Cheapo Cake Frosting from the $1 Aisle

I made a birthday cake for my brother.  I didn’t have much money.. like $23 to go the next 11 days on, but I had some eggs, cake mix, oil and milk.  Comparing to some other residents of this apartment building, I was lucky to have that!

I made the “Ginger Evans” Chocolate cake that I bought a LONG time ago at Sav A Lot.  I went to the Apple Market and bought some Pampa Cream Cheese cake icing.  This is a $1 Aisle brand.

Well, it turned out great!  The cake bugged up because I made it in a brownie pan.  I nuked the icing (bad idea) to make it easier to spread.   Even after this abuse, that cake tasted good, the icing very good with the chocolate Cake.  This is Pampa Brand from Mexico.  Jummy!

“As soon as there is life, there is danger”- Emerson

Man that sums it up!   “As soon as there is life, there is danger.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson.  People walk around like they are superman or something!  They act like they can beat each other up, like in a Roy Rogers saloon fight, and then the next day be buddies or something.

People injure easily, and can be hurt easily.   Now the “Scandals with Obama and the IRS.” and the REAL scandal- the Soviets sell Syria, and probably Iran- missiles that could close the Strait of Hormuz.

Life is like a series of these narrow escapes, and now, ready for the next one!  WHO ever you are, WHERE ever you are, trouble gonna find you.

I got the old Ford F150 square in the eye of my cams this night.  I will wait all night until a parking space opens,  so I can park it in the security area, and not down the dark street in front of Yuri Ives’ house.

Meanwhile- people treat each other like crap all over the place.  MOST people’s families are a big disappointment, with all sorts of politicking and hurt among people.

Man I PRAY all the time, and fervently.  I am thinking of going really vegan now in my diet.  It’s cheaper, and healthier.

Auto Theft on This Street Again

Tracy gets her old Jeep ripped off- again.  Fred says, “I’ll bet this time they ain’t gonna find it.”   Result?  Tracy loses her job which was far away, and now is screwed.  Same thing happened to Fred and boy he NEVER recovered.

Robberies in the building next door.  Last month,  and now this month.  This guy who got robbed was walking to 7-11.  Fred- “They watch and see who is driving and who is walking.”  This guy just had a colostomy installed, and I gave him a box of food, and will give him more, and Fred gave him some peanut butter and is going to give him some canned stuff.

I am learning how to bake, thanks to the net, and make decent bread.

Now I am watching my cars on my cams,  afraid of losing my horse, like a cowboy in the desert.  Fred and Bambi never recovered after their old Toyota wagon got ripped off.  A bunch of stuff has happened to them in the three years since then.  Fred’s legs swoll up and he had congestive heart failure.  Bambi went to the hospital a couple of times, and fights and petty thefts happened.

Each Jewel More Brilliant than the Last

Heady wine is the internet.  Like a cave, with jewels lying on the floor.  Each discovery is better than the last one!  There is stuff on just about anything I want to learn about.  I am learning about Audio now with MULabs, and soundfonts.  I learned how to make bread last week.

YouTube, which I thought was going to be just a fluke, with kids uploading videos of them on the skateboard, has turned out to be a real treasure.  Information on Car maintenance,  and just about anything I want is on there!

I cook my food with my web browser up some times.  I learned how easy it is to make corn on the cob this week.  It is wonderful!

More Bread

That bread recipe, the super easy, no Knead is a winner in my book.  The bread is really a treat.  I have a big cannister in the refrigerator.  Hmm.. this one “fell”.  It rose up, but then it fell.   However, it bakes out good.. rises and the bread is GOOD.  I calculate about 30-40 cents a loaf, even when using packet yeast.   Six cups of flour, 2 packets of yeast make about 2-3 small loaves of bread.  I make them in those little foil bread tins that you get at Aldi, and I use the same tins over and over again.

This seems a lot of trouble, but to me, this is gourmet bread.  Very rich, heavy, sweet and yeasty.  It’s good!  I put about 1/4 cup of 7-up in the loaf, and I put a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar in there.  I guess that is what makes it sweet, and I like that way.  It is a very “tasty” bread.

Mine still is not perfect, but hey, it’s close enough for me!  This bread goes good with butter, honey, and cinnamon.   It has that yeasty taste that I have been aiming for.

The dough will keep 3 weeks, the author claims.  I just grab a hunk off, and put it in the oven for dinner,  takes 30 minutes to bake.

Poor Fred

Fred has COPD, BAD.  He can’t hardly walk outside, can hardly go across the street to the store.  The poor and afflicted around here do just about ANYTHING.. sell themselves to science,  prostitute, or whatever to make a buck.

Poor poor Fred.  He and Bambi are trying to sell themselves dearly.  That Family?  Always cursing him for a bum.

Me I am riding a bike around for my heart and weight.  Slowly.. 1/4 a mile..then 1 mile a day.  My shoulder is still healing.  I HOPE!

People ought to walk a mile in another person’s shoes.  Instead, they try to hammer and hammer them into what they think other people ‘ought’ to be.

As you age in life, well you will find it is one LONG lesson in humility.  You are superior to nothin’, and nobody.  Everyone you meet is your teacher.  Pride goeth before the fall, and there is so much pride.  Pride is highly over rated.

Trying to Make My own Bread- “it ain’t easy!”

I am trying to make my own bread, using this “foolproof” recipe here. 

As usual, I have confounded the experts!  That stuff wouldn’t rise.  It could be the VERY old flour I had in the kitchen cupboard in a plastic container.

As usual, NOTHING is easy.  NOTHING is straightforward.  I look at the photos of the lady.. “it’s as easy as one, two, three.”  YEAH RIGHT!  It did not rise, or there was not the dramatic rise I expected.  The yeast “proofed”.. that is bubbled.

I had a bread machine, it worked, but I did not like it.  I like that “yeasty” malt taste in bread.  At the Independence School district, at Hanthorn Elementary,  the ladies made these wonderful, yeasty rolls.   I want something like that.

Update:  Success!  Got some new flour, some new yeast from the Aldi’s and WA-LA!  Brushed both milk and sugar water on it.  Came out very tasty.   Very easy, and now a large batch of dough is in the refrigerator.  Just yank a hunk off whenever you feel like bread.  It was GOOD.  Yeasty, and sweet too, and heavy.   The crust was crispy.