Maedelle's Chocolate Cake

Some of you have read my posts on my genealogy blogs about my mother and her twin sister. They had the most fun when they were girls, confusing boyfriends, teachers, and even their parents. They often told of the time my mother turned the water hose on their daddy and he told her to stop. She wouldn't and so he gave chase. When they ran around the house, the poor innocent twin was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. She got the discipline ~ not my mother!

Maedelle cooked more often than mother and I'm sure she had a lot of recipes in her head. She didn't have many written down on paper. But I'm sure her son will attest to the fact that she could cook. When our family prepared the family cookbook, "One Slice at a Time," she gave us several recipes to include. I want to share this one that is so easy and so good ~ the ingredients will fool you!


Chocolate Cake

1 package chocolate cake mix (with pudding in the mix)
1 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise
1 cup water
3 eggs

Mix above ingredients well and pour into two round 9-inch greased and floured cake pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until done.

NOTE:
If you are using cake mix without pudding, reduce the mayonnaise to 1/2 cup and increase water to 1 1/2 cups. Use your favorite frosting.

Enjoy and think of those twins when you make this delicious cake.

With Gratitude Fort Wolters Wordless Wednesday

Photograph by Judith Richards Shubert 2009 (c)
Mineral Wells, Palo Pinto County, Texas

GeneaBloggers Cookbook Now in Living Color

I had the distinct pleasure of participating in the creation of a great cookbook. I submitted a recipe that my grandmother, Edna Alice Puckett Gailey, made often for our family Christmas dinners. The Geneabloggers has published this first edition with the leadership of Coleen McHugh of Orations of McOhodoy!

The book has 35 recipes submitted by 18 fellow geneabloggers from around the world, and has step-by-step instructions, with many stories about the recipes and the families who enjoyed them through the years.

GeneaBloggers has posted an announcement of the Cookbook's release and you can read about it here. Thanks to all of the great editors and our own special "techie" guru, Thomas, for putting together a great cookbook.

Get your free copy today by clicking here and downloading in PDF format (file is approximately 5MB).

Judy

Irene's Funeral Cake

I'm sure most of you have a favorite pound cake. My dear, sweet uncle Raymond loved everything his wife cooked, but this cake was one of his favorites. He liked to call it "Irene's Funeral Cake" because she always baked it when there was a death in the church family.

They both said that the moist center you get when the cake is baked is an indication of a perfectly baked pound cake.

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
4 eggs
1 cup Crisco shortening
3 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon flavoring
1/2 teaspoon orange flavoring

Directions:
Combine flour, salt, and soda and set aside. Cream sugar and Crisco shortening together; add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each. While continuing to mix, start adding flour mixture, then milk - a little of each at a time - ending with the flour mixture. Add lemon and orange flavoring. Batter will be thicker than a regular cake batter. Pour into a greased and floured tube or bundt pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Trying my Hand at Baked Macaroni and Cheese

I remember my sister-in-law's homemade macaroni and cheese! It was delicious. She prepared it for one of our many family get-togethers in Nashville several years ago. I had never eaten any but the kind you make from a box. Now I'm not saying that the boxed version is not good ~ the kids won't eat anything BUT ~ but after tasting the "real deal" I never wanted anything but her Macaroni and Cheese.

I didn't get her recipe, but she would have given it to me. The other night when I decided to give it a try I didn't take the time to call. So mine didn't taste exactly like I remembered it, but it was good. At least the adults thought so. The kids at my table on this particular evening only picked at it.

I first went to the computer (as usual) and googled baked Macaroni and Cheese. Several versions popped up. I chose FoodNetwork.com and a recipe courtesy of Alton Brown. I altered it to fit the ingredients in my pantry and hoped for the best.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 large egg
6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
6 ounces colby cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste

TOPPING:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup crushed Ritz crackers

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the macaroni until almost done.

While the macaroni is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and pepper and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk and onion. Simmer for ten minutes.

Quickly whisk the egg into the hot liquid. Stir in 3/4 of the cheeses. Season with salt and black pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a buttered 9 x 14 oblong glass casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt butter in a sauce pan and toss the Ritz cracker crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the cracker crumbs. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for at least five minutes before serving.

Mr. Brown suggests you save leftovers for fried Macaroni and Cheese! Now I've never tried that!


Graphic by June at Art Freebies

Marilee's Congealed Salad

Left to right: Ray Allen Shubert, Marilee Davis Shubert,
Martha Conner Shubert, Bonnie Boles Shubert, R. H. Shubert

This was one of my favorite dishes. My mother-in-law, Marilee Shubert, made it for family gatherings and I'm sure the other women in the family made it as well. She is in the beautiful red dress in the picture above with two of those women, her mother-in-law, Martha, and sister-in-law, Bonnie.

This congealed dessert makes a very pretty sporting its pale green color.

1 box (3 oz.) lemon flavor gelatin
1 box (3 oz.) lime flavor gelatin
1 cup hot water
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 pint cottage cheese
1 package (3 oz.) cream cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 can (No. 2) crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped nuts

Dissolve gelatin in hot water. While still hot, stir in sweetened condensed milk. Cream together cottage cheese, cream cheese, and mayonnaise. When gelatin mixture begins to congeal, add cheese mixture, pineapple, and nuts. Put into mold and chill until firm. To serve, unmold and garnish as desired.

Makes 18-20 servings.