Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, March 2, 2019

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Mountain View News Saturday, March 2, 2019 

WALKING SIERRA MADRE by Deanne Davis

KATIE Tse..........This and That


BETTY CROCKER AND APPLE CAKE

“We came from Bethlehem, Georgia bearing Betty 
Crocker cake mixes into the jungle.” 

Barbara Kingsolver

“And above all, think chocolate.” Betty Crocker

“Inside every Betty Cocker is a woman who is still 
channeling her inner Spice Girl.”

“Stressed spelled backwards is desserts.”

Remember when people cooked things simply 
because they would taste good? Nobody ate kale 
or quinoa; salad was a token small plate of iceberg 
lettuce inundated with 1000 Island. We all owned 
a Betty Crocker cookbook and that’s where we 
went when we wanted to know what to do with 
a package of chicken parts. Now Betty Crocker 
has joined the internet age and if you simply type 
“Betty Crocker Recipes” in your Google Search 
Engine, you will find:

• Betty Crocker Cookbook App – 
BettyCrocker.com – which promises you 
15,000 new tried-and-true recipes and cooking 
techniques...
• Betty’s Slow-Cooker Showcase – where 
we can tweek recipes to fit our needs and lifestyle.
• 2435 Best Betty Cocker Recipes/
Christmas Baking


Back in the ‘50’s, television showed us what 
wives should look like: June Cleaver on Leave 
It To Beaver, wearing a nice dress, frilly apron, 
pearls and heels all day every day. Or Donna 
Reed, again, a really nice dress, frilly apron, 
pearls and heels. The children were sweet and 
only occasionally annoying. The husbands went 
off to work every day in a suit, tie, dress shirt, 
and wingtip shoes and made enough money 
to keep them all happy in a beautiful two story 
house where we occasionally saw June or Donna 
vacuuming. They mostly made cookies.

At that time, the Betty Crocker Cookbook 
contained recipes like Chicken Cream Pie or 
Noodles with Browned Crumbs, Macaroni with 
Fried Tomatoes, Ham and Egg Pie. Seriously? All 
these recipes were loaded with cream, butter and 
very few vegetables. We’re much more aware of 
the dangers of food now. We eschew butter and 
cream but we’re chubbier than ever before. 

My mother had one and I remember being 
about 9 years old and making a cake to surprise 
her, which I certainly did. The directions called 
for lining the cake pans with waxed paper. Not 
realizing what that really meant was to cut out a 
circle of waxed paper to put in the bottom of the 
cake pan, I just tore off big pieces, made it fit the 
best I could, poured in the batter and put it in the 
stove. Luckily, I didn’t burn the house down. The 
waxed paper burned and scorched and made a 
dandy mess in the oven. I removed my cakes at 
the appointed hour then had to peel off all this 
burnt waxed paper, most of which landed on the 
floor. As I recall, the cake was pretty good and my 
mother wasn’t too furious at the little pieces of 
burnt waxed paper all over the floor. When one is 
9 and has good intentions, they don’t always turn 
out quite as one plans.

The description of Betty Crocker’s Picture 
Cook Book says, “It’s the kind of cookbook that 
mothers hand down to their daughters, the kind 
of cookbook that people look for and snatch up 
at yard sales, no matter how dog-earned and 
worn the pages.” It also says, “Maybe the first 
cake you ever baked with your mom was Betty’s 
unforgettable Chocolate Joy Cake.” Or the first 
one you ever baked without her. My favorite 
cake is Apple Cake, which is so quick and easy 
to make it’s practically painless and everyone 
loves it. People never get tired of it and the nice 
thing about it is that it’s just yummy for a dessert, 
for a snack, for breakfast and, with all that fruit 
and nuts in it, you don’t feel too incredibly sinful 
eating it till it’s gone. This is a great “do ahead” 
cake that looks nice served in squares on a pretty 
plate.

2 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut 
in good sized chunks

1 cup sugar 

Place apples in a bowl and add sugar. Let stand 
30 min. (That part is really important!)

Add:

1/4 cup oil

1 egg beaten

1 tsp vanilla

Blend well. 

Combine:

1 cup unsifted flour

1 generous tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. soda

1/4 tsp. salt 

Stir into apple mixture. 

Add 1/2 cup or so chopped pecans or walnuts 
and/or dried cranberries 

Put into well-greased 8” square pan. 

Bake at 350 degrees, 45 to 50 minutes till cake 
tester inserted in middle comes out clean. 

I just leave it in the pan till I’m ready to serve it, 
then cut it in squares and, if you want, dust with 
powdered sugar but that’s sort of gilding the lily. 

Best served warm, and, it doubles and triples 
beautifully. Ice cream is nice with it, too.

Betty Crocker would definitely approve.

My book page: Amazon.com: Deanne Davis – 
check out

Noah & The Unicorns...or maybe The Vuillaume 
Violin

Both available there, along with other goodies!

Star of Wonder the CD is now on TuneCore! Take 
a look!

