Sorghum Cake Being Mixed

Note:  As I write this the snow is falling heavily and the farm looks a winter wonderland.

There was a time when farmers on Sand Mountain did not have the money to buy sugar, but many of them had sorghum and that was used in place of sugar.  John remembers working all day for a man and was paid with a gallon of sorghum.  In lots of homes the syrup was kept in a syrup pitcher and was left setting on the table all the time.

Syrup Pitcher

In the 1930’s and ’40’s sorghum came in a gallon bucket with a bail and cost fifty cents.  Today it comes in quart jars which sell for $12.  I opted to mix my cake in a four-cup measuring cup, using the hand mixer because I could fling it all in the dishwasher.  Clean up is harder for me than the cooking is.

I baked the cake in an iron skillet because that’s how it was done in olden days.  Mother would rake the hot coals out on the hearth rock, put the iron skillet (with legs) on the coals and lay the lid up on the burning logs to heat.  She’d put the sorghum cake (which she called a sponge cake) in the hot skillet, put the lid on and then heap red hot coals on the lid.  The cake would bake in no time and to cut a piece of that hot cake and fill it with butter was some more good eating.  Sorghum was a little different back then — I don’t know if it was a different variety of cane — I contend cooking it with wood made a different taste than cooking it with gas as it’s done today.  Anyway, Mother’s cakes were darker in color than mine is.  Try the sorghum for a little twist on country living.

Sorghum Cake

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Sand Mountain sorghum
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 tsp each of nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt and soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup flour
Mix shortening, syrup, egg, milk and syrup. Sift dry ingredients together and add to the above mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done.

1/4 cup shortening
1/4 tsp. Nutmet

Sorghum Cake ready for butter

The post TheSorghum Cake appeared first on Billie Crumly | Country Living with Aunt Bill.

When I arrived I finally got my windshield replaced.  Sand Mountain Auto Glass came to the farm and did the installation for about $70 less than I could find in the metro Atlanta area!  Thanks to the man at the Boaz carwash, I saved money!  Well, not really!  The hard drive on my laptop was in the last vestiges of life and that repair bill was $160.  Cheaper than a new computer and a trusted friend did the work.  All data saved and I am laptop computing again.  

So, what to do with the remainder of a Friday afternoon?  I suggested we make cheese straws.  Mother frequently had a gallon bag of cheese straws for me.  I have hauled and eaten cheese straws from Austin, Texas to Washington, D.C. and south to Tampa, Florida.  They are very yummy!  Thanks to my Aunt Joyce for sharing the recipe.  She used to make them for weddings and other events she would cater.  She was an awesome cook.

Off to the super market for extra sharp cheddar cheese (1 pound).  Daddy had plenty of margarine ( 1 stick), plain flour (3 cups), salt (1 tsp) and ground red pepper (1 tsp).  I decided that we would make the recipe twice as Daddy loves to munch on them too.  So we got 2 pounds of cheese.

Mother grated her cheese by hand, or I think she did, but I was not up for that task and relegated it to old Cuisinart Food Processor.  Well, that was a chore!  I could not get it to work!  As it turns out her bowl fits backward to what mine does.  Daddy figured that out and the cheese was quickly grated.

“Daddy, get the mixer out for me please”

“What? Your mother kneaded the dough by hand.  She always complained that her shoulders hurt

afterward.”

“I am sure they did after working that stiff dough.  I may have to finish up by hand but that is what electricity and machines are for.”  So, I mixed all the ingredients by mixer and kneaded very little by hand.

Next I rolled the dough into logs and fed them into the cookie press.  I have purchased many modern presses to make cheese straws at home.  They were all plastic and would not stand up to this stiff dough.  Mother and Daddy found a used Cookie King on ebay.com several years ago.  It is shiny copper and metal and really does the job!  It was and still is Daddy’s job to use the cookie press to get the dough onto the cookie sheet for baking.  One making of dough makes a gallon bag full of straws.

