Wednesday, March 28, 2012

March Memories.....


 I can't believe March is almost over with. I have thought about sitting down to express my thoughts and happenings of the past few weeks but........okay really here is my silly excuse.......I usually leave my web window open on my regular sites as a reminder to slow down my scattered self. However, I shut everything down one day for a re-boot and never remembered to open things back up. A sad excuse I know but it is all I can offer.

What can I share today? How about the fun weekend that just passed? Surprises and off the wall encounters were plenty.

Thursday evening as my husband was pulling into the driveway, he met up with these little friends. I personally know nothing about chickens. My only real thought was focused on trying to keep the dogs away from them as we did our evening things. I figured these biddies would take their cute chatter back to wherever they came from when they were good and ready.

The fuzzy boys eventually settled for the evening and we all got some sleep so I didn't give the chickens another thought except for gratefulness that they had moved on.

I was wrong. Friday morning found the boys once again beside themselves with hunter/stalker instincts in full force. They slobbered all over my front windows as the chickens casually took turns walking around my front yard. Our landlord sent someone down to catch them but had success with only bagging the black one. The brown one mysteriously disappeared.

Finally I gathered my whits and set out to find her, partially out of curiosity and partially because the dogs were getting on my last nerve. I followed the dogs' clues for a rousing game of  peek-n-seek with that chicken. Where was she hiding? She had decided to nest under my front porch and laid an egg!

Now, remember I said I have no experience with chickens? Keep that in mind as you picture me running around the yard with a slice of bread and a bath towel while trying to corner and capture this fast chicken. It was a hilarious sight indeed. Eventually I gave up and went to our landlord for help.  Once he had both chickens safely in a cage, he even found whom they belonged to.

The fuzzy boys were wrung out for the rest of the day. Protecting the house is such hard work! Aren't the just a sight to see?





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Saturday was Hubby's birthday and he asked to spend the day hiking around Forest Park. We did up our day packs with sandwiches and dog supplies and set out for adventure. I cannot believe how long we have lived here and never stepped a single foot into the biggest city park in North America. Wow! I thought we had to be in the Gorge area to be spectators of such green beauty. This park sports well over 70 miles of hiking trails in the middle of the city.

The fuzzy boys were so very happy to wander, explore, claim territory and make friends with everyone on the well traveled pathway. The water stream intrigued Kekoa and he wanted to dive for stick treasures to take home. Congito on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the noisy cold water and stuck to me like glue.


 Were it not for our mighty little explorers wanting to keep on the go, 
I would have loved to simply sit for a while and watch the water 
flow over the rocks to destinations ahead.
 

~~~~~
In true typical fashion for us, the birthday DAY became the birthday WEEKEND by continuing the celebration with my folks after church on Sunday. Mom made a dinner feast and everyone had a grand time cutting up, goofing off and enjoying one another.

I gave Hubby the choice of having a decadent type of cake or a low fat healthy type of cake. Was that really a choice?  He picked the decadent surprise and I created the cake you see below. It is a Coca Cola Cake.  It looks sort of lumpy because it was so sweet and sticky that I had a hard time getting it out of the pan. But it tasted good and bumps helped to accent the decorations of "spilled coke bottles".   Hubby was positively thrilled with the cake because he is an avid Coca Cola collector. All of his treasures have pretty much taken over our bedroom walls (but that is another story for another day).


For now I need to scoot. The change in the air has given me cause to uncharacteristically clean my house like a woman on a mission.I pray that you have a wonderfully blessed week that is filled with God's joy and love that makes you smile from your inner most being.




Below is the recipe if you are interested. One look at the ingredients and you will see that it is not designed in any way for the calorie conscious person. I read that you can do a more calorie modest style by using a box cake mix and diet soda. Simply google "low fat coca cola cake recipe" if you want to try it instead of this.

Coca Cola Cake

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups self-rising flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa
  • 1 cup Coca-Cola
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • .
  • Frosting:
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa
  • 6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
  • 1 box confectioner's sugar, (1pound)
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preparation:

Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch pan and set aside. In a large bowl combine flour and sugar. In a saucepan combine the cocoa, Coca-Cola, butter, and marshmallows; bring to a boil. Combine the boiled mixture with the flour and sugar mixture.
In a separate bowl mix eggs, buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla; add to the first mixture. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes, until cake tests done.
Frosting: In a saucepan, bring butter, cocoa, and Coca-Cola to a boil. Stir in the sugar and mix well. Stir in nuts. Spread over the cake while both cake and frosting are still warm.
Serves about 16.


1 comment:

  1. Jules, I always perk up a bit when I see you have a post on my blog roll. It's fun catching up. That park is so beautiful. It brings back beautiful memories of visits to my late sister who lived in Seattle. She and her hubby would take us to the most beautiful lush places. Places with fallen trees over fast moving streams with the only sounds the running water. Sweet memories! Looking so forward to when I can be with her, my parents and other siblings again. I'm not ready quite yet, but it's comforting to know that when He's ready for me, we'll have a great old family reunion.

    The cake looks so good. Reminds me of a chocolate lava cake that my mother-in-law used to make. I'll try the real version of it before I go on my much needed diet, lol.

    Good to hear from you my friend and God Bless you and your family.

    ReplyDelete

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