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Satisfying a craving… Vanity Post #149

In today’s “Tasty Tuesdays” post, I’m going to be sharing a recipe for a sweet treat that’s going to satisfy a craving that I’ve had for quite some time — since I filled my fruit basket with APPLES!

AND that sweet treat is…

Actually, I should make that plural since I won’t be making just one;

AND those sweet treats are…

(Wait for it…)

APPLE TURNOVERS!

Continue reading “Satisfying a craving… Vanity Post #149”
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Brrr……. Vanity Post #140

Brr……. It’s starting to get COLD here at “my holler in Kentucky”! I can definitely feel the chill in the air when I go outside. In fact, I went outside yesterday afternoon and looked at the thermometer. However, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!

Because I’m short and the thermometer is above my head, I often have difficulty reading the temperature on it, so I thought I was reading it wrong. From my (low) vantage point, it appeared as though the temperature on the thermometer was below 60 degrees F.

My first thought was, “It’s the middle of the day. That can’t be right!” So, I checked the weather on Zifi, my fitness tracker, and it said the temperature was 57 degrees F. It appears that the thermometer was correct, which was certainly a shock!

Anyway… Since the weather forecast has been calling for plummeting temperatures this week AND I’m going to try overwintering the strawberries I planted earlier this year, I knew I had to do something to protect them during this cold snap. So… I dug out the frost covers I’d purchased last year, and put one of ’em over my three-tier planter of strawberries. Hopefully, it will protect my strawberries until I find a more permanent home for them to stay during the upcoming winter!

Only time will tell…

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Yay! It’s that time of year again… Vanity Post #139

If you’re a basketball fan like I am, you should know exactly what I’m referring to in the title of today’s vanity post, but if you’re not, I guess I’ll tell you. It’s the beginning of the 2026/2027 NCAA basketball season, and my team (the University of Kentucky Wildcats) played their first game of the season yesterday!

It was an exhibition game against the Little Rock Trojans, and I’m happy to report that WE WON! The final score was 69-49, and, according to “the guys who call the action”, Mark Pope (who’s going into his third season as UK’s head coach) and the players (who’ve only been playing together for seventeen weeks) learned a lot about each other during this first game.

It was also mentioned that much of what was seen during the game (as far as the team’s offensive skills, defensive skills, and the whopping number of turnovers) can be improved upon as the season progresses.

I sure hope they’re right because this UK fan is looking forward to a FANTASTIC season, and I have a feeling that this group of guys should be able to deliver! I’m hoping, anyway!

PLEASE LET UK CONTINUE TO WIN!

Go, Big Blue! Go, Cats!

P.S. I’m sure I’ll be giving you periodic updates about how MY team is doing, so feel free to brag about YOUR favorite NCAA (and/or NBA) team is doing during this season by leaving a comment below! Go, _______ (fill in the blank with your favorite team, and I’ll do the same with mine!

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Finally… Vanity Post #138

I FINALLY did something that’s been on “The Three Tasks” list of mine for quite some time, and it took a Halloween deadline to get it done! It sure felt good to (finally) be able to cross that task off my list!

However, that task was NOT without frustration! The thing that frustrated me the most was the Web site telling me that items (lots of items!) were “50% off when paired” with the purchase of something else. Well… I figured that since I was purchasing that “something else”, I’d be able to get 50% off quite a few items! Good deal, right?

Well… By the time I was ready to check out, I was in for a rather rude — and frustrating — wake-up call! When I double checked my shopping cart, I noticed that A LOT of the items I thought I’d be getting at “50% off” were listed at the regular price. So… I took all of ’em out and then, based on my true need, added some of ’em back into my cart.

At that point, I ended up with three items in my shopping cart:

  1. that “something else”;
  2. a storage case; and
  3. another accessory.

Figuring that I’d try to get 50% off the more expensive item, I deleted the other two items and then added the more expensive item back into my cart. It showed that it was, indeed, 50% off — with the regular price crossed out and the discounted price listed. Next, I added the second item back into the cart, AND then the WEB SITE’s “back end” put the more expensive item back to its regular price and gave the less expensive accessory the “50% off” discounted price!

