BooksRule

Tomorrow, I'm going to bake a pineapple upside down cake to take to a neighbor and I've never baked one before. I have a recipe that you bake in a sheet cake pan (instead of a round pan) which I want to use because there are a lot of people who live at her house. Anyway, I worry about it sticking to the pan when I turn it over. When I was looking up recipes, I saw several that recommended lining the pan with parchment paper, so it would turn out without sticking and you could then just carefully peel away the parchment paper. Has anyone used parchment paper when baking this type of cake? Or do you think if I follow the recipe faithfully (which I generally do anyway when baking something for the first time), it should be okay?

When I saw that Will was in Seattle, I thought 'hey, they're short-handed at Grey-Sloane Memorial Hospital. He could get a job there'. But, oops, wrong network and wrong show ('Grey's Anatomy'). I guess the character is really leaving. I didn't like that it took sabotage to get 2.0 shut down. I was hoping that it just made an incorrect diagnosis on its own (although if I had written it that way, I would have made it more dramatic and had 2.0 do something drastic like totally cut the power when its directives weren't being followed so that Crocker would have to operate by flashlight). It will be interesting to see what will happen to the hospital. Would it be possible for it to go back to being a county hospital? (That's what it was before, right?)

Well, after my questions about key limes vs Persian limes, I decided to make a different kind of pound cake instead of the key lime one. They actually had bags of key limes at my local Walmart (which I hardly ever see there), but I didn't know if I could get enough juice out of that one little bag and two would have been too expensive (and like stated above, they are a PITA to squeeze). Reviews seem to say that Nellie & Joe's Key Lime Juice is one of the best to use, but I forgot to check in the juice aisle and was not about to go all the way back to the back of the store to check (I remembered near the checkout area). So, I'm going to try a Brown Sugar Pound Cake with a Caramel Glaze and save the Key Lime one for another time. I'll post a link with the recipe if it turns out well (probably going to bake it tomorrow).

His face was familiar and so was his name, but I couldn't think of what movies or TV shows I had seen him in, so I looked him up. I knew him as Marcus from the 'Divergent' movies and as Volstagg in the Thor movies. 58 is definitely way too young.

Does the bottled juice taste like the real thing? If so, I might go with that. I would definitely be easier.

I'm off work this week and want to try a few new recipes. I have one for a Key Lime Pound Cake (with a lime glaze) that really sounds good. However, I know I'm going to have problems finding key limes in my area. I can find Persian limes easily. From doing some googling, I don't think that it'll make a huge difference if I use regular limes instead of the key limes (especially in a cake where you might get a hint of the lime flavor instead of a huge lime flavor--such as you would need in a Key Lime Pie). Have any of you had experience in substituting Persian lime juice for Key Lime juice? Did you see any or much difference in the taste?

We usually make a pan of funeral potatoes (aka 'Hash brown casserole') just about every Christmas (for some extra carbs to go with out southern cornbread dressing, don'cha know?). If you mean the recipe with the has brown/shredded potatoes, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cheddar cheese, etc. (with crushed corn flakes on top mixed with melted butter), I love it! (And any that is leftover heats up really well and tastes even better the next day)

I jumped and scared the cats when Gabriel was shot. I wasn't expecting that at all. (However, I did wonder if something bad was on the horizon, since they fought and made up, and things were going smoothly. I thought he was going to have a heart attack or something like that, though, and maybe keel over at the reception.) I know that Judd is just trying to help Wyatt and keep him out of what sounded like a depressing rehabilitation facility, but was that the only one around? If not Austin, Houston is about 3 hours away. I'm sure they could find a nicer one. A close relative (especially one who isn't trained) shouldn't be doing that job. Judd was too close to the situation to be best for Wyatt. The wedding was really beautiful, but I wanted to get a close-up of the cake. I like cake. The only nitpick I have is that this was a two-hour episode and we got, what, one rescue?

I still have some of my original Trixie books (most worse for wear), but I filled in other gaps over the years. I also have the Donna Parker series, some of the 'Meg' mysteries, and most --if not all--the Robin Kane mysteries. I used to read Nancy Drew (and some Hardy Boys), but I don't care for them as much re-reading them as an adult. Trixie (and the others like those) are great because the main characters were kids/teens. Although Nancy Drew was supposed to be 18 or 19 years old, she always seemed much older to me.

