Apple Pecan Layer Cake

2-1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1-1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven 350, grease and flour 2 - 9 inch round pans.
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add applesauce, oil and eggs. Blend at low speed until moistened then beat 2 minutes on high speed. Stir in pecans. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, place on coolimg rack, cool completely.

Frosting
1/2 cup butter ( not margarin)
4-1/2 cup powdered sugar
6-8 tbsp apple juice

In heavy sauce pan on medium heat, brown butter util slightly golden, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, cool completely.
In large bowl, combine butter, powdered sugar, and 4 tbsp apple juice. Blend at low speed until moistened, continue beating until well blended' adding additional juice until spreads consistently. Fill and frost cake. Garnish as desired.

Peeling Potatoes Quickly

I prefer using fresh fruits and vegetables when preparing meals for my family - that includes potatoes. But peeling the potatoes seems to be more of a chore because of time and the discomfort in my hands. When I saw this video I just had to pass it on to you. I will use this method for mashed potatoes, Potato Salad and
Potato Soup.

A Cherished Gift

August 5, 1988

Do you still have and use one of your wedding gifts? Or has it been so long that you barely remember? Today is our 24th wedding anniversary and it honestly feels like we got married only a few weeks ago.

West Virginia Coney Sauce

I got this recipe from Pat and Dena Taylor from Charleston WV. She got it out of there church lady’s cookbook.

1# Hamburg

1-medium onion/finely chopped

1-6oz can HUNTS tomato paste.

3-cans water ( use the tomatoes paste can)

½ cup Catsup

1-tsp vinegar

1-tsp salt

1-1/2-tbsp chili powder ( may want to start with less)

Do not brown meat, but combine all ingredients. Adding one can of water at a time. Cook slowly 1- ½ hours stirring often. Sprinkle love before serving.

I put all the water in when I start and if it needs some more I add it. Depending on the strength of the chili powder I start with at least the minimum amount of three cans (18oz). Dena said that there is something in the HUNTS brand that gives it a better flavor, so I use that. The thing about this recipe is that it requires constant attention stirring or it will burn.

Here are some other sites for Coney Sauce recipes:

Fairmont Style Hot Dog Sauce

Coney Island Chili Dog Sauce

Submitted by Richard Hickman

The Psychomotor Theory of Sewing

Adorable dresses Mom made for me and
my sister, Carol.

I have been sewing since I was 5 years old. OMG! I just did the math and that's been almost 50 years! I remember sitting on the floor in the sewing room with my mom's old machine and operating the foot peddle with my knee as she made clothes on her new Singer. I have always loved to sew and by the time I was in 5th grade I could make clothing without a pattern. I attended 10 schools in 12 years in four different states. (I know, right?) When I was older I always found comfort in the Home ec class. That is where I could show my talents in sewing and cooking as the teachers asked me to help other students. So, it was only natural that I would become a home ec teacher.
I believe that creativity can have a  psychological impact on a person. I remember the only time I could hear a pin drop in the 9th grade comprehensive class was during the sewing unit when I taught counted cross stitch. All of the boys and girls enjoyed creating their very own project. They got lost in the rhythm of counting  stitches and the push and pull of the needle. They would beg me to let them take their project to study hall and often students would come back to class during the day to get more floss.
I once wrote a grant and included this about the psychomotor theory:

Since stress is stored in the senses, one method of stress management can be achieved 

through the psychomotor processes of creative, hands-on activities. Professionals have recently 

identified the craft of scrapbooking as therapeutic as it offers a way to cope with hardships.  

I do believe that sewing and other craft activities provide a way to get your mind off your worries and decompress. If you can be mindful during any activity that brings you peace and contentment then you should find time to repeat the activity as often as possible. It's good for you!

Recession Fabulous

Lost Art of Sewing Comes Back

Soaring Sales of Sewing Machines

Altered by a Sewing Machine

Katie's Ravishing Rainbow Cupcakes!

Looking for something new, exciting, and fun? Well you just landed yourself in the right place! Boring o'l cupcakes are dumb so why not spice it up a bit? When you bite into the delicious moist center, it shouldn't only taste great, it should look amazing. And that's where these ravishing rainbow cupcakes come in!

