We found out recently that we are going to be Great-Grandparents! As excited as I was with our Grands, I just can't imagine what this is going to be like! We've already been giving advice and even a list of family names that they might like to "consider." Go back a couple of generations and Virgil and Nola's children were Hobert, Walton, Tracey and Joy. That's where my name comes from... my Aunt Joy ♥ On the other side we have Clay and Selva and my Mom, Willadean! A few more generations back, the names get more distinctive... Bird Moore Milum and his bride America Allison~ really!!!
My maternal Grandparents Clay and Selva Keeling
My parents considered the name Nola after my paternal Grandmother, Vance after my maternal Grandfather. What would I have been like if I'd have been a Nola? Would it have made me have a different personality, more outgoing or more reserved?
"Reserved" is not a word we use much on my side of the family! We are a noisy bunch who speak our minds, laugh out loud and never meet a stranger. When we are all together, the decibel level is off the charts loud. We all talk at once, we talk about EVERYTHING under the sun and food is always involved! I'm looking forward to summer picnics, lots of time to hone my Great-Grandma skills!!!
Print Recipe
Instructions:
Fish Bowl Gelatin: Fills a 2 1/2-quart fish or glass bowl
1 two-liter bottle lemon-lime soda, flat
4 1/4-ounce packages unflavored gelatin
2 drops blue food coloring
2 ounces gummy fish
Place 1 cup soda in a large bowl. Sprinkle gelatin evenly over soda, and let stand to soften,
about 5 minutes.
Place 2 cups soda in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat until just before a boil. Add
the softened gelatin, stirring to dissolve the gelatin completely over the heat, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the remaining soda and food coloring, and stir to combine. Pour the liquid into the fish bowl. Using a damp paper towel, carefully remove any bubbles that have formed on the surface. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill overnight.
When ready to serve, use a sharp knife to make vertical slits in the gelatin; insert the fish in a random pattern to make it look as though they are swimming in the bowl. Keep refrigerated until serving. Serve within 6 hours.
Note: To make the soda go flat, twist off cap, and let the bottle stand at room temperature
overnight.
The second appeals to my 1970's HIPPY~DIPPY self! I like the name Groovy Cake, I like saying Groovy, I may drive the kids a little crazy adding it to every sentence where I can work it in!
Groovy Cake Print Recipe
1 box (18.25 oz.) white cake mix3 whole eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
Red, blue, green and yellow food coloring
2 (12 ounce) cans whipped vanilla frosting
Assorted colors decorating gel tubes
½ cup SKITTLES® Bite Size Candies
2 8-inch round cake pans
1. Blend cake mix with eggs, oil, and buttermilk. Spoon 1/2 cup of batter into four separate bowls. Tint each bowl a different color, set aside. Divide remaining white batter between two greased and flour cake pans. Drop spoonfuls of tinted batter randomly over the white batter. Gently pull tip of a knife through batters, creating a marbling effect.
2. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven until golden and an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean, approximately 28-31 minutes. Cool cakes completely.
3. Trim the tops of the cakes, leveling them. Sandwich the layers together with frosting and set on serving plate. Spread remaining frosting over sides and top of cakes. Using photos as your guide, pipe concentric hexagon shapes of different sizes and colors on the sides and top.Gently pull the tip of a toothpick through the frosting (not the cake), starting in the enter of gel circles. Randomly dot the cake with SKITTLES® Bite Size Candies.
We like to sit outside under the trees after supper and relax on lazy weekends, just enjoying the sounds of summer. I allow myself to just sit there, literally thinking about nothing...content to listen to the crickets and watch the fireflies do their magical dance. I sit there totally relaxed and happy.
