Food, Faith, Family & Frugality

This week is a total contradiction to me.  Last year this time I was just coming back home and getting settled after being in Afghanistan for a tour.  There is nothing to make you appreciate your family like being away from them.  Last year was a great Thanksgiving.  We spent it in San Antonio with my parents, and I ended up doing most of the cooking since that isn't my mom's favorite thing to do.  


This year I am completely by myself.  I'm starting a new job on base tomorrow, so I'm happy about that.  Coincidentally, the kids started asking about seeing their father recently.  My logical mind thought that maybe if they got to visit their father, then they wouldn't be home alone on school vacation while I was working and unable to spend time with them.  I'm glad they will be with their father, but they've been gone less than 24 hours and the house is so quiet I can't stand it.


I should have gone to church this morning, but after Danielle's slumber party on Friday night I had ended up functioning on 1 1/2 hours of sleep and driving almost 400 miles to drop the kids off at a designated spot halfway between my and their father's home.  I woke up around  9:30 this morning, which is really late for me.


So, this afternoon I will go to choir practice and to the Thanksgiving service and therefore, that brings me to what I'm doing today--baking a cake.  Ha!  If the request is to bring food, you're usually going to get a dessert from me.  The food for today's event is a chocolate caramel cake.  Sounds very good, but this is my first attempt.   Of course, I will post everything when I am done...unless it's a total disaster, of course.  

Yummmm.....the cake looked fabulous and tasted very, very good.  I don't really know what regular fondant tastes like, but the marshmallow kind is really good.  My kids were eating the leftover decorations like candy.  The inside held up very well.  Moist layers and the visual of chocolate/vanilla layers impressed the guests.  I'll call this one a success all the way around.  I look forward to doing this again soon!

Since I didn't want to go get a WalMart cake this year, I decided to try my hand at the fondant, which I have to admit is a lot of fun.  Yes, it was a huge pain to get the fondant on the cake in one piece and the sides draped, so I have to work on that, but I just decided it was too late and too much work to  start over.  Of course, that is what my perfectionist mind was telling me to do, but I knew that wasn't the way to go.

Southern cooking.  It's rich in history and tradition.  Also, if you want to talk about frugal...well, it goes hand in hand.  A couple of years ago I was looking for a really simple way to make homemade biscuits and came across recipes for something known as "Cat Head Biscuits".  Having a really close friend that was raised in TN in the most southern environment possible, I asked him about it.  Turns out that Cat Head Biscuits are drop biscuits so named because they rise up in the oven to approximately the size of......you guessed it--cat heads.  

I tweaked the Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake and the result was so good.  I think it is better and moister today than yesterday when I made it, which I take as a very good sign.  Anyway, here were my changes:


use 1 cup buttermilk in place of regular milk
raise baking soda to 2 teaspoons
use 3 large eggs instead of two


As with my normal baking habits, I bring the ingredients to room temperature before starting, as this makes the cake cook better and prevents a cake that rises too much in the middle.


I also baked the cake at 325 degrees and extended the baking time for five minutes in yet another effort to have a level cake.  It was absolutely perfect.  Danielle says THIS version is her birthday cake.  I think it is good since I am planning on using the fondant.  The cake is light and rises enough to be delicious but I think it is substantial enough to stand up to the heavier icing.  We shall see.

Well, Danielle is officially having a slumber party  in about a week and I'm going to do the cake.  I don't normally do the cakes, but I'm sort of into baking right now, so I think I'll give it a try.  If I had all the supplies I need, it would definitely be more economical, but I am going to spend some money on some decorating supplies.  Therefore, I need to figure out what cake to make.  I think I am going to try out a few cake recipes I can scrounge up, but she wants chocolate.  To date, the best chocolate cake recipe is Hershey's, located on the outside of every cocoa box they sell.  The batter is extremely thin, but it comes out beautifully.  Since I baked this for the first time I've done a lot of reading and I've learned that the thinner the batter, the higher the cake will rise.  I guess my concern there is will the cake be substantial enough to stand up to fondant?  I think so, but I'm going to look around for a day or so and unfrosted chocolate cake will be the snack of choice around here.