Devoted to Aprons

Do you remember making aprons in Home Economics? I don't think the students really knew the purpose an apron served. So many things have changed over the years. The saddest thing for me is that we are no longer teaching the art of sewing in our "home ec" program. Someone at the state level decided that sewing was not a skill that students needed. I am so tired of trying to defend the importance of this part of our curriculum and have conceded. But I do want to share the following verse that has been around for years and you may recognize it.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven. 

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.  

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.. 

And when the weather was cold Grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.  After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees. 

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds. 

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner. 

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes. 

Lasagna Made Simple

Katie made Lasagna for Father's Day. This is a favorite recipe that Richard has perfected over the years. It's  even more delicious when you begin with a frozen bag of our Almost Homemade Spaghetti Sauce.

1 - 24 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
1 pound ground beef
1 4 ounce jar sliced mushrooms
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups cottage cheese
2 Tbsp. parsley flakes
12 ounces mozzarella cheese
12 frozen Italian meatballs
3 Tbsp. Love

Brown ground beef; drain. Add spaghetti sauce and mushrooms; heat.
Stir eggs, cottage cheese and parsley in a bowls.
In a 13 x 9 inch glass dish place 3 uncooked noodles; spread 1 cup sauce, then half of egg mixture, some mozzarella cheese and 1 Tbsp of love.

 Second layer: noodles, 1 cup sauce, remaining egg mixture, some mozzarella cheese, more love.

 Third layer: noodles, 12 frozen Italian meatballs, remaining sauce, mozzarella cheese, and love.

 Pour 3/4 cup of HOT water in the 4 corners of dish. 

Cover with foil. Bake at 375 for 1-1/2 hours or until pasta is tender when tested with a fork.

Blueberry Muffins

When I asked Dad what he was doing for Father's Day he said he was coming over to my house for a cup of coffee and to read the Sunday newspaper. I immediately thought these Blueberry Muffins would be a perfect treat sprinkled with love.

The Psychomotor Theory of Sewing

Adorable dresses Mom made for me and

my sister, Carol.

I have been sewing since I was 5 years old. OMG! I just did the math and that's been almost 50 years! I remember sitting on the floor in the sewing room with my mom's old machine and operating the foot peddle with my knee as she made clothes on her new Singer. I have always loved to sew and by the time I was in 5th grade I could make clothing without a pattern. I attended 10 schools in 12 years in four different states. (I know, right?) When I was older I always found comfort in the Home ec class. That is where I could show my talents in sewing and cooking as the teachers asked me to help other students. So, it was only natural that I would become a home ec teacher.
I believe that creativity can have a  psychological impact on a person. I remember the only time I could hear a pin drop in the 9th grade comprehensive class was during the sewing unit when I taught counted cross stitch. All of the boys and girls enjoyed creating their very own project. They got lost in the rhythm of counting  stitches and the push and pull of the needle. They would beg me to let them take their project to study hall and often students would come back to class during the day to get more floss.
I once wrote a grant and included this about the psychomotor theory:

Since stress is stored in the senses, one method of stress management can be achieved 

through the psychomotor processes of creative, hands-on activities. Professionals have recently 

identified the craft of scrapbooking as therapeutic as it offers a way to cope with hardships.  

I do believe that sewing and other craft activities provide a way to get your mind off your worries and decompress. If you can be mindful during any activity that brings you peace and contentment then you should find time to repeat the activity as often as possible. It's good for you!

Recession Fabulous

Lost Art of Sewing Comes Back

Soaring Sales of Sewing Machines

Altered by a Sewing Machine

Almost Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

This is the spaghetti sauce we've been making for years and would never change this recipe now that
it's perfected. We make a large batch in the crock pot and then freeze in quart zip lock bags.

2 pounds ground beef
Large onion, chopped

1 tsp fresh garlic, minced

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 large can mushrooms, sliced

3-6 Tbsp Brown sugar

3 - 24 ounce jars Ragu Robust
A pinch of Love

Brown ground beef with onion and seasoning. Place all ingredients in crock pot. Add brown sugar, starting with 3 Tbsp. Slow-cook for 4 – 6 hours. Check flavor, add more brown sugar if preferred.  Use enough sauce for dinner. Cool, then freeze remaining sauce in quart Ziploc freezer bags.

