Mango Cake

Our Sunday School class gets together once a month for a meal or some sort of outing. This month it was a "pot luck" evening meal in the church fellowship hall. I was on the mend from a migraine headache but I was feeling well enough to go. I figured I could get to town and buy something, but where's the fun in that? Before the headache knocked me flat, I had bought some mangoes and had planned to make mango bread. The mangoes were still in the fridge, but "bread" didn't seem quite right.

A Google search for mango cake recipes gave pathetic results: too fussy, too many ingredients I didn't have, too "meh." Aha! This one looked promising: Chunky Fresh Mango Cake. Hold the phone. This makes a 6" round cake? Who makes a SIX-INCH cake??

This is the cutey-patootey pic from Taste of Home.

Never fear. I'm pretty good at math. I simply quadrupled the recipe and had enough for two 9" round pans. If you only need a 6" cake, hit the link above. However, if you want enough so someone else can also have a piece or two, use "my" recipe below.

Chunky Fresh Mango Cake (makes two 9" rounds)

2 c. sugar

1-1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce

4 eggs

2-1/2 c. all-purpose flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

3 c. peeled, chopped mango

1 c. chopped pecans

[Preheat oven to 375°]

In a large bowl, beat the sugar, applesauce and eggs until well-blended. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and mix well. Fold in the mango and pecans.

Pour into two 9" round pans [greased or sprayed with "baking" spray!] and bake for 45 minutes. Use the fabulous toothpick trick to make sure it's done. Cool on wire racks for 10+ minutes; then remove from pans to finish cooling on wire racks.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Some whipped cream on top adds just the right finishing touch.

YUM! Enjoy!

A final word to Taste of Home.com - Thank You!

One Thing Led to Another

A dear neighbor stopped by on Wednesday evening and asked if we'd like some corn. Since corn didn't get planted in the garden this year, of course we would! I was expecting enough for a couple meals, but he gave us plenty to freeze. Weldon thought I'd work it up on Thursday, but I said, "No way! I work tomorrow and I won't be doing corn before or after work."

So then came the task of making enough room in the fridge for all that corn. In the process, I was reminded how desperately the fridge needed cleaning. Oh, well. This wasn't the time to worry about that!


After Weldon came in from chores this morning (Friday) and we'd had breakfast, I asked him if he'd cut the woody stalk off the cobs of corn. Of course he would! I got all the corn out of the fridge and onto the porch where he started working. When I got out there to husk the corn, he asked if I just meant that he should cut off the woody stalk or if he should husk the whole thing. "All I asked is that you cut that hard end off, but if you want to husk them, have at it!" And he did! And I did! And we finished the job in record time.

Too late I realized working up corn would make a good blog post. I didn't get a picture of Weldon doing his thing, but here are the husks. :)

The next step was to boil the corn on the cobs for about 2 minutes. Getting the water to the boiling point in this canner took a while, of course. And then I had to do it again for the second batch.

While cooling down the corn cobs in plastic dish pans, I thought I'd add a little ice to make the job go faster. What adding ice really did was make me see how the underside and bottom inside of the ice maker was totally covered with ice ... where it didn't belong! So, another job to do.

Weldon washed the frosty icy crystals away before I could take a picture. It's nice and clean now, back in the freezer, and making lots of new ice.

It was already 11:00 and near 90° but I knew I didn't want to mess with corn in the kitchen. I got my tools together and went outside to a shady spot.

Weldon hadn't headed out to his farmer-ly duties yet, so I asked him to take a couple pictures.

Nibbling the nubbins on the ends of the cob. Lunch!

How did I ever "do" corn without the Pampered Chef Kernel Cutter?

Bagging it up and ready for the freezer.

I mentioned how gross the lower drawers of the refrigerator were. I had a pretty good excuse for letting it get to such a deplorable state: The fridge door has to be opened ALL the way in order to get the shelves and drawers out. But where the refrigerator sits, the door doesn't have room to open ALL the way out. I couldn't move the fridge by myself, so ... no move, no clean. Since all the drawers had been emptied on Wednesday night to hold the corn, and now all the corn had been moved out, I took the next brave step. "Weldon, would you please move the fridge out far enough so I can fully open the door?" He did.

Yup. Dead gnats, bugs, and icky stuff under the bottom shelf. I knew they were there, but I couldn't get at them ... until I asked Weldon to move the fridge. It only took a year or two for me to ask.

Here are the cleaned-up shelves and drawers. Yay!

All clean and pretty and in their rightful place.

Now I just have to ask Weldon to move the refrigerator back into its corner, snug against the kitchen cabinet. I'll give him the evening off and ask him to do it tomorrow morning.

So, how to wrap up this busy day? I went to Zaxby's to pick up some chicken strips and French fries for supper. I still had to boil a couple ears of corn and make a salad for Weldon, but I kept it as simple as possible.

And now I'm going to do my Friday Night Nothing! Yay, Me!

Opposites Attract

[I was all set to write a blog post today, but then I saw this one in a saved folder! I wrote it a couple months ago, but I couldn't publish it because of some new Blogger rules. I tried everything I knew to do (which wasn't much), but got so frustrated, I just gave up. In reading it today, I decided it was worth another try, so here it is ... if it actually posts when I hit "Publish."]

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If you've read my book, you know that adapting to life on a farm took me many years. Actually, I'm not sure I've adapted, but at least I've given up on trying to keep the house neat and tidy. Dust (and worse) has simply become part of the home decor.

