Happy Birthday Daddy…90

Let me say that I am sorry that I have been absent from this blog for so very long.  Life, being a teacher and a student, and everything else has gotten in the way.  Thank you faithful readers!  Thanks to Russ Austin and my sister Donna, who have both worked to keep the blog going.  Mother said, “Just let that thing go!” But she did not mean it.  She was thinking of us and the time required to do the job as she would have had it.  Let me tell you that since her death the numbers have climbed amazingly fast.  I know that if she is aware and able, she is turning cartwheels.

Today is Daddy’s 90th birthday!  If you are able send him a card to the P.O. Box or give him a phone call.  I was there this weekend and two very dear friends (one also family) paid tribute to him. One with lunch at his favorite eatery and the other with a fresh baked pecan pie.  Did you remember that he loved sweets? 

I baked his traditional Yummy Nummy birthday cake, complete with a double making of cooked chocolate icing.  This recipe came from my first husband’s aunt (Louise) who lived just outside Childersburg, AL.  (I found Harpersville, AL while I was typing the recipe)  Her husband was a deputy sheriff in the county just north of Childerburg but I cannot remember what there actual town or that county is (was?).  I think his name was Cecil!  Last name was Nummy.  This cake quickly became Daddy’s favorite and Mother always had it for him on his birthday and at Christmas.  It is not difficult, but does take some time to complete.  Patience is also needed as the cooked chocolate cools and the you have to be speedy to get the cake iced before it hardens too much.  Mine always runs off.  I suppose that I don’t have the patience to wait until it cools enough.

Such was surely the case on Saturday.  I baked the layers prior to driving to Fort Payne for our luncheon appointment.  Thanks to C (Celestine) and her husband John for our lunch at the Western Sizzlin’.  I am so glad I did.  While we were driving I casually mentioned to Daddy that I did not have my normal vitamins and one prescription drug with me on this trip.  He wanted to turn around right then and me leave to go home to the drugs.  I told him that I would be fine!  He said that he wanted me to get back to the farm as quickly as possible and then leave.  He settled for “after we get your birthday cake iced.”

So I was pushed to hurry!  The cake is done, ugly, but delicious.  This cake is never pretty in the cake plate!  It is wonderful in your mouth.  Enjoy the recipe.

Yummy Nummy

2 cups sugar
1 cup Crisco
4 or 5 eggs (depending on size) 4 extra large, 5 large
2 1/2 cup plain flour – sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking poter sifted into flour
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons Buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda mixed into the milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar and Crisco.  Add 1 egg at a time.  Add flour and milk mixtures alternating.  Begin and end with flour.  Add Vanilla

Bake at 325 until the layers are golden brown and “toothpick” done.

Yummy Nummy Never Fail Cooked Chocolate Icing (single making)

2 cups sugar
2 squares baker’s chocolate
1 stick oleo or butter
1/2 cup buttermilk

Combine all ingredients.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Begin timer when the mixture achieves a rolling or hard boil.  Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla as the icing is cooling.