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).

27 comments:

  1. Oh, I can't wait to see what you get in your BOC!

    The cake and icing sound yummy. I haven't made penuche icing in years!

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  2. Hi Granny, I remember its your birthday right? Happy Birthday ...

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  3. Robin, whatever it is, it won't be the "big" one. I had to use my PO box for delivery, as we won't be home yet.

    I love penuche icing. I eat most of it from the spoon, before it gets on the cake! This one is really tasty, too.

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    Sarada, thank you! Yes, I'm 72 years young today ;-)

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  4. Well, I don't need to try to win a BOC, because I get loads of crap everyday. :-)However, i'm glad that you're thrilled to win/receive an assortment of crap in a bag. heh.

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  5. Well, EG, I'll be getting a whole pickup full of crap soon after I get back home! The BOC is just enough to tide me over until then, LOL!

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  6. I can't wait to see what's in the bag! That's probably what my family said when they opened their gift bags of knitted socks this year "what a BOC"!! heheheee

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  7. The apricots didn't have me won over, but the penuche icing did. I love penuche. I imagine that it would be delicious on spice cake. And happy birthday!

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  8. Happy Birthday!!!
    It's hubby's birthday too!
    Hope you had a wonderful day. And the Bag of Crap is just the icing on the cake, isn't it?
    Hope you get a good one!

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  9. Bag of crap sounds funny! I can't wait to see what you got!

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  10. Shawn Ann, Robin & Sue, thank you! Happy birthday to your hubby too, Sue. The good guys were born on Jan 26 ;-)

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    Erin, I'd be more than happy if my BOCrap turned out to be a BOSox, especially hand knitted ones!

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    Daphne, thanks for the birthday wish.

    You really can't taste the apricots, but I imagine a can of peaches would work, too.

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  11. Happy Birthday! You continue to inspire me ... I'd never clean the kitchen by candle light! (but know I probably should)

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  12. Happy Birthday, Granny!! I hope your BOC yields you some great goodies.

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  13. Happy Birthday! I'm loving the long posts, even when I have no idea what BOC is. Yes, I did research, and I know now.

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  14. Meems, me too! I'm going to have to have my kids open it and send me a picture!

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    Teresa, when you clean it by candlelight, you can't see what you've missed! Thanks for the birthday wishes.

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    Thanks, Rachel and Dianefaith! Yes, the BOCs are fun, I hope it's not crap ;-)

    Dianefaith, you can go to YouTube and search for "WOOT BOC", there are lots of videos of people opening them.

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  15. Now I am in suspense about what your bag of crap contains! Ha!

    We lose power during storms regularly due to lots and lots of trees in our area that like to fall down on power lines in heavy snow or wind... so we keep battery powered LED headlamps on hand which allows us to walk about doing our business with our own portable light attached to our forehead! :D It works great and you can read and do other things without having to sit right next to a candle etc.

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  16. Kitsap, WOOT has those head-lights for sale quite often. I've contemplated buying one for night gardening, LOL! Maybe I'll get one in my bag of crap. That would be a nice surprise. Our power goes out every time it rains down here. Must be a ground fault problem. This time I think a semi hit a power pole.

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  17. Happy Birthday Granny! THanks for the recipe. I can't wait to try it. My palate is SCREAMing for real food and this is the cake! LOL. Can't wait to see your baog of crap!

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  18. Thank you, Barbie! Enjoy the cake :-)

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  19. Darnit! I missed your birthday!?! and me, who supposedly knew sooo much about you..lol

    Well it's been a bit crazy here. Some ER visits with the oldest son, my future sister in law was attacked by pit bulls when walking her little dachshunds. (she saved them tho! BEFORE she jumped the fence she put them over first, bless her heart!)

    Needless to say, crazy here.. The cake sounds yummy. I'll be sending you that recipe from the email soon!

    Hugs,
    Wendy

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  20. Dear Granny,

    I LOVE your blog! I love it so much that I am spending my free time reading all the way thru it! I am now back to June.

    I am learning so much. I love your Monday harvests and pictures of garden dinners. Well, honestly - I love it all.

    You are a true inspiration and so endearing.

    Mr. Granny sounds like such a character and has been weaved thru your blog in such a special way.

    Thank you for sharing your kitchen garden.

    Farmer

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  21. Wendy, that's terrible! How is your future SIL doing after the dog attack? Thank heavens she was able to save the little ones. I would be absolutely devastated if my babies were attacked.

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    Farmer, thank you so much! What a wonderful comment. I do hope you enjoy the rest of the posts, but gosh, there are nearly 600 of them, I think! Wendy, who commented just above you, read them all, but I don't know of anyone else who has been that brave. Or patient.

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  22. I'm making the cake tomorrow. I canned so many apricots this year I don't think I'll ever get through them all...thank you so much for the recipe.

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  23. She's doing well. I think it has scarred her more emotionally than physically. She's limping and because the bites on her leg were pretty deep it will take about a month to heal. Animal control was able to find the pit bulls tho, thank goodness, and picked them up.

    To Farmer, it is a FANTASTIC read! Better than a book! lol Such a wealth of gardening information and recipes and little peeks into Granny's life. :) She's an awesome blogger!

    Hugs!
    Wendy

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  24. Lynda, I hope it turns out really well. The first time I made it, I thought I'd done something wrong 'cause the batter was so thin!

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    Wendy, if you and Farmer keep this up, I'm going to have to start charging you. Anything that gives you guys that much joy can't be free! LOL, just kidding, I love that you love the blog.

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  25. Hmmm, a bag of crap, huh?? Well, I'm curious what your crap will turn out the be. Thanks for the recipe, it sounds very good. I'll be putting it in my binder of things to try. Oh, wait. I'm supposed to be watching what I eat. Maybe I'll watch it, right on my plate!!
    ~~Lori

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