Come along for the Ride!

I am so glad you are here. Stay with us as we travel everywhere. I hope you will enjoy the ride.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Mayonnaise Cake

Our Aunt Louise taught me to make this cake. I love a good cake made from scratch. 
I wish I had a piece right now and a cup of coffee.


Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup baking cocoa
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups real mayonnaise
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla
How to make it
Sift dry ingredients into large bowl, stir in mayonnaise, stir in water and vanilla.
Grease one 9"X13" pan.
Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until done. Test with toothpick. 


Peanut Butter Frosting
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large bowl, beat butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in 1/2 of the powdered sugar. Mix in 1/4 cup of the Milk. Beat in the remaining powdered sugar. If necessary, add a little more milk until the frosting reaches a good spreading consistency. Makes enough to frost one  9x13 inch cake.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Cross Bronx Expressway

We drove across the Throgs Neck Bridge across the Cross Bronx Expressway and then we crossed the George Washington Bridge.






Saturday, June 15, 2013

Black Bean Brownies

I'm game to try them. Would you?
Black Bean Brownies
1/4 c. cocoa powder, unsweetened
1 c. unsalted butter, melted
2 c. black beans 
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. instant coffee granules
1/4 tsp. salt
4 large eggs
1 c. honey
Preheat oven to 350°.
Line a 9″ x 13″ baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, place the beans, cocoa powder, melted butter, vanilla extract, salt, espresso powder and eggs. Process until smooth and remove to a large bowl. Stir in the honey. Pour the mixture into the lined pan and bake for 45 minutes. Baked brownies will be solid,  and will not jiggle when the pan is shaken.
Cool  brownies  to room temperature before unmolding. 
YIELD:  1- 9″ x 13″ tray of brownies, slice and serve.

From earlier in the week


Upstate New York







Excitement at the border

We got a load yesterday hauling stage equipment and backdrops for someone pretty famous, Justin Timberlake. Well that was pretty exciting by itself.
But
This morning at ten minutes before 8:00am we were inside the building at the Border crossing at Champlain. We were just getting our paperwork sorted through and stamped when there was a huge commotion. 
We heard voices over radios and officers began running out the door, including the man that was waiting on us, and everyone else seemed to be hiding in doorways or behind counters. My instinct was to figure out how to get behind the counter. It seemed like a big emergency. Pops was watching out the window.
Then we heard over the radio, "body down, body down. Call 911." We heard several other things too. 
We saw someone outside lying on the ground with officers surrounding him with guns drawn.
We were handed our paperwork and told to go. 
As we were leaving we saw a man with his hands handcuffed behind his back, kneeling on the ground vomiting. And there was an officer leading a German shepherd dog around.
We left quickly.
A little over two hours later, after making our Montreal delivery, we returned to cross back into the US.
The place was swarming with emergency equipment and workers. There were fire trucks, ambulances, hazmat vehicles and lots of tarps laying on the ground all in the same area as where we saw the man down earlier.
When I looked for news on the Internet I found the article below. We are not sure if the incident we saw and the hazmat incident are related.

HazMat incident at Champlain Port of Entry
By Vanessa Misciagna, WNNE Reporter, vmisciagna@hearst.com
Published On: Jun 15 2013 09:00:53 AM 
CHAMPLAIN, N.Y. -
Fire officials confirm a HazMat incident is underway at the Champlain Port of Entry. 
Champlain Fire Department officials say multiple crews from the surrounding area have responded to the scene this morning. 
Responders from Rouses Point, Champlain, Mooers, Chazy and Alburgh, Vermont are present. 
Clinton County Dispatch has confirmed that six people have been transported to the hospital. 
Officials cannot say yet what caused the incident.



Thursday, June 13, 2013

Struggles




Struggles, we all have them. And it is important to rely on each other.
We all face uphill battles and it feels like we are pushing a boulder up the mountain. Whether we have health problems, employment problems, addictions, loneliness, low self esteem, family problems, rebellious children, we all struggle in some way with something.
We need to be encouraging each other through these things, sometimes they are too big to face alone. We need cheerleaders telling us we can make it, we need prayer warriors petitioning God on our behalf and sometimes we need physical strength and support helping us to push that rock up the hill.
Let's be there for each other. Pray for and support each other. I am praying for all of you and for the individual struggles that I am aware of. Please pray for me too.

