White Texas Sheet Cake

Oklahoma Granny asked about the recipe for the white Texas sheet cake, it is recipe I clipped from a Taste of Home issue years ago. Jeff says he prefers the chocolate Texas sheet cake but he still eats plenty of the white one too.
All its ingredients are basic kitchen staple that I almost always have on hand. It stirs up really quick, no need to get out the mixer either.
However, it is very rich and unless you are an Amish farm worker who burns off a million calories a day, you probably should not eat it very often.

White Texas Sheet Cake
1 cup butter, cubed
1 cup water
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

FROSTING:
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/4 cup milk
4-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup chopped walnuts (walnuts are good but I prefer pecans)
Directions
In a large saucepan, bring butter and water just to a boil. Immediately remove from the heat; stir in the flour, sugar, eggs, sour cream, salt, baking powder, extract and baking soda until smooth.
Pour into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 375° for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
For frosting, in a large saucepan, bring butter and milk just to a boil. Immediately remove from the heat; stir in confectioners' sugar and extract. Stir in walnuts; spread over warm cake. Cool completely. Yield: 20 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 piece equals 409 calories, (YIKES!) 19 g fat (10 g saturated fat), 62 mg cholesterol, 304 mg sodium, 58 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein.

White Texas Sheet Cake published in Taste of Home October/November 1993, p39

I baked it in a 13x9 cake pan instead of a jelly roll pan. It works fine either way.

pickled jalapeno peppers

Georgene asked how I canned the jalapenos last weekend, so here is my recipe. It is a very simple easy way to preserve jalapenos.
We eat them with Mexican food, on chips with salsa, on pizza - I grew up in Texas and have been around spicy food most all my life. I think they are delicious but they may have too much heat for mild-food fans.
My brother is here for the weekend and he brought several sacks of produce from hi garden so now I have more peppers to pickle.



first - before you start handling the peppers, put on and leave on some kind of protective gloves.


Pickled Jalapeno Peppers(1 quart jar)

I doubled this recipe and got 6 pints and 1 half pint
Jalapeno peppers (about 2 pounds)
1 cup vinegar
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon salt - I used sea salt
2 large carrots sliced,
1 small onion, cubed
1. Wash peppers and pack into a hot jar. Add carrot slices, celery sticks and a clove of garlic if desired. Pack tightly, leaving 2-inch headspace.

2. Combine vinegar, water and salt. Heat to boiling. Pour boiling hot liquid over peppers to two inches from top of jar top. Remove air bubbles by running a plastic knife or rubber spatula down the side of the jar, rotating, releasing trapped air between the peppers. Wipe jar rims clean. Adjust prepared two piece canning lid.

3. Process jar in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Using jar lifters, remove to a draft free area, and allow to cool. Check the seal. Label the container.

I found this simple recipe from Colorado State University Cooperative Extension.
other variations I found used pickling spices, garlic, oil, even sugar, etc.

4th of July at our house

The remnants of Hurrican Alex brought rain and cooler temperatures to Oklahoma. Because the wind and the muddy conditions for parking, our city postponed the big fireworks show until Labor Day.


Dessert was white Texas sheet cake with patriotic fruit.

Elizabeth in her 4th of July dress

Gavin thought standing on the table was fun - here is what he looked like with this same flag just one year ago.

babies don't stay babies very long......

Green and frugal tip

My friend Terri aka PennyAnn Poundwise shared this tip with me. She said she has a basket by her kitchen sink for dishcloths. Her household uses them whenever they need to wipe up a spill, dry their hands, etc.
I thought it sounded like a good idea so I found a basket I already had and filled it with dishcloths.

We are using fewer paper towels so that makes it both frugal and green.

Here you can see my whole kitchen sink. On the ledge behind the sink, you can see some of my container garden produce, either drying after being washed or ripening a little more. I have to pick our tomatoes just as they start to turn red before the birds peck them. Then they ripen safely indoors.

Thank you Terri for this tip!

earning a little extra

While the internet is full of get rich scams, I don't mess with them. I do participate in a few online programs that either earn me a little cash or free products.
Here are the ones I belong to and think are worthwhile.

all of these coupons are from Kraft, either from their First Taste site or by "liking" Kraft products on Facebook. You don't have to do anything at First Taste, just join, and then when Kraft has products they want to promote, they send out coupons or samples. You do have to check your account occasionally and accept any new offers to get the coupons.

Vocalpoint is another site that promotes new products. Just sign up and check out the Try and Tells to get samples and coupons.
In yesterday's mail, I got this cute cardboard purse from VocalPoint.

It contained 3 of the new very thin Pampers as well as some high value coupons.



I just started Swagbucks about a month ago and plan on earning Amazon certificates. I mostly use it as a search engine, I do a few searches several times a day, hoping to win a few bucks, I also do the Daily Poll everyday for 1 swagbuck.

I have belonged to MyPoints.com for about 10 years. My husband also has an account. Most of our points come just from clicking on the links in the emails they send. We also get points from some online purchases including Ebay and for printing and using coupons at our local stores. I spend maybe 1 or 2 minutes on some days with Mypoints and earn a $25 gift card every 8 months or so.

If you have a blog and like to host giveaways, I recommend MyBlogSpark.com. I have hosted for them several times, they usually send me some sort of gift pack to try and then a giftpack or gift card for a reader that comments.

None of these programs will replace earnings from a fulltime job but most of them are fun and do offer rewards. I would be interested in hearing of any other reward programs with good reputations too.