Now let’s talk about the red pepper.  Mother liked them spicier than the 1 tsp caused.  I put a bit more too.  They have some kick to them but oh they are good.  I think that extra pepper causes me to stop before I over eat.

At some point during the second making I commented to Daddy that this was one of Mother’s and his activities and that just because she was gone from us we should not abandon these particularly good treats.  He agreed.  Thinking about this now, baking from her recipe box is a joy for me and helps to preserve her memory in a tangible way.

Fine eating fits my style of country living!

Aunt Joyce’s Cheese Straws

1 pound sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese grated
1 stick of margarine
3 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red pepper (add a tiny bit more for a bit of zing!)

Mix all ingredients.  Using a strong cookie press, create stings of dough.  Cut into eating lengths PRIOR to baking.  Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  Straws should NOT be brown on top.  They should feel firm and crispy.  They many be a bit brown on the bottom.  Spread on a kitchen towel to cook before storing in an airtight container.

The post Making Aunt Joyce’s Cheese Straws appeared first on Billie Crumly | Country Living with Aunt Bill.

Where is the Cake?

I knew that I did not want to tackle the 16# Butternut Pound cake but a standard 10″ pound cake would be just fine. I found the following recipe in Mother’s recipe box. Thank you Mother for keeping a very full recipe box. Her collection is extensive!

Classic Pound Cake (Southern Living)

4 cups plain flour
2 cups sugar
2 cups soft butter
3/4 cup milk
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

In this order put in flour, sugar, butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Beat on low 1 minute – stop mixer and scrape the sides. Beat at medium for 2 minutes. Bake 325 for 1 hour and 30 minutes in a greased and floured tube pan. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then finish the cooling process on a wire rack.

I began with the flour and had Mother’s mixer set to low while I added all the ingredients. Only after all the ingredients were added did I begin the 1 minute timer. I followed all the other directions as written.
Oh, I always prepare my pan prior to starting the mixing and I allow my eggs to warm while the butter warms.

Ready for Baking

Here is the cake after it came out of the oven.

Hot out of the Oven

Egg Crate instead of Wire Rack

Cooling the Pound Cake

The cake smelled so good that I could not wait for the cooling to finish and immediately cut the cake so that Daddy and I would not have to wait.

Fresh, Hot Pound Cake

Good eating! Daddy said the only thing wrong with it was that he did not have any peaches thawed to put over it. I suggested ice cream, but we ate it hot and plain! Cooking and caring for my beloved father surely fits into my style of country living.

The post Must Keep Daddy with Sweets appeared first on Billie Crumly | Country Living with Aunt Bill.

After an excursion, which will be in tomorrow’s post, Daddy headed to the garden. Daddy and Mother have always had a sizable garden, but at 89, he finally cut it WAY back. He picked a few peas to add to the mess we are having for Sunday lunch, cut a good bit of okra, and brought in some tomatoes which he added to some he already had in the kitchen. He decided that there was enough to put up. “Put up” is our term for preserving food for the winter.

First, Daddy got out a large boiler (pot) and put water on to boil. I cleaned the sink, put in the stopper, and placed the tomatoes in the bottom. In a few minutes the water was bubbling; Daddy poured the boiling water over the tomatoes and we waited a minute or two. Boiling water over the room temperature tomatoes causes the skins of the tomatoes to slip right off (in the fruit is ripe enough).

After the peeling was done we cubed or sliced the fruit. This is the finished product.

Chunked tomatoes

A day with daddy, doing necessary things, working in the kitchen, laying I stores for winter, all this family’s brand of country living”
!

The post Putting Tomatoes Up for the Winter appeared first on Billie Crumly | Country Living with Aunt Bill.

I think I told you about making the square pound cake and here is a picture of the half that I gave Dad.  You see it is in mother’s glass cake plate which some years ago had a mishap and the cover has a glue job and continues to function.

