Clear Skies

 

Cakes made from boxed mixes are quick and easy, but notoriously dry and tasteless. Cakes made from scratch are delightful, but usually a ton of work. This recipe is an improvement on both.

 

Tres Leches – From a Box

 

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup water

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs

14 ounces sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)

1 cup milk

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

 

Heat oven to 350F and coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Beat cake mix, water, oil, vanilla and eggs for 2 minutes, scraping sides of bowl. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 28 minutes, then set on rack to cool 5 minutes. Poke cake all over with a fork. In a medium bowl, stir together condensed milk, milk and cream. Pour evenly over cake. Loosely cover and chill. You can serve this as is, or with strawberries and whipped cream.

Six Green Log Cabins

 

In 2001, a 13-year-old boy scout named Cody Clawson got lost in Yellowstone National Park. He was missing for more than 18 hours. “It rained and sleeted that night,” said Cody. “It was pretty scary.” Somehow, he kept his wits about him. Cody found a small cave, where he spent the night. In the morning, he heard a small plane overhead. “I started looking for an open place so I could signal them,” he said. “I used my belt buckle to reflect the sunlight.” The pilot saw his signal, and was able to land nearby. The pilot said, “Good morning,” and Cody, an avid Star Wars fan, realized his rescuer was the actor who’d portrayed Han Solo. Harrison Ford asked Cody how he was doing, and added, “You really should have earned a merit badge for this.” As it happens, mirror signaling is actually part of the Wilderness Survival merit badge requirements.   

Six Butterflies

 

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is constructing temples all over the world. Their purpose is to bless the covenant children of God with temple worship and with the sacred responsibilities and powers and unique blessings of being bound to Christ they receive by covenant. The Church of Jesus Christ is known as a church that emphasizes making covenants with God. Covenants are inherent in each of the ordinances of salvation and exaltation this restored Church administers. The ordinance of baptism and its associated covenants are requirements for entrance into the celestial kingdom. The ordinances and associated covenants of the temple are requirements for exaltation in the celestial kingdom, which is eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God. That is the focus of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” – President Dallin H. Oaks

Four Red Log Cabins

 

Victor Hugo was distressed to see Gothic architecture disappearing from the French landscape. He felt a wealth of cultural heritage was crumbling from neglect. In an attempt to get Parisiens to care about the 12^th century Cathedral of Notre Dame, he wrote a story involving a dancing Gypsy, an evil archdeacon, and a deformed bell ringer. Hugo’s novel was published in 1831. There were at least four silent movie versions before the 1923 Lon Chaney movie. Charles Laughton starred as Quasimodo in Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1939, and Anthony Quinn took the role in 1956. The Disney animated film – with a decidedly happier ending – appeared in 1996, with Tom Hulce and Demi Moore. The Alan Menken/Stephen Schwartz musical debuted in 1999, using songs from the Disney movie with a story closer to the original novel. For months I’ve been working on a production which closes tonight. It’s some of the hardest music I’ve ever played. And I’m sorry to see it go.

Orange Dress

 

He was head baker aboard the Titanic, which meant he was in charge of at least a dozen other bakers; responsible for providing bread, rolls and pastries for at least 2,000 people. Charles Joughin was asleep in his cabin at 11:40 p.m. when the Titanic hit an iceberg. He dressed and went to his station. Charles ordered 50 loaves to be sent to the lifeboats, so evacuees would have something to eat while they awaited rescue. He then went to his assigned lifeboat, where he helped others to board. Then he returned to his cabin, put on his warmest clothes and pocketed his money and papers. Charles returned to the deck and threw chairs overboard, hoping they might help someone in the water. Once in the water himself, Charles swam to an overturned lifeboat and clung to it until the RMS Carpathia arrived around 4:00 a.m. Charles was one of the last survivors to be taken on board.

