A Page From Betty Crocker’s Cookbook

Recently, while sitting in my chair drinking the last of my breakfast coffee, a thought staggered into my mind. I must confess most thoughts are quite lonely once they enter my mind, but this one had a nagging element to it.

Experience has taught me I should never give in to these strange trespassers. Every time I entertain any of them, I’m the one getting burnt.

This time was different. Don’t ask me how it was different, or how I knew it was different, it just was. Of course, looking back I could have been wrong.

The thought: why not surprise my wife by baking her a cake?

I know what you’re thinking. I thought the same thing when this suggested itself to me. But, the more I thought about it, the more delightfully delicious it sounded. How can anything go wrong if I am doing it for my wife?

The only question I needed to answer was what kind of cake should I bake.

After a long period of ruminating, I settled on a lemon sponge cake with peanut butter icing. This was going to be the best surprise my wife has ever received from me.

Sitting in a prominent place in the kitchen is my wife’s Betty Crocker Cookbook. I don’t know how long she has had that book, it’s been in our kitchen for as long as I can remember — which really may not be that long when I come to think of it.

I took the book, sat in my favorite chair and opened it. How do you read a cookbook? As I leafed through it, it did not have any rhyme or reason to me. In musing on the book I said to myself, how important is it to follow directions?

Placing the book back in its revered spot, I concluded that since this was my cake, I didn’t need help from anybody else, particularly Betty Crocker. This is the difference between men and women. Women need a lot of directions, while men enjoy the liberty of doing their own thing.

I knew exactly what I wanted. A lemon sponge cake, with peanut butter icing. What could be simpler?

Retrieving a large mixing bowl, I assembled all the ingredients I needed; flour, sugar, eggs, milk and baking powder. Everyone knows you cannot bake without baking powder.

I have no idea what baking powder is, except when you bake you use baking powder.

I put everything in the mixing bowl. The only thing I wasn’t quite sure of was the measure, but how hard could that be anyway? Betty Crocker mentioned a cup of this and a cup of that, but never defined what she meant by a cup.

I went to the cupboard and looked at all the cups. There were all kinds and sizes of cups and I did not know which one to use. I eyed a large coffee cup and said to myself, this will do just fine.

I dumped 6 or 8 cups of flour into the mixing bowl, I can’t remember how many. Then I cracked a dozen eggs and put that into the mixing bowl as well. Pouring a quart of milk into the mixing bowl, I whipped everything into a nice batter.

This was to be a lemon sponge cake but I could find nothing marked lemon in the cupboard. I opened the refrigerator, and as luck would have it, I found a quart of lemonade.

I poured this concoction into the largest cake pan I could find. As I was about to put it into the oven, I remembered the baking powder. How is this cake going to bake if it doesn’t have the baking powder?

Setting the cake pan down, I grabbed the baking powder and liberally sprinkled it on top of my batter. I have no idea what baking powder does but I put enough on my cake so it would do a good job.

Into the oven the cake went, and with a flick of the wrist I turned the temperature to 450 degrees. Remembering this was a big cake, I readjusted the temperature to 650.

The bigger the cake the hotter the oven, is what I always say.

Now all I needed to do was wait for my cake to bake. As I was waiting, I heard rumblings coming from the oven but just chalked that up to a good cake baking.

I guess I fell asleep, because the next thing I knew there was a strange odor permeating the air. It smelled a little smoky and then it dawned on me. My cake, it’s done.

What I pulled out of the oven did not resemble any cake I had ever seen. It looked like a burnt pancake, twice the size of the cake pan, with some kind of disease on the surface.

No amount of peanut butter icing in the world could camouflage this disaster.

It was about this time I began reassessing the idea of reading directions. Maybe instructions have a purpose after all.

To live right without getting burnt you need the right directions.

Football Season

Guest post from: Joe Castro

I get so depressed every year when football season ends. I have been a huge football fan my whole life, and I look forward to spending my weekends watching football games all summer. Even though my team hasn’t done so well in the last few years, I still love watching the games. It’s nice to know that I will always have something I love to keep me busy. It’s also an excuse to get together with my friends and have a good time. This past season was especially awesome because I finally got NFL Sunday ticket. I had access to all of the games I wanted to watch, which was great. Everyone wanted to come over and hang out at my place since they knew they would have access to every game. It is a lot of work to have everyone over, but it’s such a good time that I don’t mind. My husband and I have even been talking about getting a bigger TV for next season so that we can kick our parties up a notch.

