cupcakes...

Baking in the motorhome can be fairly easy except when there are so many steps to a recipe. I decided that it would be fun to make homemade hostess cupcakes so I took on the project one morning I started around 10 a.m. and finally finished them around 3 p.m.!!! Boil the water and sugar and then melt the chocolate. Let it cool. Sift the flour....etc., etc. Let the cupcakes cool for 25 minutes in the muffin pan and then another 25 minutes on a cooling rack. Make the filling, make the genache and the frosting. Fill the cupcakes and frost them with 2 kinds of frosting. I remember saying several times that I would never make them again but today I think I might do it again. The recipe was labor intensive but the end product was worth it. Some people wanted to know why I would make them and I told them..."because I knew I could." Lots of people feel so restricted in a motorhome.

When we sold the house I gave my kitchen aid mixer to Chuck but now I have a new one and I love it.

If you remember in the beginning I told you about all my gadgets. Well, I recently added a marinade injector. Skip is doing a dinner for 100 people at the clubhouse next week and he need an injector. He is injecting an apple juice marinade into pork roasts. He made a trial roast and it was really wonderful.

Canning in the RV

Who would think that I would be canning in the RV! Well, I canned some pickled beets over the weekend. The last time I canned, I made jelly...which was a couple years ago...it was sort of funny. I didn't have a canner so I used a regular pot. I think I put knives on the bottom so the jars wouldn't touch the bottom and there were knives between the jars. Now that I look back at it it was so funny! There was water boiling over onto the little stove in the RV. There was not only jelly made but also jam. Boy, was I proud of myself. There were 18 jars when I was finished. Twisting a cheesecloth to get the juice out was another challenge.

Now, I have once again have a canner and all the other gadgets you need to can. Of course, I did have those when I was in our house but we sold them because there was no way I was ever going to be able to can in a motorhome.

The sweet corn is in so I will go out there on Saturday and pick some. I have never canned corn but I usually freeze it. Lots of blanching and with so little counter space it really can easily become cluttered. Since there isn't that much room in the RV freezer I may try to can some...we'll see. Skip has asked if I could make some bread and butter pickles so that will be a project next week. Of course, the jam still has to be made.

When I was younger I use to can tomatoes and even make tomatoe juice. Don't think I'll be that adventurous this year. It was wonderful when we had a garden...maybe we will put one on our lot in Oregon next year.

Still trying to cook as much as possible but tonight was a brat dinner at the clubhouse. Skip and a bunch of men did all the cooking. It was a nice break.

August 12, 2011

So much has happened to us since last year. We have a beautiful new Granddaughter named Ruby. She was born in May and we were lucky enough to be there for her birth. We miss her and her parents and can't wait to see them again. Thanks to the internet we can watch her grow in pictures.

The other 6 grandchildren are all getting ready to go back to school. Four will be in college and two are in high school. The ones in college will be in Arizona, Illinois, California and Ohio. The two in high school are in California. They sure grow up fast!

We did a lot of traveling last year when we left Oregon. We visited California, Nevada and Arizona where we were able to see all of our children. We spent Thanksgiving in Las Vegas and Christmas in California. In November, we went to a taping of the Regis and Kelly show in Las Vegas. We also went to the Pawn Star shop...they have a show on TV. That was lots of fun. In April, we joined a friend at Harrah's in Las Vegas for a Birthday lunch at the Oyster Bar. It is always fun to get together with a good friend. We spent one week in the foothills of the Sierra's where it rained for 6 out of 7 days. We spent a month in Arizona and then went up to Nevada where we spent 4 months. After Ruby was born. we drove to California for Jessica's high school graduation. In June, we headed to Oregon for the summer.

Our time in Oregon has been very busy with volunteering and enjoying time with friends. There are so many activities to do at the park that we are constantly busy. We have a coffee group, a couple of happy hour groups, a craft group and a Friday night dinner group. Retirement is so very busy and we just love it. We took some time and went over to the coast for a day. The Oregon coast is just beautiful.

The Oregon farms are abundant with fresh produce right now. The farm I go to has lots of flowers and old furniture and farm implements. They also have a shop where you can buy jams, jellies and chutney. I picked beets, green beans and summer squash a couple weeks ago. Tomorrow we will go pick again. I have decided to can pickled beets and make bread and butter pickles. The blackberries grow wild up here and I will be making jelly and jam. I have already frozen blueberries. Sounds like I'll have my hands full.

