I use a gluten-free cake mix, but unfortunately, I found out tonight that the mix contains palm and canola oil which, for whatever fucking reason, make me congested, so I’ve been trying to avoid them. Sometimes, I forget to check the ingredients, though. I don’t know what I’ll make my Dutch Oven Strawberry Upside-Down Cake with now, but I have this recipe down now, so I’m sure I can find a gluten-free cake mix that isn’t made with oils that make congested or make my own cake mix.

Dutch Oven Strawberry Upside-Down Cake

Serving Size:

10

Time:

1 hour

Difficulty:

Easy-peezy

Ingredients

• 1 -2 pounds of Strawberries
• 2 Boxes of Funfetti Cake Mix
• 2 Sticks of butter
• 2 cans/bottles of lime soda, sparkling water, or champagne

Directions

1. Cleanup is a lot easier when you line the Dutch oven with foil.
2. Cut up your strawberries and put them in your foil-lined Dutch oven.
3. Pour two boxes of Funfetti cake mix over the strawberries.
4. Cut two sticks of butter into 1/8″ – 1/4″ pats and place them evenly in the cake mix.
5. Pour in two cans or bottles of lime soda. I like to use either Lime Topo Chico Seltzer or the little single-serving-size bottles of champagne.
6. Put the lid on the Dutch oven and place it on the fire. put 12 – 15 coals on top of the Dutch oven.
7. When you can smell the cake, it’s done. Take it off of the fire and let it sit for a few minutes.
8. Stuff your gob!

The post Simple 4 Ingredient Dutch Oven Strawberry Upside-Down Cake Recipe appeared first on Retro Active Lifestyle.

The man replied, “Siete.”

Fuck, I thought. He called my bluff. Normally, when I’m at a garage sale or the flea market, and I say, “¿Cuanto?” the vendor will reply in English. It’s very convenient for me as someone whose Spanish is rudimentary at best, certainly not conversational. Having spent my whole life in Southern California, I’ve picked up a small Spanish vocabulary, but I’m nothing even close to fluent. I can’t hold my own in a conversation, so I was completely thrown off guard by his “Siete.”

I knew siete was one of the numbers between 1 and 10, and, more specifically, it was one of the numbers between 5 and 10, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember which number it was. It didn’t automatically translate the way 1 – 4 would have. To make matters worse, he didn’t stop at Siete; he was offering a volume deal as well. I didn’t catch what he said, but I think it was 3 for $15 or maybe 3 for $20. I’m not sure because I was scrambling in my head to try to figure out how much he wanted for just one of the plants.

I stood there for a moment, pretending to contemplate the deal, but really, I was counting with my fingertips on my left leg, the leg opposite the vendor so that no one could see. Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, seis, siete, seven! Seven dollars! He wants $7 for the plant! Okay, I pulled it off. No one suspects a thing.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out seven one-dollar bills. I fanned them out so that each one was clearly visible and showed the man. “¿Siete?” I said. “Si,” he said, but he said it like, Yeah, dumbass, that’s what I said. What the fuck is wrong with you? Then, he took the cash and said, “Gracias.” I picked up my plant and said, “Gracias,” before anyone could say anything else that might reveal that I am, in fact, a monoglot.

I can see how complete immersion could be extraordinarily effective for learning a new language, but I think I’ll refrain from practicing my Spanish in situations where money is involved, at least until I can count higher than 10.

The post Strawberries and Sevens appeared first on Retro Active Lifestyle.