Another thing that I have gotten into today is making some hummingbird food and Daddy had been taken by a good friend to see his sister who is in a nursing home nearby.  I was told that today she knew who he was and they enjoyed a nice visit.  Hummingbird food does not have to be red but my sweet  husband thinks it does.  Mother has always made her hummingbird food with a four (4) to one (1).  I put ¼ cup of sugar to 1 cup of water and put it on the stove on a medium temperature to heat.  It should really boil to make sure they are mixed well.  Would you believe that I went back to work and hummingbird food was the last thing on my mind?  At least, that is until I smelled something and the kitchen was covered in smoke up high and I found that ¼ cup sugar would expand to cover an entire saucepan with all the water gone.  It looked somewhat like burned cotton candy and the poor pan was terrible.  I was certainly hoping that the smoke detector did not come on and call the fire department.  That would have been another embarrassment.  As it was I had to apologize to dad for causing the house to smell like smoke.  I did find the air freshener and went through the house spraying and I had the screen open to the storm door attempting to get the smoke out of the house.   All fans were turned on trying to cause some dissipation.

While all the excitement was going on, I decided that I needed to find a recipe that one lady had asked about after the funeral.  I do not remember who this person was but I did find the recipe that she has said Billie called “Banana Split Salad”.   This is a salad but is sweet enough and good enough to serve as dessert.  The folks would keep this frozen and eat it when they remembered that they had some in the freezer.  Here is the recipe for whoever wishes. 

Banana Split Salad (Billie Crumly)

8 oz cream cheese softened
½ cup sugar
20oz can crushed pineapple
10 oz. pkg.  frozen strawberries
2 bananas chopped
1 cup nuts of your choice
1 – 12 cool whip
red food color (optional)

Beat cheese and sugar.  Add berries, pineapple & bananas, then nuts.  Fold in cool Whip.
Pour into greased 9 x 13” dish.  Cover & put in freezer at least 3 hours.  Remove from freezer 30  minutes before serving.

Tomatoes for freezing, hummingbird food and Banana Split Salad are just some of the kitchen excepts from country living on this day in July.

The post Kitchen Activities…..with Donna Harvey. appeared first on Billie Crumly | Country Living with Aunt Bill.

The Forty-Year Old Cake Pan

Now remember I told you up front I’m not even a distant relative of Julia Childs of Paula Deen.  I’ve baked several hundred of these babies and they always have a crack in the top, even though I bake at 300 degrees for two hours.  Forget about the crack, it’s the flavor that counts.  This recipe came to me through my sister and it came to her from Mrs. Ann Whitten of Pell City, Alabama.

John worked for Lockheed for 34 years and many of those years his lunch contained a piece of this cake.  Also, when some of the family would be going on vacation, they’d ask for a cake.  The cake travels well.  One time I gave our preacher’s family a cake to take to Florida with them and the next week the son told me, “Daddy and I would have starved if it hadn’t’ been for that cake.  We ate it for breakfast.” Any cook likes to hear words such as those.

Billie’s Butternut Pound Cake

1 lb. butter or margarine                             3 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup Crisco                                                    2 tsp. butternut flavoring
2 2/3 cup sugar                                             1/2 cup cream
8 eggs                                                               Pinch of salt

Cream softened butter and Crisco together and add the sugar — beat well.
Add eggs two at a time, beating well after each.  Alternate flour and cream.
Add flavoring last.  Pour in well greased and floured pan.  Bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours.  Cool 10 minutes in the pan before dumping.

NOTE:  I use double yoke eggs – a gift from a chicken farmer.  Also I seldom have cream on hand and I usually have Pet Milk, so I substitute.

Butternut Pound Cake

The post Baking the Butternut Pound Cake…Sept. 3, 2013 appeared first on Billie Crumly | Country Living with Aunt Bill.

She had at one time worked for Badger Meter Co. in Atlanta and her boss taught her the adage “to plan your work and work your plan.”  I have heard her say this one time after time, and this funeral time was no different.  In the file cabinet under “F” was a folder with no label; in the folder were two sheets of notebook paper with raw edges after having been torn from a spiral notebook.  I chose the one labeled Billie Crumly funeral.  I began the process.  Beth and I did not discuss who would do what, it just seemed that each of us picked up what needed to be done and off we set out to get the necessary arrangements made.  Beth had an ophthalmologist appointment for Monday morning and there was nothing that a few hours would have changed.

