Tuesday, June 28, 2005

From friend Donna G. in Weslaco: Here in South Texas, in restaurants you may find that they serve a dessert called flan, it has a caramel topping and is like a custard, it's delicious! Well a friend of mine makes a cake called cocoa flan cake or chocolate flan cake, here's the recipe! It is like chocolate cake on the bottom and the flan is on top
Donna
Chocolate Flan Cake
Cake
1 (18.25 ounce) box chocolate or devil's food cake mix
Topping
1 (10.9-ounce) jar cajeta (caramel topping) or Smucker�s
caramel topping or homemade cajeta
Flan
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1/2 cup fresh milk
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large (at least 12-cup) Bundt pan with nonstick coating.
Soften the cajeta in the jar in the microwave and pour into the prepared pan. (If you can�t find the cajeta or do not want to make your own, substitute Smucker�s Caramel topping, but the Mexican cajeta has a richer flavor).
Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour the cake batter into the cake pan over the caramel.
To make the flan, pour condensed, evaporated and fresh milks into a blender with the cream cheese, vanilla and eggs. Mix well. Pour the flan mixture very slowly over the cake batter. Cover the pan TIGHTLY with aluminum foil. Covering tightly is very important.
Set the Bundt pan into a large pan and set on the oven rack and slide in. Carefully pour hot water into the larger pan to a depth of 2 inches (The Bundt pan will be sitting in 2 inches of water).
Bake cake for about 2 hours; do not uncover during this time.
5. After two hours, remove cake from water and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Invert cake onto a large plate with rim. The cajeta will drip down the sides of the cake. Cool completely then refrigerate.
NOTE: Even though the flan is poured on top of the cake batter, it will sink to the bottom of the pan.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Auggie sent the reminder about Mars. Be sure to put it on your calendar!
MARS SPECTACULAR!

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is
catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest
approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next times Mars
may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on
Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has
not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years, but it may be as long
as 60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within
34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest
object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear
25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification.

Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be
easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m.
and reach its azimuth at about 3 A.M.

By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at
nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty
convenient to see something no human being has seen in recorded history.
So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow
progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.
On the bike trail: A Wild Rose

Thursday, June 16, 2005

Bernie Houle sent these amazing weather photos. Thanks Bernie!!
SW Alberta Canada
SW Alberta Canada
SW Alberta Canada
SW Alberta Canada
SW Alberta Canada
SW Alberta Canada
SW Alberta Canada
SW Alberta Canada
SW Alberta Canada
This from Auggie Becker: hello yo all.
yep here it is june 16 2005, and today i am 76 years old.
and i just wanted to share this with friends and family.
thank you all for your prayers in my times of need.
for your your friendship and most of all,your caring.

jackie i apologize.

i love and cherish all of you.
~~~~~~~~~ auggie ~~~~~~~~

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

dMarie Time Capsule

dMarie Time Capsule

Try putting in your birthday or the day you were married. Talk about a trip down memory lane! This is a sweet little site.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Texas
"Nobody asked for them, but here are some little known Texas facts.
I know ya'll just can't wait to read 'em!"



1. Beaumont Texas to El Paso Texas: 742 miles



2. Beaumont Texas to Chicago: 770 miles



3. El Paso Texas is closer to California than to Dallas duh!



4. World's first rodeo was in Pecos... July 4, 1883.



5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water.



6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach for Rice University in Houston.



7. Brazoria County Texas has more species of birds than any other area in North America.



8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge, which stretches into Texas, is the winter home of North America's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.



9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson Texas in 1978.



10. The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in 1900 caused by a hurricane in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island. By the way, the meteorologists of the time completely missed forecasting the storm.



11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was "Hello Houston."

12. The King Ranch in Texas is larger than Rhode Island



13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US. rainfall record of 43" in 24 hours in and around Alvin Texas in July 1979.



14. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, instead of by annexation. (This allows the Texas flag to fly at the same height as the US flag.)



15. Texas was a country before it was a state.



16. A Live Oak tree near Fulton Texas is estimated to be 1500 years old.



17. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.



18. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period after Dr in Dr Pepper.



19. Texas has had six capital cities:

1. Washington-on-the-Brazos
2. Harrisburg
3. Galveston
4. Velasco
5. West Columbia
6. Austin



20. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. (by 7 feet).



21. The name Texas comes from the Hasini Indian word "tejas" meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.



22. The State animal is the Armadillo. (An interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies! They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females. Well...I thought it was interesting anyway!)



23. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS - TEXAS STYLE
People here in Texas have trouble with all those shalls and shall nots in the ten Commandments. Folks here just aren't used to talking in those terms. So, some folks out in west Texas got together and translated the "King James" version of the Bible into "King Ranch" version. As a result, you get the Texan's Ten Commandments as posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie, Texas.



(1) Just one God.
(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa.
(3) No telling tales or gossipin'.
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting.
(5) Put nothin' before God.
(6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.
(7) No killin'.
(8) Watch yer mouth.
(9) Don't take what ain't yers.
(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff


Now folks, that's kinda plain an' simple don't ya think?



Y'all have a good Day Now. Ya hear?

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Word has been received that Betty Gordon has passed away. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bob at this sad time.