Ceresone, it counts, but I didn't think of that when I was looking at them! Thank you all. I am ashamed to admit I have had two pieces of the pie along with my sweet cow's cream whipped. We did get rain. I think around 3 inches. Much needed and now it can go away for a while. I have spent a pretty lazy day after just doing normal routine chores.......even took a nap. Christie, I think I used to have that lily. Mine have just disappeared over the years. It is a beauty. glenda, who is now old enough to quit having birthdays.

Since it just got bumped anyway, THANKS!!! to the latecomers. p.s. Kathleen - you've been missed. Come back soon or I'll blow all my snow eastward down 27.

Death Valley is a very good vacation place, and so far we've seen lots of French, German, and Japanese tourists, as well as a few Canadians. Saturday we went to Zabriskie Point, Golden Canyon (drive through), and Dante's view - all before lunch. Then we met my friends from Utah, who had to wait to get into their room, and after lunch we went to Rhyolyte and Beatty NV with Mark and Greg. Yesterday we got an early start to go to Ubehebe Crater and decided to stop by Scotty's Castle on the way. We could not get a tour for the inside for an hour an a half, and so we only did the outside self-guided tour, which I felt was enough. Then we went on to the craters, which Kevin and I had explored before, but Mark and Greg made quick work of hiking down and back up the 500 feet of elevation change in the crater. Kevin and I went toward the smaller craters. Next we went to the racetrack on a very bad gravel road that took three times as long as it should have, but we got some great photos there of the "floating" rocks. After that, we decided to make a loop across Hunter Mountain to have dinner in Panamint Springs, instead of turning around and going back the way we came. The six mile road from Teakettle Junction (where we had lunch) was a dead end, but we decided to take the other road, which Kevin and I had taken 12 years ago and almost got stranded in mud from melting snow at the top of the mountain - and we got lost along the way at a "Y" in the road that went to a dead-end at a cliff where there was a dilapidated building and a rusted out 1920s car. To be continued - computer and internet service acting up! Lars ETA: The road we chose to cross Hunter Mountain was closed due to damage from rock slides, floods, and landslides, which removed or covered parts of the road. There was no warning of this from the Teakettle Junction end of this road. Thanks for the warning to stay safe, but it came perhaps a bit too late! Here is a link that might be useful: Typical road in DV This post was edited by publickman on Mon, Feb 25, 13 at 13:01

I brought panforte - first time I made it and I over-baked it a little, but it got gobbled up anyway, and these old favourites: Spice cake 850 g (30 oz) flour 850 g (30 oz) dark brown sugar (this can safely be reduced to 700 g (25 oz)) 2 1/2 tsp baking soda 2 tsp cinnamon, ground 1 tbs ginger, ground 1 tbs cloves, ground 1 tbs nutmeg, ground 660 ml (22 fl.oz) sweet brown ale (Egils Malt if you can get it) Mix all the dry ingredients well together and then mix in the ale. Pour into an oven pan or 2 loaf pans and bake at 175°C (350°F) for about an hour. Very good with or without butter. -- Devil's Cake with Angel Créme Icing Ingredients: 1 3/4 cup flour 1 1/2 cup sugar 1 tsp salt 2/3 cup milk 1 tsp baking soda 2 eggs or 1 egg and egg 2 yolks (if you're making Angel's créme icing) 1/2 cup dark cocoa 100 g margarine/butter (soft) 1 tsp vanilla essence Mix together the dry ingredients. Add milk and mix well. Add eggs, soft margarine/butter and vanilla essence and mix well. Pour into two cake pans and bake at 175° Celsius until firm (usually 25-30 minutes). Remove gently from pans and cool. When cold, spread one half with icing, sandwich the halves together and spread with Angel Créme Icing. To this basic recipe I added about a cup of chocolate chips. The chocolate gives the cake an extra rich chocolate flavour and moistness. Englakrem - Angel's Créme Icing: 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup water 2 egg whites Boil water and sugar together until a clear syrup forms. Cool slightly. Be careful not to burn. Whip the egg whites until they are stiff and form peaks. Continue whipping and pour the warm syrup very slowly into the egg whites. Continue whipping until mixture is cold. This créme should be quite stiff. Spread on the cake and decorate with chocolate shavings.