I think I baked it several times before I baked it for Darrin's birthday in October.  Since I let Danielle decorate that one in some basic blue and green buttercream, I wanted to keep the cake white and opted for a white chocolate frosting that I made out of white baking chips, butter, vanilla and a little milk.  Since Darrin was turning 17, the cake was just for us, since he is far too old for a party.  Emphasis was definitely on taste.  It was really good, but I think it would need some tweaking before I try it again.  After a couple of days the cake was holding up wonderfully but the frosting was so hard you had to microwave it a few seconds to really cut it without having the frosting "chip" off and leave little naked cake spots.  I've made it with the Perfectly Chocolate Frosting recipe also on the Hershey box and that is so easy and fantastic (recipe is also below).

I will see what I can come up with, but for the moment, here is the recipe for Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake as found on the beloved cocoa box.  Please note that in all things baking, using butter is the best route to go and, unless specified otherwise, use unsalted butter for best results.


Directions:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Yep, this is basic Frugality 101.  I've been to lots of them over the years.  The ones who disguise themselves as being somehow related to antiques are the more upscale of the thrift stores and those who cater to those truly in need have the lowest prices.  My favorite is the ones on military installations.  They are absolutely chock full of lots of cute things that have come to be there as a result of a mandatory move.  What do people do when they move?  They get rid of stuff, of course.  I love going to flea markets, thrift stores, garage sales (although I don't get to garage sales as much being in a rural area) and antique stores.  Of course, the key to making a thrift store beneficial is not simply to buy other peoples' junk, but to find something useful that you need.  Buying someone's junk when you already have lots of junk just makes for more junk, of course!  I became addicted to visiting the thrift store on base after our last move.  Since I was not working, stopping by and dropping things off was no big deal.  Inevitably, I would drop bags or boxes off at the back door and end up taking something from the store home.  I'm at the point now where if I rummage through the clothes racks I can find things I've donated.  Once when I was there, a lady bought a pair of black leather boots I bought while in Korea.  That was a little bit odd.

Books are a great find at the thrift store.  I have puchased lots of four or five hardback books in perfect condition by well known authors for under $2 total.  There is a stack I have set aside for my father, a former government and economics teacher that will probably entertain him for awhile and since they are in such great shape, be a wonderful addition to his personal library.

Home decor is another great buy from a thrift or antique store.  I have purchased several paintings, drapes, and knick knacks (is that how you spell that?) for almost nothing.  Several weeks ago I found the beads that Danielle has been begging for months for...you know, the once that you have to fight your way through the entrance of a door--her bedroom in this case.  I spent $4 and made that little girl so happy and paid maybe a fourth or a fifth of what it would have cost brand new.  My mantra for shopping at a thrift store has to be 'One man's trash is another man's treasure.' because it's the absolute truth.

Danielle went with me to the thrift store today and I honestly caught a glimpse of the woman she will become. The thrift store on base is planning a move in a few months and trying to get rid of a lot of clothes.  For the bargain price of $3 you can fill a grocery sized paper back to the top.  Overflowing bag will cost you $1 more!  Anyway, she asked and I said she could and she painstakingly sorted through everything, making sure to note any stains, rips or missing buttons/broken zippers.  I'm a realist and realize I will probably bring some of this stuff back to the store, but what have I really lost?  We got several other items, with the one that was my major purchase was a Scrabble game that looked at though it had never been touched for $2.  We'll probably be playing a game tonight if she doesn't have too much homework.

Finally, in most of these organizations, price is negotiable.  Of course, if something is on consignment it can't be haggled unless the owner is actually there, which if they are you have certainly lucked out.  If there is an opportunity to negotiate on something that you are really interested in, then do so.  The worst that is going to happen is that you'll be told 'no'.  Americans tend to have trouble when it comes to price negotiations unless it's a purchase such as a car.  While visiting vendors and markets in foreign countries, the seller almost expects it and, I would say, seems to enjoy it.  For example, while in Korea you might want to try to be the first buyer in a store on any given day.  Although some of the more modern shopkeepers don't adhere to this, many believe that making a sale to the first person in their store that day will bring them good luck the rest of the day.  Therefore, you can make a good deal just by being in the right place at the right time.  The rocking chair on sale for $40 could be yours for $30 for simply asking the seller if his price is negotiable.