I love potatoes cooked just about anyway. If I want potatoes but don't want to be 'healthy' about it (such as having a baked potato with some veggies or light sour cream on it), I go all out and either make roasted potatoes (potato chunks with a mixture of veg oil, melted butter, and an envelope of onion soup mix on top) or a skillet dish of onions, potato chunks or slices, a little oil or butter, all cooked tender with a couple of bacon slices cooked then chopped and added near the end. Like I said, definitely not health food, but tasty. Well, for the first time in a few years, I plan to take a whole week off from work. I usually take just a Monday or a Friday here and there, just to give me the occasional three-day weekend (or four-day if I plan a Friday off around one of our few Monday holidays). It's actually more than a week, because I'm taking off this Friday as well. I would love to take a trip, but other than my bad knees not allowing me to do much walking, I have two very elderly cats that I don't like to leave alone more than one night. So I've been sticking close to home. So it will be a staycation, but other than a few chores (I'm in the middle of doing a deep cleaning of my house and I need to do some yardwork/gardening) I plan to just watch TV, read some of my favorite childhood books (anyone here a Trixie Belden fan?), and try out some new recipes. I'm looking forward to it (although I'm spending this week at work doing extra work so I won't have some projects waiting for me when I get back.

The election results weren't really suspenseful, because I knew that if Dixon won, there would be some kind of plot to have him die or something bad happen and someone else would end up being mayor (are there deputy mayors in Seattle?). Sorry, but I had to laugh when Maya went spinning around on that roller. Just hanging there. I thought they had already done that bit on this show, but I think it was '9-1-1' that had the car wash guy get caught and they watched the video of him going round and round.

I feel that way about the word 'irk'. It makes me laugh. 'He irks me.' 'I should be irked, shouldn't I?'

I love most seafood (except for oysters) and seafood-related foods, but I never found the thought of squid ink on any food I plan to eat to be remotely appetizing. Can anyone who has tried it give me an idea of what it might taste like? (I could go for some shrimp or crawfish pasta right about now, though, even at this late hour of the evening.) It's hard to pick a side, because I know that Judd was IC, and Tommy should have followed his orders, but if he had been in her place would he have just ran off and left someone in the factory if he had been alone with that person? At least there were a couple of rescues this episode (and I guess we'll find out about Wyatt's condition next week).

Was anyone surprised when Vernon changed his vote? I knew that would happen as soon as they used that new-fangled fancy technology to help.

We've had days recently here in the deep south (U.S.) where I've had the heat on in the morning and was forced to turn on the central air conditioning by late afternoon. I'm just happy for any days where the A/C doesn't have to run almost continuously because my electric bill gets so high. But, once summer kicks in -- probably in a couple of weeks-- I'll have the high bills at least through September. It's such a nice day right now, that even though I'm tired from mowing the lawn, I'm tempted to go out and pull a few weeds. It wouldn't be too tiring, since I'll be sitting on the ground, but it does take a little effort to get myself back on my feet these days!

That's one of the reasons why I love to go to estate sales. One is to hopefully find some interesting (and cheap) things to buy, but also to wander through other people's homes. In my area, I haven't seen too many far-out or really unusual homes (although I did go to one sale one time where I wished I could fold up the master bathroom and take it home--it was perfect), but the best ones I've been to were in the Atlanta area when I would visit family and we would go to some sales. A few really fancy homes and lots of mid-century modern ones (that sometimes looked like someone moved into it in the 1960s and never changed a thing). I didn't try to go to any sales this weekend, though. I volunteer at a local history museum and worked there yesterday. Today I felt obligated to mow my yard. I could have put it off for a few more days, but the weather is cool (high of 79), breezy, with low humidity and there won't be too many more days like that. And, I really want to get my flower beds cleaned out and I don't want to start on those until the yard is 'clean'.

I have that movie on DVD. I might have to give it another watch. It's been a while. It had some pretty funny moments.