Blog: www.authordeanne.com

Follow me on Twitter, too! https://twitter.com/@
playwrightdd

“LEAVE IT IN THE LOUNGE”

 

 Do you go to work? If so, 
you probably have a break 
room. I work at a school, 
and at school we call it 
the “teachers’ lounge.” I 
don’t know why. The only 
time I ever see teachers 
lounging around is at Happy Hour, and even 
then it takes them a while to decompress.

 The lounge is a great place. It’d be even 
greater if they’d fix the soda machine that’s 
been broken since the beginning of the school 
year, but that’s beside the point. The lounge is 
great for chatting and enjoying a meal together, 
albeit a hurried one. It’s also a great place for 
dumping unwanted food and other items.

 I was surprised our program directors didn’t 
know about this useful feature on campus. I 
was in her office after Halloween, her table 
laden with a big candy bowl brimming with 
her kids’ leftover trick-or-treat stash. She has 
a dread fear of dental problems, and only lets 
them have one piece of candy annually. I’m not kidding.

 Anyway, she was bemoaning the fact that it always takes her forever to get rid of the stuff. People 
don’t always grab a handful when they come in.

 “Um... Why don’t you just leave it in the lounge?” I asked her. “It’ll be gone in a second.”

 She laughed, so I don’t think she took my advice seriously. I bet she still has tootsie rolls and gum 
drops from October 31st in there right now.

 Yup, the lounge is great for stuff like that. But there are some things you just can’t leave there.

 I was at my parents’ the other day when my mom came out with a big box of make up. My cosmetics 
consist of two items --eyeliner and powder. That’s all I have the patience or energy for.

 She asked me if I wanted any and I declined. 

 “Why don’t you take it to your school then?” she asked. “You can leave it in the teachers’ lounge.”

 I had just taken a crate of gum she ordered but had to stop chewing because it was hurting her jaw.

 I told her my coworkers were fine with unopened packs of gum, but that I drew the line at personal 
toiletries. I mean, I guess I wouldn’t mind leaving them there to see what happened. But I wouldn’t 
want anyone seeing me do that. I have to work with these people, after all. That, and I read a story on 
Daily Mail about a girl who contracted some rare flesh eating disease from sharing a compact powder 
with a friend. I wouldn’t wish that on any of the staff.

 Other things you can’t leave in the lounge include gifts from your coworkers. That’s just a given. 
Although at times it’s a tempting idea. Especially at Christmas. All the junk food we circulate as gifts 
is already conveniently on campus. It would be so easy to just unload it all in the lounge before we 
even make it to our cars. But that wouldn’t be nice to the people who gave it to us. I’m sure they put a 
lot of thought into those Russell Stover chocolates and dollar store mugs stuffed with Hershey’s kisses.

 Not to imply that I never eat stuff people give me. I’m ashamed to admit to polishing off a 
whole Popcornopolis cone. Singlehandedly. In one sitting. (Look it up, if you don’t know what 
Popcornopolis is. Temptation in a bag.) Don’t even want to think of how fast that would’ve gone if it 
had hit the tables in the lounge...


SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER

February 17 to February 24, 2019 
During this period, the Sierra Madre Police Department 
responded to approximately 282 day and night 
time calls for service. 

Thursday, February 21

Officers contacted a man walking in the roadway after 
receiving multiple calls for service in the area of 
Canyon Crest Dr. and Orange Dr. at about 11:30PM. 
The man apparently had mental health issues and 
was not able to provide basic information. Officers 
determined the man was unable to care for himself 
and was placed on a 72 hour hold at a local hospital. 
11:30PM 

Officers responded to the 600 block of W. Sierra Madre 
Blvd. to take a report from a resident that her vehicle 
had been tampered with. An unknown person(s) removed 
the passenger side mirror and left the location. 
Case to Detectives for follow up 

Saturday, February 23

A resident in the 00 block of N. Lima St. came to the 
station’s lobby to report that a 24” Mongoose bicycle, 
purple in color, was taken from his front yard sometime 
between 2/22/19 at about 7:00PM and 2/23/19 at 
8:00AM. The suspect(s) fled in an unknown direction. 
Case to Detectives 

NOTE: 
During this time period, there were several traffic 
stops for vehicle violations that resulted in arrests for 
driving with a suspended license. 


Please be aware of the current status of your California 
Drivers License. 

HUCK FINN FISHING DERBY

On your marks…..GET SET…….FISH! Sign-ups will begin Monday, February 25th at 
7:30am in City Hall for the Huck Finn Campout and Fishing Derby! Signed waivers are 
required for this event. 

 

The waivers are available on the City of Sierra Madre website at www.cityofsierramadre.
com or at City Hall and the Library. Come early and get the site you want to so you can 
be camping where you prefer on Friday, March 29th and fishing in your favorite spot on 
Saturday, March 30th.

 

We cannot wait to bait, hook and weigh those fish to see who brings home the biggest trout 
of them all.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com