Maine's Own Off-Topic Thread - Pt. 3 (Wayne: to eat, vacations, drain)

[Maine Writer]

Be safe. About what time is it supposed to hit?

[txmom]

Elcarim, praying that you and yours are safe.

[mollysmiles]

As awful as this sounds, I hope that house gets flattened El!! or at least damaged to the point where it would have to be destroyed. Please please please.... oh, don't forget your grandmother's flowers.... do you have insurance for a hurricane? hmmm.... my brain is going in directions it shouldn't, but wouldn't that soooo be a blessing in disguise? I don't want anyone to get hurt though....just your house!

[Elcarim]

Hey, M! I know!! I feel bad to even think it but just can't help it!!

I'm not sure yet when we'll know how close it will get. DH is already on active duty until it passes. That sucks! He won't be home until at least Tues or Wed, but we can go to the station and see him whenever we want. He said they're supposed to know by Sunday evening which areas will be under mandatory evacuation. We're just waiting right now.

Gas prices have gone up 15 cents in 3 days. I went and filled up again this morning just to be on the safe side. When we had to evacuate for Rita, we ended up spending the night in the car with all 3 kids about 100 miles from home, because there was no gasoline available when we ran out. The line at that station was at least 50 cars long when the gas pumper pulled up and started filling the tanks the next morning. And the station owner ran out and raised the price 50 cents before turning on the pumps!!! It was a nightmare! I wanted to get out and pull that greedy little man's hair out when I saw that. How rude! At least I know this time that we have enough gas to get where we'll be going if we have to leave.

The hard part will be knowing that DH has to stay behind if we do have to leave. That scares me.

I'm already raising prayers for the folks in Louisiana. We know they'll likely get the brunt of it if it stays on its current course. Only time will tell...

[AlisonL]

El,
You folks take care and I will be praying for your safety. If you have to, you can always come here. We'd find room for you to sleep somewhere.

[Cornerguy1]

Gas prices have gone up 15 cents in 3 days.

Good to see the corporate citizens aren't taking advantage of a situation in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

Stay as safe as possible, El.

The last tracking map I saw an hour ago predicted landfall in the Louisiana area as a Cat 4 or 5 sometime early Monday morning. Of six different computer models, three predict a swing to the east after landfall and three choose a westerly direction.

[dramamama6685]

El, please be safe. Good luck getting through this!

[peachie_in_maine]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

If it heads this way, we're heading north with the dog and kittens and all our irreplaceable keepsakes. The house can blow to kingdom come!!! So pray away!!

Yess, stay safe.
Thinking of you and hearing all is well.

[fortunata]

I haven't been around for a week or more I guess, but I did note that someone asked for my Fashingkrampfen recipe (German doughnuts).
This is the real deal old fashioned jelly doughnut, which is how jelly doughnuts came to be called Bismarks. Why Bismark? Don't know, except that he was German.
The recipe is a bit involved, it's from a German cookbook I bought over 30 years ago.

FASCHINGKRAMPFEN
[SIZE=2]Sponge:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]1 pkg yeast[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]1/4c water[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]1/4 c flour[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]1 tbl sugar[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Beat together well and let rise in a warm place 45 min. When light and fluffy. proceed with next step.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]____________________________[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]3 egg yolks[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]1/4 c sugar[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Beat together well til pale yellow. Then beat in the following[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]1/2 tsp vanilla[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]grated rind of one orange[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]grated rind of one lemon[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]1 tbl orange juice[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]1 tbl rum or vodka[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]1/4 c heavy cream[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Add the mixture to the sponge..[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Next stir in[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]@ 2 cups flour sifted with 1/4 tsp salt.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Mix with a wooden spoon til the dough no longer sticks to the bowl or spoon. The amount of flour needed depends on the humidity. Sift 1 tbl flour over the dough in the bowl, cover with a towel and let rise 1 & 1/2 hours.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]___________________________________[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Roll @ 1/8" thick and cut out some 2 & 1/2" circles using a glass. Next, using the same glass, MARK some circles on a section of dough . Just press the glass down enough to make a circle, but don't cut them out. Place a tsp of JAM in the center of each marked circle, then cover the marked circles with cut out circles.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Using a slightly smaller glass, press and cut out the jam sandwich circles. As you cut out each one, place them upside down on a cookie sheet to rise. They'll need to rise in a warm place about 1/2 hour.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Heat oil to 365-375 degrees and fry covered, @ 2-3 minutes, then turn them over and fry the other side with the lid off. Let drain and dust with powdered sugar.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]
You can leave out the rinds, or substitute extracts, and when I had no heavy cream in the fridge (which was often) I'd substitute milk and melted butter to equal 1/4 cup. The doughnuts were still really good, but not heavenly. The amount of flour used varies, so I can't be exact. Also, I never really knew for sure what temperature my oil was every time, but I looked for doughnut frying temperatures and they seem to fall between 365 and 375 degrees.

[fortunata]

I don't know why all the [SIZE=2] things came up, I guess because I copied it from my computer files. I tried to remove them in edit, but almost lost the whole post.

BTW, the alcohol makes the doughnuts fry up lighter.