Speaking of dogs... I mentioned yesterday about how our muttenheimers lay in the narrowest part of the motorhome! Butterbean C commented that if we had a rig with slides, we wouldn't be stepping on the dogs. Perhaps... but these guys look for the NARROWEST spot, even a door way to the bathroom or any where we might be passing by. I swear it's on purpose!
Here is a pic to prove my point:
or up in the area between our drivers and passenger seats...
or in the kitchen along the table or the counter...
or even near the doorway entrance area looking out...
But no, they have to congregate at the narrowest part between the two recliners! Now we HAVE to step over, among, between and on top of them. LOL
Sometimes we turn both recliners to one side wall or the other, olacing them side by side. Then there is a big space across from them that is wide open along the other wall. Where do the dogs lay then? Right in front of the recliners to get in the way of the footrests... bwaahhhaaaahaaaaaa
I think they do it on purpose?
As for the morning, my anniversary roses opened up wide today, and smelled sooo good! They look so pretty on the dash looking out over the campground.
Guess I am gonna have to find a spot in the cabinets to keep a vase in here.
if my sweetie keeps giving me flowers, eh?
We were due for another hot day here in Wisconsin. So before it heated up, we headed out for a walk around the park. The campground is up high on a ledge of limestone, called the Niagara Escarpment. Here is a shot overlooking Lake Winnebago. Our path wandered among the dappled sunshine from the trees as we strolled along.
Before it got too hot, I wanted to bake up some white cake mix into some squares to use for dessert with fresh strawberries for dinner. I decided to try to use my convection oven (which I have had a distinct dislike for) .... I didn't want to bother Steveio to take out my Coleman portable propane oven to bake something for 15 minutes. He was busy with another project. So I mixed up the cake batter with resolve to try ONE MORE TIME to love my convection oven. There was enough batter to also make 6 little cupcakes too. I figured of the cake was ruined by the oven, maybe the little cupcakes would work out?
Well, I set about to preheat it up, and a funny thing happened. It didn't make it's normal obnoxious tinny rattly vibration noise! It was kinda quiet with a nice hummmm sound. What the heck? It sounded very different than it had in the past. Oh well, I popped the cake and the cupcakes in and sat back to watch. OH MY!~ It baked perfectly!!! Usually on the convection cycle it would make my cupcakes lopsided, the fan inside would kinda "blow" the batter to one side or another. It would normally brown on one side and leave raw dough on the other. But not this time! I have no idea why, but something must have been bad or out of sync or misaligned before? Maybe something rattled into place and it works fine now?
See for yourself:
As the day got hotter, we moved indoors and Steve found a job to keep himself busy. A large drawer in the bottom-most cabinet needed new drawer glides. I plan to keep some heavier canned goods in here, along with the bucket of dog food and bag of doggie treats. (more on those later)
He got out his tools and got the glides all figured out. They are much stronger than the original roller type, these utilize ball bearings instead. He had his reciprocal saw because he had to cut out a small section the cabinet for clearance on each side. Once the drawer is shut, you don't see the part he cut out.
She seems to be feeling better today, and walked around the loop without mishap today.
Around suppertime, Steve's baby brother Pete came around on his motorcycle... we had invited him over for a Birthday Dinner! He lives in nearby Menasha and it was just a short jaunt over to the park. Steve grilled up some lovely steaks, and I whipped up a salad and some baked potatoes (again, in my convection oven and it worked PERFECTLY!) ....
and yes, we had our strawberries and cake squares for dessert
Pete and Steve enjoyed a little guy talk while I took the doggers for a walk around the park. They even got in a few matches of cribbage before it was time to mount up on his motorcycle and head on home.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETE!
Looks like we are due for a few more days of heat and humidity. No break till later this weekend when it might get back down to the 80's. For now, we can deal with it by being in the cool woods, and having power hookups for the AC to run. It really don't matter to me, because we are CAMPING!
