Strawberry Lemon Crunch Cake

I'm sorry, I know I said I'd share the other quilts but we had a bit of small emergency and had to watch our 5 year old grandson for a few days. As the quilts are in the cedar chest, its a little difficult for me to get them out right now.

I do promise to show them to you but until then, I wanted to share a great cake recipe. This one I made for my mother on her 78th birthday. She was really impressed and loved it. It does take a little more care and work than a normal cake but well worth it. Especially for a special person. Many times older people don't need things very much for their birthday, but something like this does that shows care and love makes a big impact.

I got the recipe from this cookbook,

Its a collection of the magazines recipes from throughout the year. We used to subscribe to Sunset. The cake I made is the one on the cover. Isn't it beautiful? and its just as delicious too.

The print is small so I'm going to give you the recipe so you can make it for your special person. Its well worth the work, believe me!

                Strawberry Lemon  Crunch Cake

Lemon-pistachio Sponge Cake                                             

(recipe follows)

Lemon cream 
 
Lemon crunch

4 cups strawberries, hulled                                                                                                              
 halved lengthwise
                 

Pistachios reserved from cake
Mint
Lemon-pistachio Sponge Cake

Place 1 1/2 cups shelled, roasted pistachios in a 8 inch square pan and put in a 350 oven for around 10 minutes or until deep golden in color. Cool completely. Reserve 1 cup for later, chopped finely the rest.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer, 4 large egg whites, beat  at high speed until foamy. Beating gradually, add 1/2 cup sugar until whites hold their shape. Set aside.
In another large bowl, beat 4 large egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel until very thick. Add 1/2 cup flour and 3 Tablespoons water plus the chopped nuts. Mix at low speed.
Stir a bit of the egg white mixture into the yolk mixture gradually, and then gently fold in the rest of the white mixture. Spread batter in a  ungreased 9 or 10 inch cheesecake pan with a removeable bottom.
Bake at 325 oven until cake is golden and springs back when lightly touched in middle when touched gently in the middle. About 40 minutes. Let cake cool completely in pan on a rack. Run a spatula around the edges between cake and pan, then remove sides. Slide a spatula until the cake from the bottom of the pan. At this point, you can make the cake ahead of time and it will keep about a day.

Lemon Cream

In a 2 to 3 qt pan, mix 4 large egg yolks 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel,  and 1/2 cup butter ( use the real stuff) cut in pieces. Stir over medium low heat, until mixture thickens  and heavily coats a spoon a metal spoon. 8 to 12 minutes. Cool and chill until cold, at least, 1 1/2 hours. Beat 1 cup of whipping cream until stiff and then fold in the lemon cream.  it took can be made ahead about a day.

Lemon crunch
Butter a 12 square of foil and set aside.  In a 1 to 1/2 qt. pan, mix 3/4 cup sugar, 3 Tablespoons water, and 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup. Boil over medium high heat until syrup  measures 300 degrees on a candy thermometer 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, immediately stir in 1 teaspoon baking soda and grated lemon peel. Pour onto foil. Let cool. Enclose in a plastic bag, coarsely crush the candy with a mallet.
it can be made ahead of time.

Place cake on a platter and slip pieces of paper underneath it to cover plate rim. Swirl all the lemon cream but one cup on top and sides of cake. Pat lemon crunch around the sides of the cake and just to the top edge. There may be extra which you can use for other things.
Arrange the strawberries , either cut side down or up on top of cake. Garnish with mint. Chill the cake for up to 2 hours.
Serve the remaining nuts and cream on the side. Nice to add as a garnish to a cut slice.

As I said, this cake is more work than most but well worth it. Absolutely delicious and great for a special birthday or other celebration. Most of it can be made ahead of time too which is a plus. My mom is no longer with us but we have great memories of her birthday and this memorable cake.

                

Great Grandma's Quilt

This is one of two quilts I inherited from my great grandmother, Mary Roberta, my grandfathers mom. She visited the family in Spokane, Wa one winter in the late 1920s and during that time made two quilts. The time line would make this about 90 years old.
It is beautifully handquilted and the perfect size for a full bed. Its also in wonderful condition as you can see. All done in soft yellow and violet.
I also have another quilt, which I will share tomorrow. Its in a little rougher condition and also I have one that my grandmother made.  It just needs to have the outer binding redone.

these quilts were all used in my grandparents house until they passed. None of the other family wanted them so I guess as the youngest grandchild they fell to me. I cherish them and always wanted to have a guest room to display them.

