Back in my old principal-ing days, Coach Kidd would always ask me about bringing in home-baked goods. He seemed to be serious, as if I should be expected to bring in goodies for such a great staff. Didn't he know that I was a busy woman who could not concern herself with such as that? Didn't he know that I didn't even have a cake pan - much less a mixer? Didn't he know I thought he was great even if I never made him a pound cake? When all my friends were getting married (some of them over and over) and having showers and receiving mixers and cake pans, I was in school and working. (Not that Mom didn't warn me - she asked if I would be happy spending my life with my books - and yes, I am pretty happy with them...)
But I must admit that I have fond "growing-up" memories of home-baked goods. Mom and I would bake - with varying degrees of success. Once we had the GE oven man come check the oven. When it was found to be calibrated exactly right and performing properly, Mom and I had to take a bit of responsibility for a few disasters. But we got quite good with Lemon Supreme and Prune Cake (Yes, you read it right - had a jar of baby-food prunes in it - tasted like spice cake.)
My grandmother and my aunts were/are great cooks. I watched them for years and learned a lot.
Martha's Mom and Dad were pound cake bakers. I loved to show up when the cake was in the oven and the milk glasses were in the freezer! Yummm!
My sister and I would bake and still do, actually. We're still perfecting our cookies with royal icing and she's a pro with the gingerbread house. JM and I made a pecan pie once and left out the sugar. About half way through the baking time, we found the sugar bag still out and added it then. It was perfect, teaching us that all these silly steps in these recipes are not all really necessary. And the carrot cake I made for JM's dad's birthday cracked and fell off the plate - so I delivered it in baggies and he said it was the best cake he had ever eaten. He was a precious, precious soul!
Well, I bought my new mixer today and I'm ready to figure out how to bake. I made my first pound cake tonight and I'm proud to announce that over half of it came out of the pan. I felt compelled to eat all that part that stayed in the pan and I'm sure I'll feel better tomorrow.
If you have recipes I must try, send them on - and please don't leave out any key ingredients - I'd never know it!
So, Coach, give me a bit of time to practice and then come on over. The home-baked goods will be waiting!
11 comments:
I like to bake, and that always happens to me with pound cake. My pan must be too small for all of the batter.
If you like pies (I don't really), go to allrecipes.com and search for Grandma Opel's (yep, Opel) apple pie. It's easy. I made it the other day with fresh apples and everyone loved it!
Thank you! I'll try it. We all like to have real successes along the way. I probably should have posted a picture of the pound cake but I was too sad to get the camera...I'll photograph the first one that works!
BYW, I greased and floured the new non-stick pan. Any ideas on what went wrong? I think I cooked it too long too. The recipe called for 1 1/2 hours and it was very brown - not the beautiful caramel brown that I was expecting.
Three things…
1)Yes, he was precious and he loved you every bit as much as you loved him.
2)That pecan pie was delicious!
3)When do I get a bite of pound cake?
Love you bunches!
JM
Tea/coffee/home-baked goods/my place/anytime - Come on over!
That is too funny! I make the best sour cream coffee cake and sometimes it sticks a little. It may not always look the prettiest, but it is heavenly!
So what's the recipe???
Hello! I stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say hey. I am an educator (4 years to retirement.....make that 3 years and 9 months) and a die-hard Bulldawg fan. I'll be in the stadium tomorrow when Uga VII makes his first public appearance. I was there for Uga VI to debut.....and I haven't been to many games in between. Except in spirit.
Go Dawgs!
Welcome, Bragger! Always nice to meet a Bulldawg! Come back again now, ya hear!
Susan
PS Love your pedicure story...
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup sour cream
1 c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. shortening
1 tsp baking soda
2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350. Beat together eggs, then add sugar and shortening. Cream together. Add sour cream and vanilla. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together well. Add flour in stages. Mix together until batter is creamy.
Struesel topping:
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed firmly
1/2 c. sugar
3 T flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 T melted butter
Mix together thouroughly with a fork until crumbly.
Pour one half of batter in greased tube pan, spread evenly arouond. Sprinkle one half of streusel topping on batter. Repeat. Bake for 50-60 mins. (in my oven, I bake it for about 45 min.) until golden brown Let cool for 10 minutes. Flip cake out of pan and reverse flip it onto a serving plate.
Glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
2 T milk
Make glaze by combining sugar and milk. Drizzle glaxe over top of cake after it is completely cool.
Oh my gosh!!! That looks fabulous! Can't wait to try it. Thank you, Janet!
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