Mayonnaise Cake Recipe

Okay Siestas,
Here is the cake recipe I promised yesterday. By the way, half of it was devoured by the time Bill left for the dorm. It goes fast!

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 cup Miracle Whip
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix with electric mixer. Bake at 350 degrees. Ice with fudge frosting.

Soft Chocolate Fudge Frosting

• 2 Tbs. cocoa
• 1 1/4 cups cold milk
• 4 Tbsp. flour
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Sift flour, sugar and cocoa together, then add other ingredients in saucepan. Boil to the soft ball stage. Stir constantly until desired thickness. Cool. *My mother added this note: Jan, I usually cook it until it thickens, don't pay too much attention to the boiling stage. Love you, Mom -August 26th 1989

Mom always baked hers in a loaf pan. I usually bake mine in a bundt pan.

Blessings to you! Jan

Men's Night Out

Well good afternoon my five faithful friends!

It's Men's Night Out at our house which means that I didn't have to cook dinner tonight. Yippeeeeee.!!My three guys go to a local steak house and order steaks bigger than my laptop. No frills, no tablecloths, just tamales and steak. The great thing about this is that our oldest son who is now a freshman at the University of Arkansas (cue Razorback fight song) can meet his brother and dad since their favorite steak house is right bt the campus.

Being Men's Night Out and all, I get into the action by serving up dessert and hoping that Bill can come home and have a slice with us. I've posted the photo of a chocolate mayonnaise cake.

Now before you get totally grossed out by the name, let me just say that the cake is unbelievable! It was my mother's recipe and let me tell you---it lasted about 24 hours at our house when I was growing up! We four youngins loved it something fierce.

I can hardly stand the excitement of getting to attend Deeper Still thanks to my new precious Siesta Sista KIM!!! I can't wait to see her and all of my other new BFFs. :D

Tomorrow I will try to post the recipe for this cake. It is FABULOUS.

I may just have to have a small piece with my coffee and scriptures tomorrow morning.

Hmm...Jesus and chocolate!! It just doesn't get much better.

Blessings,

Jan

Wordless Wednesday

Three Men and a Mom and a Dog and a Guinea Pig

Well, after reading the post about Amanda's cute Beckham, I just had to put a photo of out beloved "Miss Scamper" who went to be Lassie, Rin Tin Tin and all the other great canines before her. She was the BEST dog we ever had and probably ever will have.

This portrait was a gift from my hubby on our twentieth wedding anniversary. We'd been in Naples, Florida on vacation one year and stumbled into a gallery off the main drag. There was an artist whose paintings were so realistic that we thought they were photographs. Kenneth kept his card and VOILA! on December 17th he presented me with the best present I've ever received in my life. (wonder how he'll top it with twenty-five coming up?)

Anyway, the amazing thing about this portrait is that it is taken from a Christmas card photo that resulted after much screaming and gnashing of teeth by my boys--grades 8 and 5 at the time. I remember fighting with them over wearing matching shirts. Joe (on the left) is actually wearing navy pants but the artist changed them in the painting. Now Scamp is gone and Bill is off at college and Joe is in high school. BUT, I still have my beautiful portrait.

Our resident Pooch, Ozzie, is shown two or three posts below. You can't miss him. He's the one floating on the raft in our pool :) And below is MY guinea pig Gracie who happens to be a male (don't tell him though) who lives in the laundry room. (S)he is a very lovable and beautiful animal. (S)he and Oz actually play together. Isn't that a hoot? And yes, I know s(he) is a rodent, but I do not care... So are squirrels...And I love them too.

Until tomorrow, my five faithful readers,

Jan

Nice Matters

My goodness gracious alive! I've been awarded the Nice Matters Award. Thank you Kim over at connorcolesmom. I accept this honor on behalf of all the southern gals who learned that being nice, courteous and respectful was synonymous with good breeding. (no matter how many of your closets were filled with family lunatics etc.) I would like to thank my mother, grandmother and the generations of women before them who learned that no matter what life throws your way, southern girls ALWAYS smile, begin each salutation with Mister or Miss and accept compliments like this one with humility. I would also like to thank my producer, director and make-up artist who had a huge role in my winning this award. Kudos to you all (y'all).

Okay...on to real life.

I awakened with a bad case of the "common crud" this morning. (how's that for generational manners and breeding?) Seriously, I feel like a hippo is sitting on my chest and forcing all the air out of my lungs. I have deducted that this ailment can be traced to the vast amount of DUST that I inhaled while cleaning my college freshman's bedroom. (see previous posts) When I get like this I have to call on the medical community for vast amounts of antibiotics. They should be here shortly. Nothing like starting the weekend off in bed with a golden retriever mix who's been digging in my flower beds and an array of 78 channels with only one decent selection worthy of watching.

Which brings me to share the following factual information. If you are squeamish, you may want to pass up the following scientific data.

• Did you know that when the female crocodile has buried her eggs, she can hear them hatching? And that she gently digs them up, puts them in her MOUTH and swallows them?
• And that they go into a special pouch behind her throat while she swims to a safe place in the river to deposit them?
• And that she can carry as many as 15 in this pouch at once?
• And that she will abolish any predator who even THINKS about harming her cute little babies?
• That fortunate crocodiles live to be 80?

