It's just not safe

Right now to be out in public for anyone.

Everywhere I went today people were sick either with the crud or maybe the flu.
Stuffed up, sniffling etc.
I have already had 2 rounds of antibiotics and 2 rounds of steroids and 2 trips to the ER and several trips to the doctor just to try to breathe! I finally started treating it like a allergy with antihistamines and that helped to get it under control but I am still not out of the woods. Lousy lungs do not help this at all.

   Today I thought I think I can make it to town to drop off a big piece of hubby's birthday cake to his shut in Aunt and  get a carburetor for old blue and dollar general for a couple of things. I am tired of not getting out and around with this being sick business. Well I did pretty good except after moving around I was just all choked up again. It was a little terrifying really to tell you the truth. I was exposing myself to all kinds of things that will try to kill me. When you are sick and feeling lousy you just figure aww it's going around. But when you get out in the world and see just how much it is going around hitting all age groups it is like I really need to go home wash my hands change my clothes and hide!
    It is dark dreary and misting icy stuff. The north doors on my truck were frozen shut just enough.

    I have to wonder WHY ARE WE ALL SO SICK?!

Are we all in such sad shape and our immunity is so low anything will get us?

When this is getting all age groups not just the old folks that are sub par anyway it's pretty bad.
I know that weather really does effect the animals on the ranch. Is that what is going on ?

Our bodies just don't adjust well to weather changes?

Love

Ranchmama
( Who is gobbling up the Vitamin C and D3! )

Birthday Hubby

Today was Hubby’s day. 

     For breakfast I made him toast and gravy with sausage on the side and a nice glass of juice. Lunch wasn’t anything special but supper was one of our favorite grilled chicken salads at a local restaurant. 

    I asked him what kind of birthday cake he wanted and as usual he said plain old vanilla. I swear he is so frustrating! You go somewhere with 80 varieties of ice cream. What does he get? Yup... vanilla! 

     Well this time I did something special.... when we lived in Arkansas there was a bakery that made cakes with marshmallow icing. Great stuff! The older the cake got the more the icing tasted like candy. Never ran across any other place that made marshmallow frosting. I have been looking for that recipe for years. I tried all the simple ones and harder ones no luck. Today I finally finally found the recipe! It takes a bunch of boiling syrup and a bunch of whisking in the machine but I’ll be darned if I didn’t do it! Of course it makes a mess and everything solidified to the point it has to be soaked of chiseled off but now I can make something special you just don’t run across everywhere.

    Now when you look at this cake you will see why I don’t make decorator cakes! I just don’t do good with piping and all that stuff. Now I can make some beautiful and tasty party cakes and pies but this kind of cake decorating just isn’t my thing. Lol

 

   It's not very pretty but I am tickled with the taste. Funny I told hubby I wanted to take a couple of pieces to our bird buyer tonight. He didn't really like that idea and I asked why. He said it was because he wouldn't have much cake left for him to enjoy! I asked him, " Have you seen how big a cake I made for you?" Evidently not because after I told him he felt much better about sharing his birthday cake. LOL

Love

Ranchmama 

(PS -- I'm going to have to invest in some cake boards around here. All I had that would accommodate this cake was a upside down cookie sheet!) 

Valentines Cooking

        I had all kinds of great cooking plans. I wanted to make giant heart cookies. Good idea but as usual the January / February crud got me again this year. It’s going around I know but I think I figured out that this is cedar pollen season. So with 1 trip to doctor on Monday then the ER at 11:30 pm and back home about 2 am on Thursday I’m still at the sit up straight don’t even lean back in chair or choke stage.  O2 still drops to the high 80’s. All this dope and still such a struggle to breathe with these lousy lungs. I’m going to have to try out some of the studies I have read that is supposed make lungs better.
    Well I went from scooting feet and stopping to rest to walk across room to doing things while sitting down just to just get something done! Then seems like Thursday and Friday I found energy and air to get to cooking ( which also means cleaning so I can cook lol) Everything is once again a mess but it was fun getting there.
     I had fun experimenting. Trying out a base cookies recipe that I can use for several varieties of cookies. I know it tastes good as a small cookie but I wanted to try it for the larger heart cookies. I weighed the recipe and it makes 2#'s of dough. The really large wilton heart cookie pan takes all the 2#'s except maybe a cup of the dough. I think I cooked it about 20 minutes. That was just a plain sugar cookie. 
I did the plain white icing the red and white sprinkles to give it more color. 
This one was given to the helper. I told him to stop by the house I had something for him. He stopped in and said he had girlfriend gonna help him with some of the work. I told him good! Tell her you ordered this for Valentines and you were just picking it up ! I have no clue if he did but like most boys he enjoys food. He says his mom doesn't cook so the treats he gets from me must be real treats. 
 

 

  The other 2 cookies were each 1# in a much smaller pan. Trying to figure out how long to cook all these things since everyone like a chewy cookie now days isn't easy when your concerned about them holding together when they come out of the pan. I made one into a chocolate chip. I sprinkled peanut butter and chocolate chips on top then drizzled chocolate and melted peanut butter over that then dusted with some tiny shaved dark chocolate.   

     The other cookie was a snicker doodle. ON STEROIDS ! I put cinnamon in the dough and then cinnamon sugar on the bottom of the pan (it's not like you can roll that much dough in a ball and roll in sugar mixture so figure that was the best way. Sprinkled some on the top and then did the pink and white sprinkles on that.

      The two smaller ones I took to the drug store lady. I asked her to be my guinea pig and test these out for me. I told her the snicker doodle is going to be strong so you can feed that one to the hound dogs if you need to it won't hurt my feelings but the chocolate chip should be ok. 

    After they try them I need to know if they are hard or chewy and if the flavor was ok. I said it won't hurt my feelings or anything it's just I can't test all these things out and I need someone to help me improve. I told her if they are good that is a thank you for all the bologna you put up with here. If they aren't good sorry I'm not trying to be mean. LOL

   Hubby asked why I was taking her cookies. I told him because she is always nice and has to put up with a lot of stupid stuff from people she needs something nice sometimes. 

   Boy trying to find something on hand to put those things in wasn't easy. I had to find clean cardboard and make a box then line with foil since white paper wouldn't cooperate at all!

   I told hubby if I did this very much I would have to find the right kind of boxes to put them in. That's a long way away since I have to figure out cooking times and textures and all that. 

    Still had lots of fun. Will learn more each time. 

Love

Ranchmama