DAY 172 - A SERENDIPITOUS DAY

Saturday I was awakened by thunder and rain. I kept my eyes closed so I never saw any lightening but I probably wouldn't be able to anyway from the bed. I was not really expecting that at all. We really need the rain as we have gotten maybe an inch and a half (counting the rain on Saturday) for the whole month of August. The next thing that happened was the power went off. It only stayed off for a minute or two so I said a little prayer of thanksgiving. Then I managed to go back to sleep for a little bit more. 

When I woke up again, it was still raining and the power was back off. Have you ever gotten up to go to the bathroom when the power was off and flipped the switch in the bathroom? Yelp! That's what I did. So I guess you could say I started my day with a little laugh.

The only room in the house that was even the least bit bright (which is saying a lot) was the back porch. It is surrounded on three sides by windows so even though the sun wasn't shining, I could manage in the room. After I checked in on my profile page on Facebook (I'm boycotting my newsfeed and only checking my profile page and the fan page for this blog.), I decided to see if I could find a funny book to read.

Didn't get too far into Fannie Flagg's Standing in the Rainbow, when I received a text from our younger son Patrick asking if he could drop the kids off while he went to Costco. Of course I said sure. (I also told him I hoped the store had power.) 

The power did come back on a little bit before they got to our house. He said he would be about an hour to an hour and a half and he would come back and get them. He also said he had to work on a friend's car. Madison asked him why couldn't he just go to the store and then go home and after putting away the groceries, work on the car and then come and get them. (L0L)  Patrick told them "it was up to Grandmother." I'm sure you know what my response was. He said they needed to be home between 4 and 4:30.

So that's how my Serendipitous Saturday started.

Tyler wanted to go play mini-golf but I told him because of the rain, we would still have to wait for another visit. (We talked about doing it the last time they were here and we went to Powell Gardens.) While they watched a little tv, I started looking for a cookie recipe that we could make. (They do like to cook with me.) I found one that looked like a good possibility and got the butter out to soften while I cooked lunch. 

This recipe was in the children's cookbook I got at an estate sale last year that has a different cookie for each month. The September cookie was called Raisin-Cinnamon Cookies or Chocolate Chip. I told them we could make them either way and surprisingly they both said Chocolate Chip that they didn't like raisin cookies. Tyler is the one who really surprises me. He always wants raisins. I buy the little boxes so the raisins wont dry out if I had a larger container. 

Since they said they wanted chocolate chip, I went thru the container of chips in my pantry and gave them the option of peanut butter chips, sea salt & caramel chips, white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, or mint chocolate chips. To some degree I wasn't surprised when they said the latter. Tyler loves mint. His favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip. So I told them mint chocolate chips it would be.

Since Madison is older, I usually let her do the measuring and Tyler do the pouring and watching the electric mixer. Saturday I decided I would use the hand mixer and let Tyler tackle it. (The recipe didn't have much to do with the mixer.) I had a little discussion/illustration with him about how he had to hold the mixer down in the bowl and not lifting it and explained why.)

RAISIN-CINNAMON OR CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1         egg
1/2      cup butter (1 stick) at room temperature
1         cup light brown sugar, packed
1         teaspoon vanilla
2         tablespoons water
1-1/2   cup flour
1/2      teaspoon baking soda
1/2      teaspoon salt

1         teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 cup raisins for the Raisin-cinnamon cookies

                OR

1          cup (6 ounce pkg) chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease the cookie sheets. (We lined the cookie sheets with parchment paper.)

Get a small mixing bowl and a rotary beater. Break the eggs into the bowl. (No bits of shell, please!) Beat the egg with the beater. Beat it until it is light and foamy. Then set the bowl aside.

Madison likes to break the eggs.

Now get a large mixing bowl. Place the butter in the bowl. Pack the brown sugar in a measuring cup and dump it on the butter. Cream the shortening and the brown sugar together. Madison decided to do this with the spatula. (It was easy to do.) 

Pour the beaten egg onto the creamed mixture. Add the vanilla and the water.

Beat the mixture with a mixing spoon. Beat it until you have a smooth, creamy batter. (Tyler decided the electric mixer was a lot easier.) Set the mixing bowl aside.

