HOW POUND CAKE GOT ITS NAME

On a lighter note…

I made a cake from scratch over the weekend, a real feat for me. Bob found the recipe on the Internet; anything with raspberries catches his eye. It required cake flour and key limes, so we trotted off to the grocery store to gather the necessary ingredients. We had to purchase a Bundt pan, although I am sure we have one somewhere in the house. I chose the $3.68 pan instead of the $27.00 model. I prayed the cake wouldn’t stick, because then I would have to make the whole thing into a bowl of crumbs with raspberry sauce.

Surprisingly, the key limes were very reasonable. I cut them in half, all 20 of them, and Bob squeezed the juice into a bowl. The prelude to the recipe stated that the key lime juice, as opposed to lime juice, made all the difference in the world.

To me all-purpose flour would have been fine, but we opted to follow the recipe exactly and purchased the required cake flour. When I came home I looked up the difference. Cake flour has less gluten, which affects the “crumb” of the cake – the texture…you learn something every day.

I did screw-up the butter content. It called for 18 tablespoons. My quick conversion had me dump three sticks of butter (no calories there) into the bowl with 8 ounces of cream cheese (no calories there) and three cups of sugar (no calories there). That was six tablespoons of overkill. All ingredients were to be at room temperature and I made sure this was the case.

After I popped the pan in the oven, I made the glaze and then the sauce. Bob ran the sauce through a sieve to eliminate the seeds. Eighty minutes later the cake was golden brown and slipped out of the pan with ease - yeah. I glazed it with a brush and we were set to go.

The dessert was a big hit and I discovered just why it is called pound cake. There are 3,500 calories in a pound and I’ll bet I have added several pounds to my frame from eating that cake. It was worth it. It was delicious! The recipe can be found at the link to follow.

http://www.bake-aholic.com/key-lime-pound-cake-with-raspberry-sauce/

ANGER MANAGEMENT

I came to the realization today that I possessed a great underlying anger. It bubbled to the surface of my consciousness, when I was told of an incident regarding a young man, whom I know, and that he was using heroine. The anger was not at the addicted man and what he had done through the course of his addiction or toward those who excused his actions. After all, I didn’t have all the details and I only heard the account second hand. The anger rose toward the substance, heroine that overpowers and controls people seeking pleasures, hiding pain, unable to face life head-on.

I often wondered why I had no anger when my son passed due to his heroine addiction. I was never angry with my son. Anger just wasn’t there; a deep sadness, yes. The sadness is still there and probably always will be. There was never any anger toward God, either. It wasn’t His fault that my son loved what heroine did to him more than he loved anything else. There was never any anger, until today. I now know that the anger was always there. I just didn’t know how to direct it. I unconsciously suppressed it.

Today, seeing what that substance has done to another life and how it affected everyone around the abuser – I became angry and after thinking long and hard about it, the anger was directed at the substance. Now what do I do with this feeling? How do I need to channel it?

I started thinking about what I allow to control me? I don’t have a problem with substance abuse, I never have, I never will and, unfortunately, I don’t empathize with those who do. But, do I allow the need to be right to cloud logical thinking and control my actions? Do feelings of inadequacy or insecurity ensnare me and hold me back from doing what I should or could do? Do I let fear often paralyze me? I have much to think about here. James Russell Lowell stated, “Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.” I need to be willing to change!

Philippians 4:6-7

HAVE MERCY ON ME

mer·cy  

/ˈmərsē/

Noun

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.    Compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm: "the boy was begging for mercy".

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.    An event to be grateful for, esp. because its occurrence prevents something unpleasant or provides relief from suffering.

Synonyms

pity - compassion - clemency - grace - charity

It is amazing how dependence brings you right to the throne of grace. When you are unable to figure it out, to get out of your own way or find a way, you come to the One who is the way. Grace is undeserved favor. It’s mercy and God grants it freely. How long will it take me to catch on?

grace: Where we get what we really don't deserve. mercy: Where we don't get what we really do deserve.

It is my prayer that some day I will cease to let my circumstances rule me (how well they can control me - oh so effectively) and that I might get in tuned naturally with the God I seek to serve. The benefits would be tremendous – less stress leading to better health, better attitude, improved perspective, peace of mind, confidence, reassurance…think Psalm 23 and that old valley of the shadow of death! If only I could grasp the BIG picture instead starring in my own little melodrama. I’m working on it by the grace of God. I’m working on it.

COULD IT BE ADD?

In my self-reflection, I see that I have always had a deficit, some sort of ADD. I struggle with memory. Long term – I’m unable to recall many of the things my siblings remember about our childhood. Short term – names of places and people elude me and anything involving numbers gets all mixed up in translation. I do not believe that it is dementia, as it has always been this way. But it sure makes me wonder, whenever my mind has such a tendency to wander! Just yesterday, I told a friend that my train often pulls out the station, but I am not on board!

I must work hard at learning anything; memorization is a struggle. As a result, when I am expected to grasp anything immediately, it doesn’t happen. I ask a lot of questions in an attempt to understand (it drives my husband crazy) or I just pretend to get it. As an example: when I was in school, I tried out for cheerleading every year from eighth grade on, always making it to the last cut. The final test of one’s ability was to be taught a routine on the spot and then to be able to perform it. I was always eliminated at this point. I did not possess the ability to catch on without a ton of practice.

I don’t want to use this inability in my life as an excuse. It is just a fact. I know it is necessary for me to try harder in order to succeed. In college they called me “Avis Davis” – because I tried harder (at the time Avis Car Rental used the byline “We Try Harder”). I had to try harder. Now, I don’t always have the energy or will to do so.

I guess I will play games with myself to try and remember things – reciting lists I’ve made in my head, playing the family alphabet game with license plates, when I am driving. I’ve been told if you walk into a room and forget the reason you came to the room – that’s normal. If you can’t find your car keys – that’s normal. It is when you walk into a room and have no idea where you are or when you have your keys in your hand and have no idea what to do with them, then you need to be concerned, very concerned!