PRAYER REQUESTS

It seems that lately there have been several who need prayer. Today I am asking for prayer for my children's father, who has been diagnosed with cancer. It is in several places in his body. He doesn't know what treatment he will have yet, but I pray whatever it is, the Lord will be the director and ultimately the healer.

He is a believer and knows his healing is in the hands of 'The Man Upstairs" as he call's Him.

Also for my Granddaughter who is 28 years old and has two young children ages four and one.

She has been diagnosed with a blood clot in the artery in her leg that has totally blocked blood flow. She has had pain for a long time but her Doctor didn't take it seriously.

She will be seeing specialists out of town next week. I am praying for the Lord to protect her and that the clot can be removed without any problem and she won't ever have them again.

A third prayer request is for my daughter who is working hard to lose weight. She is listening to the Lord concerning this and has been fasting certain foods as He urges. I am so proud of this sweet child of God.

And I hope you are still remembering my friend John in Maryland. I haven't heard from him since he told me the cancer was back again, but am trusting our Heavenly Father is caring for him.

I am so thankful for all of you precious prayer warriors. And for the Internet that has brought us together. The Lord had a plan when he inspired this tool. It's up to us to use it for His glory.

God bless all and thank you.

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SOMETHING NEW AND THE CAKE SURPRISE!

Our friend BigDadGib has started what he calls

CHRISTIAN BLOGGERS ONLINE.

I am so excited about this because I can just imagine all the new Christian blog friends we will meet and also because we will have new opportunities to serve the Lord. The first 20 people to join will be charter members, so if this is something you might be interested in, go over and check it out.

Gil was a sweetie and put his CBO button in my side bar for me.

Pretty neat, isn't it?

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Ok, now for the cake surprise I told you about in my previous post.

I deliberately made the icing and decorations as white and pristine looking as possible and except for the little pink doves, there was no other color.

The reason was so that when they cut the cake they would see something much different than white.

The snowy white cake decorations were such a shocking contrast to what was inside!

Yep, I made psychedelic cake layers for the two top tiers and they absolutely loved it.

I'm sorry I didn't get a better picture. This is the area they cut to feed each other and since I cut the rest of the cake I didn't have time to take more photos.

I started doing psychedelic cakes way back in the 70's when a young mother asked for something colorful for her little girl's birthday cake. She got something similar to this and I've been doing them ever since.

Now you know, Mountain Mama invented something! LOL

REMEMBER TO CHECK OUT BIGDADGIB'S CBO!!!

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LETS MAKE A WEDDING CAKE

My grandson Luke and his wife were married last Spring instead of December as they planned, but we had to wait until now to have a reception. I wasn't aware that they didn't know I was going to make them a cake for the reception. My daughter helped me decorate it. Above is a rough sketch and some instructions which I changed a lot.
Making icing roses was a days work. It has been hot and decorator icing doesn't hold up well when it's too warm. I made fully opened roses, partly opened roses and tiny rose buds.
Just to be a poop, my oven decided to overheat, making our layers a deeper brown than I like for decorating, but lots of icing hid it well. LOL My range is over 20 years old, I think it's time for a new one.

Baking and decorating is really messy work. I have a dishwasher but most of the equipment has to be hand washed.
I don't have much counter space as you can see so there is a lot of moving and shifting things around. I have a big table and that helped a lot. I laughed when I saw the 1% milk and thought of all the sugar and fat that goes into a cake. I can't imagine that low fat milk made any difference at all!
Here is my youngest daughter Cyndi, icing one of the tiers for me. I taught a cake decorating class way back in the 80's and she was one of my students. When she lived in California she made many wedding cakes. I used to wish that she lived here so we could decorate together. Now she does live here, and only about 20 minutes from me. It's a dream come true and a prayer answered. Thank you Lord.
I am very thankful for her help.
Here it is, all iced. Now we have to wait for the icing to form a crust before we begin to decorate. This way, if we make mistakes it's easier to remove them.
Another tier drying.

Two down and one to go!!! I always begin to feel more relaxed when I have come this far. We have to be very careful not to get crumbs in the icing, so it keeps us on our toes.Cakes always have a hump in the center because the edges bake faster than the center does.

Wilton makes a saw for that purpose. It's really handy. I just saw the top off using the pan rim as a guide. You just have to be sure you put enough batter in the pan to bring it up to the top of the pan for this to work. There is also a frame you can use with the saw but I prefer to use the pan rim as a guide

In the above picture Cyndi has been tempted by the fragrance of hot cake.

