Funnel Cake Fever

Sweet fried dough carried on a warm summer evening breeze.

My husband is usually the one standing in the funnel cake line.

Mind you, he will always ask me if I would like one as well.

I will always tell him no.

However...

when he returns and starting eating that

sweet

puffy

doughy

goodness...

I, of course, want a few bites!

Then I am telling myself,

"Dang, I should have got one too!"

Why do I do that??

Can anyone relate?

Lately I've had a hankerin' for a funnel cake!

Of course I'm not going to wait until the next county fair!

I found a few recipes on the internet...

all pretty much the same ingredients...

It's actually the simplest thing ever!

There's nothing much to the recipe:

flour, milk, baking powder, salt and eggs.

Of course you will need:

a clean kitchen funnel

and an 8 inch fry pan filled with one inch of oil.

I used what I had on hand...

canola oil...

and it worked just fine.

Here's the recipe!

FUNNEL CAKES

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Mix flour, baking powder and salt.

In separate bowl, beat eggs and milk.

Add flour mixture to egg mixture.

Beat with electric mixer until smooth.

Heat oil to 360 degrees.

Hold funnel in one hand with finger over bottom opening.

Fill funnel with 1/2 cup batter

Hold funnel few inches above oil.

Release finger allowing batter to run freely into oil.

Start in middle and make a swirl in a circular motion.

Fry until golden.

my visit to Cape Coral, Florida

Arrived home Wednesday afternoon from my visit to Florida. Had a nice time. It was good to see my sister Holly and brother in law Jeff. The star attraction of the visit was my little niece Abby. She is 15 months old and very adorable! Here they are in this photo.

We went to the beach one day...swam a little, hung out a little...and no...I did not get a sun tan! This is my sister Holly and her daughter Abby.

Abby

Abby and her Uncle Derek, which is my brother.

My brother Derek and me. It was so good to see him. It's been 2 years!

My 16 year old nephew Kevin...me...and my 14 year old niece Kelsey. They have grown so much I can hardly believe it! I look like a shrimp between the two of them!

My sister in law Sandy and her daughter Kelsey. It was great to see Sandy again. We got to talk for a little when I first got into town.

Abby loves to play in the cupboard and take out the beaters from the mixer. I'm guessing soon she'll be taking out those pretty white plates right there.

Don't you just love little toesies!!

I baked a strawberry blueberry pie. It was DELICIOUS! I think it needed a little extra cornstarch to thicken the filling. We ate it with vanilla ice cream in a bowl. Divine! Makes me want to make one right now!

Abby loves to play in her closet with all the pieces to her bottles.

WORLD'S CHUBBIEST CHEEKS!

Evening boat ride to Matlacha. Here is me and Abby.

Here is Abby's Grandfather, my sister's father in law. His name is Dutch.

This is Abby's Grandma...Shirley, and her Daddy...Jeff.

Abby and her Daddy.

Bye, Bye!

I had a great time in Cape Coral, Florida. It was great to see everyone!

Memories

When I was a child I received a book called "My Learn To Sew Book". How I was given this book is a memory that remains dear to my heart.

I remember being in Erie, PA on vacation while staying at Presque Isle Cottages. My father must have had to work so he was not there with us. Bear with me because this memory is so faded, but I know it was real. I remember my father coming to the cottages one day and I was so happy! He must have had to go back home that night and when I found out, I was so sad that I was crying and crying. I remember it was bedtime, and I was in bed and could hear my parents and other relatives talking and laughing in the front of the cottage. I was laying in bed sobbing and my Dad came in and told me he got me something and he gave me this book. He layed down with me for a few minutes until I calmed down and stopped crying. He thought I fell asleep and left to go back out and join the party. I wasn't asleep, but I didn't say anything. I really have no idea how old I was, but I feel like I was so little, so I must have been about 5. The funny thing is, there is no way, my father bought that book for me. That was just not the kind of thing he would do. I'm sure my mom had bought it and brought it with her to look over while on vacation. She probably planned to give it to me later. However...I of course thought that my Dad DID buy it for me, and I remember being very surprised and very loved because I couldn't believe he ACTUALLY picked this book out for me. It doesn't matter now that he didn't buy it, what matters is that at the time I actually thought he did. Well, I have always loved this book and I used to look at it over and over again throughout my childhood. I always wanted to sew all of the projects but never made a single one! Some years ago, my mom gave me back my book. I couldn't believe she still had it. It's been sitting in my bookcase ever since. This past winter my niece Abby was about to turn one and I decided to make her a baby doll. I knew I had the perfect pattern!
It was called Polly Dolly from my childhood book "My Learn To Sew Book". It is such an easy pattern and that is why I love it. I decided to use fabric for the hair instead of yarn. I thought it would be better for a 1 year old, just in case she tried to chew on the hair. I had fun embroidering the sweet little face as well. The book also includes a dress pattern for Polly Dolly.

I really hope Abby likes her dolly. Although, I do have visions of her looking at it and throwing it down just like any other 1 year old would do. But...I hope one day she will come to love her dolly as much as I loved making it.

To Abby From Aunt Bonnie With Love

chai, how are you?

I love chai lattes from Starbucks, however, at a few bucks a pop, I decided to check out what the grocery store had to offer. I found this product by TAZO! I believe it was only $3.46. It's REALLY good and so easy to make...one part milk to one part chai. I'm happy about the ingredients too, no extra additives or preservatives! Yay!

This is the perfect hot drink for a rainy day! This would definately be a great drink for Fall with the cinnamony and ginger undertones.

Yum! So smooth and mild! Give it a try! It always makes me feel so GOOD!

My Favorite Mexican Rice Dish

For 55 cents, you can turn boring rice into delicious, yummy, rice! First, you need to go to Aldi's and buy a can of their diced tomatoes and green chilies. I cannot believe how flavorful it is!!..and for only 55 cents!! how can you beat that!!

For the rice, I used one bag of Uncle Ben's "boil in the bag" brown rice. After the rice cooks, add a few tablespoons of the tomatoes and chilis, a little of the juice from the can, a few dashes garlic powder, a nice dose of salt and some fresh chopped cilantro. Give it a taste and you will be in 7th heaven! (what and where is 7th heaven, I cannot tell you...but this rice has taken me there!)

I created this concoction the other day while planning a Mexican dinner. I almost bought a box of Spanish rice, until I read the list of ingredients on the box! It was a mile long! no thank you! When I spotted the cans of tomatoes and chilis I thought to myself, I can make this myself!! Later, when I tasted the tomatoes and chilis straight out of the can , it was a little on the spicy side, but absolutely DELICIOUS!! But don't worry...once you add it to the rice, it evens out the heat very nicely. Anyways, I could have eaten the entire batch of rice, and wished I had made more. If you have a hungry family that likes a little spice and loves Mexican food, you will probably want to boil up 2 or 3 bags. The one can of tomatoes and chilis is plenty for three bags. I made another batch of rice the next day and found there to still be enough to make yet another batch. As far as the cilantro goes, I am lucky enough to have some in my freezer from last year's garden. If you have to buy some, a batch of fresh cilantro only costs about 70 cents. (wash, pat dry, use what you need and freeze the rest in a Ziploc bag for future use.)