This Week at Nana's - Soft Sugar Cookies

WEATHER UPDATE:

Cold mornings and cold wet days.

Rain and snow clouds have been looming over us this week. We received rain and a tiny bit of snow. Only 1 hour away from us is Santa Fe, New Mexico.They have been getting some good snow and its sticking to the ground, Albuquerque's snow melts fast. I had to pull out the old umbrella twice this week. That was fun. It always just feels good to know you planned for rain and when it came you were ready with your handy dandy pop up umbrella. A great invention that gets little applause.

This is my friend, Sydney C.'s house. The snow did not stay too long. She was getting snow at her house and I was getting rain at mine. 

OUTDOORS UPDATE:

Seriously? Sorry, but in my yard, there is nothing exciting going on in the front or back yard. Every perennial plant that I have is in winter mode, hibernating till Spring. Sadly, I do not have a winter garden outside. Winter gardening is very popular and the best place to get advice for that is the Horticultural Channel.  Im posting this link for anyone interested in dealing with plants and frost in their winter garden. Click Here.

INDOORS PLANTS UPDATE:

The indoor veggie plants are not getting too much sun with all the cloud cover but they are still growing. I don't spritz them with water anymore because they need more water, instead I give them a good drink of water each morning, careful not to over do it. I don't want any mold to grow on the top soil.

 Interesting.

PET UPDATE:

 

 
Tuck the red eared slider turtle still enjoys his walks around the house. I couldn't get him to hold still for a photo, so I videoed him and he did not mind that at all. Missy knows not to mess with Tuck but watches every move Tuck makes. Mauricio is great. He enjoys when company comes over he gets treat and curls up under his blanky. Mr. Tubbs is okay but his water is still looking cloudy. I even changed out the filters again. Ive done all that I can with it and just have to wait it out to clear up. 


Housekeeping Made Easy:   

Salt: Keep Windows Frost Free
Pour a cup of salt into a liter of water. Sponge the liquid onto the inside of window to prevent frost from forming during the winter months.

What Dogs Do When Your Away

 

This past week, what I cooked up in the kitchen was mostly Southwestern cuisine. I made a cheese enchilada lunch for a couple of friends. I made a batch of tamales for Joseph. I made tacos and I baked cheesy bean burritos for Miss Raven. She likes bean burritos and it nice to see her eat something different from Ponyo noodles.



The Grands like the soft cookies. This cookies recipe is the absolute best soft cookie recipe for rolled sugar cookies. Exactly like Grandma's Sugar Cookies. I usually frost them with melted white almond bark and sprinkles.

 Soft Sugar Cookies

• ⅔ c. shortening
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• ⅓ c. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 c. flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat shortening and sugar together.
3. Add eggs, milk and vanilla
4. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Slowing add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
6. Mix together until you can form a large dough ball.
7. On floured surface, roll out dough ball until about ½ to ¾ inch thick.
8. Use cookie cutters (or rim of a drinking glass) to cut cookie shapes out of dough.
9. Place cookies on lightly sprayed cookie sheet.
10. Bake about 10-12 minutes. 

Weird videos I watch on the Internet:

Fast Food.

American News is Crap.

Levels of TROLLING.

This Week at Nana's - Birthday Cake

WEATHER UPDATE:

Cold mornings and warm days.

No more drinking a cup of hot tea on the porch in the mornings. That will not happen for months. I'm sure that the weather has most of the states in winter mode with the exception of California and Hawaii. I have a friend who works for Blue Skies, a travel agency, and he has been posting pictures of himself in Hawaii. Right now, a sandy beach with warm tropical breezes sounds wonderful.

Levi, to the left, grey t-shirt, tan pants, on a group tour in Hawaii. 

OUTDOORS UPDATE:

The front and back yard area received a good raking and clean up. Four bags of leaves were put up from the front yard and three from the back yard. I think the front yard looked much better covered in leaves.

Eve's Tomato Plant

INDOORS PLANTS UPDATE:

Green Chile Still Producing.

My little plants are growing right on their mark and looking good. The waiting is the hardest part. Im still resisting the urge to over water them. I mist them in the morning and late after noon and that is it, no matter how dry they look, I must resist the impulse to water them. LOL. Each day, I  move the plants to a window area to get some good sunlight. I take them out of the window area at night as it is too cold for them to be near the window. Today, I planted seeds to grow two more tomato plants and an egg plant. I parked the planters near the pepper plants in the living room.

