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Saturday, October 19, 2019

An Apology and Something For Your Sweet Tooth

Hi, everyone. I owe you, and mostly Caroline Clemmons, an apology for not being present lately. It's been a difficult time for me, our family, and my writing family. From my husband's cancer diagnosis two years ago, the loss of my brother and author friends this year, my creativity is practically non-existent. Thanks to the grace of God and a little luck, I'm getting back in the swing of things.

Caroline reminded me this morning that I missed my post for this month. So pulling from a post in 2018, I thought I'd share a favorite family recipe with you.

My Grandfather, John Garland Carr, was, among other things, an engineer for the Santa Fe Railroad. He started at Santa Fe during the depression and retired about 1965. His hours were anything but routine depending on the runs he made. He loved his black coffee and my grandmother's pound cake, which she made before every trip. She packed slices in his lunches and he would grab a slice on his way out the kitchen door. In addition to the cake, there was always a pot of coffee sitting on the stove, and he would always stop and take a swig of hot coffee straight from the spout of the pot. I remember watching and wondering how he kept from burning his mouth! Yikes!

The name of the recipe is Crisco Cake, but we all called it John Cake for the obvious reason. I hope you'll try the recipe and love it as much as our family does.




John Cake aka Crisco Cake
1 3/4   cup    sugar
2        cups  flour
1        cup    Crisco shortening
5            eggs
1     tsp  vanilla
1/2  tsp  salt
Procedure
1   Cream sugar and shortening
2   add eggs one at a time, beating well, to make batter fluffier
3   add vanilla
4   Mix salt into sifted flour and add to creamed sugar, shortening and egg mixture
5   Bake one hour at 350 degrees in greased and floured tube pan
Servings: 12

Carra 

8 comments:

  1. Since the loss of my Mom then a few months later my wife of many years, my own creativity has vanished into the ether. Whether it ever comes back at all remains to be seen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kevin, it will if you will it to. You are a good writer and a smart guy. I wish you the best!

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    2. Kevin, grief has its own timetable. Your creativity will return when you're ready. It may become part of your "moving on" process—not that you'll "get over" your losses. But you'll get to a place emotionally where you remember with love and not pain. That's when you'll move forward.

      Delete
    3. Kevin, I agree with Joan. Grief has its own timetable. I pray your grief will lighten in time and your creativity returns for your writing. God walks with us always.

      Delete
  2. I love pound cake, Carra. This sounds tempting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I make Big Mom's Pound Cake about every other month. Big Mom was a grandmother figure in my life, and she was an amazing cook.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joan, I love our memories and the comfort they bring.

      Delete

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