So, the next time you pass a garage sale or a thrift shop or any seller of secondhand items, don't turn up your nose, just take a look.  You might be surprised at the things you find.  I often take Danielle to one of the local antique stores in town.  She absolutely loves it, although we have to go in there with a predetermined understanding of what may or may not be purchased.  After all, the whole idea of saving money is out the window if you're buying things just for the sake of buying.  Unfortunately, many of us are guilty of that exact things.  But go look, enjoy....find a bargain!!!

As part of our entertainment on a budget, Danielle and I stopped by the library after bowling on Saturday.  It was the library on base here at Columbus and we had not been in there since we moved here over two years ago.  I know...how sad.  I checked out a couple of books on baking and cake decorating while Danielle was looking at dog training books.  I'm surprised she didn't check one out.  However, she did come up with a Playaway to check out.  It's books on audio and this one was titled The Idiot's Guide to Learning Spanish.  It looks something like a generic iPod and she can listen to the various chapters.  I thought this was great!  Today she's at school, I might just try it out.

Here is the link to their website for more information, or just to see what I'm talking about.
http://www.playaway.com/

Anyway, the library was a nice change.  I was watching an episode from the first season of Glee, and the football player in the Glee club goes and finds his teacher with a book he's checked out of the library.  I laughed so much because he said he was at the library and learned that you could borrow any of the books in there, except maybe the encyclopedias.  In this day and age of information and instant gratification, the library may be forgotten as a great resource.  Really, you don't have to buy a book to read it.  I know the high-end bookstores with comfy cozy chairs and every type of reading material (and let's face it, a lot of nonreading material as well.)  Add to that the coffee house that has become a mandatory accessory to these retailers and the library loses a lot of its luster.

But get this--the library is FREE!!!  Check out a book or two, find books on audio, some libraries have a pretty decent DVD collection.  For those who aren't lucky enough to have the Internet at home, you can usually access it at the library.  Send a fax or make a copy for no charge or minimal charge.  Read the latest magazines.  Check the library activities...there are often activities and story times specifically aimed at getting the younger readers involved and interested in reading.

I know most people have been to a library and know what a wonderful resource it is, but just a reminder in this time of stretching the dollar as far as it will go.....use it!

I have been learning a lot about myself over these past weeks.  Well, to be honest I've been learning about myself for months now.  The way we get caught up in a rut and don't expand beyond what we grow accustomed to is kind of sad.  These days I have learned that I am seriously not the best housekeeper.  That was a little of a disappointment.  I have learned that I really love to bake and I am really interested in learning how to decorate cakes.  I have a fascination with fondant that I need to explore.  I checked out three books at the library yesterday...two were strictly decorating and one was baking.  While I am not thrilled with any of them, I think I have some new directions.

Anyway, here is a recipe for Marshmallow Buttercream Fondant that I got from Cake Central that I am dying to try.  Sounds easier than standard fondant and better tasting, too.  I love the way fondant looks, but the taste normally leaves a lot to be desired.

and we actually had a good conversation.  I guess I am usually too busy to talk to her the way I should.  She frustrates me sometimes, because I don't think she understands much about me.  She has been married to my father for almost 49 years and they have an arrangement.  He worked and she took care of him.  I believe that when the time comes for one of my parents to pass on, the other will go very quickly afterward.  They are almost like one person.  Without one, the other isn't quite complete.  Strange because I have always been on my own and taken care of myself, my mother is a completely different person.  She has not worked much in her life...a few years before she married my father at age twenty and there was a short stint as a Social Worker in the 90s.  She also does not drive, although she has on occasion in the past.  There was the time she worked and there were also a few times when my brother, Brian, had to attend a school in another part of the city and my mom had to take him there.  She had several accidents and has not driven in many, many years.

