Just Who Are They Talking To?

Just Who Are They Talking To??

Recently Mike and I made a trip to San Antonio Texas to visit the Riverwalk area.  My husband travels quite often but since leaving my job 12 years ago I now only travel for vacations.  Friend let me tell you, communication has changed! As we waited at the gate to board our plane I noticed everyone was talking, but no to each other!  Everyone (and I mean everyone) had a cell phone!  Entire families, traveling on what I assume to be a “family vacation” had their ears presses to phones, yakking away to some invisible person while not giving a nod to their travel companions.  I found it strange.  I asked my husband; just who are they talking to????  The teenagers might be saying a last goodbye to a boyfriend or girl friend but who is Mom chatting it up with at the airport? A neighbor? A coworker? Her Mother? And what about Dad?  Last minute business details?  Game picks? I really wanted to know who was on the end of that phone line but I didn’t dare question them face to face, perhaps if I had their phone number I could CALL them and ask. My childhood family vacations involved lots of talking too but it was with each other. Am I too young to long for the good ole days???

I have a cell phone but I am kind of an emergency only cell phone user.  Text still seems cumbersome to me….I never get the letter I want so my messages come out in a cryptic code that even I can’t solve once I’ve sent it.  It’s not that I don’t like to talk to people I just prefer a conversation with a real person not a garbled “Can you hear me now?”  And don’t even get me going on dropped calls.  Many times I have been listening to a great story from my sister-cousin only to have her voice disappear at the punch line!  Call me old fashioned but I like to “visit”. My mom often had neighbor ladies over for tea and talk.  These times were chatty and fun.  Recipes were shared, usually a piece of cake or muffins were tasted, and kids played together.  These discussions would have lost their personal touch over a cell phone.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not on a rampage to ban cell phones from homes and airports but can we somehow encourage and improve our personal discussion time?  Maybe limit the use of cell phones during family trips or dinnertime?   And what about (God Forbid) turning the phone off once in awhile? Because after all, is the person on the other end of the line more important than the person sitting next to you???  Just who are we talking to?  Peace, Sandy

True happiness arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self, and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions. ~ Joseph Addison

Tangerine Glazed Tea Cake

Ingredients

1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
3 tangerines or oranges, grated zest
3 tablespoons tangerine or orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk

Glaze, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 6-cup loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper, pressing it in firmly. Pour the bread crumbs into the pan and shake to coat the sides, and then tip out any extra crumbs. In a small bowl, combine the tangerine zest, tangerine juice and lemon juice. Stir and set aside. Sift together the pre-sifted flour, baking soda and salt. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and mix well. Add eggs 1 at a time and mix well. With the mixer running at low speed, add alternating batches of dry ingredients and buttermilk until the batter is just mixed. Add the fruit juice and zest and mix. Pour into the prepared pan and set on a sheet pan. Bake on the sheet pan until the cake is firm in the center and a tester inserted into the center comes out dry and clean (a few crumbs are okay), 70 to 80 minutes.

When the cake is done, let cool in the pan 15 minutes (it will still be warm). Run a knife around the sides of the pan. Set a wire rack on a sheet pan with sides (to catch the glaze) and turn the cake out onto the rack. Peel off the waxed paper. Using a turkey baster or pastry brush spread the glaze all over the top and sides of the cake and let soak in. Repeat until the entire glaze is used up, including any glaze that has dripped through onto the sheet pan. Let cool at room temperature or, wrapped in plastic wrap, in the refrigerator (well wrapped, the cake will last up to a week). Serve at room temperature, in thin slices.

Glaze Recipe:

1/2 cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar

Glaze: In a bowl, stir the juices and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved

Lemon and Blueberry Tea Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/3 cups flour
8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup sour cream
Juice of two lemons
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the sugar, brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 4 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix well and set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream the remaining sugar and butter together. Add the egg, 1/2 and 1/2, sour cream, and lemon juice, blend until smooth. In a mixing bowl, sift the remaining flour, baking powder, salt and remaining cinnamon together. With the machine running, slowly add the flour until all the flour is incorporated. Fold in the blueberries and lemon zest. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the topping on top of the batter. Bake the bread for about 50 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Slice and serve.

Cinnamon Tea Cake

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons butter

1 cup self-rising flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup milk

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease one 6 inch round cake pan. Melt 7 tablespoons of the butter. In a medium sized bowl mix together the melted butter, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, and the self rising flour to form soft dough. Add the milk and mix again till smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove cake from oven and set aside. Once cake is cool enough to handle remove from its pan and place on a serving dish. In a saucepan melt 1 tablespoon butter and mix with 1 tablespoon white sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Spread over top of cake. In a small bowl stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle over cake.