Eight Crabs

 

Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, said this about home libraries: "It’s foolish to think you have to read all the books you buy. It would be like saying you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. There are things in life we need to have plenty of, even if we only use a small portion. If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand it’s good to have many at home rather than a few. When you want to feel better, you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for this moment. You should always have a choice! Those who buy only one book, read it and get rid of it; they simply apply the consumer mentality to books. Those who love books know a book is anything but a commodity."

Back to School

 

In 1947, two friends climbed to the summit of the Mount Hood and camped there overnight. George Padon, a WWII veteran, and Gary Snyder, a high school student who’d go on to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, felt like the only men on the highest mountain in Oregon. But when they emerged from their tent next morning, they found a newspaper and a quart of milk waiting. If you’re under thirty, you probably don’t remember: milkmen and paperboys used to deliver to your door in the wee hours of the morning. One just wouldn’t expect this sort of service at the tops of mountains. It takes an experienced climber around seven hours to scale this peak, and they were completely alone. More than 50 years later, Gary’s friend Ross Petrie finally fessed up. Ross, and avid hiker, knew where they’d be that night, and thought milk and a paper would be the perfect prank.

Four Green Log Cabins

 

Because we have a three mature oak trees in the back garden, we also have at least one squirrel there. (Possibly more, but we only see one at a time.) This squirrel feverishly stocked acorns EVERYWHERE last autumn, and the ones he didn’t eat last winter sprouted up all over the place this spring. I was reading the other day about a group of Russian scientists who found a series of ancient arctic squirrel burrows near the Kolyma River in 2012. In the rodents’ storage chambers, they found over 600,000 specimens of seeds and fruits estimated to be over 30,000 years old. Among them were narrow-leafed campion seeds (Silene stenophylla). At first, efforts to germinate the seeds proved unsuccessful. But when the Russian Academy of Sciences added tissue samples from the campion fruit into the mix, they were able to propagate 32 “new” plants from the 30,000-year-old seeds – by far the oldest plants ever grown.

Four Butterflies

 

“There’s a song about prayer that Primary children sing all over the world. If I were really brave, I would sing it to you! ‘Heavenly Father, are you really there? And do you hear and answer every child’s prayer?’ How can you know that Heavenly Father is really there, even when you can’t see Him? President Russell M. Nelson has invited you to ‘pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father, and then listen!’ Listen to what you feel in your heart and to thoughts that come to your mind. Heavenly Father has a glorified body of flesh and bones and is the Father of your spirit. Because Heavenly Father has all power and knows all things, He can see all His children and can hear and answer every prayer. You can come to know for yourself that He is there and that He loves you. ‘Pray, He is there. Speak, he is listening.’” – Susan H. Porter

Red Log Cabin

Here are some interesting facts about books:

Harvard University Library has four books bound in human skin.

Iceland tops the world in per capita book reading.

People who read books are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

In Brazilian prisons, reading a book can reduce a prisoner's sentence by four days.

Virginia Woolf wrote all her books while standing.

The most stolen book is the Bible.

Teddy Roosevelt read an average of one book per day.

There are over 20,000 books about chess.

Victor Hugo’s "Les Misérables" contains a sentence with 823 words.

Words like "hurry" and "addiction" may have been invented by Shakespeare.

If all the books in the New York Public Library were lined up, they’d stretch eight miles.

Leo Tolstoy's wife hand-copied the manuscript of "War and Peace" seven times.

Noah Webster took 36 years to write his first dictionary.

The Mahabharata is the only book in the world with over 1,200 characters

Gold Dress

 

In 1957, the BBC current affairs show Panorama aired a segment about the spaghetti harvest in Ticino, Switzerland. The clip showed a rustic Swiss family bringing in a bumper crop of noodles from their spaghetti trees. They attributed their bountiful harvest to a mild winter and an absence of spaghetti weevils. Included was some footage of the annual Spaghetti Festival and a discussion of efforts to develop a longer strain of spaghetti. The segment aired with tongue firmly pressed in cheek, on the first of April. The station was flooded with calls from viewers, asking how they could acquire and cultivate their own spaghetti trees. I suspect this isn’t just a case of gullibility. It might also be because very few Brits (or Americans, for that matter) back then even ate pasta. In fact, many of my acquaintances (here or there) who were adults in the 50’s still don’t consider noodles an actual food.