Anyway, we had a good talk.  She is worried about me so much because I don't have a job.  I didn't tell her there was a tentative one in the works because I don't want to get her hopes up and then something not work out.  Or is it me that I'm afraid will get my hopes up?  Either way, I am excited to go back to work on the base, even if it is in an administrative position that I swore I would never work.  Having a family and bills that need to be paid tends to take away that foolish pride we seem to hold so dear.  In a way, I am thankful.  I have grown so much over the past couple of years.  I have seen and experienced things that make you realize how thankful you are to have what God has given you.  The kids are happy and healthy, we have a nice roof over our heads and no one has ever gone hungry or gone without any necessity in life.  Wants....now that's a different subject, but wants can get you into trouble.

I am amazed at how much money I was making while I was in the Air Force and how much I seem to have wasted.  The truth is that I had a lot of unnecessary bills.  Bills for things that I did not need and could not seem to let go of.  I had a house that I was losing money on each month.  My justification for keeping it was my fear of it being vacant and having to pay a mortgage on an empty house with no rental income.  Well, when the thing started falling apart, I said, "Enough." and put it on the market...cheaply, so it would sell quickly.  It went under contract within a week, but the buyer's financing fell through at the last minute so we put it on the market again, and again it went under contract it about a week.  This time it worked out.  Overall, I lost a lot of money on that house, but I made about $14K by the time the money was distributed.  I paid off my van, a trailer I got stuck with during the divorce, and paid off a credit card.

Anyway, I have come to realize that it may not be a bad thing not having the income I had.  I actually seem more in control than I did back then.  I would buy things on credit because I didn't have the money for them.  In contrast, I haven't purchased anything on a credit card in ages.  If I can't pay cash for it, I probably don't need it.  It's a lesson I should have learned in my 20s or 30s, but I guess better late than never.

Also, I was once a snob.  Not a serious snob, but I cared more about what people thought.  I bought things I didn't need and spent money I just didn't have.  I am looking forward to being more conscious in my spending in the future.  My next job probably won't be making me rich, or even comfortable as I had imagined, but I think I will be better off than expected.

I know that a lot of quiet moments are in my future.  Darrin is almost out of the house and before I know it Danielle will be a teenager herself and no matter what she says now, she will not have time for me the way she does now.  That's okay.  I took the critters outside, more or less to put a few things away in the shed that I left on the back patio, but also to get the puppy to burn off a little more energy before it became completely dark.  He got a little curious and went beyond the edge of the back yard into the woods that lies beyond.  I could see him some of the time, but he would not answer.  I'm not so sure what was holding his curiosity, but I could see it getting darker by the minute and was trying to figure out how I was going to tell Danielle that I lost her puppy.  Thankfully he came out when he was good and ready.  Shelby stood at my side.  She is seven and listens to me so well, that sometimes I really believe she understands what she is saying and not just listening to the inflection of my voice--did I say that right?  Anyway, if that is the case, then Presley does not even know his name.  Considering he weighs all of about seven pounds right now, the idea of him getting lost is very real.  At least he is white, so I could sort of pick him out in the dense brush and woods most of the time.

We found a snake in the yard several days ago.  It wasn't huge, but it was scary.  Although I've lived in the country for a couple of years, I'm still not a country girl...I don't know my snakes.  One of Darrin's friends said it was a copperhead, but my friend looked at it on the cell phone and said it was too big and the wrong color for that.  He thought it was a moccasin that came up from the creek that runs through my yard.  At any rate, now I can't help but worry about snakes.  People did warn me, but as long as you don't see them, they really don't exist.  Or at least that's how my logic covers such things.

Anyway, it is now completely dark and not even seven in the evening.  It's not too far past six thirty actually.  Alll the critters are here with me now, and only my children are out.  Darrin won't be home until late, and I still have trouble falling asleep without him being in the house.  When I do it's because I'm exhausted and I'm still incredibly guilty over it.  Danielle is at the corn maze in Pontonoc on a Girl Scout outing.  I should enjoy the quiet more, I know.

I'm gong to try to get it together.  I have been eating so bad the past few days and I'm not really sure why.  Maybe even now sweets comfort me.  I guess it's better than being a strong drink that does the trick.  Anyway, just woke up, drank my Spark, took my Catalyst and MNS and going to try to do things right today.  If I keep putting this sugar in my body, then my body will start to crave it again and I will have started that vicious cycle again.  I'm also going to make it to the gym today.  Lots of housework and laundry to be done as well.  There is a little guilt involved...someone who is not working should have a much more organized home than I have right at the moment.