Here is a photo of Mary and her family, my grandfather as a young boy, and his two sisters, Gladys May and Katie Edith. Poor Katie, the smaller girl on the left, died of the flu, in 1899. She was only 15 at the time. My mom was named after Gladys.

I plan on working more on my family tree and finding out more about the family. I started working on it some time ago but family matters took over so now that we're semi-retired, I hope there will be time to continue my quest.
I do have a Wiki Tree page with what I have so far and its been wonderful meeting others that have added to it. Especially offshoots from my immediate line.
Great grandma's first husband, the father of the the above family, died when my grandfather was only 3 months old. She again married her brother in law, and went on to have 4 more children. I really don't know much about them, nor do I know what really happened to my mothers namesake, Gladys May.. So there is much to find out and explore!

Sunday Worship

I had this album. Happy Sunday!

A Doll Buggy and More

I also inherited my mama's doll buggy. She had stored it out in a shed so it was rather dirty when we brought it home. But it is in very good condition. Even the tires have their original rubber on them.We did paint it as the white paint that it originally had yellowed considerably. This is probably as old as Rosemary. Mom was born in 1919. So this is from the 1920s also.
I've always liked it and thought of many ways to use it as a display piece. Not only for a doll, but it would be darling sitting next to a fireplace filled with wrapped Christmas gifts or greenery.

I cherish both Rosemary and this doll buggy. I hope to pass them on one day who will cherish them as much as I do.
Mama told me once she had a tiny iron toy stove too. A toy that she took out into the yard and actually cooked on. I've seen these on Ebay but never had one.

Here is a picture of one I found online

I have found a couple of the accessories for such a stove...a coal shuttle and a cooking pot.

                The cooking pot is a "spider" with legs on it.

As I said before, you can find them on Ebay...here is a link for such a listing...Cresent Stove-Toy

In my next post, I'll share the quilts I also inherited...from the 1920s and 30s.

Meet Rosemary, 96 years old!

Rosemary is 96 years old, almost 100! She was my mothers doll in the 1920s. She's a big girl, and does need to go the doll hospital but so precious. My dear mama had her at the doll hospital in the 60s and she was beautiful when she returned but needs to go again.

I am wondering just what kind of doll she is, she's not composition. I think she's either papermache or wood based. Her body is stuffed with straw and she even is wearing her 1920s underwear!

The underwear shirt still has all its buttons and her underpants have lost their elastic but still fit. She has her old slip too. The dress was from the hospital visit, 1960s.

I like her pudgy legs...

so if you're reading this and can identify her for me, I would be so grateful! She has no marks that I can see, either on her body, neck or head.

Spanish Rice

This Spanish Rice dish, ala 1950s, was made using the recipe for the Tomato Relish on my cooking page..here  
Having this relish in the freezer, you have a really easy way to make the classic Spanish Rice meal.
Simply brown hamburger and add the relish, it already has tomatoes, onion, and peppers in it. Then add your cooked rice, mix well, top with grated cheese, and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. The relish has a wonderful tang which really makes this casserole good.
I canned about 12 pints and 6 qts. of this last year and its all gone now. I used the last  jar in this last night.
The recipe for the relish was published in the Oceanside Blade newspaper back in the 70s and was very popular. They had a food editor that always had the greatest recipes! 

Amish Cookbook, Wonderful Good Cooking!

 Soon after we were married in the 1970s, we made a road trip back to Iowa to visit my husband's family. As a California girl, I'd never  been to the Midwest. My family were all located in Washington State so when we did take a trip, it was up and down the west coast.

I was  amazed (and still am) what a wonderful country we live in. Traveling by car in those times was an truly awesome experience. The big interstates hadn't been built yet so there was alot of highways and little towns to go through. Gas was cheap then and hotels just as cheap. Hotel 6 was just that, you could get a hotel room for that price. And it was a decent room.