Measure the flour, the baking soda, and the salt into sifter. Sift them into a bowl. (I had a sifter, but just gave Madison a whisk to use.)

Pour about half of the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. Stir. Then pour the other half in. Stir until all the flour is blended into the batter. (Tyler decided to use the mixer so I added the flour mixture in three times so he wouldn't make a mess.) He did a great job, but complained his arm was tired holding the mixer. lol

Madison decided to help him out.














If you are making the Raisin-Cinnamon cookies, measure the cinnamon and sprinkle it over the batter and stir it in. Then dump in the raisins, and stir them into the batter.

If you are making the Chocolate Chip cookies, dump in the chocolate chips. (Do not put in any cinnamon.) Stir the chocolate bits into the batter.

Since we were making the Chocolate Chip Cookies, Tyler dumped in the mint chocolate chips and

Madison stirred them in.

I prepared two cookie sheets so they could each scoop out the batter for their cookies. (Fortunately I have 2 small cookie scoops. Madison told me to give Tyler the easier one since he was younger. lol)

Place scoops of dough about two inches apart. Cookies do spread as they bake. Twelve usually fit nicely on a pan.

Bake 12 minutes.

Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.

Grandad decided he wanted a warm cookie to eat. So we all ate two. Final decision - the warm ones were the best!

While the cookies were baking, Grandad had a lesson with Madison about avocados because she said she had never eaten on. What she really meant was she had never seen one.

When he told her they made avocado dip, she said, "Oh, I don't like it."

So they experimented with several different ways to eat it.

While they were doing that, I heard something out of Tyler's mouth I have never heard him say, "I'm bored!" "Bored?" I said. "I think you mean we just aren't doing what you want to do right now."

He smiled as he looked in the living room where the toys are stored. I told him, of course, he could get them out.

(Neither one of them was very patient waiting for the cookies to bake.)

After I cleaned up the kitchen, I told them we would go for a walk. They were both excited to hear that. We invited Grandad to go along. We stopped at the lake an threw rocks in the water. Madison was trying to get them to skip on the water.

Tyler tried but he was happy to just see a big splash. Wayne told Madison there weren't any good skipping rocks along the bank. We continued walking a little longer but knew we needed to head back home as the afternoon was quickly passing.

I told them when we got back to the house, we would have ice cream.

 

















Before we left, I got out my laptop and showed Madison the post I had written on the Butterfly Farm in Aruba a couple of years. We had been discussing butterflies while we walked. She was fascinated with my blog and wanted to read some more posts. I showed her the one from our outing to Powell Gardens and she loved it. I told her I had lots of posts and some day when she was older and had a computer, she could go on and read all the posts I had written. (This is one of the things I hope will happen so the grandkids can remember me when I'm gone.)

When we got them back to their house and was eventually leaving, Madison hollered at me, "Don't forget to write your log!" I smiled and told her I wouldn't! 

PS I almost forgot before we went for our walk, they checked out my stash of fabric and chose some for me to make them some aprons. It was actually Tyler's idea. I always make them wear some of my aprons when we cook, so they won't mess up their clothes. When I put my Auntie Gert's apron on him, he told me I needed to make him an apron. Two aprons so he could have one at my house and one at his house. I couldn't believe it. I told him I would love to make him two aprons.

(Fortunately I still have a pattern I made years ago for an adjustable apron and Madison got to cut one of hers' out.) This post has been so long, I will show you how I make their aprons in another post.











I do so love my time with my grandkids. Just wish I could spend more time with the ones in CO. As we were leaving Patrick thanked me for keeping them for the day, my impromptu day.  I told him they were the best!

DAY 166 - TOMATO SOUP CAKE

This is one of those cakes you don't want to tell people the name of it because the name might turn them off of the cake. Well, if the name turns you off, I'm sorry. AND you would be too if you actually ate a piece.

I remember this "name" from years and years ago and I think I did make it one time, but that was so long ago I don't remember what I thought of it. The cookbook I used for the recipe is from 1976 Louise Durman's Desserts. She was the Food Editor for the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Knoxville, Tennessee. Wayne said it tasted like a carrot cake without the carrots. Today when I went back to get my pan, one of the young men working there now, asked me if it was really a tomato soup cake. (That's what someone told him.) I told him it was and he said it tasted like carrot cake. Funny.