There is a block party coming up the first part of September and a crab rally coming up the end of September on the coast. Then we will head back to California and maybe Nevada and Arizona. Nothing is for sure yet. You never know where we will end up. Once we went to Reno for a function and ended up in Maine. That was so much fun so you can never tell where we will go.

and it rains in Oregon...

Yes, it does occassionally rain in Oregon. It started raining last night and is just kind of drizzling today. Although, there are reports that we should get heavy rainds later today and tomorrow. We arrived in Oregon at the end of August. We belong to a RV group called the Escapees and there is a park in Southern Oregon where we like to go. We have been coming to the park for about 7 years and have lots of friends here. It was time for us to take a break from taking care of an RV park in CA and relax a bit. About a week after we arrived, the office informed us that we would be getting our lot. That means that we will have a permanent lot here. Once we paid the money for a lifetime lease we got our lot. At first we were told, we would be getting one lot but someone above us on the list dropped off and we had to take another lot. Our lot faces south and we get the afternoon sun on the side of the motorhome. We can always trade lots if something comes up. Right now we are not planning on doing any landscaping until next year. Since we have been here we have attended lots of dinners with friends. Once a week there is a friendship meeting at the clubhouse. People take turns hosting the meeting. I was the host last week. It was fun. People were surprised that I was not scared to talk in front of people! Imagine that! OCHS speech class and working in personnel helped.
We were suppose to go the Oregon Coast with a group of people for three days but we needed to have some repairs done to the motorhome and the only time they could fit us in was during the rally to the coast. We took the RV to Eugene (an hour away) and then drove in the car about 2 hours to Portland. There was a quilt show there and I wanted to meet my friend, Trudie there. It was a short but a very nice visit. I wish I could remember to update this on a regular basis but we are so busy up here. Until next time, stay out of the rain.

baking and more

Peaches have been a good price at the store so I bought a several pounds. I decided to bake a pie with them. The last time I baked a peach pie the peaches didn't get quite done so this time I actually opened a cook book. I followed the baking instructions for the pie. It suggested baking it at a higher temperature for 20 minutes and then turning it down for another 40 minutes. Saturday I baked the pie and then posted that I did on facebook and just waited for the grandkids to comment...the pie lovers! After a while the phone rang and it was Brett inviting me over for dinner and to bring the pie. They like pie but had never had peach pie so they wanted to try it. Well, try it they did and decided they like it. I always like it when they are willing to try new foods. Julie made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. After dinner we played cards. It was a really nice night.

Shelly, Doug and Jessica are on a trip taking Brandon back to college in Illinois. They are going to stop at a couple colleges for Jessica to tour; visit aunts and uncles in IL; visit Doug's parents in IL and Doug may do some work stops too. Here are a couple pictures of Julie's family and Shelly's family.

Midweek...

The middle of the week and I'm exhausted! We are preparing the motorhome for a trip to Oregon. Preparing means lots of cleaning. I have cleaned all of the kitchen cupboards and the one over the washer. Tomorrow I'm tackling the bathroom cupboards. It's amazing to come across things we haven't seen for a long time and wonder why we are keeping them. I have two bags ready to give to charity. When I cleaned the spice cupboard that was really interesting. I really think that I have more spices in this RV than some homes but I need everyone. Tonight we had swiss steak, garlic mashed potatoes and a green salad. Of course, there will be a chocolate and white cake for dessert...yum.
I put the binding on a baby quilt today. Tonight I will cross stitch a label to put on the back of the quilt. Hopefully, this time I'll remember to take a picture of the quilt before I mail it off on Friday.
Oliver received a bath today. He absolutely loves to take a bath. We don't use a hair dryer to dry him because he doesn't like it. After we towel dry him, he runs back and forth in the RV drying himself the way he wants. He does stop once in a while to roll on a towel. It is so much fun to watch.
Even though we are in an RV we still live a normal life...more or less.

Summer coming to an end...

Here it is the middle of August and summer is almost over. Some of the Grandchildren have already started back to school and the others will be following them soon.
I'm still trying to cook in the RV and not go out to eat. Last night, I poached some chicken breasts and made a big chicken salad. Tonight, I'll be using the last of the fresh chicken breasts and make a chicken stir fry. We have fresh strawberries and blueberries so maybe we can put those with vanilla ice cream.
I'm trying to get back to updating my website and my blog on a regular basis.
A friend sent us some coffee from France and that was a nice compliment to our Peabody muffins one Saturday morning.