Vinegar (TAFFY) Candy Gr. Dev Style

One more great recipe from my childhood. We used to beg for this because it was so much fun to "pull" the taffy. Seems as I've taken a couple walks down memory lane, we were always begging for something, sounds like the kids nowadays! Anyway, here it is. Let me know if you try this and how it comes out. Have FUN!

Vinegar Candy(Taffy)

2 C Sugar
1/2 C Vinegar
1/2 C Water
1 Tbs Butter
Pinch Baking Soda

Combine sugar, vinegar, water in a pan and cook to light crack stage (not sure what that is on a thermometer, but if you drop a small amount into a cup of cold water, it should crack). Add butter and soda and stir. Remove from heat and pour onto a butter pan or platter and let it cool until it is cool enough to handle. Pull with buttered fingers until stiff. Then stretch it out and cut into pieces. We used to sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

You can add flavorings/coloring as well at the same time you add the butter and soda.

Grandma Dev's Million Dollar Fudge Cake

Fudge Cake
Makes 1 8x8 or 1 round layer

2 C Flour
1 C Sugar
1/2 C Cocoa Powder
2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 C Mayonnaise
1 C Cold Water
1 tsp Vanilla

Combine and sift dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Add Mayonnaise, water and vanilla, blend well. Pour batter into greased pans. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Double recipe for larger/sheet pans.

Double Boiler Icing

In the top of a double boiler combine
2 Egg whites 1 1/2 C Sugar
5 Tbs Cold Water
1/8 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Light Karo Syrup
or
1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar

Place over boiling water (bottom pan) beat on the 2nd speed of your hand beater until blended. Then cook beating constantly on high speed until mixture will stand in peaks. Remove from heat. Spread on cooled Fudge cake

This is an old time favorite of the grandkids (that would be me, my siblings and cousins). I baked up the cake the other night and for high altitude you should probably add a couple Tbs of Flour and cook it about 5 minutes longer. The middle fell on mine after I took it out of the oven but the cake was AWESOME anyway!

Rocky Mountain Air Show

We went to Rocky Mountain Metro Airport yesterday for the annual EAA air show. It was pretty cool, in a new and better location but hotter than blazes It got up to 101 degrees before we bagged it and headed for the car. We had found a couple airplane wings to stand under for shade but it was still hot! I have a sweet farmers tan line on my arms now to match the tan line on my feet.

17 Years and Counting

My sisters all think he looks like Richard Gere, I think maybe a little like Dennis Quaid either of which are darn hot. We've been married 17 years today and that is so hard for me to believe! He's a good guy, treats me well and takes good care of me. Other than a little snoring and talking in his sleep, he's pretty easy to live with. And he got me a new lawn mower for my new lawn in Hurricane, what a stud! Ok, that was just tongue in cheek, in past years, he's given me diamonds, really nice diamonds (3ct yellow for our 15th) a Rolex and the list goes on, so I really am happy with the lawn mower, really!

Happy Anniversary Skid!

The 5 Dysfunctions

Back in my working days I picked up a book by Patrick Lencioni that I'm sure most of you are familiar with. The title is The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. The principles apply to work but more so to life in general and more specifically to families.

The 5 areas are simple ~Trust~Conflict~Commitment~ Accountibility~ Results with the foundation being trust. That seems to be what all relationships turn on, if it is there then the relationship has security, if it is not there, the relationship crumbles. Let me take the 5 points a step further for consideration and thought.

These are the things that keep us from achieving the relationships we want to have.

~Trust - The absence of Trust=invulnerabilty
~Conflict- The fear of conflict=Artificial Harmony (or the excuse to walk away)
~Commitment- The lack of commitment=Ambiguity (you get out of it what you put in)
~Accountability - Avoidance of accountability=low standands (you have to be brave enough to accept your responsibility and also strong enough to hold others accountable for theirs, but it has to be = on both sides)
~Results - Inattention to results = status and ego, both of which are artificial and only important to you.

If you haven't read the book, read it. Although it is written in a business story form, the application is much broader than that.

Look what I found in my Garden!

Ok, this is in the same vein as Nat's Forbidden Fruit. I apologize to anyone that might be offended, but it is too good to pass up. I picked this pepper a few days ago.

Sister Adventures

Karen and I got the bright idea to ride the 4 wheeler out south of my house into the desert. We were gabbing away, laughing and taking silly pictures like usual, but the problem was.... we had on flip flops, shorts, it was getting dusk and we were walking around through the brush like bone heads! We got some fun shots, but this is how lucky we were. On the way back to the 4 wheeler, something caught Karen's attention, you guessed it - there was a RATTLESNAKE! Lucky we saw it first, but wow, it freaked us out! We got on the 4 wheeler and beat it for home, lesson to selves, long pants, boots and helmets!

In case you're wondering why there is no picture of the snake, well, would you have stood there and pressed your luck? Well really, would ya?

The Hacienda

We have spent this week in Hurricane and it has been very busy, but a lot of fun. It is so nice to actually have grass out the back now. Even though there are some spots that still need a little help, it is a HUGE improvement over the dirt and tumble weeds. Next the trees will get planted and then the hammock.....

The most fun week!

I've had the most fun week I can remember. I had a little visitor that just loved to be outside on the ranch with the dogs, kitties and especially the horses. It was so fun to see the world through his eyes. This is just a teaser, I will post more pictures later. ssssst!