The lower shell and the upper reverse shell have been added as well as the garland and roses. I always mark the front center with a toothpick.
Some leaves have been added in this picture. I did everything in white for a reason you will learn later in this post. (smile--giggle, I love surprises!)
Completed and ready for delivery and assembly. I have to admit, these next steps are the most nerve wracking of the entire procedure, and I won't be able to eat much until it's done because my tummy ties in knots.


Did I mention that Cake Decorating is really messy work?



I didn't take photos when we were loading the cake into my daughter's car. I was totally focused on what I was doing.



Thank God we made it to Luke's, where the reception was held, without any problems. As I mentioned in a previous post, he lives in the country on the Chance road. The setting was beautiful. The field was newly mowed so the fragrance of sweet dry hay filled the air. Two canopy's were set up on the lawn and several long tables for the food.

We had help carrying the cake and everything we needed down to the tables in the back yard where we set up and I did the final decorating and repaired broken stringwork.

Luke and his wife were surprised when they saw the cake and I got lots of hugs and thank you's but just seeing the look on their face made all the hard, messy work and back ache so worth it! I love thise kids.



All set up! Whoo-Hoo!!!!
The sun was in front of me when I took this picture so it doesn't show the decoration detail well but if you click to enlarge it you can see better..
However I do like how the sun plays with the grasses, field and trees in the background.

These little pink doves were on my wedding cake in 1955. I have used them on all of my children's wedding cakes and also the wedding cakes I have done for my grandchildren.
Here's the happy bride and groom with their cake. We had removed the canopy and turned the cake so the front was facing the sun so we could get some good pictures.
I am in the center and making an awful face because the Bride had just given me a BIG bite of wedding cake. Did I ever tell you that I HATE cake? Well, I do, and I didn't want to have my picture taken while I was chewing or spitting it out.

Oh-oh!!! I forgot to show you what the surprise was. I guess that will have to be my next post.

I don't know how to add a photo at the end of a completed post? is that possible?

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baking bread

Last week we had some rain & cooler temp's so I baked bread. I always use the same recipe and triple it because it freezes well. Here in the first photo I am beginning to add flour to the scalded milk, salt, honey and shortening, while the yeast and warm water begin to work in the container on the left. The flour helps to cool the milk faster. Never add yeast to a hot sponge!
It's beginning to look like bread dough now. I used half whole wheat and half unbleached white flour. If I am making a dark bread I use other whole grains and molasses to sweeten the dough instead of honey. Baking bread is messy work, but oh-so worth it! The damp towel under the mixing bowl holds the stainless steel bowl in place and keeps it from marking up my white counter.
Now the kneading begins. Actually kneading is really good therapy. As you poke and punch and shove it around you are getting rid of some pent up emotions. Cheaper than a Shrink too~! Can you tell that I had a couple difficult marriages?
Once you've punched all the hot air out of him, just shape him into a nice little ball and rub some oil or shortening all over him and toss him back into the bowl.
The oil keeps the dough from forming a hard crust which is hard to work with and also won't let his little head grow big and fat like it should.

Put a clean towel over top to keep out any draft and set him in a warm place until he has doubled in size. Sometimes I don't get around to punching him down again until he is flopping over the sides of the pan. He doesn't seem to mind. After the second kneading he has to be oiled again, covered and left to rise a second time. Some people I know only let their dough rise once before forming loaves, but I find I get a lighter loaf by letting it rise twice before shaping the loaves. Besides, I get to knock the dickens out of it again.
Since my Ab's turned to flab's, this is how my my belly looks after all the mixing and kneading. I can just hear my grandma's say, "Beverly dear, where is your apron?"

More than doubled in size he's ready to get knocked flat again and shaped into loaves. See where I poked his sides to see if the indentations remained? That's how I test to know if it's is risen enough.
After the second rising I form the loaves and let them rise again. Then into a hot oven, 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. Over baking makes a dry bread. I test doneness by knocking on the top crust. If it sounds hollow, it's done.
Here they are, piping hot and so fragrant it's nearly intoxicating. I don't know of anything that smells so homey and delicious as homemade bread hot from the oven. Now we have to wait until it cools. NOT!
(the little loaf on the left is banana bread)

The only thing better than the smell of homemade bread hot from the oven is the flavor. It slices just fine with a serrated knife. But before we had them we used to tear a loaf to pieces and eat it.
Here's my reward. After all the therapeutic labor I get to butter and eat it.

The cook has to sample her fare you know. Now that's what I call some kind of good therapy!
Try it, you'll like it.

Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water

2 cups scalded milk

2-4 tablespoons honey (according to taste)

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 tablespoon shortening

3 cups whole wheat flour (I use Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour)

3-4 cups unbleached white flour.

I think the directions under the photo's are adequate.

Two things I have learned that make a dry, coarse loaf. Too much flour and over baking.

If you want a soft top crust, brush shortening or butter on when it's still hot. If you want a chewy top crust, spray it with water. If you want it crisp leave it alone.

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A WALK DOWN CHANCE ROAD

As I mentioned in a previous post, we lived on the Chance road from 1963 to 1967. It seems like we were there much longer than that. We had four children then and 15 acres of adventures. My grandson lives on the Chance Road now and when we were there for Dylan's birthday party my three girls and I walked down the road, reminiscing while I took scads of photos.
Unfortunately the person who lives there now has turned it into a junk yard and I'm mad as a wet hen about it. I don't know if he is in the construction business or what but the old place sure looks sad now. In fact I was so disgusted with the present condition of the place that I took one of my photos to Photoshop and cleaned up all the junk, making it look more like it did when we lived there. We had the lovely fields with daisy's and buttercups dancing in the breeze around the cattle. My kids loved to run in the tall grass and sometimes I had a hard time seeing them in it. The long building is a large shop. We never used it but we did use the barn in the center of the picture. It had a coral and we had lots of fences up back then to keep the cows and horses in. The driveway in the foreground is the neighbors.

This photo of the shop was taken from Chance Road. I liked how the trees on each side framed the shot. Beyond the shop is down a hill to a wooded area and the creek where we loved to explore. There was a steep bank all overgrown above the creek. One day while walking with the kids I saw something glittering from the bank and went to explore. Imagine my surprise when I dug out two perfectly good pieces of Carnival glass. Both were vases, one blue and one green. You should have seen what that bank looked like when we moved. LOL Apparently previous owners from many years back had used the canyon for their dump.
This is the lower driveway to the house which used to be quite small. It has been remodeled a few times since we lived there. I planted several Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pines in the front of the house and they obviously thrived as they are huge now. I remember having to water them every day throughout the hot summer months. I like this picture of Gilmer's Apple Orchard. It was getting pretty dark so I used a flash. I haven't decided if it looks more serene or spooky! Pea would say the fairys are about to come out and dance around the tree trunk.
The above picture was taken in the morning on September of 1965 on the first day of school. My three girls, (left to right) Patty, Kathy and Cyndi are walking up the Chance Road to the bus stop at the top of the hill.

How many mothers know the horrid sadness that fills a mothers heart when their children go off to school? I hated it, and if home schooling had been an option you better believe I'd have kept them home.

Here are my girls now, 43 years later, walking up the Chance Road, And yes, they are even in the same order, Patty on the far left, Kathy in center and Cyndi on the right. That my dear friends was not planned. It just seems to be the way they like to walk together.

I hope you enjoyed visiting the Chance Road.

It has always been a special place to me. I have often wondered if it was really the place itself, or was it the precious time spent with my family there that keep my memories of it so alive. I guess it doesn't really matter as long as I can still feel the joy I knew when I cooked and cleaned, and went exploring with my little ones at our little farm on the Chance Road.

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HAPPY 4TH

"And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"

Yes it still waves over America because there are men and women who love our country enough to fight for it and for our freedom.

As for me, as long as I have something to attach her to, Old Glory will be waving to all who pass by my little cottage reminding them that we live in a wonderful country.

A great big THANK YOU to all the brave and honorable Troop's who keep it that way, and God Bless America forever!

Dylan celebrated his ninth birthday Sunday evening. Here he is before the party hanging out on the swing, and wearing his new glasses.

Opening presents and cards and finding a bunch of nice green dollar bills made his eyes light up. I love it that my grand kids and great grandkids are allowed to play like kids and get dirty. There's a time for clean face and hands and a time to just be a kid and not have to worry about it.

Dylan got a nice new fishing rod and lots of tackle as well as many other nice gifts. He was a very happy boy!

I made him the lemon cake with lemon frosting he told my daughter he wanted, and 'those squiggle things like toothpaste." I think he meant the garlands made with decorating tubes so I made some of those too and then placed gummy worms and M&M's on to give it some color. He did not want flowers. LOL

We had a potluck BBQ before the party which was really nice. We had been having some hot temps so waited until it began to cool off before we are. It turned out just perfect and the food was really delish!

Last night and today we have had a lot of electrical storms. My puppies are afraid of the thunder and try to climb on me. Poor little things!

All for now and please remember our country's leaders and our troops in your prayers.

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