Not All Are Sweet

I guess I was wrong. Bitter and painful punches also came along with sweet things that passed by. It's only life just like Kate Voegele's song "It's Only Life". So right, but as usual, it is easier to sing than to do..... As long as it is life, you can't possibly have the sweet things only. There are sadness in the family and friends and nations of the people that were killed in recent Mumbai attack, there are worries around the family and friends of those there are stranded in Bangkok, people that live in the war zones, people that were born in the poor regions in Africa. There's no smooth sailing-everything is good as depicted by many celebrities when asked by reporters.

I have been shocked by the voices I heard this morning from the two intelligent, sweet and wonderful teenagers that for the first time revealed their opinion about certain things. They have grown up. Conveniently they omitted the facts that could backfire them, but pointed out the mistakes made by the parents. Sure, I wish they were mistakes. They were not! When asked back on the solution, the answer was simply, "I don't know!" Yes, let the parents scratch their head! Let the parents talk like a broken gramophone, but never ever yell. Keep on supporting the choices made by their children, irregardless how unreasonable they are?? Tell me how to keep a parent's sanity!

My mother made it looked to easy, she had nine children, none of whom was a problem growing up. Everyone worked hard without having to be asked. Someone cooked, someone did the dishes, another did ironing and another cleaned the house. Everything was taken care of even though we did not have much. Nobody had a room on his/her own. I don't recall my mom being mad at any of us or having to repeat her order, if she ever did. So I got all these wrong ideas about having kids. Throw in the ipod, computer, games, internet and all the current things into the picture, and life as parents now can't be more exciting. Or, might take you to become a resident in a mental institution...........

This is now about the good mixture of sweet and lemon, I utilized the remainder of the buttermilk that I had in the fridge. This is Buttermilk Pound Cake, with a lemony twist added, because we like lemon. The cake is really flavorful and moist.

I halved the recipe and used a ring baking pan and that cut down the baking time to around 45-50 minutes. The full recipe could use a bundt pan.

Buttermilk Pound Cake
Adapted from Allrecipes. com

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 3 cups white sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube pan. Mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar. Mix in the eggs, one at time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the lemon and the vanilla extracts. Gently mix in flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 90 minutes (45-50 minutes if you halve the recipe). Do not open oven door until after one hour (or 30 minutes if you halve the recipe). When cake begins to pull away from the side of the pan it is done. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.