Monthly Archives: June 2007

Pancakes Made Even Better

I occasionally make pancakes from scratch and they are very good but not that much better than the “complete” pancake mixes you buy.

My mom makes really good pancakes and part of the reason is because she adds vanilla flavoring and melted butter to the “complete” mix. I make enough for two people and I usually add a teaspoon of vanilla and maybe two teaspoons of melted butter. Then I also add some wheat bran. You can buy that in the cereal aisle. Just add a couple tablespoons of it though.

You will find you won’t get hungry so fast when you add the wheat bran. The butter and vanilla flavoring really add to the flavor. yummy

Transplanting Small Trees

I recently visited NC and my sister, Sandy had some pecan trees growing in her yard in unwanted areas. I think the squirrels are the culprits or just a strong wind blowing the pecans everywhere. Well, I hate to see a tree go to waste so I asked her if I could dig them up.

I borrowed my sister, Wanda’s red rectangular bucket without realizing it is her husband’s car washing bucket. Sorry, Mike. I will return it in August.

Make sure you dig the tree up carefully without damaging the roots. It is always best to try to get enough dirt around the tree’s roots that they are undisturbed but in my case, I decided to try something different since the dirt was unwanted in my two week old car.

I filled the bucket half way with water and then dropped the small trees into the bucket roots first, of course. My trip is 10 hours so I knew I wouldn’t be planting the trees until the following day.

One of the trees is producing new leaves so I know at least one will make it out of the six I brought. Three of them had damaged roots so I suspect they probably won’t make it but I planted them anyway.

I also noticed plenty more crepe myrtles growing along the ditch. Some of them are only a foot tall with blooms on them. My husband has taken a couple days off and he will be digging in the ditches, that’s for sure. With me, of course. lol

Blackberries, wasps and snakes

We couldn’t help but notice the wild blackberries growing along the road. We live on a dirt road so it is easy to notice when the they are ripe.

So one evening after dinner, we put on long jeans and high top shoes and starting walking along our road with a large baggie in hand.

Well, the first time we went blackberry picking I got stung by a wasp and my hand and arm swelled up about three inches up my arm. My skin was so tight I thought it would break. I must admit, my hand looked good with no wrinkles. tee hee We saw a small skinny 8 inch long snake, too.

We went blackberry picking last night and we saw the wasps before they saw us this time. I had been warning Bonnie to watch out for snakes and when she steps into tall grass to stop and listen before going further. Sure enough she heard a noise and ran (like the smart woman she is) as a four foot black snake crawled up a tree.

We were victorious though because we got probably a gallon of blackberries. There is a blackberry farm right near our house and maybe next year, we will go there. Probably not. The blackberries are free along the road.

Lemon Jello Cake Recipe

My mom got this recipe many years ago and it has become my family’s favorite cake. I hope you will try it.

Beat 4 fresh eggs in large mixing bowl.

Add 3/4 cup of water and 3/4 cup of vegetable oil. Then add the 6 ounces of lemon jello (two small boxes) and stir. Finally, add one box of yellow cake mix.

Beat for about 5 minutes, color of mix will change to light and fluffy. Place in a greased, floured pan, bundt pan or 9×13. Bake at 350 for one hour.

Let cool before icing. Of course, warm cake with a glass of milk tastes really great.

Icing:
Mix powdered sugar and lemon juice together until there are no lumps and the icing is on the thin side. Drizzle the icing on the cake.

Enjoy….we always do.

Windex and watches

My husband told me he found another use for Windex. He has one of those watches with an elastic band that you just slip on your wrist. After awhile the band starts looking dull and I am sure there is some dead skin getting in there. He sprayed the Windex on the band and wiped it clean. It was so much easier than soaking it and then scrubbing it with a toothbrush.

Soften your peaches

I was at the grocery store the other day and I was delighted to see some beautiful peaches in the produce isle. But much to my dismay, they were hard. Needless to say, I was talking to a stranger, as usual, telling her how I wanted some soft peaches. She told me that if I put the peaches in a brown paper bag and let them sit for 24 hours, they would become soft. Now, I didn’t try this yet because I did manage to find four soft peaches that day so I haven’t tried it yet, but I wanted to pass this idea on to you guys.

August 10…I have tried this a couple times now.  It definitely works.