Friday Foto Friends: Things Old and New

 This rusty old car has sat by the road near where we live ever since we've been here, and probably, by the looks of it, for much longer than that.  Every time we pass by I tell my hubby I wish he'd stop and let me take some pictures of it. Why? I don't know. It intrigues me. It's in my DNA.  My 2 brothers and father loved old cars. My next to oldest brother Clifford has made it a hobby to restore old cars ever since I can remember...I think he started with an old junkyard car when he was about 14...maybe younger...and he's now over 75 and still loves to tinker with old cars...so it was inborn in me to be fascinated with old cars.

So finally this morning when we passed by I noticed that the garage was "closed" and no one around to ask me what I was doing, so I asked hubby to please stop and let me get out and take some pictures. He at first protested, "But you just said you had so much to do today because it is our son's birthday, and we don't have time to go fooling around with such stuff."  And I responded, "But it will just take a minute.  Please just pull over and let me jump out and get some pictures. I promise I won't take long!"

And so he acquiesced, mostly because he knew it was no good trying to talk me out of something once my mind was made up.  I was good to my promise...I did not take long. Now I wish I'd taken longer and gotten a few pictures of the inside as well, but it is what it is... 

And what it is is a Dodge Wayfarer "roadster".  Not sure what year, but I'm guessing probably one of the older models. This particular model was built in the years of 1949-1952.  No wonder I was so attracted to it! It most likely is the same age as I am!!!  And all things considered, I'd say she's in pretty good shape for the shape she's in!  (Kind of like me! LOL).  

How did I know it was a Dodge Wayfarer? Because I'm so smart? Well, not really. But it does say "Dodge" on the front hood, and if you look really really close on the front right fender, just under the long piece of trim, it says "Wayfarer".  So I looked it up online, and here is the info I found:          Dodge Wayfarer 1949-1952    I don't know why some classic car buff hasn't snatched this up and restored it by now. Maybe the owner doesn't want to part with it...or the price is too high, or maybe it just hasn't attracted the right attention yet.  For some reason I love it. I can imagine it painted either a candy apple red or a cool shade of green or a pretty midnight blue. I think it would be fun to drive around in an old classic car like this.  I know, it's not fancy like many others...but maybe I like this because we share a lot of years in common. When I was born this car was brand spanking new and someone's pride and joy...just like me! LOL.

Well, speaking of someone's pride and joy...today is our youngest son's birthday. And yes, I have been busy getting ready for his celebration here tonight. Just our immediate family will be here for a steak dinner, (which Scott will grill for us himself, because he's the true "grillmaster" in this family) 

These pictures are from last year on his birthday, when he had to cook his own dinner...just like tonight!

But he doesn't mind, because he knows they'll be cooked right if he does them! LOL.

And speaking of classic cars and "pride and joy"...

yes, the love of classic cars runs deep in this family.  With Scott, it's a Camaro. He loves to tinker and restore and most of all drive his Camaro.  This is probably the 4th one he's had.

So back to "so much to do today", Well, yes...I had to bake a cake...and what do you know about that?

This cake mix is a "Delight"!!!   My "One Word" for 2022!   Yes, I hope it will be a delight to eat too. Scott requested a German chocolate cake this time. Usually it's always been yellow cake with chocolate icing. This time he wanted something different.  I'm not the world's best cake baker, and I usually rely on mixes for the cake itself.  

Lately I've been more adventuresome with frostings and have learned to make a good butter/creamcheese frosting. But not for this cake!.  Rather than buy the little can of frosting for a German Chocolate cake, I thought I'd try to make my own.

I found this recipe online and thought I'd try it:

Frosting for German Chocolate Cake

·         1cup sugar

·         1cup evaporated milk

·         1/2cup butter or margarine

·         3eggs, beaten

·         1 1/3cups flaked coconut

·         1cup chopped pecans or walnuts

·         1teaspoon vanilla

In 2-quart saucepan, cook 1 cup sugar, the evaporated milk, 1/2 cup butter and 3 eggs over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to bubble. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in coconut, pecans and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

All was well until I realized that the only can of evaporated milk I had was "fat-free", but worse than that, it had expired in 2020!!!!!  It was a can that kept getting pushed back in the pantry because I had bought the fat-free can by mistake and never wanted to try it in my pumpkin pies, etc., so I guess I'd lost track of how old it was. So I opened it and poured it into a measuring cup first to see what it looked like. I wish I'd taken a picture for you. But you should be glad I didn't.  It had totally separated and there was a kind of clear amber looking liquid that came out of the can first. Then came the clabbered chunks of very old "milk".  And this was even after "shaking well" first.  So glad I poured it into something other than the rest of the ingredients for the frosting first! That would have been disastrous!  

So now, what to do?  I didn't want to go back to the store again. (must save gas!!)   

Well, back to the drawing board, or online I should say.  I checked for substitutes for evaporated milk and found out that if you just cook whole milk until it boils and then let it boil down, stirring all the while, (using about 1 &2/3 cups of milk first so it will cook down to make 1 cup).  Well, I stirred and stirred and waited and waited and it wasn't cooking down very fast. So I poured it into a pyrex measuring cup and put it in the microwave to try and cook it a little faster.  I let it cook for about one minute (on high in the microwave) and then brought it out to stir it. When I put my wooden spoon in the cup, the milk kind of "exploded" and overflowed the measuring cup and went all over the kitchen counter. Thankfully I was out of the way fast enough and didn't get burned!  Talk about a mess! LOL. 

Anyway, it still wasn't quite down to 1 cup of "evaporated milk", so this time I set the microwave for only 70% of power and let it cook one more minute, and it did fine.  After letting it cool, I mixed it in with the other ingredients and cooked them on the stove as directed above. Now I am waiting for it to completely cool before I frost the cake.  Oh, I didn't do a layered cake like you are supposed to for a German Chocolate cake, but did a 13x9" pan instead. Won't be as pretty as the layers, but hopefully the cake will taste good, and that's all that really matters here in this household! LOL.

Okay, I'd better wrap this up and go wrap up some gifts for Scott.  One more special thing for tonight. You'd think with all my cooking "prowess" that I could at least bake some home-made yeast rolls for my son's birthday! LOL. Not this girl!   But thankfully his most favorite dinner roll is the Hawaiian Roll, so we are always sure to get plenty for any special dinner where Scott will be eating.  One package is never enough!  

I will be taking more photos tonight I am sure, but will save those for the next post.  I thought this was enough for one day, don't you?

Have a blessed and wonderful rest of your Friday and weekend. I'll be back whenever I get around to it, but family party must come first!