End of 2022 Re-viewing Bur Oak, Deer Bookends

Earlyish December, I returned to the scene of the bur oak tree that I visited the day before Halloween. I spotted an unusual-looking acorn, even weirder than typical walnut-sized with dreadlock-look cap. The shell was cracked open, but the unit still together. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Little Use For Faulty 2023-2024 Calendar

Ever run across a faulty calendar? How about the following items, all in one unit? Duplicated months, missing months, one duplicated month where the date starts on the wrong day of the week, another month where all the dates and Saturday/Sunday sequencing dates don't align. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Bur Oak Trees Spotted and Acorns Piqued

The first time I saw a bur oak acorn (late 2018), I wasn't sure what it was. I wrote "Bur Oak Acorn, Walnut-sized Nut", and included my nutshell description: "The acorn had a bushy cap, like a short-dreadlocks hairstyle. The acorn itself seemed about the size of a walnut."

At that time, I had only a lone acorn sample. This time around, I struck a bonanza of two trees and loads of leaves and acorns. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

2022 Halloween Nearby Tour

This Halloween felt like a return to pre-pandemic normalcy. In 2020, several decorated houses put up social-distancing tables for handing out their goodies to trick or treaters rather than wait for doorbell rings. ... The video includes scenery from 25 houses, most taken on October 30 and 31. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Sweet Bakings--A Few Re-peerings

Last month, I blogged about sweet bakings, recipe undertakings spread over 13 years of blogging. Recipes I spotted on the web inspired me to experiment, not merely replicate. i came up with 28 cooky recipes and 19 cake and cake-ish recipes. ... Maybe surprisingly, I'd done several of the recipes seldom since blogging about them. A few never-agains are because a particular ingredient, usually a cake mix, is either no longer available, formulation is different, or weight is different (mostly less). Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Grapes-to-Raisins Musings

I rarely eat raisins. ... I'd always thought of them as dehydrated and wrinkled grapes. I had bought a 12-ounce box of Sun-Maid raisins .... The image shows green grapes and dark raisins. To my puzzlement, the list of ingredients was "raisins". Hmm, I'd have thought "grapes". Sunmaid.com declares, "Made with nothing but grapes and California sunshine, ...". Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 2 Sweet Bakings--Cakes, Cupcakes, and Mini-muffins

In the cake-centric video of 19 items, I list my blog catalog number with the article title and finished-item image (newest at top). Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 1 Sweet Bakings--Cookies, Mostly

In the cooky-centric video of 28 items, I list my blog catalog number with the article title and finished-item image (newest at top). Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 2 Cherry Almond Cake Mix Cooky, Closer Looks

This article is an accompaniment to Pt 1 Cherry Almond Cake Mix Cooky, Inspired by HEB's Mon Cheri Cookie. During the project, some items piqued me. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 1 Cherry Almond Cake Mix Cooky, Inspired by HEB's Mon Cheri Cookie

HEB's Mon Cheri Cookie--it's a big hit in the household! The product inspired me to make a cherry almond cooky, which includes Betty Crocker's Cherry Chip Cake Mix, chopped maraschino cherries, and slivered almonds. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 2 Pineapple Coconut Cake, Closer Cake Prep Looks

During the planning and execution of my pineapple an coconut cake (article, video), I thought of closer looks at some parts of processes. They pertain to combo-flavor cakes using two kinds of cake mixes, preparing cake bans before pouring in batter, and squeezing more out of can frosting. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 1 Pineapple Coconut Cake, Using Half Box of Each Flavor

I decided to try making a hybrid cake of two flavors—pineapple and coconut. (Duncan Hines makes both flavors.) Get info for ingredients, equipment, and procedures for all the stages to make this delish pina-colada-ish cake. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 2 Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Closer Looks

 

"Pt 1 Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Not One-at-a-Time Dolloping" primarily describes using a cooky press to push out chocolate chip cooky dough. As presses don't gracefully dispense dough having add-ins, my method incorporates a DIY food bottle funnel. Let's look more closely. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 1 Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Not One-at-a-Time Dolloping