The Lost White Coconut Cake Recipe

Gramsy wrote two memoirs; one about her life and one of her husband's, Grandpa Ray Landon. On the first page of One Life to Remember she mentioned a "white coconut cake" that my great-grandma Laura Travis Landon was known for among other fine food she prepared.

Harry (Henry) Landon & Laura Travis
married April 9, 1893

This is an excerpt: Laura, my mother, born December 25, 1870, was the daughter of John and Mary Travis. She had two brothers, William and John. William was married, but never had children. John was a renowned mathematics professor and never married. Laura was a popular, fun loving young lady and a fine seamstress and tailor. Many hired her to do sewing for them. She did not make money with her cooking,  but she well could have. Her white coconut cakes you might say played a big part in her fortune by helping to win a husband.

Her's was the most attractive and just about the largest of all the boxes that were piled on the table at the big Spring Box Social. Harry Landon had made up his mind to do his bidding on it, going above several others who had their eye on it, too.

The chicken sandwiches were mighty good, but that coconut cake was "out of this world." Not only did he enjoy the food, he found Laura's company very enjoyable.

I was so intrigued about this white cake and asked several relatives, but it seemed that with all of Harry and Laura's children gone, so was the recipe.

Fast forward about 122 years. I found a family White Coconut Cake recipe from my husband's Grandma Hickman and another from something his mother, Agnes Dye. typed up in 1976. At the bottom she added, "I only make this cake when we are having company, or to take someplace because it is so good. It is very moist and rich and has a delicious flavor. One piece is never enough, it's so good you always want another."

I would like to be known for making something so incredible. Maybe it will be this White Coconut Cake.

White Chocolate Cake
1 cup margarine, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla or almond
4 oz, milted white chocolate
1 tsp baking powder
2 ½ cups cake flour
1cup buttermilk
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup flaked coconut

Beat egg white, set aside
Cream margarine & sugar until creamy. Beat in egg yolks.
Add vanilla and white chocolate, mix well
Add baking powder to flour. then add alternately with buttermilk.
Fold in beaten egg whites, pecans and coconut.
Pour into greased and floured 9 X 13 pan.
Bake 350 for 50 - 60 minutes. test with toothpick.

Icing
2 cups sugar
1 small can evaporated milk
1 ½ stick margarine
1 Tbsp white corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla or almond

Ada's Scalloped Apples

1 qt. Tart apples, peeled, sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup raisins
2 tbsp corn starch
1/2 to 1 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup water or apple juice

Mix apples,sugar, raisins, corn starch, and nutmeg. Place in buttered baking dish. Pour liquid over apples. Add a few pats of butter on top of apples. Cover and bake slowly until apples are tender at 300-325 for 35 minutes. Uncover to brown slightly.

Vada's Pretzel Salad

I found this recipe in Vada's file box when we visited during Easter. But most of the Landon Family will remember this being a popular dessert made by our beloved Aunt Barbara.

2-2/3 cups of crushed, salted pretzels (9 oz bag)
1-1/2 sticks margarine, melted
4 Tbsp sugar
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 medium container Cool Whip
one - 6 oz and one 3 ounce pack of strawberry jello
4 cups boiling water
10 oz pack frozen strawberries, sliced

Combine crushed pretzels, melted margarine and sugar. Place in 9x13 pan, bake at 400 for 8 minutes. Let cool. 

Mix cream cheese ( softened) and sugar until smooth. Fold in container Cool whip. Spread over pretzels.

Mix both packages of strawberry jello with 4 cups boiling water. Add one 10 oz package of frozen sliced strawberries. Let this cool until it begins to thicken. Spread on top of cream cheese layer. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Fritter Batter

1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 tbsp Crisco, melted
1 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Apple fritters. Core and thinly slice apples. Dip in batter, fry in skillet of hot crisco.
Corn fritter. Use less milk. Add  can of creamed corn to batter. Fry in crisco.