I am also feeling a little bluer (is that even a word) than usual.  I have had a lot put on me this year, I know that, but I also know that some people have to deal with far worse things in their lives.  I don't have any major drama going on in my life, and everyone is reasonably happy and healthy.  Someone once told me that any problem that could be solved by money wasn't really a problem.  At one point I believed that, but now I'm mixed.  I still think of that when things get really difficult.

While I was in Afghanistan last year I was checking my regular Yahoo e-mail account and through that discovered that an 11 year old girl in our church had died from meningitis.  I think in the span of two or three days it overtook her body completely and she went home to be with the Lord.   Before this happening, I had started dealing with a series of major problems with a rental home I owned in San Antonio, Texas.  The A/C unit completely died.  There was a leak that needed to be identified and then fixed, all the flooring in the house had to be replaced.  My renter left.  They found termites....it goes on but you get the picture.  Anyway, the point is that when I heard about this little girl passing, all of a sudden that house issue didn't seem like much at all.  That house could literally implode and while I might have gone bankrupt, the people I love in my life would be healthy.  I completely understood that concept.

However, not having a job, having a family and having bills (including a new mortgage) makes me re-evaluate those words of wisdom.  I think I really do have a problem, but a lot of people have it worse than me.

I am trying to stay on the healthy side of life and am a little confused about gluten, which I knew enough about to know that it had to do with wheat and that was about it.  When I did the cleanse phase for the 21 Day AdvoCare Challenge, it was very specifically directed to eliminate dairy, breads, and refined sugar from the diet during this period and to avoid them during the rest of the challenge.  I basically kept this in check by eliminating dairy and returning to my beloved Vanilla Silk...yes, I love the stuff!  I think I actually prefer it to milk.  The next rule I enforced on myself was no bread and basically nothing white.  When it comes to bread and sugar, I'm a little like an alcoholic.  If I eat one cookie, I'll eat six, or maybe twelve.  I can't seem to have just one no matter how hard I try.  Therefore, for me it's always easier to just not start eating in the first place.  It was interesting that after the cleanse phase, my body seemed to 'detox' from these vices and I had no cravings.  Of course, a taste here and there has put me back in danger, so I'm really watching it right now.  For some silly reason, I baked a cake about a week ago (posted the recipe here, too) and ate a LOT of it.  What can I say?   It was sooo good.  But, I knew as I was baking the thing that I was going to end up eating it.  I just knew.

Anyway, the whole wheat and bread issue caused some confusion to me.  I knew it had to do with gluten.  Oats were actually listed on the sample diet, so it definitely wasn't a carbohydrate restriction.  Therefore, just to educate myself I looked up gluten.  Here is a link that can explain, although I'm sure if you don't want to click on it you can go to Wikipedia and search it there with similar (or maybe better) results.

http://whatisgluten.net/

Okay, so many might look it and think getting this puppy was like shooting myself in the foot. After all, it's 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Danielle is still snug in her bed and I have, for the past hour or so...time escapes me at the moment....been woken up by the crying puppy, taken him outside and walked him in the cold October air, cleaned his crate where he apparently either couldn't hold it or wanted to teach me a lesson, and then just snuggled with him when it was all over. He is now curled up and resting with his little body snuggled against my side.

I was looking for a picture to put on here. I realize if you want a picture of an animal I own or my daughter, there are more than enough to pick from. However, if it's me, it's difficult to pick. If it's my son, even more so because he seems to hate me taking pictures of him when he's around. Since he's going to be 17 in just a few weeks that isn't too often.

Yummmm! Perfect way to enjoy the fall weather.

Well, the interesting thing here is that I'm currently unemployed...and looking. Hopefully this won't last too long. So, right now I'm trying to be positive and take a little extra time being a better planner, cook, homemaker, mom...you get the picture. Today I'm in the middle of trying to figure out some new recipes to try AND we just got a new JRT puppy yesterday and I feel like I have an infant again. I have that sleep deprived headache this morning and my motivation is zero.