I think looking back, my main impression was one of green, brilliant green going into Iowa.. Also flat plains, I kept looking in the distance for mountains or hills. That's all I knew and I missed seeing them.
Alan's family were so warm and welcoming to this California native. He has a big family with 9 brothers and sisters so his parents little house was always full of laughter and good times. At that time, his youngest siblings were still living at home and in high school. His mom and dad were the sweetest people and I fell in love with the entire family.

Alan showed me around the small town of Independence. Population 5,000. We walked downtown along the storefronts and the old buildings.
Then we drove out the Amish farms and enjoyed the little shops they had set up on them. In one of them, I bought this cookbook.

 This one has alot of photos, how they got them, I have no idea as the Amish don't like to have their pictures taken. 

                        I even still have the receipt from the purchase!

Here are a few of the recipes, enjoy!

Coastal Cookery Cookbook

 This is another of my mama's cookbooks. Coastal Cookery, 1947. I'm not sure who published it but it does have a map on the inside...I believe it was given to her when my dad was stationed in North Carolina at Camp LaJune after WWII. Mom worked in the Hospitality House.

         It also says this is the fourth edition so there must be more of these around.

What is interesting is that all the recipes are in the original writing of the contributors. Young people wouldn't be able to read these if they didn't know cursive writing.

There are even recipes for wild game which must have been common then, perhaps?

                    If you click on the photo, it will get larger if you want the actual recipe.
         I have a Amish cookbook also I will share soon.

 I didn't do a post yesterday because my husband had oral surgery. Two teeth had to be pulled and it was rough for him. The bottom tooth was hooked to the bone and took quite a time to get out. His poor gums are black and blue. The tooth broke out in pieces. Then we had had to wait at the pharmacy for a long time as they were so busy. I wanted to  get his pain meds before the Novocain wore off. He's feeling better today and is taking a nap right now as I type this. 

Recipes

I've been thinking of making a separate blog on cooking. I've inherited tons of good recipes, many of them from the 1930s through 1990s. Basic cooking is always a good thing to know, especially as food prices have risen so much. Its so much cheaper and better (more healthy too!) to cook at home.

I did publish many good recipes here on this blog. Once a week, I did a Grandmas Recipe Box post.

My family  is a family of good cooks. My maternal grandfather had his own bakery back in the 1930s during the Depression and Grandma always made everything from scratch. They also had a big garden, canned and stored food too.  No one went without during this time in our family. They traveled to Montana to the other family farms to get 100 lb. bags of potatoes, carrots, and onions which they stored in a cold storage in the basement of the house. Grandpa also made root beer in the bathtub. My mom and aunts would speak of hearing the pop in the basement when one of the bottles would explode. They also made all types of pickles, relishes, and jams.

                                     Grandpa and Mama in front of the bakery in the 1930s.

My paternal grandparents had a farm and did the same thing.My dad spoke of milking cows and working at the farm. They also had many fruit trees and berry bushes. Years later when I came along, I remember picking berries and running through the tree groves with my cousins. Barefoot and smiling from ear to ear, I'd go into the kitchen with a pail of berries, and my face covered in berry juice. My fingers scratched from the blackberry bushes and happy.

Now, I'm the grandma and I can only hope our grandchildren can have similar memories. Sadly, our dream house is gone but that doesn't mean I can't cook!
You can find the recipes I've published on this blog, here

I also have tons of cook books! My mom collected them before I was born so I have a few of those plus I've collected some myself. I just love cookbooks. The photos alone are wonderful. The cookbook Mama used the most was the one her parents gave her the year I was born..

     Its really worn out now as we used it so much! 
  The cookbook is the America's Women Cookbook. You can still find these on Ebay in better condition. Probably because they weren't used as much as this one.  Even though this book is old, its still a wonderful addition to any kitchen.

  Grandma wrote on the inside cover the year and more.

The inside of the cookbook is in good condition. So many good recipes and beautiful photos

That's about all for today. 

Happy 4th of July

Wishing you a Happy 4th. We got a new flag in our new place. Made in USA flag too!

Here are some vintage postcard graphics to celebrate the holiday. As you know, old postcards are a favorite of mine.

You may have noticed I changed the template in this blog. Thought  I needed a change. How do you like it?