Watch lettuce grow by time lapse. Very cool.

 

PET UPDATE:

The big fish tank looks the same, cloudy. I guess, I will need to empty out half the water and re-add fresh water back in to see if that clears it up. Pacu fish love Amazon murky water and Im sure Mr. Tubbs has no problem with cloudy water. However, Goldie and Mr. Poopers probably do not care for it. In case anyone is wondering, Mr. Tubbs cant have anything in the tank because he injures himself on the coral and he eats it. I had a star fish in there and he ate that along with the other fish. He has only two fish friends. For some reason he has not eaten Goldie. Mr. Tubbs is a vegetarian. I feed him fruit, nuts and greens along with fish pellets. His favorite is prunes. He loves prunes and dates.

Housekeeping Made Easy:

 
Banana Peel: Polish Leather Shoes
Use the inside of a banana peel to give shoes a professional and natural shine that will last for quite some time.

Easy Sewing:

Mending Holes in Jeans - Click here.

How to mend rips with this technique that hardly shows. Click Here.

I've been putting that 25 pound bag of flour to good use. Saturday evening, after a busy day, I baked up some birthday cake flavored cupcakes.

Birthday Cake Flavored Cupcakes

This recipe makes the best birthday cake or cupcakes. I love the combination of almond and vanilla extract flavors added to give it that special birthday cake flavor.

* I cut this recipe in half because I only wanted about 12 cupcakes. The recipe below will make two round cakes or 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 cup milk at room temperature
• 6 large egg whites at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened but still cool 

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8-inch cake pans.
2. Make sure milk and eggs are room temperature.
3. Pour milk, egg whites, and extracts into medium bowl and whisk until blended.
4. Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter, cut into cubes and continue beating on low for about 1-2 minutes.
5. Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to flour mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat for about 1 minute.
6. Pour batter evenly between prepared bake ware.
7. Bake for 27 to 30 minutes.
8. Allow cake or cupcakes to cool to room temperature before frosting it with your favorite frosting.

I like to use this old time recipe for vanilla frosting to top cakes and cupcakes. Normally, instead of 1/4 Crisco, I use half Crisco and butter to equal 1/4 cup.

Vanilla Frosting

1/4 cup Crisco
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup milk

In a bowl mix Crisco, salt, vanilla and about 1/3 of the sugar. Add milk and remaining sugar alternately; mix until smooth and creamy. Add more sugar to thicken or milk to thin frosting if needed for good spreading consistency.

(Frosts two 8- or 9-inch layers or a 13 x 9-inch cake)

PC Technical Advice

I repair computers/monitors and I dabble in writing code C+, and website designing, Java Script, HTML, etc. I'm NOT an expert at all. However, when it comes to computers I will try to figure out most operating systems and their works. My best computer advice is to keep things simple on your PC. Don't overload your PC with programs that you seldom or never use. Never, ever download something without researching the program because of virus and non compatible software issues . Keep your PC protected and clean from malware daily.

Free Up Disk Space
Do you have a computer that is running low on space because you’re store a lot of pictures, videos, or other large files? Once your computer gets low on hard drive space, normal processes begin to slow down and your computer will run painfully slow. you can first try to free up some space on your computer that may be taken up by useless temporary files, old system files or installed service packs. If its time to free up some disk space. Click here.

I think this is an amusing instructional. There probably are people out there who just have an embarrassing Internet trail of themselves and wish they had never posted anything online. Other then getting a court order, this is a good link for a good start of eliminating your Internet presence.

 


How to Delete Yourself from the Internet.

Sharing Nana's Amusing Bookmarks:

Because it makes a party fun.
Murder Mystery Dinner Party - Free Party Plan

How to host a Murder Mystery.

Weird videos I watch on the Internet:

Sorry for the lame videos. LOL. I have not seen anything amusing lately.

Helper in the Car.

Driving Around Albuquerque, New Mexico.

This Week at Nana's - In a Hurry Crescent Rolls

Old Town Luminaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico.

WEATHER UPDATE:

COLD.

