LEMON PUDDING POUND CAKE by Mia

Hello, Everybody.  I am Cheri’s granddaughter Mia and I am 4 years old.  I will be your guest BLOGGER today. 

Today Cheri and I had lots of fun baking a cake for my daddy’s bank.  They are having a Bake Sale to raise money for RELAY FOR LIFE to help people that are sick with cancer like my friend Gage.

We baked my great-grandmother's

   LEMON  PUDDING  POUND  CAKE ...

it's my daddy's favorite.

The first thing you have to do is...read the recipe.

Then you beat the eggs and add the other things to make the cake taste yummy. 

Next you use the mixer and mix, mix, mix, mix, mix....for 10 whole minutes. 

Whew!  My hand got tired so Cheri took over.

We’re wearing the matching aprons my Mama gave us for Christmas. 

Of course, the best part of baking a cake is this.....

        licking the bowl...and the beaters!

I even let my big brother share....boys can be so silly.

This is what our cake looks like now.   Mmmmm....y-u-m-m-y!

I hope it sales for a lot of money to help all the sick people get well. 

In case you want to try my great-grandmother's recipe, here it is:

LEMON  PUDDING  POUND  CAKE

1 pkg. yellow cake mix                        1 - 3 3/4 oz. pkg. instant lemon pudding mix
4 eggs                                                3/4 cup water
1/2 cup salad oil
Glaze:    1 cup confectioner's sugar  &  1/3  cup lemon juice

Beat eggs until lemon-colored.  Add cake mix, dry pudding mix, water, & salad oil.  Beat at medium speed for 10 minutes.  Pour into greased 10-inch tube pan lined with waxed paper.  Bake @ 350 degrees for 50 minutes.  Remove hot cake from pan.  Using a fork or wooden skewer, prick holes in top of cake, then drizzle glaze on top and sides of cake.             GLAZE:  combine conf. sugar & lemon juice and heat to boiling.

WILD CHICKENS

Our small southern town has two claims to fame:

1.  it was created as a community for Civil War veterans where both Yanks and Rebs lived together peacefully

2.  we have wild chickens running rampart in our streets

I’ll post another time about the founding of our little rural area , but this weekend the CHICKENS took precedent as we celebrated our annual

WILD CHICKEN FESTIVAL.  We really do have chickens running down Main St. as well as most other areas of town.  We never know when we’ll look out our window and see them scratching in the flower beds.  Local citizens either LOVE them or HATE them.  They are both BEAUTIFUL and a NUISANCE.  But love or hate we all enjoy our little festival.

This year things started off on Friday night with a CONCERT and street dance by a band that my hubby and I used to love when we were in college.  They are a “wee bit” older now but THE BUSHMEN still sound great!  Then on Saturday downtown was filled with vendors selling their wares, lots of yummy food, a rock climbing wall, bungee jumping, and train and pony rides for the kids.  The weather was beautiful and our local population multiplied many times over.

This guy was the Chicken Man

He told us more information about chickens than you'd ever want to know!

Lots of cute animals for the kids to pet

Bloomin' Onions....yum, yum

REAL Potato Chips...these don't come in a bag!

The highlight of the weekend is always the same...

                                                      PARACHUTE JUMPERS. 

 Our local airfield is the weekend home of these club members who come each year to enjoy our southern climate as they jump out of airplanes that fly overhead all weekend.  For about $189 local citizens can also jump out of the plane attached to one of the club members....NO, I was not one of them.  Not only because I have better things to do with $189 but also because you won’t ever catch this old gal jumping out of any type of aircraft...unless it’s firmly planted on the ground!  It is fun though to watch!  They tried for the World’s Record this weekend for the most skydivers linking up together.  We haven’t heard yet if they made it.

Where are they?

She loves to pose!

We don’t get much excitement around here so the festival is always a welcomed event.  Funny thing, however....during the festival that celebrates them... all the CHICKENS take cover and are nowhere to be seen.  I promise you though that if you come for a visit, as my friend Jackie did, I’ll drive you around town and we’ll find more than a few.  We might even have to stop in the middle of the street to let a Mama and her Chicks pass by.  Ya’ll come on down now, ya hear!

The end of a beautiful spring day in the South

PEACHES to BEACHES

On Saturday Mr. Chatter and I went on an adventure....

PEACHES to BEACHES  is middle and south Georgia’s counterpart to THE WORLD’S  LONGEST  YARD  SALE.  It begins in Barnesville, GA and travels all the way down Highway 341 to the coast at Brunswick.  We had never participated but decided this year we’d give it a try.  We left home at 7:00 a.m. and took in about 7 or 8 towns and surrounding areas. 

There was definitely a lot of “junque” along the way with people set up on both sides of the highway.  Many places we passed on by, but we made quite a few stops and picked up a few things here and there. 

