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Nostalgia and a Birthday!

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It goes without saying that if you are living with a gluten intolerant or Celiac person that real birthday cake is kinda rare.  Now it has been known to happen (twice maybe?) that the lady of the Farmlet went to the bakery and purchased a small real birthday cake with real flour and real gluten goodness in it for the man of the Farmlet,  but again, it is rare.

This year she tried to get the man to tell her what he wanted for his birthday and he finally said,

“Really, all the things I want I just go and buy for myself… so I don’t really want or need anything.”

WAIT A MINUTE!

Birthdays are supposed to be all about surprises, friends, family and fun!

(Yeah, I know, but it goes perfectly with the mixer…  OK, I heard that, you’re saying “What mixer?”  Wait for it it’s coming.)  🙂

It’s about getting that one little thing you just really wanted but couldn’t bring yourself to buy… (well ok, mine this year wasn’t so little, but it was what I really wanted and although we could really live without it, we really can use it.)

I digress.

Anyway, I couldn’t find a decent bakery in time for the big day, so I went out and bought a mix and some new cake pans to do the baking.  The new cake pans were necessary so as not to contaminate my bake ware.

I can hear you shouting:  “BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BEATERS ON THE MIXER!!!”

Not to worry.  I had a backup!

Way back in 1945 the man of the Farmlet’s Mother got married and she got a hand mixer which she used at least once a week for making cakes, cookies, custards, mashed potatoes, etc. for her family, and she continued to use it right up until she moved in with the Big Guy Upstairs…

Now as it happens, we moved into her home and inherited most of the stuff she left behind.  Much later, when we packed up to move to the Farmlet,  we took the most important stuff with us.   So how did I know  that a mixer over 65 years old was important, you ask?  The answer is simply that I liked that it still worked, although I have to admit I never imagined I’d actually use it!

And so it was that I put down dish towels, got out the old Pyrex bowls from the 50s, and got to work!

Yeah,  I used a box mix…  OK so I cheated!  What’s a gluten-free woman to do on such short notice…  I ask you?

But the box mix was covered in real, homemade, chocolate buttercream frosting!

No, your eyes do not deceive you.  That cake is most certainly lopsided.  I’m out of practice after all, but I have it on good authority it was a GREAT birthday cake.  Now I am certainly not bragging.  Honestly, if you have not had real cake for years, well then, this one was pretty much going to be well received now wasn’t it?  😉

~*~

Using Mom’s old mixer and bowls somehow made it seem as if she was right there with me, and I could imagine her smiling as I worked.

~*~

Kitchen *Kitbash: Betty Crocker GF Brownie Mix

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There are many things that come in packages and are Gluten Free (GF) these days, but not all are necessarily delicious right out of the box.  Such is the case with Betty Crocker‘s GF Brownie Mix.  Overly sweet, and very gooey they are simply not the best brownies out there.

Now I won’t buy these for myself, but I have twice been gifted these same brownies and honestly appreciate the kindness of both friends to go out of their way and do this for me!  That said, I desired to see if I could make them a bit more palatable by doctoring them up.

Here’s what I did…

Ingredients:

1 box Betty Crocker GF Brownie Mix

1 extra egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped *almonds (mine happened to be smoke house style)

I added the above to the mix in addition to the called for ingredients.  Mixed and baked per the instructions on the box, and I believe they came out to be superior to the just as directed version.

They were not gooey and a bit lighter in crumb.  I asked Bob what he thought of the changes and he said:  “Oh, I don’t know.  I think I will have to eat another one to be sure.”

That is a very good sign!

Should you try this at home I would be interested in knowing what you think of the changes I made.

*kitbash:  “The practice of modifying a model…  [no longer limited to model railroad or] toy action figures, to achieve [a] result other than that intended by the manufacturer.”  Paraphrased from the Urban Dictionary and term applied loosely to the process of modifying a box baking mix.   🙂

**I used almonds because that is what was on hand, but I am sure that walnuts or pecans would be equally good!

Feline faux pas

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Yesterday out in the park, as we like to call it, I had the company of my two kitties Claus and Little Bit.  I love kitty watching as much as I do chicken watching!  Here is what I observed…

It is never a good idea to lick a fire ant hill.   (Yes really!)

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Suddenly, for reasons only known to them, Clause ran over to Little Bit and…

Pounce!

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BITE!

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Was she was making fun of him for licking the ants?  Perhaps, but she got her revenge for the attack!

“Hey, She bit back!  Hard!”

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But in no time all is forgiven and they are off exploring together.

“BFF”

All my kitties are from ‘rescued’ situations.  But it is Little Bit whose story I know.  She had literally been thrown into a dumpster as a kitten and my veterinarian’s staff heard her cries when they were at Mac Donalds for lunch.  They didn’t want to give her a name (attachment issues) so they just called her “Dumpster Kitty” on her paperwork.  Her near death and starving conditions as a kitten have given her the ability to eat just about anything. Why she’ll even push aside the chickens for chicken feed and scratch!

She has become the other girl in Bob’s life.

I’m OK with that.  😉

There’s no place like home…

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After running off to Cheekwood week before last I took a look around and realized I had some wonderful things happening “… right in my own back yard…”  Perhaps Dorothy was right?

What I found…

Iris in three stages of bloom

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Pink Dogwood in Bloom

I first visited our property in April and all the dogwoods were in bloom! We have twelve, but only this one is pink the rest being white.  It was their beauty and the seclusion of our little street that sold me.

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I know it’s dark.  It  was taken at dawn.

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Over the weekend I was working at the potting bench and kept smelling a wonderful perfume… I sniffed everything in sight and couldn’t figure out what it could be.  Then I took a different path to the front yard and passed by this!

There is no finer fragrance than that of Lilac in bloom.

~*~

The summer’s strawberries are only blossoms now, but I can already taste them,  picked fresh of a morning and kissed by the Fairies with dew.

~*~

And finally…

Three Chicklets in a Fringe Tree

So OK, technically this is not in bloom yet, but it wouldn’t be a visit to the Farmlet with out the ubiquitous chicken picture now would it?  But you have to imagine my surprise when I returned from picture-taking to find these three roosting in the little Fringe Tree in the back yard.  We have three of them, two in back, and one out at the end of the drive.  I love them!  They have a subtle sweet scent, but it is their fuzzy “Grandpaw’s Whiskers” (another name they are known by) that makes me love them so!  Want see one in full bloom?

Then follow this link to Clemson University’s Extension <— (Click here) for a view and a bit of information on these lovely native specimens!

Thank you for visiting, and see you again soon!