Camo cupcakes




Camo cupcakes
Ingredients
1  Supermoist vanilla cake mix (and ingredients called for on the package)
1  Supermoist chocolate cake mix (and ingredients called for on the package)
2  containers  vanilla frosting
1  container  chocolate frosting
green food coloring
Directions
1Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners. Prepare cake mix batter according to package directions in two separate bowls.
2You need four medium sized bowls. In the first bowl: Pour 2 cups of white cake batter. In the second bowl: Pour one cup white cake batter and one cup chocolate cake batter and mix together. In the third bowl: Pour 2 cups white cake batter, green food coloring (I did 15 drops) and 2-3 tablespoons of chocolate frosting. Mix together and adjust for the desired camo green that you want. In the fourth bowl: Pour 2 cups of chocolate batter.
3Spoon a tablespoon of each color into each cupcake tin. Repeat the colors until liners are 2/3 of the way full.
4Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cupcakes are set and spring back to the touch. Cool cupcakes.
5For the frosting; Add one tablespoon of white frosting to the chocolate frosting container and mix well. For the green camouflage colored frosting add one tablespoon of chocolate frosting to a container of white frosting along with some green food coloring until desired color is reached.
6Spoon the green camouflage colored frosting into a gallon Ziploc bag. Spoon the chocolate frosting into a separate gallon Ziploc bag. Spoon the remaining container of vanilla frosting into a gallon Ziploc bag. Cut off the corner of all of the bags and place them side by side inside of a large pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

JalapeƱo popper stuffed chicken


Cheesy JalapeƱo Popper Baked Stuffed Chicken 
Ingredients: 
2 slices center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 jalapeƱos, chopped (remove seeds for milder)
3 oz lowfat cream cheese, softened
4 oz reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
2 tbsp chopped scallions
8 thin sliced skinless chicken breast cutlets
1/2 cup Italian seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and fresh pepper
olive oil non-stick spray
Directions:
Wash and dry chicken cutlets, season with salt and pepper.  Preheat oven to 450°.  spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.
Combine cream cheese, cheddar, scallions, jalapeƱo and bacon crumbles in a medium bowl.
Lay out  chicken cutlets and spread 2 tbsp of cream cheese mixture on each cutlet. Loosely roll each one, secure the ends with toothpicks to prevent the cheese from oozing out.
Place breadcrumbs in a bowl; in a second bowl combine olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.
Dip chicken in lime-oil mixture, then in breadcrumbs and place seam side down on a baking dish. Repeat with the remaining chicken. When finished, lightly spray the top of the chicken with oil spray.

Matthew Gill

This story was on Facebook and Pops and I both sent cards to Matthew. His mother, Tammy, contacted us and thanked us. She invited us to stop and visit Matthew when we get through their area. She told us that he loves trucks.
I sure hope we get to visit him soon.
It's not to late to send this young man a card.
His graduation is June 22, 2013.
As most of you know, my son Matthew has Cerebral Palsy and is deaf. I was trying to think of something special to do for him for graduation and I came up with a Card Party. He loves to get mail, so I thought this would be a fun thing for him to do and we can look up all the places on a map to show where all his cards are coming from. If you would send him a card to let him know what an awesome accomplishment he has made. Please share this with your friends and family so he can get cards from all over. Cards can be sent to Matthew Gill 108 Dixie Avenue, Petal, MS 39465 Thank you so much for your help. Tammy Gill

New Orleans



We went in and out of New Orleans at the beginning of the week. We were at a military base less than 15 miles from the city, but it was very rural. We saw a big, black, wild boar while there.

Little Trees

Pops and I delivered in Peoria this morning. Our Gypsy pronounced it, Pee-oh-Rhee-ah. That was funny. 
We began getting many load offers so we accepted one that picked up in Chicago and delivers tomorrow morning in Watertown, NY.
Remember, Watertown is the home of Little Tree Air Fresheners.
Then we have to start thinking about working our way home for the end of next week. 

Thursday, June 6, 2013

The accident

Starla and two very dear friends were in an accident this morning. They were taking her to the Dr. And then planning a good breakfast together.
They were hit head on by a big van.
Luckily The Lord's angels were watching out for them.
They are very bruised and very stiff and sore. There are a few broken bones and a couple of sprains but thank God they will all be ok. 
Pops and I had a very worrisome day but again God gave us a load that the route took us within two miles of the hospital. So we stopped for just a few minutes, just enough time to help all of us feel a tiny bit better.
Thank You, Good Lord for being with them this morning. Thank You too for getting Pops and I there to see and hug her.