                I always think of my sister-in-law when I see Raggedys...but she likes the "real" thing!

                                                          Isn't this just the cutest thing? 

 

 We even found a food stand selling FRIED GREEN TOMATOES and they were awesome!  If you’re not a Southerner you might not have ever eaten this yummy treat but trust me...they’re delicious.  (We were so busy devouring them, I forgot to take a picture!)

Here are the things that came home with us....

        These are both candle holders...the big one was $7 & the small one $3 (after I bargained for them!)

We also found an Estate Sale along the way and Mr. Chatter bought this antique oak table to refinish for his office.

Mr. C. loves birdhouses and he found this one for $5.00  We also found some beautiful plants and just had to buy some Gerber Daisies.

I have been wanting an antique watering can for ages but whenever I  found one I wasn't willing to pay $50 or more for it.  I got this one for $15 (again I bargained!)

I also found this cake stand ($2)....you can change the ribbons for whatever season or theme you want ...and 8 salad plates ($4) to match some I already have.

It was an absolutely beautiful spring-like day and we even ran into some homefolks we knew.  With gas almost $3.50 a gallon (and all the tasty treats we gobbled up), I’m not sure we really came out ahead with our good deals, but we enjoyed our day together and will definitely go again next year to see what “junque-ing” treasures we can bring home!

And in case you want to try them, here is my favorite recipe for

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES:

(from Southern Lady Magazine)

5 medium green tomatoes

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. salt  /  1 tsp. pepper

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp. hot sauce  (optional)

Slice tomatoes 1/4 inch thick.  Place on wire rack & sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. salt.  Let stand 15 minutes.        In medium dish combine cornmeal, flour, 1 tsp. salt, & pepper.   In medium skillet add 1/2 inch oil and heat to 350 degrees.     In shallow bowl combine buttermilk and hot sauce.    Dip tomatoes into this mixture and then into cornmeal and flour mixture.    Place into heated skillet and cook 3-5 minutes per side or until golden brown.  Drain on paper towel and serve immediately.

Yield:  12 to 15 slices

Now that's some good Southern eatin'!

My Aunt Katie

My Aunt Katie, one of my mother’s older sisters, was born on Dec. 11, 1909.  Although she died at the age of 22, long before I was born, I have always felt a “connection” with her.  I remember that my grandmother had a photograph of her on the mantle and I would often just stare at it wondering what she had been like and wishing she had not died.  Through the years I have heard the story of her death more than once.  She developed blood poisoning due to a pimple on her face and died shortly after.

My favorite story about Katie actually involves something that happened many years ago when I was a young mother.

My grandmother had an old trunk in her house that had always been such a mystery to everyone...even her own children.  Growing up I asked her many times if I could look in that trunk but she always would say, “There’s nothing in there.” But I never gave up hoping!  Then it happened....one day my mother, my daughter (about 6 or 7 then), and I were on our way to visit Granny.  On the way I told my daughter to ask my grandmother if she could look in the trunk, never believing for a minute that Granny would allow it.  How surprised we all were when Granny gave the permission I had begged for for years! 

As we slowly opened the trunk, I remember holding my breath and being scared to pieces that there really wouldn’t be anything in it!  However, what treasures we found!  There was an old flapper-style hat, some scrapbooks, and some writings that belonged to Katie.  (There were a few other things, too, I believe but after all these years I don’t remember.)  I do remember holding the scrapbook and turning the brittle, yellowed pages carefully and feeling a closeness to Aunt Katie that was “familiar” even though I had never met her. 

The scrapbook was filled with priceless mementoes including newspaper clippings, cards, notes about parties & dates, and even an old cigar band and some chewing gum wrappers from boys she had dated. 

There were school assignments, notes to friends, and many song lyrics and poems that Katie had either copied or penned herself.  Some things she had written were true...others came from her vivid and romantic imagination. 

I especially like this...it's about my Uncle Harold.

Just thinking of this moment still brings a rush of warm feelings through my soul.  We closed the trunk and I think all of us...Granny, Mama, my daughter, and me...knew that a special memory had been made that day.

Years later my grandmother died and Katie’s treasures went home with my mother.  Then years after that Mama gave them to me...and they are some of my most prized possessions.  I remember finally having the time to sit down and really read through everything in the scrapbook and the writings and then I realized why I had always felt such a connection to my Aunt Katie...we were “soul sisters”.  We seem to have three things in common...scrapbooking (I too have gum wrappers from high school days!), writing, and romance. 

I’m so sorry that I never knew my Aunt Katie, but I feel sure that when I get to Heaven...I will know her right away.

My Long-Lost Blog

Some of you may have noticed I haven't written my blog lately.  Life has been extremely busy plus I have had absolutely nothing (but work...boring) to write about!  I do hope to have a post later this week so PLEASE come back and visit again.  I've missed everyone.