CashTexts Review: Get Paid To Receive Valuable Coupons

CashTexts for those who wish to earn extra income works in a simple and straightforward manner. You complete the free registration, and agree to allow text message advertising to your cell phone. For each message you receive, you earn five cents and are entered into a drawing to win weekly prizes.

There is no obligation to purchase any of the products that are presented to you, and you can pause the incoming messages at any time. Despite the fact that there is no obligation, do consider really reading the messages. Many will contain valuable coupons that you can use to save money. Saving money on the products that you already want or need may prove much more lucrative than the payment for receiving the messages!

Most people now receive text advertising whether they request it or not, and certainly are not PAID to do so. Earning extra cash to receive messages just makes sense, especially when the messages themselves provide something of value such as coupons.

One easy tip is to store the phone number that is associated with the registration code you receive. This will allow you to be able to easily tell the difference between paid texts you receive, and spam messages that you may not wish to read. Another tip would be to refer your friends and family to this great service. Not only will this allow them to earn as well, but you will receive a portion of the amounts they earn!

To find out more, or to go ahead and complete the free registration and get started immediately, visit the company website here: CashTexts

A Look At Seating Options For Parks and More

Portable bleachers can be used in a wide variety of spaces. Wherever there is a need for addition seating, they can be set up easily and used to accommodate those in attendance of your event. Both aluminum and steel varieties are available, with the most popular being aluminum. The portability comes in the form of wheels that allow the bleachers to simply be rolled to another location whenever you wish. There are several size options to choose from, and portable bleachers can be customized to include handicap sections, handrails and much more.

Aluminum bleachers are the more popular choice due to the fact that they are both lightweight and sturdy. There is the option to select from as few as two rows to as many as fifteen. Different lengths can also be chosen, with the longest being twenty-seven feet. Do consider the amount of available space you have when selecting the size you need. Help is available during the ordering process, so feel free to ask any questions that you may have in advance of making your selection.

For outdoor areas, pet waste stations should be considered. These can be installed in nearly any outdoor area, and will certainly promote the cleaning up of dog waste by pet owners. What these include is biodegradable bags and a receptacle for the waste. Available in steel, aluminum, and plastic, each will resist the elements and last for many years.

Park areas can also make use of dog exercise equipment. This equipment allows for plenty of activity for dogs large and small, and should be considered a must for dog parks. Each piece will indeed be built to last and weatherproof. Additionally, slip resistance is a part of these pieces to ensure the highest level of safety for the dogs that use them.

The Importance of Oral Care

Taking care of your teeth is no joking matter one of the first things someone notices is your smile and your teeth. Having great teeth can not only help you in your career but in your relationships as well. So let's get those teeth of yours as clean as possible which will avoid plaque and tartar build ups leading to cavities and bad breath.

Now using a toothbrush is a given for cleaning your teeth but have you ever considered an electric toothbrush. Electric toothbrushes can remove up to 90% of tarter and plaque build ups compared to a measly 10% for a manual toothbrush. Ya I know what your all thinking electric toothbrushes are expensive but they don't have to be there are rebate forms and printable toothbrush coupons you can take advantage of. Just last month we used this Sonicare Flexcare coupon to save $15 off a new electric toothbrush. From what I've seen both Philips and Oral b offer coupons and rebates at least once every few months. Oh by the way Sonicare and Oral b are the two top brands of electric toothbrushes on the market today.

If your concerned about your teeth maybe there starting to stain from all the coffee you drink or maybe you can't visit the dentist as much as you like. A electric toothbrush is an excellent investment. If you take advantage of the Sonicare coupons or Oral b toothbrush coupons when they are available you will be able to save your teeth and some money at the same time. If you want to learn more about Sonicare or Oral b toothbrushes check out these Sonicare toothbrush reviews.