 

Cooky press users, use your press to pump out chocolate chip dough by using a DIY funnel made from the top of a food bottle. Dough scoopers and other one-at-a-time dollopers, you can reduce the tedium and repetitive travel between dough bowl and pan. Squeeze the press trigger, pinch/deposit dollop, move to another spot on pan, repeat. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 2 Revisiting Simplest Scratch Oatmeal Cookies, Closer Looks at Process

 

"Pt 1 Revisiting Simplest Scratch Oatmeal Cookies, Plain and Chocochip Batch" describes the different methodology of a recipe I had blogged about almost 10 years ago. The ingredients are the same for half the batch. For the other half batch, I've added four ounces of chocolate chips.

This article details more about the equipment in this updated oatmeal cooky process. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 1 Revisiting Simplest Scratch Oatmeal Cookies, Plain and Chocochip Batch

Almost 10 years ago, I blogged "Simplest Scratch Oatmeal Cookies". At that time, I included a few images, not having learned to make movies yet. My methodology was simpler but more labor intensive.

Back then, I used a manual pastry blender, and measuring-tablespoon-and-rubber-spatula method to dispense the dollops. This time, I used a tilt-head mixer, helpful for saving on elbow grease, and a cooky scoop for dispensing most of the dollops. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Low-effort Choco Chip Cake Mix Cookies

 

How low effort are these cookies? Only four ingredients, for starters. The cake mix itself conveniently includes the flour, sugar, and leavening. You mix eggs and oil together, mix in the powder, and fold in the chips. Dispense, bake, cool. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Triple Choco Granola Cereal Cookies

 

I've long wanted to make a granola variety chocolate chip cookies using H-E-B Select Ingredients Triple Chocolate Granola. That cereal is yummy, and cookies sound like a handy way to skip the bowl of milk. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 1 Overhead Wraparound Tunic from 60" x 24" Fleece Piece

Awhile ago, I bought a mustard yellow fleece piece that measured 24" (2/3 yard), 60" wide. Although I initially considered making it a cape or poncho, the result is my "overhead wraparound tunic". Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 2 Overhead Wraparound Tunic (Not Poncho, Cape, Cloak)

 

My emphases in "Pt 1 Overhead Wraparound Tunic from 60" x 24" Fleece Piece" were fleece and the making of my tunic. This article provides additional resources about the material. I also include resources regarding my initially intended project—poncho or cape. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Pt 2 Choco Oatmeal Cookies Using Applesauce Not Butter or Oil

My batch of chocolate oatmeal cookies using unsweetened applesauce instead of butter or oil was tasty, but turned out to be a time-consuming adventure. Read the entire article (closer looks, additional resources) and comment there, please.

Pt 1 Choco Oatmeal Cookies Using Applesauce Not Butter or Oil

The web has loads of recipes for making oatmeal cookies. My batch was meant to be about as low-calorie as I could make, but chocolate chips would be mandatory! Read the entire article (recipe-centric info) and comment there, please.

Pre-spring Yellow Flower Jan 7 2020 Was a Fooler!

Imagine my amazement and joy in spotting the beaut during a walk in 40-degree weather January 7! Poked around online for yellow flowers in Central Texas. Yes, big net. "33 Types of Yellow Flowers" looked promising with Sunflower Helianthus. Daisy Asteraceae and Black-Eyed Susan Rudbeckia were distant candidates. Read the entire article and comment there, please.

Brussels Sprouts Spicy N Cheesy Omelet

 A few months ago, I'd bought some frozen brussels sprouts (supposedly healthful veggies). Didn't seem too tasty in the first two recipes I tried—slightly bitter. I then tried making a 2-egg omelet with loads of cheese, some diced chiles, salsa, cumin, and cooked sprouts. Read the entire article and comment there, please.