Six Crabs

 

It all started with a particular breed of chicken: an Izegemse Koekoek. I don’t know how to pronounce it, but I suspect if you say it right, you sound a bit like a chicken yourself. It’s a rather pretty bird, with black and white spots. And it was in danger of becoming extinct. The place where these chickens were once plentiful is Izegem, Belgium. In 2010, city officials offered three of these lovely hens each to 2,000 qualified households. Among other things, families had to guarantee they had enough space to raise chickens, and promise not to eat or give away the birds for at least two years. The program was a raging success. Not only did thousands of Belgians get access to very fresh eggs, but household waste was reduced. (Chickens will happily eat banana peels, melon rinds, potato skins, pretty much any food waste.) It was such a success, in fact, they’re still doing it.

Triple Square Triangle Star

 

Some time ago, a journalist asked actor and director Jackie Chan if he was satisfied with his life. Here is how he responded:

"You know, I once heard these very wise words:

Your hard work is the dream of every unemployed person;

Your restless child is the dream of everyone without children;

Your small home is the dream of every homeless person;

Your little capital is the dream of every debtor;

Your poor health is the dream of every patient with an incurable disease;

Your peace, your peaceful sleep, your accessible food is the dream of everyone in a country at war.

You must appreciate everything you have. After all, no one knows what tomorrow will bring."

Are you satisfied with your life?

Green Log Cabin

 

We didn’t find a Forth of July pancake breakfast, so we made our own. Consequently, we had REAL maple syrup, and all the sausage and bacon we chose to eat.

 

Buttermilk Pancakes

 

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cups buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons butter, melted

 

In a large bowl, combine first five (dry) ingredients. Blend well. In a medium bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. While stirring wet ingredients with whisk, slowly pour in melted butter. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. (Mixture will be lumpy.) Scoop out pancake batter with a 1/4 cup onto a hot, oiled griddle. Flip when edges start to dry. Serve immediately.

1930's Butterfly

 

“Remember the house built on rock and one on sand? Elder Uchtdorf explained: ‘A house doesn’t survive a storm because the house is strong. It doesn’t survive because the rock is strong. The house survives because it’s firmly attached to the rock. It’s the strength of the connection that matters.’ Our personal connection to Jesus Christ gives us courage and confidence to move forward. Christ invites us to keep Him in our thoughts constantly; He tells us, ‘Look unto me in every thought.’ Thinking about the Savior gives us clarity of mind to make decisions, to act without fear, and to say no to what is contrary to God’s teachings. When my day is difficult and I feel like I can’t take any more, thinking about Christ brings me peace and gives me hope. How can we draw upon this power of Jesus Christ? Obeying our covenants and increasing our faith in Jesus Christ are key.” – Andrea Muñoz Spannaus

Tomato Pin Cushion Quilt - Without Borders

 

We had this soup last week, with garlic/butter bread sticks. The recipe doesn’t call for it, but we garnished it with a bit of heavy cream. It should serve six as a side dish (in cups), but if it’s the main course (in bowls), you’ll want to double it.

 

Tomato Basil Soup

 

2 1/2 pounds Roma tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1/3 cup chopped carrots

4 garlic cloves, chopped

3 cups broth

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 loosely packed cup fresh basil leaves

 

Place tomato halves cut side up on parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with half the oil; salt and pepper to taste. Roast about an hour. Heat remaining oil in large pot; add carrots, onions and garlic. Cook about 8 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, vinegar, and thyme. Simmer for 20 minutes. Process with immersion blender until smooth. Serve warm.