We had made an appointment with Harris Funeral Home to meet them at 2:00 p.m. which allowed enough time for Beth to drive the four hours she needed to arrive and group with the family.  Mother once said of one of her great-granddaughters that she was from a long line of strong-willed women.  Well, it is yet another happening that both these prodigies and her strong willed hubby were all in tune.  We were all on the same page with the plans and decisions that had to be made. Times were decided, plans set in place and back home we went.  I had been in Alabama for five (5) nights and we all know that no bed sleeps like your own bed.  I opted to drive the two (2) hours back to my house and sleep in my own bed while gathering the clothes that I would need for the next two days and returning on Tuesday about noon.

I also need the loving arms of my sweetheart around me.  Funny how I just needed to be held and no words were necessary, because so much can be communicated with a touch. But before motoring toward Atlanta, I needed to contact those on her list.  She had the people she had chosen to sing at her funeral as well as the songs that she desired them to sing and she had included telephone numbers too.  She had the preacher noted for her funeral, that she had grown to love over the past years, who had moved away and she had his mother’s telephone number there.  She had been good friends with Bro. Harvey’s mother and with both he and his family.  Since he had moved to another larger town and had a bigger church, it was yet another miracle that he had the Wednesday available for us.  The new preacher at Crossville First Methodist Church also knew Bro. Harvey.  Bro. Mike and Kathy had been so good to the family.  They had only been assigned to Crossville Methodist for 2 weeks and in that time Bro. Mike and Kathy had visited mother in the hospital and Bro. Mike stopped by on Saturday night on his way back from a trip to Birmingham, then before they had taken the body the two were back praying with us.  God Bless the new friends.   So back to the list, I go.  Mother had said on many occasions that she had chosen twelve (12) pall-bearers for her casket and would you believe she really did have a large list although I did not count them.  I believe the reason was more that she knew people get caught having to do other things or they are out of town or as her great-nephew whom she loved so much was the only pharmacist on duty as his partners were out of town.  Life goes on and there are reasons why some are just not available.  My sweetheart even said that if she was missing one he would fill in where needed, that is the kind of person he is.  But as God is still in control, the list with names and telephone numbers provided the exact six (6) pall-bearers which were needed.  Funeral director said that more than six caused their feet to get tangled.  We must give our heartfelt thanks to each and every person who worked to make the funeral a marvelous celebration of Billie Crumly’s life.

But now today, I have this urge to bake Mother’s Butternut Pound Cake.  This recipe baked by your favorite author so many times I think it would have been impossible to count the times it has traveled on many vacations of both family and friends.  This particular pound cake has Vanilla, Butter, and Nut flavoring which makes the cake a vibrant yellow.

Billie’s Butternut Pound Cake

1 lb. butter or margarine                           3 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup Crisco                                                    2 tsp. butternut flavoring
2 2/3 cup sugar                                             1/2 cup cream
8 eggs                                                                Pinch of salt

It has always been baked so daddy could have a slice in his lunch box when he was working at Lockheed and most always there was one of these in the glass covered cake plate where the lid had been broken and re-glued but still utilized.  Bro. Harvey talked of this pound cake while preaching mother’s funeral and just how much he loved the taste of her cake.  I guess this makes my desire and need to use her recipe and bake the cake so both he and daddy could have same.  This cake takes 8 eggs, which brings to mind the sweet egg family which was so free to give mother and dad culled eggs.   It is these special friends which that come to mind because they gave the eggs and mother baked and gave the cake so freely.  This community was/is such a giving loving community.  They will continue in the giving spirit and thus will continue the legacy that Billy Crumly has left with the community.  This is just one part of Country Living and it lives on.

NOTE…See Mrs. Crumly’s blog of this Butternut Pound Cake tomorrow.