I had a doughnut for breakfast (yes, I'm bad, but I blame it on the staff person who showed up at my office door with the box. I probably would have been able to resist if he hadn't said that the doughnuts had been warm when they were brought in a few minutes earlier). Tomato soup for lunch. I'm making my 'mock jambalaya' for dinner. I call it that because it's definitely not the traditional dish (which I love). I just soften some chopped onion in a little oil, add some sliced beef sausage (I use Bryan Smoky Hollow), and while that's cooking I put a large can of whole tomatoes and a can of Rotel into a strainer (smooshing up the tomatoes with my hands) and let them drain into a large measuring cup. I then measure out however much uncooked white rice that I want to add (it depends on how big a potful I want to make and sometimes how much rice I have on hand) and put that in the pot. Finally, I add enough water to the tomato liquid to make twice as much liquid as the rice and add that. Then, I just bring it to a boil, stir, reduce to low and cook until the rice is done. Tasty, but definitely not Cajun!

Spam is pretty tasty if you fry up the slices. I enjoy a nice fried Spam sandwich (on white bread with mayo) on a rare occasion. It's kind of gross if you just plunk it down on a plate right out of the can and slice it up. That poor little boy with leukemia. Like others, I knew what he had as soon as his symptoms were revealed. The actor did a good job--he looked like he was really sick and so tired.

Well, I definitely have proof (I think) that my phone gathers information about me wherever I go. I was in Walmart earlier this evening and happened to stop at the frozen pizza section (which I haven't done in probably months and I don't think I've ever bought a brand name frozen pizza from Walmart). I took a California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza out of the case to read the label, but put it back because I saw that is was sprinkled with cilantro and that tastes like soap to me. Oh, well. Anyway, just now a sponsored ad popped up on my Facebook wall advertising CPK BBQ Chicken Pizza. Coincidence? I think not. (I'm aware that my phone gathers information about where I am when shopping and sends it to companies so that they can send me advertising tailored to what they think I might be interested in buying. But, I think this is the first time I ever really noticed such a focused ad.)

I tend to bake things to take to work or to potlucks, so I'm always looking for recipes that transport easily. So, dump cakes, poke cakes, pound cakes, and cobblers are usually my 'go to' desserts. I want to make a strawberry cobbler as soon as I can find some that are reasonably inexpensive. I also have a Key Lime Pound Cake that I want to make when I find some key limes (they aren't too easy to find around here).

This is probably a southern thing, but I can't be sure. If you like citrus-flavored cakes, I have a recipe for a Lemon poke cake (with a cream cheese-based filling in it) and another one for a Key Lime flavor that is delicious. I've also made one that is a chocolate cake with a white chocolate mint pudding filling (you put chopped up Andes mints or York peppermint patties on top). I think the 'pudding/cream cheese/etc.' flavored ones evolved from the type of poke cake I grew up with, which was the Jello ribbon ones. You would bake a white cake (sheet pan), poke some holes in it, and pour whatever flavor Jello you wanted (usually a green or a red one) and frosted it with whipped cream. When you cut into it you had ribbons of the color with the flavor of the Jello. (It tasted better than it sounds, and was always pretty).

I never got around to making a cake to take to work around Easter, but we are having a little 'snacks and sweets' get together for two new staff members tomorrow, so I decided to bake a chocolate pudding poke cake. It's in the oven now (milk chocolate cake mix, baked as a sheet cake). All I have to do is wait for it to cool, poke some holes in it here and there and then pour some chocolate pudding (instant from a box) over it. It'll sit in the fridge overnight and right before I leave for work tomorrow morning, I'll spread some Cool Whip over as frosting. I even have a few malted milk 'Robin's Eggs' candy left from Easter that I can sprinkle on top as a garnish.

I'm sorry. I worry that I'll be faced with that as well. My two are 19 years old (sisters) and are getting so frail.

I sympathize. Two years ago, I had to take one of mine to the emergency vet during Easter weekend. She wasn't using the litter box, so they had to check her for blockage. She ended up okay (I think I posted about the 'poo-plosion' she had in one of these forums), but why do these things always happen when the regular vet is closed (less expensive vs. really, really expensive)? Oh, well, we do what we need to for the babies. My other cat has those respiratory issues now and then. She's getting over one now, but it's taking it's time to go away.