Grey Dress

 

Dan Povenmire studied art at the University of South Alabama and the University of Southern California, but never completed the graduation requirements. He had a short-lived career as a street artist before working on animated TV programs like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons. In 1993, Dan and coworker Jeffrey Marsh cooked up a series about two inventive stepbrothers, a bumbling supervillain, and his nemesis, a platypus secret agent. Disney picked up Phineas and Ferb, and Dan’s been fielding questions ever since: “Why’s Perry teal? Platypuses don’t really look like that!” Of course, Perry’s a cartoon character, and muddy brown just doesn’t play well in animation. But in 2020, scientists discovered platypuses are bioluminescent. When you expose them to ultraviolet light, they glow blue-green. Dan has no background in biology. Honestly, he barely studied art. But almost two decades earlier, he’d randomly chosen that very color, simply because he thought it looked “cool.”

Four Crabs

 

Homemade Greek-Style Yogurt

 

6 cups of milk

1/4 cups plain Greek yogurt

 

Fill slow cooker with boiling water and set aside, NOT plugged in or turned on. Add milk to a saucepan and warm it to 185F. (Almost, but not quite boiling.) Set pot in a cold plunge (a sink filled with cold water) until milk cools to about 90F. Add a cup of the cooled milk to the yogurt in a small bowl; whisk. Dump hot water out of slow cooker. Add the remaining milk to warmed (but still not plugged in) slow cooker, then pour yogurt/milk mixture into slow cooker. Whisk to combine. Wrap slow cooker in towel and leave it on counter 9 hours. Put a colander in a large bowl and line it with cheese cloth. Pour yogurt into the cheese cloth and let it the excess liquid strain out, in the refrigerator, another 9 hours.

One More Key Lime Pie

 

We bought a hummingbird feeder weeks ago, and hung it outside my sewing room window. For some time, we saw no activity at all. The sugar-water level was receding, but so slowly it may have been evaporation. Last week while emptying waste paper baskets, I caught a flash of color from the corner of my eye. It was a male black-chinned hummingbird, darting back and forth at the feeder. I grabbed my phone for a picture, but was too slow. The next day, I noticed the cat watching a female broad-tailed hummingbird through the window. In the shadows, the bird looks grey, but when she darts into the light, she’s a stunning iridescent green. I managed to get a few blurry shots, but I’ll keep trying. In this heat, I like to clean and refill the feeder at least once a week. I use one part sugar to four parts water, no food coloring. 

English Breakfast

 

When my middle son (and three “adopted” kids) worked at Kneaders Bakery & Cafe, they held an employee smoothie recipe competition. Josh’s was the winner by a landslide. He was compensated, so maybe when the owner included it in her cookbook, she didn’t feel obligated to attach his name. (I’d be beyond shocked if she even remembered it.) I’m surprised the winning blueberry smoothie has so very little blueberry in it. But we resurrected the recipe a few weeks ago, and can testify: it’s hands-down the best.

 

Blueberry Number Five

 

1 1/2 cups guava juice (This was the hardest ingredient to find.)

1/2 cup pineapple sherbet (We settled for pineapple/orange.)

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (Vanilla frozen yogurt also works.)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup frozen strawberries

1/3 ripe banana

 

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Then, rinse the blender bottle, before bits of blueberry dry and become fused with it. 

One Dozen Floating Stars

 

“Our Father wants a deeper relationship with all His sons and daughters, but it is our choice. As we choose to draw nearer to Him through a covenant relationship, it allows Him to draw nearer to us and more fully bless us. God sets the conditions and obligations of the covenants we make. When we choose to enter into that relationship, we witness to Him, through the symbolic actions of each covenant, that we are willing to abide by the conditions He has set. Through honoring our covenants, we enable God to pour out the multitude of promised blessings associated with those covenants, including increased power to change and become more like our Savior. Jesus Christ is at the center of all covenants we make, and covenant blessings are made possible because of His atoning sacrifice.” – J. Anette Dennis

Thirty-Two Pin Cushions

 