Ever since we started staying-at-home with this pandemic - March 17, I have not been volunteering at Hillcrest Thrift Shop. It actually closed for a month or two until the powers-that-be decided it was an essential business. About half of the volunteers have still not returned so the management as had to hire some employees. The shop has made some changes due to the virus - Monday is for volunteers only to come in and work and then the shop is only open for business Tuesday - Saturday from 11 - til 6 (5 on Saturday). That way the volunteers can come in and work for several hours before the shop opens during the week. I really need to start going in on Mondays to work. Not sure what I would do since I have only worked the registers, but I'm sure they can find something for me to do. I miss seeing the smiling faces. 

A couple of times I have taken a cake/dessert in during this time for the volunteers which is what I did with this cake. (If you are new to my blog, you might be surprised that every week ((I usually volunteered one 3-hour shift a week.)) when I went in for a number of years, I take a dessert for the volunteers.) They get a big smile whenever they see me.

I haven't been cooking as much since mid-March so that means I haven't had as many posts to share with you or traveling either. We are trying to stay safe and our group of contacts is small now. 

TOMATO SOUP CAKE

1/2        cup shortening
1-1/3     cup sugar
2           cups flour
4           teaspoons baking powder
1           teaspoon baking soda
1/2        teaspoon ground cloves
1/2        teaspoon nutmeg
1           teaspoon cinnamon
2           eggs
1           (10.75 ounce) can of tomato soup
1/4        cup water
3/4        cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (350 degrees if using a glass casserole dish). Grease and flour two eight or nine-inch round cake pans or one 9 x 13 - inch cake pan. Set aside.

Cream shortening and sugar together. 












Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.

Add eggs to creamed mixture and beat.

Add the flour mixture (1/3 at a time) alternately with the

tomato soup/water (half) beginning and ending with the flour.

Beat for two minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl several times during this process.

Add the nuts. 

Pour batter into pan(s).

Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool cake on wire rack and then

frost cake with frosting below.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1          (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1          tablespoon milk
1-1/2    cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1/2       teaspoon vanilla

Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and milk til smooth.

Blend in rest of the ingredients and continue beating until smooth.

(I added the powdered sugar a little at time so it wouldn't be so messy.)

Cut cake into 24 squares and serve.

DAY 161 - DAY TRIP TO POWELL GARDENS

Since the COVID-19 virus hit us, our "outings" with the MO grandkids have been nonexistent. We've been able to get together with Madison and Tyler, but we often try to do something fun together besides just coming to our house (which they love to do). Tuesday though I decided we should visit Kansas City's Botanical Garden called Powell Gardens.

I had heard of the gardens, but just never made it there. Back when I was in the Northland New Neighbors' League, a group went on a day trip, but for whatever reason, I didn't get to go. I really didn't know exactly where it was and was surprised to find out it was almost an hour drive from our house. On our way back home, Wayne asked the kids if they liked the gardens. Madison quickly said yes but she didn't like the long drive. She said we should have a helicopter that would take us there.

It was a fun day. The temperatures were in the upper 70s and there were several places in the gardens for children that helped break up the time. Don't misunderstand me, they loved seeing all the flowers. Wayne wants us to go back in the spring when the dogwoods are in bloom. I'm sure it will be beautiful then.

I hope you will enjoy some of the many pictures I took. 

Madison was fascinated with the head planters:

They loved the "obstacle course" 

On our way to the Missouri Barn and silo we saw a number of these cherry dogwoods growing along the pathway. You can't see them in my picture, but the trees were loaded with small red cherries...

I didn't take a picture of the Missouri Barn and Silo but took these pictures from the top inside the "silo"... The contemporary barn is used year-round educational offerings including tours, classes, and workshops.

On the way down...

In the background you can see the roof of the barn and the top of the silo. This was in another area for the kids...

I think the kids could have stayed all day in the Children's Garden and the Play Potting Shed. Tyler said he was a farmer.

Inside the Native Butterfly Habitat...

We didn't get a close up of this section because they were watering it...

First time Madison had seen a pineapple growing...

Had to go back into the Children's Garden to take their picture in the big chairs...(Easy to get into, but hard to get out of)...

It was such a fun day!