January 26, 2011 - WOOT!

I did it again! I got myself another "Bag of Crap" from WOOT! For those of you who didn't read about my first experience with the famous BOC, you can read about it here. Anyway, I happened to be on line during a WOOT-off yesterday, so I stayed close to the computer in between loads of wash, and hanging clothes out on the line to dry. I didn't have much hope of actually keeping an internet connection long enough to place an order, even if I were lucky enough to catch the BOC offer, but as luck would have it, the bag suddenly popped up on my screen. I didn't panic this time. The last time I tried for it, the servers were so slow I kept trying to refresh the order screen, and it was sold out before I could get my order in. There's probably only about 2-3 minute period of time from when the offer pops up until it's sold out. Fortunately the order screen came up right away, I hit the buy button, and after what seemed like several minutes, but in reality was a few seconds, I got the confirmation that I had purchased one "Random Bag of Crap". Yes, the name fits the contents in most cases, but the exhilaration of actually getting that $3 prize is akin to landing the big trout, or bagging the big elk, or hitting the big jackpot on a penny slot machine. It's that fact that some people have tried for a BOC for years and have never received one. This is my second one in just over four months. My first one was, well, crap (see it here). Lots of calendars, a lanyard for an iPod, a USB numbers thingy for a laptop and a child's toy. Of course, there's always the chance one will receive something really worthwhile, like an iPad or even a big TV.

Anyway, it wasn't two minutes after I got the confirmation that the order went through successfully, that the electricity went off and the internet connection went down. It was still off when it came time to cook dinner, so I was thankful we have a gas range. By the time we finished eating, I had to get out the candles for enough light to see to wash the dishes.



Once the kitchen was cleaned up, I moved all the candles to the living room. By then, the battery had run down on the laptop so no solitaire or Scrabble, there was no TV, and I had already packed our only board games for the trip home. There were no batteries in the radio, so I used the radio on Mr. Granny's cell phone (the cell phones had no signal at all). By the time I had searched for available stations, and found three good ones, the low battery beep began. So much for listening to the radio! I grabbed my cell phone, which is used more for its mp3 player than for phone calls, and began to play a selection of my favorite music, which just about drove Mr. Granny to drink. I got tired of him glaring at me, so rather than get out my ear buds, I just turned the darned thing off. All that was left to do was actually talk to each other. That got pretty old by around 8 o'clock, so we blew out the candles and called it a night. I woke up around 11, and the electricity was finally back on, so I got up and watched the news channels for snippets of President Obama's State of the Union address, and a rerun of Jimmy Fallon with Jim Carey doing his entire routine while running on a treadmill....funnnny!!

Since this blog is supposed to be about kitchens and gardens, and recently I've not had much to blog about each of those subjects, how about a recipe today? This one was given to me several years ago, by a lady who was even more elderly than I. She's gone now, but I remember her fondly, especially when I bake this delicious cake. This must be made with an electric mixer, as it uses canned apricot halves that must be mixed into the batter well. When the cake is baked, there is no sign that apricots were ever used in the batter. It's just a very moist, delicious spice cake. Enjoy.

Bev’s Apricot Spice Cake

1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 whole eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda, dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups canned apricots (1 15.25 ounce can or 1 pint home-canned), undrained
1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine sugar, oil and eggs in large mixing bowl. Beat well. Add all remaining ingredients, except walnuts, and beat until apricots are completely broken up and combined with the other ingredients. Batter will be quite thin. Stir in walnuts. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9"x13" baking pan. Bake at 350°F. for 30-35 minutes.

Frost with:

Penuche Icing

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Combine butter and brown sugar in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for 2 minutes. Stir in milk and return to boil, stirring.

Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a small mixing bowl. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. Spread warm frosting over cake (cake can also be warm).