Its been cold enough to see your breath in the early morning. I keep the heater thermostat below 70 degrees during the day but when I get up in the morning it says 60 degrees in the house. Brrrrrr to that temperature. The night temps are averaging in the low 30's. No snow yet. I have a feeling we will get some snow soon.

Tree on a Windy Fall Day by Randy Kaufman

OUTDOORS UPDATE:

Nothing happening plant wise outdoors. The leaves have been blown clear of the driveway and walkways. The outdoor plants get a watering each weekend but that will be lessened soon. 

INDOORS PLANTS UPDATE:

Chives

The indoor greens are growing well and look good. The chives grew a good bit this week. Im trying hard not to over spritz them with water as I am known for over watering. 

 Parsley

Basil

PET UPDATE:

Wheezy hates to have his picture taken and he is grumpy today.

 Don"t worry he had a treat after he was videoed. I dont like my picture taken either. LOL

 Mauricio hanging out having a snack.

Mr. Tubb's Murky Tank. :(

Mr Tubb's tank seem to look somewhat cloudy. The tank was recently cleaned and fresh water added. I noticed Zander's water looks cloudy too and he had his little bowl house cleaned. I think it may have something to do with the city water. Maybe its highly chlorinated. Not sure. I did put in the drops for chlorine when the water was changed out. Poor my fish buddies. It does not seem to effect them. The fish gang are still hungry and eat well. They don't swim any different. Im keeping a close eye on it.

Housekeeping Made Easy:

Alka Seltzer: Remove Burnt-On Grease and Food Stains.
When letting your pots and pans soak, throw in one or two Alka Seltzer tablets and the caked on residue from cooking will come off easily when you scrub/wash.

Easy Sewing:

Sewing Hats

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNMPT_brigA#t=18

 Free Pattern- Click Here.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgnuqOwaGYw

 A bit whacky - Fake Fur Hat - Free Pattern - Click Here.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gNmYuezMAA

 
This crescent roll recipe is easy and pretty good if you don't have time to make the original time consuming crescent recipe.  This recipe is completely yeast free! Once baked, the texture is light and flaky. The cheese makes them rise and flake.

In A Hurry Crescent Rolls

1/2 stick butter, room temperature
3/4 cup ricotta cheese or cream cheese
1 cup flour

In the bowl of your mixer, combine all ingredients to form dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

On lightly floured surface roll the dough into a 14 inch thin circle. Cut into 8 triangles.
Roll each triangle from wide end to tip, turning ends to form a crescent shape.
Place on  a prepared cookie sheet.
Bake 25 - 30 minutes.Watch carefully at the end of the baking time.

 What Dogs Do When Your Away

LOL!

PC Technical Advice

I repair computers/monitors and I dabble in writing code C+, and website designing, Java Script, HTML, etc. I'm NOT an expert at all. However, when it comes to computers I will try to figure out most operating systems and their works. My best computer advice is to keep things simple on your PC. Don't overload your PC with programs that you seldom or never use. Never, ever download something without researching the program because of virus and non compatible software issues . Keep your PC protected and clean from malware daily.

How to Fix Internet Explorer has Encountered a Problem and Needs to Close

Open Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options or click on the Settings gear icon at the top right and then clear out the temporary Internet files. Under Browsing History, click the Delete button and then check Temporary Internet files and website files. In case you downloaded an executable file that is causing the problem, this will remove it.

In some versions of Internet Explorer script debugging can be the cause for this issue. You can try disabling script debugging by going to Internet Options again, clicking on the Advanced tab and then checking the Disable Script Debugging (Internet Explorer) and Disable Script Debugging (Other) boxes.

***Run your anti-spyware and anti-virus software on the computer to seek out a possible threat to your operating system. I run CCLEANER program and that usually takes care of the issue. I use this program to scan the registry files too.

Sharing Amusing Bookmarks:

The best online travel help! Traveling the road? This site will even guide you by highway mile markers to help you find your way.
http://www.allstays.com/

Use Google Effectively – Google knows everything.  If you’re having trouble finding something with Google, it’s you that needs help.

• Google Guide
• Google Advanced Search Operators
• Google Web Search Features

Weird videos I watch on the Internet:

A Tiny Hamster Thanksgiving.

A Tiny Birthday.

A Tiny Hamster Mansion

One for horses

CHEEEEEEESE!