I guess I now know what they meant with they said “50% off when paired with” the purchase of something else. Oh, well… I guess they can’t be giving customers 50% off everything if they want to stay in business.

That, however, was only part of the frustration I experience placing this order. When I finally went to check out, I got a pop-up notification that said something to the effect of “something in your cart is out of stock, so it will be removed from your order.” Thankfully, that “something” was a book that I can purchase through Amazon. When I first saw it on their Web site, I wanted to give them the business by purchasing it through them, but that didn’t happen. So… I’ll be adding it to my next Amazon order — though I don’t know when that’ll be yet. I’ll be REALLY frustrated if I’m told that this book is no longer in stock when I place my Amazon order.

So, yeah… I’ve discovered (many times, actually) that ordering things online can be VERY FRUSTRATING!

Now that I’ve shared my frustrations with placing online orders, I hope you’ll share some of your frustrating experiences when ordering online with me by taking a moment to leave me a comment below!

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National Real Sugar Day… Vanity Post #137

In recent years, I’ve noticed that sugar has gotten a bad rap, so when I noticed that today (October 15th) is now “National Real Sugar Day”, I did a deep dive into sugar, starting with an online search for “where are sugar beets or sugar cane grown near me” since visiting a sugar beet/can farm to see these sources of real sugar first hand was one of the ways suggested for celebrating “National Real Sugar Day. From this search, I learned that the only U.S. region east of the Mississippi River where sugar beets are grown is in Michigan AND that sugar cane is grown primarily in Florida and Louisiana. So… That visit is on hold for a while, and I”ll have to figure out a different way to celebrate “National Real Sugar Day” today.

Anyway… I perused the first Web site that the search yielded: sugar.org, which is actually a VERY interesting Web site — with LOTS of information about how real sugar is part of a balanced diet! I really liked this quote I found on the Web site:

“Life is sweet. Keep it balanced. Sugar is simple, amazingly functional, and it’s part of a balanced diet.”

It also stated that “the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommend limiting added sugars to up to 10% of total calories (50 grams or 12 teaspoons of added sugars per day in a 2,000-calorie diet), and that you can find information about “added sugars” on each product’s nutrition label. I’ve been reading nutrition labels and have seen the “added sugars” listed in the “Carbohydrates” section, but, until now, I didn’t really know that there was such a guideline on the consumption of “added sugars”. Now that I know, I’m going to start tracking the amount of “added sugars” that I consume from processed foods — though I have started limiting my intake of processed foods lately.

Anyway… While perusing the sugar.com Web site, I clicked on a link to their blog, where I found some interesting posts, including one about how sugar has impacted tailgate parties throughout history AND another one which featured a recipe for homemade caramel. The latter one caught my eye because I was just thinking about purchasing a jar of caramel sauce, so I could make some “dirty root beer”, something that A&W has been advertising in the throw-away fliers lately.

At first, I wanted to stop by the local A&W to try a mug of their “dirty root beer” (something that intrigued me as soon as I spotted it on the flier), but then I decided to do an online search for a “copy cat recipe for A&W’s dirty root beer”. I wasn’t disappointed! Found LOTS of sites with recipes for that beverage, and they all stated that caramel was one of the ingredients. Now that I found a recipe for homemade caramel, I’m going to transcribe it here, so I’ll have easy access to it for when I’m in the mood to splurge on my sugar intake and make some “dirty root beer”!

“Homemade Salted Caramel

Elevate your dessert spread with scratch-made salted caramel… Real sugar and sea salt are a classic pair. As real sugar melts, it caramelizes into toasted butterscotch notes that salt balances to round out the sweetness. Drizzle it over ice cream and pies, or put it in festive jars as gifts. This 5-ingredient stovetop recipe reheats smoothly and makes sharing sweet memories simple.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of granulated white sugar
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and brought to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt (or 3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Heat the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly with a heat-resistant spatula or wooden spoon as the sugar melts from clumps into a clear, deep amber-colored liquid.
  2. Once melted and smooth, carefully add the cubed butter all at once. Whisk vigorously until the butter is completely incorporated, about 2 minutes.
  3. Slowly drizzle in the heavy cream while continuing to whisk. Allow the sauce to boil gently for 1 full minute without stirring, letting it thicken slightly.
  4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the salt and vanilla until smooth.
  5. Cool for 15 minutes, then pour into a heatproof glass jar. Serve warm or seal and store in the refrigerator for up to two to three weeks. Enjoy!