The post Mother’s Pound Cake appeared first on Billie Crumly | Country Living with Aunt Bill.

When we made kraut in my growing up days it was a big ordeal.  After lunch we took the oilcloth off the kitchen table and the table was moved out in the backyard under the large oak tree.  First we scrubbed the naked table top, and then we washed the cabbage heads in a wash tub (using water hand-drawn from the well).  Then the chopping began.  First the head was split, the core removed and the first chopping was done with a large butcher knife, turning and twisting, turning and twisting the cabbage around as we chopped on the table until it was fine enough to put in the churn.  This process was continued as the chopped cabbage was layered in the churn with a generous sprinkling of salt.

The chopping continued even after the cabbage was added to the churn, as we had a kraut chopper – actually it was a hoe with the neck straightened out with a handle about three feet long.  Lots of eating took place during the time of kraut making, too.  I loved to chomp on the stalk (or core) as I worked away.

The chopped cabbage mixture was covered with water, and then the search for a rock the appropriate size was begun.  After it was found, it was washed and placed on top of the large cabbage leaves which, too, had been washed and were now covering the mixture – the rock was to hold it all down below the water level.  Next a guano sack was tied over the churn and it was allowed to set for nine days -being checked periodically to see if enough water remained to cover the aging kraut.  After nine days the mixture was canned and put away for winter eating.

Last week John brought the cabbage heads in from the garden and the rest of the job was mine.  I must admit that I used the food processor which makes the kraut a little finer than I like — however.

We have a large three-gallon crock that was taken down from off the top of the kitchen cabinets and was washed to hold the kraut.  It was pure luck that I happened to have canning salt on hand — I don’t’ even know if it can be bought anymore or not.  I remembered the salt with iodine is not supposed to be used in kraut making.

I was washing the large cabbage leaves to use on top when John entered with a rock to be washed and used for the holding-down job.  I finally found an old sack large enough to tie around the top of the crock and the job was completed – or so I thought.

By now it’s time for lunch and the kraut maker was soooo tired.  You might have guessed it – for lunch I had cooked-cabbage and slaw along with some hash made from the leftover Sunday roast.  After a morning of all this, I crashed in my chair for a nap, but as nighttime approached I began to wonder just where would be the best place to set the crock for the duration – remembering that my mother did not have air-conditioning in the olden days.

Entering the kitchen for supper, we thought we had decided on the right (warm) spot and John was about to move the heavy crock when he remarked (as he felt the cabinet top), “Bill, this is running over.”  To which I replied, “It can’t be, there was not that much water in it.”  Boy, was I surprised!  Not only was the cabinet top wet, but so was everything else  it could get to.  On the short end of my cabinet top I try to keep a “pretty” area just for enjoyment and my arrangent there included an old Southern Living Cookbook along with a beautiful, new dishtowel (they are my weakness) and both were soaked with brine! .

What a mess!  We had no choice but to wash Mother’s churn and transfer the kraut over to it.  Even after the transfer, cleanup had to be completed and the washing machine loaded with wet dishtowels, etc.  We found no hole in the crock and it had been used before for such things with no problem.  We couldn’tbelieve the sack had acted as a siphon and put the brine on the cabinet top!  It’s a mystery still.  However, at this point canning day is fast approaching – I just hope I can tell when the mixture is ready for that next step.  This is how it is with our style of country living.

The post Kraut Making 2000 appeared first on Billie Crumly | Country Living with Aunt Bill.

