Wreaths Across America

Its that time of year again. A time when wreaths are purchased by sponsors and donors to lay across the graves of our fallen military heroes. This event is held before Christmas. The Mayport Naval Sea Cadets Corps has been dedicated to this ceremony for several years now. Sadly, the number of wreaths they have been able to provide has been dwindling as the number of graves is on the rise. Our World War 2 veterans have been dying in larger numbers with each passing year. Last year alone the Mayports Cadets had about 1200 more graves than the year before. The only way to ensure that every grave gets a wreath is through sponsorship or donations. Being a former Cadet Instructor for the Mayport group, I plan to direct my own donations to them.

Our heroes, both alive and fallen, are not often celebrated. Some of them gave their limbs or ability to live "normal" lives while others gave their lives. All in the name of American freedoms. I met a Marine veteran who went in search of what places offered discounts or services specific to military personnel. That list wasn't very long. And the discount is often quite small. Or specialized to certain holidays only. Is this how we repay them? Is this what we really think they are worth? Its disheartening to say the least. Especially for one such as I who tried to join and was turned down for medical reasons. Instead, I support our troops. Past, present, and future.

If you are interested in learning more and possibly becoming a donor this year, check out the website and link below.

Also, if you want to recognize a cadet as being your referral, you can enter "Carter boys" in the recognition box. They are offered incentives for being active in the community with events such as these.

 

http://www.mayportnlus.org/index.php Mayport home page

 

Online form for wreaths.

 

Caramel Apple cake, oh my!

Its the wonderful season of caramel apples and fall flavors! I was wanting to try something new in cake form to bring to work. The last treats I made looked like Easter ones.

They were colorful with several different flavorings for the icing.

 

I went searching for recipes and found this one: Moist Caramel Apple Cake. That wasn't quite the recipe for me though. So I decided to experiment with that one and my Plain White Cake recipe. I wanted to create something a little more special. I came up with the following!

 

Caramel Apple Bundt Cake

 

What you will need: 

 

Cake batter

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 pkg. (3.4 oz) Jell-O Vanilla Instant pudding

3/4 cup water

 

Drizzle

1 can (13.4 oz) Nestle Le Lechera caramel

3 tablespoons milk

 

Mix it up:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

 

In the same order as listed, mix your ingredients together for the cake batter. Spray your bundt pan with cooking spray and put some larger chopped pieces of apple in the bottom.

Then pour your batter on top.

I had enough extra batter to make some cupcakes as well, since I doubled the recipe. I put the batter in the paper cups and put a piece of apple slice on top of each one.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until the knife comes out clean.

It make take longer depending on your stove.

Loosen the cake from the pan and flip over onto your cake serving dish. Let it cool completely. Mix the caramel and milk together to make the drizzle.

Warm in the microwave until smooth. Let it slightly thicken and pour over the top of your cake just before serving.

 

Enjoy!

Dracula Untold movie review and information

I had forgotten to share my review on the movie Dracula Untold.

It's actually pretty good. It's not another run-of-the-mill, you know what's going to happen, love story of a vampire movie. It follows a little more closely to the real history of Vlad the Impaler. He's the one the Dracula stories were originally based on. 

The movie gives you a sympathetic villain. While Vlad is supposed to be an evil monster, he's the one you want on your team fighting against the Turks.

His only desire is to save his family, especially his son from the tyrannical rule of the Turkish King. He doesn't want his son to face the same fate of being turned into a mindless killer who will obey any order without hesitation. To save his wife from the heartache of having her son taken from her. And to save his kingdom from having to give up their sons as well. His heart was in the right place. His method for achieving the power necessary to accomplish his goals, however, may be questionable. He strikes a deal with what should be the first Dracula. The original vampire. In return, he has 3 days to destroy the Turks. Battle after battle, you follow his dire and dark conquests. You root for him to win! 

Now I don't want to spoil the movie for those planning to see it. It had some good CGI effects, wonderfully done scenes, and if it wasn't so "scary", I'm sure even kids would enjoy the action. I don't reccomend it for children though.
There were some things that I wasn't impressed with. Especially with a scene at the end that was dragged out when it should have been cut short with fantastic action. But every movie has its flaws, right? They don't explain why silver is dangerous to the vampires. So unless you are familiar with the other versions of Dracula, you probably wouldn't know the connection that has been made to Judas Iscariot.

The story of the real Dracula or Vlad the Impaler, is quite an interesting one. He didn't use fangs to bite the necks of his victims to drain their blood. He instead impaled them, collected the blood and dipped his bread into it. Talk about psychopath of the olden times.... He avenged his fathers betrayal and death by slaughtering hundreds of the noblemen.
"Dracula" means "Son of the Dragon". Vlad III chose to be called that. His father had been a member of a secret society called the Order of the Dragon. His father, being proud of this, changed his name to Dracul which was Romanian for Dragon. Vlad III was involved with this Order as a child and changed his name to Dracula, or the Son of the Dragon. Now, however, the translation is closer to the Son of the Devil. This is where the belief that vampires were devils or minions of Satan came into play.

Vlad had a cruel and dark sense of humor. There are accounts of how he enjoyed impaling and boiling people alive. He liked watching them twitch "like frogs". These two punishments were his only forms of punishment throughout his rule.
He wanted to "clean" up his capitol, Tirgoviste. So he invited the sick, vagrants, and beggars for a feast. Then he had the court where they dined boarded up and set fire to the place. This was how he dealt with the unwanted people around his kingdom.
His rule was so undisputed and feared, that he left an elaborate golden cup in plain view in the town square. Anyone could drink from it, however, it could not leave the square. Though poverty plagued the people, no one dared to even touch it. Fear was truly deep within the hearts of his people.
He couldn't handle any form of defeat. So when the Turks pushed his armies back into retreat, he burned villages, killed the townspeople, and poisoned the wells. Better that he do it himself than let the Turkish army have the satisfaction, right? In total, historians believe that Dracula killed somewhere from 40,000 up to 100,000 people. By the time the Turks got to the capitol of Tirgoviste, there was a Forest of the Impaled. 20,000 bodies of Turks were on display. Men, women, children, old and young alike were not spared.

Bram Stoker invented quite a character when he chose to write Dracula. He used the stories of Vlad Tepes (aka Vlad III, Vlad the Impaler) as well as the other vampire stories that were written before he even set pen to paper. Carmilla was the more original vampire. A lesbian who preyed on lonely young women and bathed in their blood. Varney the Vampire was another penny dreadful series that Stoker could draw inspiration from.

Hope you enjoy the movie! And take the time to do your own research when you watch things based on historical events!

Some facts used in this informative posting: http://listverse.com/2013/01/26/10-fascinating-facts-about-the-real-dracula/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_the_Impaler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Dracula

My sons birthday...

Today my son turned 6. Seems like yesterday I was on a hospital bed screaming at the doctor who was yelling at me to shut up and push. Then I saw that 6 pound wonder and longed to hold him. Unfortunately I went into shock and shook too much to. But I was immensely happy. I was also scared, proud, angry (at the doctor), and overwhelmed. Now he's 6 years old. He talks constantly, can count and say his ABC's.... He's so much like me, it scares me sometimes. But it also makes me proud. 

So what do we have planned to celebrate today's special occasion? The children and I got dressed up for a Halloween event in San Antonio. Bootacular is a family event that I'm hoping will be fun for us all. We are also taking my husbands younger brothers. 

Then it will be back to the in laws house for grilling and cake! So much fun.