ads disappear... until the next election rolls around.

2.  No more ragweed!  Woo hoo!  Kinda feel the same about ragweed as I do political ads.  On the horizon, though is the dreaded cedar pollen season. Boo!

3.  Watching nephew, Nick, who has the lead in his high school musical.  They'll be performing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat in 2 weeks.

4.  Finally, serious sweatshirt and sweater weather!  I've been staring at them wistfully all summer long.

5.  Our publishing company's first book will be released late this month! I'm so excited.  It's called, Your Path To A Job.  More to come as the release date approaches...

6.  Addressing Christmas cards while I watch the first holiday specials on TV... preferably with cocoa.  Cocoa would make it perfect.

7.  Celebrating the holiday with my family.  They're very cool... most of them anyway.  (That'll have them all wondering.)

8.  Biking in cool weather.  The trails we ride are gorgeous, even with the leaves gone.  And it's too cold for snakes.

9.  Getting a start on my Christmas shopping, mostly online.  I'm not so much into crowds.  One crowd per holiday is my quota, thank you very much.

10.  Holiday open houses.  I love to visit my favorite stores when they are decked out for Christmas.  I usually don't buy anything, except a tree ornament or two, but I do love to look!

11.  Christmas lights.  Hey, we live in a tourist town that exploits celebrates Christmas all year round.  At least now the weather is appropriate.

12.  Homemade chili and pies and turkey.  I haven't cooked all summer.  Went to fire up the oven last week and forgot which knob to turn!  That's so pathetic.  In my defense, we did have that long record setting heat wave to contend with, remember?

13.  Nostalgia.  Thanksgiving is the first holiday Mitch and I celebrated together.  That was back in 1988 when I was a poor and exhausted florist by day and a hopeful author by night.  It was 82 degrees that day.  He brought wine.  I overcooked the pecan pie by an hour - guaranteed to cement your teeth together.  I also nuked the giblets. Note: never nuke organ meat; it turns hard as rubber. Dinner was mostly inedible... but he married me anyway!  I'm still not sure why.

Hope YOUR November is fantastic! Thanks to my hubby, Mitch, for making this week's cute TT banner for me.  Go on over and visit him at Finding Your Path™.  I think he said something nice about me in his TT list this week.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants