Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze

I made this Sunday and oh my, is it ever delish!!


Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze

3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease 16-cup tube pan. Dust pan with cake flour; tap out excess flour.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt into medium bowl.
Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl at medium speed until fluffy.
Gradually add sugar.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined after each addition.
Beat in lemon juice and peel.
Mix in dry ingredients.
Mix in sour cream.
Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Cut around cake in pan. Turn out cake.
Carefully turn cake right side up on rack and cool completely.

Lemon Glaze

1. Melt ¼ cup butter in microwave
2. Sift 2 cups powdered sugar in large bowl
3. Add butter to powdered sugar
4. Add 2 tablespoonsful lemon juice
5. Add 2 teaspoonsful lemon zest
6. Stir until smooth and creamy
7. If too thick add a few drops milk, if too thin add a little more powdered sugar.
8. Drizzle over cake.

This rubs me the wrong way

I hear on the news this morning that we will be giving Pakistan half a billion dollars for hydroelectric dams, drip irrigation system, and infrastructure. This was followed by a segment on how we need to rein in the budget by not extending unemployment compensation to the unemployed here in the US. Seems to me that my tax dollars could be used for some infrastructure here at home even if we don't extend unemployment compensation. And then there is always the question of how much of that $500,000,000 will end up in some one's private Swiss account--80%?90%?? And finally, there is the question of isn't the House of Representatives supposed to have something to say about how our taxes are spent??

Update: Well, it looks like the aid to Pakistan was part of the foreign aid in the budget approved by the House of Representatives. Still, don't like it. I suggest it is time to give a long look at all the countries that I am sending my taxes to.

My Yard Scooter

Because of my neuromuscular problem, I have never been able to amble around our 4 acre property. JMM built a lovely brick path to the patio under the live oaks so I have been able to enjoy some of the loveliness but have been restricted to where my little scooter could take me. Well, that is about to change because we are getting a little utility vehicle. This morning we found what looks just perfect:

http://www.clubcar.com/documents/downloads/XRT800_810MiniBrochure.pdf

The one we are looking at has a roof to provide some shade from the hot Texas summer sun. We are debating the merits of the battery vs. the gasoline engine versions. The battery would be quieter and less smelly than the gasoline, but then there's much to be said for a good solid powerful Kawasaki engine too. Decisions, decisions.

The ones we were looking at cost $5,000--$5200. We will, of course, pay cash for it. When we make the final decision, I'll transfer money from savings to checking.

Hopeless in the face of such ignorance

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100714/ap_on_re_us/us_iowa_obama_billboard

When I saw the picture of that billboard, what I felt was just utter hopelessness that people could be so ignorant. It was a desecration of the people who were transported in cattle cars, starved, gassed and burned. To compare President Obama's desire for adequate health care for Americans, for financial reform to prevent another 2008 financial meltdown, and to have a workable, enforceable immigration policy with gas chambers and firing squads is just incredible ignorance. My response to the ignoramuses: You lost the election, get over it. The representatives were elected. If you don't like them, elect new ones. Your hatred makes me ill.

Summer Camp

I only went to camp once when I was growing up. It was a church Bible camp. I think it was called Peach Creek Bible Camp but I'm not sure. There was no air-conditioning and it was soooo hot!! The heat and being afraid of spiders was the down side. But the up side was the boyfriend I met at camp. It was a sweet little romance of walking along the creek and sitting together at the evening Bible study. We wrote to each other a few times after camp but that ended after a month or so. I heard nothing further from him for years until I got a letter from him from Viet Nam. He had been drafted and his wife had sent him a Dear John letter and he just wanted someone to correspond with. I wrote back that I was now married and my husband was also in Viet Nam. I never heard from him again. I hope he made it back alive and in one piece.

Habits that keep you broke

These were on Yahoo today:
1. Paying only the minimum on your credit card. (Surely this cannot come as a surprise to anyone.)
2. Buying a brand new car. While I theoretically agree with this, we buy new and drive them forever; my husband's previous vehicle lasted 14 years.
3. Smoking. Well, duh!
4. Keeping a drafty attic. Insulation is good. The most energy saving thing we have added to this house is the solar screens. They really do help keep the rooms cooler so the a/c runs less.
5. Ignoring your student debt. If you want to really go suicidal, figure out how much money you have paid out in interest on those loans. Same principal as #1.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-Common-Habits-That-Cost-You-usnews-2188228706.html?x=0

I would add one more:
6. Short-term thinking. Not planning past the next paycheck. Set goals--what do you want to have accomplished in 10 years, 5 years, 1 year? What are steps are you taking to get there today?

Summer Fruit

Here in Texas the peach crop is coming in and just walking into the grocery and inhaling the scent of those peaches is enough to waft one into Heaven. Love peaches in pies, cobblers, or ice cream but love them even more just as God made them--juice dripping from mouth to chin to shirt.

Cantaloupes are beginning to come in also. I only eat cantaloupe in July and some in August when they are at their juicy, sensuous best.

Looking forward to luscious grapes in another month or so.

What's your favorite fresh summer food?