How handy would it have been to have that pouch when my guys were little, I ask you? And to carry around a set of JAWS like hers to ward off predators that might hurt my children?

I shall look at the female crocodile with renewed respect--from my comfortable bed. Gotta go. The wildebeest are making their annual trek to the other side of the river. I hope they all make it:)

Until tomorrow my faithful four readers!

Jan

A Quiet Day

Today, I will post in ORANGE for my new friend, P, who is a huge Tennessee Vol fan. This flies in the face of everything Razorback, however...

Well, I finally did it. I spent yesterday cleaning up Bill's room. I walked by it for a week looking at the mess. I told a friend it looked like a bomb had gone off or a really bad renter had been evicted! God gave me the grace and laughter to tackle the undertaking without a single tear--which is good because I think my well hath runneth dry.

I tuned his stereo to our local Christian station and cleaned away. It felt sooooo good. This morning my husband loaded up the four trashbags of junk and took them to the office dumpster.
I found enough school supplies from years past to supply an entire class of first graders. lol.
I really am a neat freak but I decided that this summer was to be the summer of fun in the sun and letting the small stuff go.

Really messy small stuff...

Extremely messy small stuff...

The kind of messy where you find old Sonic cups growing penicillin kind of stuff. Hmm...maybe I could start a new career.

Oh well, if any of you siestas take Lifeway's HOMELIFE, check out the September issue. My other article is in it--along with a photo on page one or two? with extremely red lips and really big hair. Oh well, at least I didn't send my high school yearbook photo. (for you chick flick movie lovers out there, you'll get the joke) For the other three of you, well, you'll just have to rent Must Love Dogs.

So, "ta ta for now " as Tigger would say and to my new VOL friend--tomorrow I going back to pink or RED,

Jan

Help! I'm all Alone

Well, Bill is settled comfortably in the dorm (ahem...residence hall) and Joe is now in high school. I am still here...washing laundry and talking to the dog and guinea pig. In that order.

Move in day went reasonably well. It was amazing to see my son unload his belongings on the sidewalk. A pickup load full of stuff. Stuff. And more stuff. When we found his room, one of the beds had not been lofted, and the other bed was too short. So, K and I found a maintenance man and resolved the problem. Then, we discovered mold was growing on the wall behind Bill's bed--right where he head would be resting for A YEAR. So, K and I found a custodian and resolved the problem with a little bleach water. Now...what makes all this so funny, is that while we were resolving problems, Bill and his roommate were busy loading their dvd's into their spiffy dvd rack that they had purchased for a mere $20. I mean, priorities right? It brought back so many memories!

I must admit, my biggest problems included matching comforters and curtains. And a coordinating carpet square. Aah......the differences between boys and girls!

Now, if this isn't enough change for one girl, my three closest buddies have moved! One to Kansas, one to Oklahoma, and another to Alabama. Yikes! A whole lot of changes are going on around here.

Today, I will continue to wash, clean, and listen to a little Beth Moore while I fold the 17 piles of laundry that have magically multiplied in my laundry room. So...have a good day and I will talk to the three of you who actually read this crazy thing tomorrow!

Jan

Countdown: Two Days Left

Well ladies, the day draws near. I can't begin to tell you all the feelings that are going on inside right now. This morning when I stumbled into the kitchen for my coffee, I saw BOXES stacked in my kitchen floor with BH on all of them. WHAT? His boxes should read FIRST ROOM ON THE LEFT AFTER THE KITCHEN AND ACROSS FROM THE FRONT BATHROOM for crying out loud. Good grief! After the initial shock, I gently opened his door and saw that most of the posters were rolled up, the cd's and dvd's boxed up and a WHOLE lot of dirty clothes crammed into a laundry basket. In just two days, my son will move into the dormitory...the one that is air-conditioned...without his mom or dad or his little brother...
*On a happier note, it is official: We get to add one more (let's hear it) ARKANSAS RAZORBACK to the list. Yes, boys and girls my oldest on can officially sit in the student section of Razorback stadium with the other 75,000 screaming fans like his mother and father before him.
*Okay, back to reality...Joe starts HIGH SCHOOL on Friday. He actually drove us home today from Missouri. Other than a few dips to the right (where those really annoying tread things are)
he drove great!
*On a happier note, there will be less laundry and groceries. A lot less noise. Fussing with his sibling. Fewer "Shut the door! It's 103 degrees" yelled on a daily basis.

BUT TODAY, AT THIS MOMENT, I WOULD RATHER HAVE THE NOISE, MESSES, LAUGHTER, LOUD MUSIC, AND EMPTY MOUNTAIN DEW CANS IN OUR HOME.

Blessings to all,
Jan

The Dog Days of Summer?

Ahem...what a way to beat the heat!

My bff, Joe, takes me everywhere.

Much better than the Animal Shelter...

As you can see, Joe and I took a dip in the pool. I, Ozzie, actually enjoy the water. I have a friend, Millie, that lives down the street. I may invite her over tomorrow so we can float around the pool and share a box of Dog biscuits while everyone else is at church. But until then, Joe and I are going to beat the heat.

See you tomorrow,

Ozzie aka Oswald F