Fresh Pear Cake, Carrot Cake and Italian Cream Cheese Cake

This picture was taken during a Holland family reunion in the 70's. I think it is in Granny's back yard on the Cottonwood Highway. Pictured L to R Lena Mae Pitts, Bertha Holland and Naomi Avery. Three Sisters happy to be together.

 Aunt Jeanette's Fresh Pear Cake. This was addressed to Granny September 13, 2000.

Aunt Ruby and Bertha had a huge pear tree in their yard and Uncles Elmire and Ernest had pear trees too. There were always lots of pears going around.  :) Personally I love them.

I am sure there is a recipe for pear preserves in Granny's recipes. I will search for it and pass it on to you soon. I am guessing that golden raisins might taste good in this recipe. I thought I might try it with those and soak them in a little rum before I mix them in. I am also going to glaze it and add a little rum or rum extract to the glaze of confectioners sugar.  I will let you know how it turns out. Wade likes rum cake, but isn't big on fruit cooked. I am always looking for ways to tempt him to eat fruit!

This is a copy of Granny's Carrot Cake recipe.  Great recipe. Wesson oil is a brand of vegtable oil.

Italian Cream Cheese Cake

These recipes were passed through the family. We could always count on at least 1 or 2 for a big get together.
The Italian Cream Cheese recipe calls for oleo and solid vegetable shortening. Oleo is the same thing as margarine. I think best results and flavor will probably come from using room temperature unsalted butter.
Crisco brand Solid vegetable shortening was always Granny's choice.

Lane Cake For the Holidays......

I am going to try to get the favorite holiday recipes posted for you guys. I know that Niki and Robin would like to have these.

I am guessing this was clipped in the 40s or 50s...."Modern Day Cooks" love it! Use parchment paper to line your pans with.

One of my favorite memories is helping Granny make this Lane Layer Cake.  She used a cast iron meat grinder that clamped to the edge of her counter top to grind the pecans, raisins and coconut.  I was the lucky girl who was allowed to put the pecans and raisins in. The modern day equivalent to Granny's meat grinder is the food processor. Just add 1 cup of pecans, 1 cup raisins and 1 cup coconut together and pulse until well chopped.  The meat grinder was more fun!

The next recipe is for a loaf pan Whiskey Cake. This cake uses 1 cup bourbon!!! Guess this was before Modern Day Cooks! I haven't made this one yet. I have a regular loaf pan and I think this recipe may be too much for it. There probably are larger loaf pans than mine...... Oh well I will fill some small individual ones with the extra.  But if you are buying one for this purpose choose a large one.

OLD-FASHION WHISKEY NUT CAKE

2 CUPS BUTTER

2 ½ CUPS SUGAR

6 EGGS SEPERATED

4 TABLESPOONS VANILLA

3 CUPS FLOUR SIFTED AND DIVIDED

1 TEASPOON BAKING POWDER

1 TEASPOON NUTMEG

1 CUP BOURBON WHISKEY

2 POUNDS CHOPPED PECANS

1 POUND WHITE RAISINS

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Separate the eggs, setting the whites aside.  Add the yolks one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

Sift 2 ½ cups flour with the baking powder and nutmeg and fold into the batter.  Add the bourbon.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter. Mix the pecans, raisins and the remaining ½ cup of flour and stir gently into the mixture.

Pour into a large loaf pan and bake at 250 degrees for two hours.  Remove from oven and allow it to cool completely on wire rack.  When completely cool cover with let it stand at least two days before serving. 

GRANNY STORED HER FRUIT AND NUT CAKES IN A LARGE TIN AND CUT APPLES AND LAYED THEM IN THE CAN AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THE CAKE PAN. THE APPLE AROMA MELLOWS THE WHISKEY FLAVOR…..THIS WAS ALWAYS A TRADITIONAL HOLIDAY CAKE FOR OUR FAMILY. SHE WOULD MAKE THIS CAKE AT LEAST 2-4 DAYS BEFORE SERVING IT. ONE OF MY FAVORITES.

IF YOU DON'T HAVE A TIN OR PLASTIC CONTAINER FOR THE CAKE TO REST IN, JUST WRAP IT IN PLASTIC WRAP AND LET IT STAND IN A COOL PLACE FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS.

She would hate this picture and would not want me to put it out there for everyone to see but this is her sweet face in the morning before her coffee!

Here she is with Greg on his Yamaha motorcycle!   This was probably about 1974.  She wouldn't like this one either!

Topsy Turvy Week

Sun setting behind the Emerald Grand....this was Tuesday 19th of  Oct. The sunset gradually moves to left and we have a great view of it for the next 4 months until it finally makes it's way back to the West. Changes with seasons due to the earths distance from the sun........will document today's sunset and compare. I was surprised that it moved as far towards our Eastern side as it did this month. The first of Oct. it was sinking to the right of the "Massive Over Built Emerald Grand."  Sorry but I feel that it was a bad decision to build so large on that spot.....I'm not a fan of the improvements there. But that's just my personal opinion. We walk there from home and our friends and family visiting always enjoy it. But I remember things the way they were before and silently grieve for them.

Tricia and Lee Ann Halloween, 1987, Lee Ann 3 and Tricia 5.  Tricia wanted me to paint her face and I did then she started crying because she said she was too ugly!!! So we took the paint off except for a little and she became a gypsy instead of a witch! The Jack O Lantern wore the witches hat :) Lee Ann had a minnie mouse mask...you can see it's gone to the table in exchange for a big piece of candy!

Oldie of Tricia and niece Amber on the beach....fall of 86. Amber is as brown as a beaver.

My precious angels! 

When I see Amber with Holland and Hudson, her boys, I am amazed how fast time went by!

This week has been full of surprises and changes. So I am pulling up my socks and walking outside to work in the yard, where there is peace and quiet, except for the Raptor that occasionally roars over head making an unbelievable amount noise. It is so fast that by the time the loudest noise is upon you the plane is gone! I do mean roar. The hanger and landing strip are behind us on the other side of the Choctawhatchee Bay. We always have an air show going on here!

There are also some old WW II planes that fly on Thursday evenings and most Saturdays and Sundays, around the harbor and the Emerald Grand, they are very loud and right in our front door. Frankly I am a little scared by them because two have crashed since March doing stunts. They crashed East of us about 3 miles down the beach over the Gulf in the Miramar Beach area.  Not so sure it's a good idea for them to fly the Harbor Walk.....but I'm just one little person up here on the mountain shaking in my boots! Wade loves it and so does nephew Colton, and all of the other air enthusiast that live in the area. :)

There are alot of things happening here in Destin this weekend. The Mattie Kelly Arts Foundation "Arts Festival" is going on this weekend in Henderson Park on the beach. There is also a very large Harley Davidson gathering here this weekend. Not sure about the details on that, probably gathering at the Boardwalk in Fort Walton. The church in front of our house has a sign up that says "HOG WASH this weekend ALL HOGS WELCOME!" Not sure if they are washing motorcycles or souls! Probably Both!!!

This picture was taken Tuesday evening in Destin.  Saturday is the full moon and we will be on the beach for sunset and moon rise. I am collecting firewood to take down for a small fire. Will send pictures soon!  Hope you have a safe and fun weekend.