Sounds easy enough, but after transcribing the recipe, I realized that I don’t have one key ingredient: the heavy whipping cream! So… that ingredient is now on my shopping list, so I won’t forget to get some for when I’m in the mood to make some “dirty root beer”!

Whether you try your hand at making some homemade salted caramel or indulge in something else that’s sweet, I hope you’ll join me in celebrating National Real Sugar Day! As always, I’d love to hear about how you celebrated, so please take a moment to leave me a comment. I’ll wait until after you’ve licked all of the sweet, sugary goodness from your spoon!

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Epic FAILS… Vanity Post #136

When I was composing this post, my first thought was to title it “In a muffin mood…” because I was, indeed, in the mood for muffins (both banana and blueberry), then I thought about “Chemistry in the kitchen” (since Sweet Thing” likes to tease me by remindiing me that cooking is basically “chemistry” because he knows that chemistry is definitely NOT one of my strengths). Ultimately, I decided that “Epic fail…” OR more accurately, “Epic FAILS”.. was a more appropriate title, given the results of yesterday’s baking!

I attempted to make a batch of banana muffins to use up the VERY RIPE bananas that were sitting on my kitchen counter (attracting fruit flies, I might add). As I often do, I went to my beloved Betty Crocker cookbook and followed the variation for banana muffins, which involved decreasing the milk, adding the mashed bananas, and substituting packed brown sugar for the sugar called for in the original recipe. Unfortunately, I missed the part of the original directions that read “stir in remaining ingredients”. So… I didn’t add the last two (KEY) ingredients: the baking powder and the salt. As you can probably imagine, the resulting banana muffins were an epic fail…

The FIRST of TWO, actually!

The second one came when I attempted to follow the recipe for “Popovers”, which was right next to my “Muffins” recipe AND had the following note:

“Yorkshire Pudding: The traditional English accompaniment for roast beef is simply a popover batter baked in the meat drippings. Directions for preparing it with the meat are… (in my previous vanity post, #135).”

So, yeah… Since yesterday was National Yorkshire Pudding Day, I was bound and determined to make myself some Yorkshire Pudding. Except for cutting the recipe for Popovers in half, I followed the directions exactly, especially with regards to the amount of time in the oven. Sadly, this lead to the SECOND epic fail of the day! Instead of puffing up and turning golden brown like Dad’s Yorkshire Pudding always did, mine remained flat (much like my attempt at making banana muffins), and (again, like the muffins), stuck to the muffin tins. Had to pry the well-cooked popovers/Yorkshire Pudding out with tongs! In addition, one of my thoughts as I was prying ’em out of the muffin tins was Dad’s motto when it came to Mom’s cooking at times: “Brown it’s cooking; black it’s done.” My popovers/Yorkshire Pudding were definitely “done” — so “done” that I couldn’t even eat much of ’em! I ended up scooping out the soft center from the burnt shells and eating ’em that way.

Yesterday was definitely NOT one of my best days in the kitchen! I failed “Chemistry in the Kitchen” TWICE!

However, I have NOT given up on making muffins! Since I’ve got some fresh blueberries in the fridge, I’m going to attempt to make a batch of blueberry muffins — AFTER I toss the botched banana muffins. This time, I’m going to make sure that I “stir in the remaining ingredients”. PLEASE LET ME PASS MY NEXT “CHEMISTRY IN THE KITCHEN” LESSON!

Please help me feel better about these two EPIC FAILS of mine by sharing some of your failed “Chemistry in the kitchen” experiments and/or kitchen mishaps. I can’t be the only one who has experienced mishaps in the room that’s often referred to as the heart of the home! Looking forward to hearing from you!!