As if learning about farm ways wasn't enough, I've also had to adjust to the farmer! Something that still amazes me is how different Weldon and I are ... in just about everything. I guess it goes to prove that opposites attract.

Here's just one silly example from today.

Weldon had to go to Winston-Salem for a few farm-related things. He asked if I'd like to go along. I thought, "Sure! Might as well. We haven't done anything together in a while." So, off we went.

We hadn't yet made it to his first stop when I told him I had coupons for Krispy Kreme if he was interested. No. He said there was cake at home and he'd put on a few pounds since the rains had kept him indoors a little more than usual. (Weldon could put on 10 pounds and still be thinner than anyone else I know!) He continued to drive. I saw Dunkin' Donuts just ahead. "Hey! You want to try Dunkin' Donuts for a change?" No. And he kept on driving.

On to the task at hand: getting some much-needed part at Ferguson Plumbing. Weldon was standing at the register and there on the counter were two boxes of Krispy Kreme Donuts and one box of Dunkin' Donuts! The cashier said, "Have one." He said it a couple of times, so I peeked inside and saw the box wasn't full. I asked him, "You mean we can have one? Now? Free?" He said, "Yes. Have as many as you like!" Well, I chose a Dunkin' Donuts donut with sprinkles. Weldon declined.

I nibbled on my donut while Weldon continued talking with the guy at the register. Then another employee saw me and asked if I'd like a cup of coffee with my donut. "Well, sure!" He pointed me in the right direction and I'm having ♫ the time of my life ♫. "Have some more! Do you want some popcorn?" I declined, but I surely was smiling!

I suppose the key here might be willpower. I mean, who (besides Weldon) can resist free donuts and free coffee? But from my point of view, it's Live a little! Enjoy! All work and no play makes Weldon a dull boy. But there's no sense in trying to change Weldon or myself. We'll just keep doing what we do and meet in the middle every once in a while. Ain't life grand!

Eyes That See

Have you missed me? I last posted in January (!) but I spent more than two hours in March writing a fabulous post. Google messed it up big time, so I pretty much lost my work and gave up. All I can figure out is maybe I can't "steal" any more photos from the internet. However, if I have a problem with this post, I'll see it as a sign from the Lord (NOT Google) and call it quits. Here goes.

I had just put a cake in the oven when Weldon opened the door and called in, "Come on. I want to show you something! Get your camera! Bring mine, too." I grabbed his camera and my phone, slipped on my shoes, and headed out, saying "I just put a cake in the oven, so I need to be back within 20 minutes." He had the four-wheeler (the dirty, mud-splattered four-wheeler) and told me to climb on. I obeyed, very gingerly. "Should I have changed my jeans?" "Nah, you'll be fine."

We roared down the road and he turned onto one of the far fields. I didn't notice anything too special when he stopped, but he hopped off and started walking, his camera at the ready. I looked around and asked, "This is it?" He was already taking photos.

And then my eyes were opened and I saw the beauty ... of dandelions! They were everywhere, carpeting the field. My pictures don't begin to show how lovely it was.

I was captivated! Then my eyes were drawn to a tree adorned in beautiful purple blooms. I forgot to ask Weldon what kind of tree it was. Maybe a red bud? Or a purple bud. 😊 Again, the pictures don't do justice to the work of the Master Artist.

Robert Louis Stevenson said it succinctly: "The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings." We get so busy (frustrated, tired, judgmental, lackadaisical) in our own little world that we often miss the "number of [amazing] things" all around us.

When Weldon delivered me to the house, the timer had already gone off, but the cake looked to be just fine. We'll test it out after supper tonight. (It's just a cake mix with a few adjustments and goodies thrown in, so don't be too jealous.)

We're all busy. But in the midst of busy, let's take a moment to see (and delight in) the beauty at hand. Dandelions. Birds. The neighbor who drives you crazy. Fluffy cloud "animals". Kids trying to catch butterflies. Cake. Don't forget cake!

Lord, give us eyes that see!

Let Me 'Splain

Dear Reader,

I kinda sorta regret calling myself an author. I wish I had just proclaimed, "Hey! I wrote a book! You can get a copy from me or on Amazon or at various local bookstores. Yay, Me!"

Instead, I created a Facebook author page. I started "Like"ing and "Follow"ing various authors and way too many writing pages. If an author "Like"d my page, I felt obligated to "Like" his/her page in return. Now I have more than a hundred "author friends" whom I don't even vaguely know and whose books I'll probably never read. What's the point?

Almost every day I search for some article or tidbit to post on my author page, because that's just how I am. When I do something, I want to do it well. (There is probably a series of letters that explains this phenomenon [like AC/DC?], but ... whatever.) After each post, it's usually only my "real" friends and family who comment. That doesn't make me feel bad, but it makes me wonder where all the 500 friends are who "Like" my author page.

Yes, I'm still writing. It's part of who I am. But I don't know if my "scribblings" will result in another book. I'm not worried about it. What I'm "worried" about is wasting too much time on Facebook — especially with people I don't even know.

SO, I'll keep my author page, but I won't try to get more "followers." I don't even know what that means or what the benefit might be. You can "Like" my page, but I won't feel obligated to "Like" you back. I plan to go through my friend list and "get rid of" the people I don't know or haven't personally interacted with on a regular basis.

I'm guessing that, when I share this on Facebook, only my family and friends will read it, and it won't affect them (you!) anyway. But it just felt right to 'splain myself.

Sincerely,
Author Cindy Keiger 😌