Spice Brownies

I decided that Paula D's Pumpkin Bars sounded best of the ones I read, but then adapted the recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat 4 eggs, add
1 cup brown sugar +
1/3 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut oil
15 oz. can of pureed pumpkin -- beat until all is fluffy.

Stir together 2 cups self-rising flour
2 teaspoons apple pie spice
1 teaspoon ginger
3/4 cup golden raisins

Add to beaten wet ingredients and mix well.
Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan.

Bake 30-35 minutes.

They were delicious straight from the pan.
When they cool completely, I'll add some cream cheese frosting with some flavoring other than vanilla, like rum, or butter & nut, or maybe a splash of Kahlua.

Rest and Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving

Typos

... there are
three types of errors, in ascending
order of importance:
One: chance errors
of the printer's trembling hand
not to be corrected incautiously
by foolish professors
and other such rabble
because trembling is part
of divine creation itself.

Two: silent, cool sabotage
by the printer,
the manual laborer
whose protests
have at times taken this
historical form,
covert interferences
not to be corrected
censoriously by the hand
of the second and far
more ignorant saboteur,
the textual editor.

Three: errors
from the touch of God,
divine and often
obscure corrections
of whole books by
nearly unnoticed changes
of single letters
sometimes meaningful but
about which the less said
by preemptive commentary
the better.

--from "The Printer's Error" by Aaron Fogel.
Miami University Press Copyright 2001 by Aaron Fogel.

Ikey Takes Over the Dog Hut

Four days after we spent a bundle at the vet's to get Ikey neutered and current on cat shots, he disppeared. He showed up three days later, worse for wear. We had worried he'd been carried off by coyotes or such. He'd obviously been in a cat fight, with a wound on his leg, a droopy eye and a sore on his lip, typical of cats fighting. People around us have huge tomcats, Ikey needs to learn his own ample territory.

For his well-being, the Dog Hut has been transformed into a cat refuge, but the sign remains. A puppy is in Ikey's future, he just doesn't know about it yet. When Cur lived in the Dog Hut, the front was open. There is now a door with a notch for Ikey to go in and out.


Ikey shows off his new light fixture, which should put out just enough heat for a furry kitty to stay comfy on freezing nights. Last night with a single bulb, it stayed at 50 degrees, while outside dipped into the twenties.


Late Note: When the new puppy came to live here, Ikey moved up to a penthouse cat hut atop the dog hut, which he likes much better. It's nice and cozy with a fleece bed and a pink blanket.

Words that Set my Teeth on Edge

A person whose spoken language is sometimes grammatically incorrect and whose typos abound, I probably shouldn't mention this, but among the blogs I sometimes browse there are some misspellings that bring out my worst annoyance.

A BOARDER is someone who pays to live and eat at someone else's house, or else someone who snowboards or skateboards. I wonder about amateur decorators who mention putting boarders on their walls. Maybe it helps to pay the bills.

A BORDER is the edge along a flower bed or a strip of wallpaper.

WHA-LA is not a word, despite the obvious belief of some young bloggers.

VOILA is a French word meaning literally, "Look there!" Voila is intended to call attention to something that appears almost as if by magic. It really should have the little diacritical mark over the a, but I can forgive that. Just don't spell it viola -- that's a flower, or a musical instrument.

Your is a pronoun that means belonging to you.

You're is a contraction of you are.

Speak the sentence aloud using you are if you're not sure which to use in your blog.


If you see a mistake in my blogs please, please tell me. I'm much better at proof-reading the work of others.

Does this mean we're In Style?

Twelve 'must-haves' according to Style at Home dot Com:
• A leather club chair • A decorative throw • An ample sofa • A wool area rug • Quality stainless steel flatware • A crystal vase • A 48-inch round pedestal table • Crystal or fine glassware • 500-thread-count cotton bedding • White dishware • A pharmacy lamp • Original art

• A leather club chair -- do two comfy leather recliners count? I don't sit on mine, so there's a spare when Daddy Senior's wears out.

• A decorative throw -- we have an electric throw (plaid), a down throw, afghans -- anything warm for wrapping up is kewl with me.

• An ample sofa -- we've not room for ample. The old hide-a-bed will be replaced soon with perhaps an ample loveseat.

• A wool area rug -- we don't have this. I'd like one.

• Quality stainless steel flatware -- I love good stainless. I hate eating with anything less than a sturdy fork or spoon.

• A crystal vase -- Two tiny waterford vases that I sent off in the mail for years ago, and a large vase I won as a door prize.

• A 48-inch round pedestal table -- To think that the other day I was thinking we should get rid of our 48" oak table, 35 years old!

• Crystal or fine glassware -- only for show in the china cabinet

• 500-thread-count cotton bedding -- all cotton, not necessarily such a high count. I really like a flannel top sheet in winter.

• White dishware -- I have a whole set of white Hutschenreuther china that I don't think has ever graced a table. I like white Corning Ware for oven cooking, and decorated dishware in addition to white. I love mix and match dishes.

• A pharmacy lamp -- they amended this to be a swing arm lamp, classic. We have modern swing arm desk lamps, wall mounted swing arm lamps with tole shades in the bedroom (clears the bedside tables for other items) and a regular classic swing arm floor lamp.

• Original art -- does Daddy Junior's 7th grade nail and string art project count? And Miss Alma's early 70's still life with tangerines?

It's just another magazine 'list' but I was surprised how many of the items we have.

Ikey Takes His Vows

Ikey is at the Vet, Taking his Vows. We'll pick him up tomorrow.

The story of the Vows goes back a long way. The Priest at her church asked our friend Frances if she would take his dog. Father O'Conner was moving to another parish where there would not be a fenced yard for Valentine. As they discussed the arrangements, Frances thought to ask whether Valentine had been spayed. She said, "Er, Father, has Valentine been, Uh, Er..." He replied softly, "We call it 'Taking her Vows.'"

Inky went right into the cat carrier, but he was not happy to leave in the truck. I think he suspected trouble.