I use a large roaster as my pot and begin with two frozen quarts of tomatoes.  To this I had a quart of field peas and then another quart of okra (add a little water to get it started).  Here I add salt (just guess at it and then taste later), two tablespoons of dried onion and two teaspoons of garlic powder.  I suppose you can use an onion, but my picky husband doesn’t like to see the onion floating in the soup. Duh!  I let this simmer a bit and then I sear one pound of ground beef (and isn’t it expensive?) in a little oil and pour it all in the soup pot.  Here again I leave it simmer while I peel three or four (depending on the size) potatoes and dice them to be added to the mixture.  Along the way I add one can of condensed tomato soup with a can of water.  Now I add one large can of Veg-All.  When the potatoes are done I add a can of whole kernel corn.  Here one has to be careful and stir often — using lower heat, as the corn is prone to stick.  After this has simmered a bit I add two or three hands full of macaroni and about two tablespoons of sugar.  As I understand it sugar enhances the flavor.  This mixture may be too thick and if so I add a half quart of home canned tomato juice.  Yum!!  To have this with a pone of cornbread for a meal is enough for anybody.  Would you believe neither of my girls will eat vegetable soup?  They just don’t know what’s good.

I can’t make a little pot of soup — I don’t know how.  From yesterday’s making we had lunch, I kept some out for another meal and we put five quarts in the freezer.  When I take a bag from the freezer to use I add a can of condensed tomato soup and a can of water.  That’s an easy meal.

Good ole home cooking has to be one of the best parts of country living.

The post Homemade Vegetable Soup appeared first on Billie Crumly | Country Living with Aunt Bill.

John in the Kitchen

It’s been one of those dreary, drizzly days; however, I promise I won’t complain about rain – we still need it.  The ground is not wet, it’s not even damp an inch down.

I’ve been engaged in one of those many projects I have started and this one is a Christmas project I can’t talk about at this time.  It’s such a busy time of year – the small children in our family have an advent calendar of a different sort.  Beginning December 1 they remove a gingerbread man from the “advent” calendar and eat him,  repeating the process daily until December 24.  Then they eat the big gingerbread man at the top that has their name on it.  Well, baking the gingerbread men is one of my big projects – this week. I’ve baked eight dozen, and I’ll have two more bakings to go. Wow!  But this is how memories are made.  Hopefully, they will remember to bring the empty part of the calendar to their Gran’s on Thanksgiving and we’ll all have fun together tying the men (each one in a separate plastic bag) on their burlap bases.

Anyway perhaps John knew how busy I’ve been, as I hear him banging around in the kitchen.  I don’t know just what he’s up to — sometimes he sends time in the kitchen and then brings out the most delicious peanut brittle for me to sample.  However, considering the time of day (late afternoon), I’ll wager a bet this time it’s not peanut brittle.

Many years ago on a day such as this, we’d have hot cornbread – a real treat for my family at suppertime.  To bake hot bread back then took more than turning a switch. Stove wood had to be fetched (and maybe the ashes had to be removed from the cook stove, before the fire was built).

Soot Rake

Remember this little rake made just for reaching back in the ash box of the stove to clean the ashes out?  It really was made to clean the soot out, too.  With a fire going in the wood range, other would bake a skillet of “thin” bread which we buttered, then applied a generous amount of that good old Sand Mountain Sorghum to it.  Yum! Yum!  We usually ate cornbread and milk’ however, if it was the thin bread, and hot, then we ate it with butter and sorghum.  The iron skillet was the vessel used for baking, and to pick up the hot skillet, liftin’ rags were an absolute necessity. One of those pretty little bought “pot holders” was not thick enough – it had to be one padded with a  worn out piece of quilt or something thick and heavy enough tor maximum protection.  I make the homemade potholders today to give for little Christmas gifts. Those with thick padding can’t be beat.

Can you remember the “eye lifter” used in conjunction with the wood cook stove?  Using the “eye lifter,” Mother would remove an eye and drop the old black pot down in the opening so it would be closer to the fire for boiling beans, a fresh mess of pork backbones or whatever.

My nose tells me I guessed right about John (after living together all these years that’s not hard to do) and this night it’ll be hot, buttered cornbread and some of that new $15 per gallon sorghum.  I remember when a gallon could be bought for 50 cents and it was in a metal bucket with a bail.  I’d better shut down this machine, as I expect the call to supper just any time now.  It’s one of the fringe benefits of country living.

The post A Man in the Kitchen 1998 appeared first on Billie Crumly | Country Living with Aunt Bill.