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I too hated my convection oven when I first tried it. But now I am getting the hang of it. It does help to use those metal stands that raise the food so that air can circulate all under the food. My first attempt at biscuits were a disaster. They were perfect hockey pucks. LOL Next ones were golden brown on the outside and raw on the inside. I think I finally have it down now...last ones were actually edible.
ReplyDeleteGood job with the convection oven. Those strawberries look delicious.
ReplyDeleteBaby Snooks is like your doggers, she likes to be sure we notice her, so makes sure to find the most narrow place to nap.
ReplyDeleteSure like that drawer. That cabinet area is where our Splendide lives, but we do have a bank of drawers near the sink and the big, bottom drawer could use reworking to hold heavier stuff.
Love your blog post, as per usual!
iona
http://wildgooservers.blogspot.com/
We too have a Niagara Escarpment on this side of the Great Lakes. Runs between Niagara Falls & Tobormory on the Bruce Penninsula. Know what you mean by dogs laying in the narrow hard to walk places. Max, Checkers,& the Motormouse used to all do the same thing. We have never used the convection oven in our rig. Kelly isn't into baking & stuff. Just as well because I have a terrible sweet tooth that I am always in constant conflict with.
ReplyDeleteWow, I wonder what was going on with the oven? I am glad it is working well now. Expecially since you will be full timing soon! The roses are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteOh my, that strawberry shortcake looks yummy! The roses are lovely and yes, you should have a vase. I always carried one, never needed it though! LOL
ReplyDeletealways nice when the motorhome decides to fix itself instead of the other way around
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the last time someone gave me flowers, but just in case it happens I have a collapsible vase. It's made out of some kind of plastic. You run it under hot water to become pliable to shape the way you want it. When the flowers wilt, just run it under hot water again and flatten it out. Works great, is light, and easy to store. :)
ReplyDeleteHey... I think I wanna check that out! Do you have a brand name or a store where you got it?
DeleteI think I got mine at Camping World. They are great! Those strawberries look terrific! Keep cool.....
ReplyDeleteWe had trouble with our convection oven, too, so we bought a large toaster oven. Since that purchase, the convection oven has been working perfectly.
ReplyDeleteThe toaster oven now sits unused but we're afraid to get rid of it because the convection oven might return to its former unfriendly ways.
Howdy Karen & Steveio,
ReplyDeleteThe roses are beautiful and Steve is WONDERFUL to give them to you!!! I know why the oven started working correctly; you were holding your mouth right!!! May I have some starberry shortcake, please?? If Pete is the baby bro, why does happy Steve look younger?? If Pete EVER LAYS'ER down, with those shorts on; CAN YOU SAY ROAD-RASH!!!OH MY, OH MY!!! BUT HE IS VERY INTELLIGENT IN OTHER WAYS; yes indeed, in the hot weather HE'S WEARING HIS SKID-LID!!!
As much as we love dogs, that is one of the reasons we don't have one in a motor home. We almost had a golden retriever, but with dirty paws and laying in the middle of the floor, we thought better of it. The cats mostly lay on the dash and up high so they aren't usually in the way......however, those pretty flowers....no way can I have them. That vase would have been knocked over in a second. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your convection started working right. I rarely use mine, but it seems to work pretty well. I usually use my Nu-Wave instead though.
Questions about cake in the convection oven...What temperature did you use? How long did you cook the cake?
ReplyDeleteI have a convection oven, but no instructions.
Thank you. I'm enjoying your blog.
Susan
http://travelbug-susan.blogspot.com
I often see convection oven cookbooks in the sale bins at GoodWill and St. Vinnies. Perhaps you can pick one up? As for my cake, just baked it like a normal cake mix with about 22 minutes and 375. I did stop and turn it once, but I don't think I needed to really. It seemed to come out even and browned nicely.
DeleteWhat amazes me is that for the last 5 years, each time I tried our oven (or even on microwave mode) it made a horrible loud buzzing sound. So loud you could hear it from sitting outside under the awning and knew when it was done! And now it's quiet and bakes correctly. Strange????