Walnut Cake

1/3 cup butter

1 3/4 cup flour
2 3/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup black walnut
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs separated

Cream sugar and 1/2 of the sugar, beaten egg yolks. Add dry ingredients with milk. Add nuts. Add beaten egg whites, gradually with the remaining sugar. Bake in fluted pan at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

From Margaret Hickman

Danish Pastry

Margaret Hickman made this special dessert for
 Da-Daw every weekend

We spent this Easter weekend visiting Mamaw and Vada in Clarksburg. It was my mission to find the recipe to go with this photo from 2005 when Margaret showed me how to make this wonderful pastry. Of course, it was in the last recipe box I looked in!
Margaret is 96 years old and no longer spends time in the kitchen doing what she lovingly did for her family. I will try to make this Dutch Pastry before the week is out.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 tsp almond flavor
1 cup flour
3 eggs

Heat oven to 350. Measure first cup of flour into bowl. Cut in butter. Sprinkle with 2 tbsp water and mix with fork. Round into ball and cut in half. Pat dough with hands into 2 long strips 13 x 3. Make them 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Mix the second amount of butter and water. Bring to rolling boil. Add almond flavoring and remove from heat. Stir in flour immediately to keep from lumping. When smooth and thick add one egg at a time, beating until smooth. Divide in half and spread evenly on each piece of pastry. Bake 1 hour and 15 mins. Until crisp and nicely browned. Frost with a confectioners icing and sprinkle generously with finely chopped nuts. Check baking time at 1 hour.
Frosting, milk and powdered sugar and vanilla.

Vada also gave me three of Margaret's cookbooks which I will always cherish. One of the cookbooks was used by Margaret and her mother in the 1930's. I am looking forward to trying many of the recipes. Especially some of the old fashioned cakes!

Homemade Noodles

March is National Noodle Month so I thought this would be fine time to talk about Gramsy's Homemade Noodles. I vividly remember the time she let me cut the noodles when I was probably 5 or 6 years old. Gramsy cut the dough into about six sections then stacked them. She gave me this huge brown knife and instructed me  to slice  thin strips. Well, I proceeded to slice right across my thumb!  I yelped and she grabbed a towel. We went out to the sink in the back room and pumped cold water on my hand.

2 cups flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

3 large eggs

1/8 cup milk (2 TBSPs)

Put all ingredients in food processor. Pulse until in ball form. Rest 20 minutes, covered.  Roll into large thin piece. Cut into sections; stack them, cut noodles using lots of flour.  Let dry overnight. Cook in chicken or beef broth.

Gramsy made corrections to the recipe in my mom's cookbook

French Onion Soup

1 lb onions sliced (about 5 med onions)
2 T. oil Cook for 15 minutes, add salt, pepper and 1 T. brown sugar. This has a tendency to burn So keep an eye on it and add a little water. Cook for additional 35 minutes until onions caramelize. Then add one or two cans of beef broth. Heat and serve with a slice of bread, cheese on top ( I used provolone) and put in microwave to melt cheese.
I got this recipe from a diabetic cookbook.

 from Sharon

Crock Pot Fajitas

Since I had today off, I decided to try a recipe for Crock Pot Fajitas.  It was AMAZING so I thought I would share.

1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

1 can Diced Tomatoes (with jalapenos if you like) drained

2 Bell Peppers - Julienne (I used red)

3 Medium Onions - Julienne

2 packets Taco Seasoning (use one in the beginning and one at the end)

Mix the Taco Seasoning packet according to the directions on the package.

Add chicken and veggies to crock pot, pour seasoning mix over it and cook on high for 5-6 hours.  Remove cooked chicken and shred.  Place back into crock pot, mix and add second packet to taste.

Serve with tortillas and desired toppings.  

Enjoy!

Heather Shockey

Cream of Mushroom Soup

 Richard created this amazing Cream of mushroom soup!

2- Large jars of sliced mushrooms, Not the stems and pieces but the sliced ones

1-can beef broth 16 oz

1-Can vegetable broth, 16 oz

¼ cup flour

½ cup cream (increases richness)

½ cup sour cream (gives nice texture and smooth taste)

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dill weed

¼ cup water

1-Medium onion diced thinly

1-Tbsp minced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

1-beef bouillon cube (adds flavor like it has cooked for many hours)

In large skillet put in butter and oil and cook onion and garlic until transparent. Do not overcook.

Add the dill weed and mushrooms and cook three minutes.

Add the beef broth, vegetable broth and bouillon cube and bring to low boil.

Mix flour and cold water together, making sure all the lumps are out and slowly stir into the low boiling mixture.  Add cream and sour cream whisking in until smooth. Continue cooking until the desired thickness is reached.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

While you could use an immersion blender on the mixture you miss out on the large slices of mushroom and the little bits of onion and garlic that give added texture to the taste.