Posts and the lack there of...

How long has it been?
One year?
Two?
How ever long; it has BEEN to long. What I know is I have a stalker. I see from my page view count that my stalker visits me almost every day. I welcome you stalker! :-) You should introduce yourself and we should get to know each other.

Much has happened in the months I have left you all behind. MUCH!

I have moved half way around the world. As many of you know I lived on RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom for 7 years. I cant say I loved EVERY minute of it but I did enjoy living there a great deal. I have enjoyed every opportunity that the wonderful Air Force has given me and my family throughout these last 20 years. BUT it was time to come back to America. Or in the words of my dear Alivia, Americer.

We had been away from the good ol' USA for over 11 years and it was no longer conducive to my calling myself an American for me to live outside of the United States. (That and I really really really really missed shopping at Target for my everyday products) Don't get me wrong I have a LIST, a BIG LIST,  of what I am missing from the places I have lived in but we will get into that another day.

We now live, in my Hubs words, YEE HAW Texas. My husband got orders to Dyess AFB. I have to admit that I was NOT happy to be coming here. I had not heard many nice things about living in Abilene. But I have to tell you all....THEY WERE WRONG! Though Dyess AFB is rather bleak and dreary. And the people that work on the base for the most part are negative and bitchy, Abilene is WONDERFUL, and I do not use that phrase very often.

In the few months we five have lived here, (5 meaning Delilah, Josh, Myself, Shadow and Patches), I have experienced so many wonderful things that I have never in my entire military affiliated life had ever experienced. I have been blown away by the kindness, the appreciation that the people of Abilene show the military members of Dyess AFB.

A few weeks ago I was driving off base early one morning. I saw a HUGE group of people standing right outside the base. The first thing that came to my mind was, "freaken fantastic! Another group of stupid M*&%^&^ F^^%$@##$% protesting SOMETHING ELSE!"
As I got closer I rolled down my window so that I could hear what the stupid M*&%^&^ F^^%$@##$% were actually saying. I was also able to read the signs. I took a picture but it came out awful.

Outside Dyess AFB 11 April 2012

When I was able to read the signs they said, "good job" and the M*&%^&^ F^^%$@##$%^* were yelling "thank you!"
I felt awful and ashamed for thinking the things I thought about them. In my defense all I have EVER seen is negativity towards the military.
To say the least, it brought me to tears.  Their kindness made me feel so wonderful and proud to live in this town. I am usually VERY proud of my hubs but this just made me feel so good. I cannot begin to describe the feeling of warmth I felt.


This past weekend we were invited to the "Worlds largest Barbeque".
Every year, for the past 47 years, the Abilene civic center has sponsored the Worlds Largest Barbeque. At least 3,000 people attend every year. Food is served to Active duty military, Guard, Reserve and their families. And let me tell you, the food is WONDERFUL. My daughter could not get enough of the sausage, I LOVED the coleslaw, and I hate coleslaw, and my hubs LOVED the BBQ sauce.

In the speeches given by those who organized it they were quoted as the reason they did this was, "Just to say thank you, thank you for what you do every day, thank you for your service and your sacrifices, we get all our volunteers and they pull together this one day a year and we have folks come out and say thank you by feeding them barbecue and catering to them."

As we were leaving the Worlds Largest Barbeque we were handed a flyer. A flyer for a zoo event next month. COMPLETELY free for all military and their families to include lunch.
I cannot get over the generosity of this city. I cannot help but ponder maybe staying here even after we retire.

I know this post has nothing to do with baking or cooking with Mrs. Baker but it was HOPEFULLY my jump back in. I do miss you all.

I will see you soon stalker! And everyone else!! ;-)

Flan

MMMMMMM. FLAN.

That mysterious not quite jello not quite custard Mexican concoction that you either love or hate. Many feel that the consistency with its not quite jello not quite custard feel is what turns them off. Others find that the vanilla sweetness is just DIVINE! I am one of the DIVINE people. I grew up with the crazy jello-custard so is sort of like a comfort food for me. I love the smell and the memories it brings me when I make it.

Did you know that flan dates back to Roman times? The Romans were some of the first to keep domesticated chickens for laying eggs. The Romans, referring to the Greeks knowledge in cooking came up with this custardly concoction we now know as flan. I think it would surprise you at some of the flans they came up with though, for example, eel flan was a popular treat. They also had a sweet flan that was sweetened with honey.

Though the Roman empire fell onto itself, flan survived all Barbarian invasions. When it resurfaced, it was generally a sweet dish. But still the same recipe of mixing cream and eggs was there. The word flan is actually derived from the Latin "flado" meaning flat cake. 

After the fall of Rome, flan resurfaced in Spain as generally a sweet dish. When Christopher Columbus 'concurred' the Americas, he brought a lot of his country of origins recipes and traditions with him. Flan being one of them. Nearly all of Central and South America loves flan in all its forms. It is now most widely associated with Mexico where flan is prepared in all its excellent forms in both rich and poor kitchens!

England went its own way with flan. The English LOVE their pastry, so they developed a type of flan with a pastry bottom. The pastry shell is filled with the custard and often it is mixed with fruits and nuts.

Now, there is some dispute as to how the word FLAN is pronounced. Many rhyme it with 'plan' but if you are going to pronounce it in the correct Spanish it rhymes more with 'faun'.

In my family the recipe for flan is quite simple in ingredients. It uses sweetened condensed milk to sweeten the custard while still sticking to the basics of cream and eggs. My Mexican version is the sweet kind, flavored with vanilla and baked in ramekins in a bain marie. Though flans are not so easy to make they are WELL worth the effort.

Delgado Family Flan

1 cup sugar

6 eggs

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can of whole milk, refilled from the can of sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbs Vanilla

1. Melt sugar in a sauce pan until caramelized. Pour into 6 ramekins. The sugar will solidify and turn completely hard, but don't worry, it will liquefy again after baking and remain that way.
2. In a blender, place eggs, both milks and vanilla. Blend very well. This method is much easier and faster than hand mixing. I have also used a food processor. 
3. Pour egg mixture over the caramelized sugar in the ramekins evenly. 
4. Place a large casserole dish on the oven rack in the oven and fill with about an inch of water. Place ramekins into the dish and gently slide into the oven.
5. Bake at 350°F for one hour, or until center is almost set.

You can decorate it with mint leaves, whipped cream, strawberries, cherries, etc. depending on your taste.