Their last name was Karnofsky, but Louis always referred to them as “my Jewish family.” He met them when he was seven. The Karnofskys adopted Louis like a stray cat. In their home, he acquired a taste for Jewish cuisine that would stay with him his whole life. Louis’ first job was working for the Karnofskys, helping their sons collect rubbish and deliver coal. On one of these trips, they passed a used B-flat cornet in a pawn shop window. It was selling for $5; far beyond Louis’ reach. The Karnofskys helped Louis save up enough to buy this treasure, which he used to earn more money playing in pubs and bars. Louis Armstrong would grow to be the first super star of jazz. He always wore a Star of David to honor the family who had taken him in. He was proud to speak fluent Yiddish. His nickname, Satchmo, comes from the Yiddish word for “fat cheeks.”

Brown Dress

 

“I’ve long believed part of our problem with resolving race issues in America is our inability to accurately name what we are. Aside from the occasional Johnny and Edgar Winter, there are no white people. Any child with a box of crayons can tell you white people are, in fact, beige. Following this crayon logic, one can easily see there are no black people. They’re brown. Or perhaps raw umber. Maybe burnt sienna. Frankly, every time I hear someone comment on our first black president, I can’t help thinking, ‘No, he’s not. He’s more like caramel.’ Which is why I think we should all get in the habit of calling each other what we really are. How can you racially slur a man by calling him ‘beigey’ or ‘umber?’ The answer is you can’t. Because that’s exactly what he is. The melanin doesn’t lie. Buy a box of Crayolas and see for yourself.” – Chuck Lorre

Deep Blue Crab

 

"Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom." - John Adams

"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth." - George Washington

"Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance." - Woodrow Wilson

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." - Martin Luther King Jr.

"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." - Benjamin Franklin

"Liberty, according to my metaphysics is a self-determining power in an intellectual agent. It implies thought and choice and power." - John Adams

"Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people." - Thomas Jefferson

"The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American!" - Patrick Henry

Martha Washington Star

 

Vallvidrera is a town in the mountains of Spain, near Barcelona. You can reach Vallvidrera via bus or funicular. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Mallorca and the Pyrenees. The people who live in Vallvidrera claim to have invented the game of curling 500 years ago, a year ahead of the Scots. There’s no actual evidence of this, but they don’t let a little thing like that bother them. Vallvidrera does have a curling team. Every year, the team meets at the reservoir to see if the ice is thick enough to play. It never is, primarily because the temperature there seldom dips below the 40’s. The curling team has never actually played. But they don’t let a little thing like that bother them. They all head to a local restaurant and order brunch. They raise their glasses and shout, “Jugarem!” which means, “We shall play!” in Catalan. 

Thirty-Two Teacups and Saucers

 If you’re ever in need of a good comeback, try one of these:

“I don’t have the time or the crayons to explain this to you.”

“I’ll never forget the first time we met, but I’ll keep trying.”

“Somewhere out there, there’s a tree working very hard to produce oxygen so you can breathe. I think you should go and apologize to it.”

“Your family tree must be a cactus, because you’re all a bunch of pricks.”

“Stupidity isn’t a crime, so you’re free to go.”

“What doesn’t kill you disappoints me.”

“Remember when I asked for your opinion? Me neither.”

“The people who tolerate you on a daily basis are the real heroes.”

“Someday, you’ll go far. I hope you stay there.”

“Don’t be ashamed of who you are. That’s your parents’ job.”

“I understood everything you said. I’m choosing to ignore you.”

Everyone’s entitled to act stupid once in a while, but you’re abusing the privilege.”

Nine Floating Stars

 

“In his closing remarks at the October 2019 general conference, our dear prophet reminded us about an important step in achieving covenant confidence, saying: ‘Individual worthiness to enter the Lord’s house requires much individual spiritual preparation. Individual worthiness requires a total conversion of mind and heart to be more like the Lord, to be an honest citizen, to be a better example, and to be a holier person.’ Therefore, if we change our preparation to enter the temple, we will change our experience in the temple, which will transform our lives outside of the temple. ‘Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.’” - Elder Ulisses Soares