Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Old Postcard Wednesday--The Streamliner, California Orange Grove


I became frustrated trying to determine exactly which of the many Streamliners is the one pictured in this old postcard. It does not look like any linked in the long list of Streamliners at the end of this page, and, in fact, looks most like the Pioneer Zephyr (commonly known as the Burlington) - but it cannot be the Pioneer Zephyr because that train did not service Los Angeles. My guess is that it is the artist's combination of more than one design.

For some reason the details do not matter to me this week, and what came to my mind when I looked at this old postcard was an article I had read some years ago by a native of Los Angeles, and his lamenting the disappearing orange groves of his youth due to urban sprawl. How depressing. I didn't want to take us there today, and my next thought was:  
Hmmm, I wonder if I can find a recipe for an orange cake made in the shape of a train......

Mission accomplished!



You can purchase a five-star-rated
Train Shaped Cake Pan 
that is a "Top Seller" at



Price: $12.99
Size: 14" x 7.25" x 2"

Note: Train Cake pictured here is from party site above, not from
recipe site below.








Orange Cake Recipe
An orange sheet cake made with butter, orange marmalade and orange juice. 
[Source: about.com-Southern Food]
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:

    3 1/2 cups flour
    4 teaspoons baking powder
    3/4 teaspoon salt
    1 cup butter, softened
    1 cup sugar
    3 eggs, well beaten
    3 tablespoons orange marmalade
    2 tablespoons grated orange peel
    1 1/3 cups orange juice

Preparation:
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs; stir in marmalade and orange rind. Beat in flour mixture alternately with orange juice, beating after each addition. Turn batter into a greased and floured 11x14x1-inch baking pan. Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan on rack and frost with fluffy white frosting or butter frosting made with a tablespoon of grated orange peel added just before frosting the cake.



Enjoy!
.

5 comments:

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

so is it too obvious to make a reference to Johnny Cash and "Orange Blossom Special" at this point? Nah!

Like the postcard - i suspect that the artist used some artistic licence

Rarther nicely the verification word is cloofuzz - which sounds like the noise this train might make when you blow the whistle

Lydia said...

Pixies~ We are on a wavelength! When I woke up today I thought that I should have added the Orange Blossom Special as music to bake by. :)
That word verification sounds just as you said, a great railword.

susan said...

I've just finished re-reading Raymond Chandler's first three books The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely, and the High Window. They really are classic literature and show above all his love for the LA he was already seeing disappear. The four later books aren't quite in the same mode so I've returned to the late 30's with him and Marlowe to read his short stories published as Trouble Is My Business.

Trains are fine things and the old ones were great. The cake looks delicious.

Olga said...

Thank you for the wonderful mix - postcard with oranges and orange cake recipe.
I love when people eat oranges in public transport:)

Lydia said...

susan~ What a marvelous reading journey you are on right now. The only way it could be better would be to read those books on a long train ride. At least the kind of long train ride that might have been possible when Chandler penned his work. I am putting him on my list. Along with making that cake!

Olga~ I'm glad you had fun with this. I was going to bake this cake over our three-day weekend but I heard that we may be in the mid-80s each day, so it may have to wait.
(Oranges smell beautiful, but are too squirty and sticky to eat in public transport!)

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