• Ozark Mountain Apple Cake…

    January 13, 2013 / 10 Comments

    A long-time reader emailed me one day this week to ask for the recipe for one of my favorite desserts:  the Ozark Mountain Apple Cake.  I had featured it in My Southern Heart a couple of years ago.  She had baked it then and loved it, but lost the link.  I emailed her back with the recipe.  Since then, I’ve had this cake on my mind and wishing for a warm slice right from the oven.  It is moist, apple sweet and absolutely delicious.  It’s actually even better the second day!  So for a sweet repeat, here’s the recipe for Ozark Mountain Apple Cake.

    I baked it this afternoon and the wonderful scent of cinnamon and apple filled the apartment.  I’ll enjoy a couple of slices, share some with my next-door neighbor (I am Southern after all) and then take the rest to my daughter’s house.  😉  I really shouldn’t eat a whole cake all by myself…right?!   Enjoy!

    Ozark Mountain Apple Cake

    2 cups sugar (The original recipe calls for 2 cups but this makes for a very sweet cake.  I usually reduce the sugar to about 1 & 1/2 cups or 1 & 3/4 cups if you’re using tart apples like Granny Smith.)

    1/2 cup butter or margarine or vegetable oil

    2 eggs, beaten

    2 teaspoons cinnamon

    1 pinch of salt

    2 teaspoons of vanilla

    2 cups flour

    2 level teaspoons baking soda

    4 cups peeled and diced apples (McIntosh or Rome Beauty) (I didn’t have those particular apples and it still turned out great!)

    1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

    Yellow raisins (I used about 1 cup regular raisins)

    Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately.  Combine well and pour into greased and floured 13 x 9 pan or a large cast iron skilled sprayed with Pam or other vegetable spray.  Bake 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes.  Serve warm or cold.  May refrigerate.  Great with whipped cream!

    A bowl full of Granny Smith apple chunks…

     

    The dough will be thick and you’ll wonder if it’s going to work…but don’t worry – just stir as well as you can, spread it out, bake and enjoy!

     

    Fresh out of the oven and a slice cut before I remembered to take a photo! 😉

  • Snowfall…

    December 20, 2012 / 18 Comments

    Snow fell last night.  I awoke to a beautiful blanket of  white…over a foot deep.  Snow was banked high against the doors of the garages and the tarmac looked icy.  Only one garage had been shoveled out – that of a young man about the age of my younger son.  (Most of the people living here are retired.)  I wondered what this young man does for a living that required his being out in this.

    Of course, I remember the days of snow storms and severe thunderstorms of years past before I became a “retired” Registered Nurse.  It didn’t matter what the weather was…I had to be there.  I’ll never forget coming out of the hospital one January night after midnight.  It was -18 degrees and snowing like crazy.  A few of the nurses had automatic starters and stood at the window on our floor, pointed it in the direction of the parking lot and started their automobile.  They came out to a nice warm vehicle.  I didn’t have one!  I just prayed my automobile would start…thankfully, it did.  I’m glad that my little 154,000 mile Camry is now parked in “her” garage.  Maybe not warm – but dry.

    Snow always brings back memories.  Sledding with the kids, building forts and snowmen, snow “cream” with vanilla and sugar (we didn’t know to worry back then and were always careful where we got the snow for it!).  If I could get to my daughter’s house right now, I could be playing in the snow with my grandchildren as I did during a visit a couple of years ago.  I’m sure there will be plenty of snow here in the Midwest and time for that over the next few months!

    The featured photo above was taken on March 22, 1968.  Sixteen inches of snow had fallen in a rare snow storm in Memphis, Tennessee!  I wrote it about it in My Southern Heart…the Stories.  I wrote My Southern Heart…the Stories for my children and last Christmas published it in book form for them and the rest of my family. 

  • A little tour…

    November 12, 2012 / 5 Comments

    It’s hard to believe that I’ve accomplished all of this (with some wonderful help from my daughter and her family!) in just FOUR weeks! Granted, there are still a few more boxes and more books than I had room for…so I ordered one more bookcase for the living room.  I showed the messy parts too at the end of the slideshow!

    The weather is turning cold now, but the condo is warm and cozy. My Camry (you know the one with almost 154,000 miles!) is happy to reside in a garage. I do have to walk across  the small parking area to it and that might be a bit of a challenge when it is snowing…but we do what we have to do. 😉

    (There are captions on the photos but they don’t seem to be showing up!  I did not show the dining area.  I will add pics of that when I purchase a table and chairs.  It’s at one end of the long living room.  The pink “shabby chic” room is the guest bedroom.   The other bedroom is mine.  The guest bath is the one with the brownish tile on the walls.  There are 3 sets of sliders that lead out on to the tiled porch.)

    livingroom

    I love that the sofa and chair pillows are filled with soft, squishy down and actually conform and support your back!  Even though you can’t tell in the photos, they’re actually the perfect colors to go with the rug too.

  • Trick or treating under a full moon…

    October 31, 2012 / 8 Comments

    There’s nothing like spending a chilly evening – under an amazing full moon – “trick or treating” with your grandchildren and your daughter…especially if you are dressed like Grumpy and your daughter is Winnie-the-Pooh!  My thirteen year old granddaughter and almost four year old grandson were “Penny” and “Bolt” from the Disney movie Bolt.  My eight year old granddaughter was an adorable fairy.  My daughter created or coordinated each of the children’s costumes.  What a fun night!

    Grumpy with attitude and padding!  😉

  • Settling in…

    October 27, 2012 / 10 Comments

    Two months have now passed since I returned to the Midwest.  After much searching, and realizing that the cost of housing and living HERE actually rivals the West Coast, I finally found a very nice condo.  It is a second floor, two bedroom/two bathroom with a lot of character.  It is also a very secure, locked entry building.  The large living room has a corner fireplace and hardwood in the living room and hallway leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms.  The kitchen has a marble floor, so I will have to be careful not to drop anything or it will surely break!  There are sliding glass doors leading from the living room, kitchen and master bedroom out on to a small terra cotta tiled and covered porch.  Also, I’m six or seven minutes to the closest library (a great one) and 14 minutes to my daughter’s house!

    My daughter and her family have been so much help in getting me settled.  Tonight, my daughter brought chicken enchiladas, rotel and tostitos, and delicious chocolate/caramel brownies!  Since I don’t have a table and chairs yet (we’re looking on Monday), we had a picnic on the living room floor.  So much fun!  Afterwards, my sweet son-in-law and oldest grandson put up the white iron bed in the guest room and hauled boxes up and down the stairs to my storage room in the basement!  My granddaughters helped!  Needless to say, I couldn’t have done it without them and I appreciate their help so much.

    I’ve only been here in the condo for two weeks but I am definitely making progress.  When it is a little further along, I will post photos of the finished look.

    Last evening was the Great Pumpkin Party at church.  Will post pics of that when I find the cord for my camera!  My daughter made my grandchildren’s costumes and they are so cute.  My youngest grandson is “Bolt“, the adorable Disney dog.  Featured photo above:  here we are outside waiting for their turn for the pony ride.  Such a fun night!

    grandmomandkeegan

  • Laughter is good…

    September 27, 2012 / No Comments

     A sense of humor is a wonderful thing…especially when all of your belongings are piled high in your daughter’s garage and you have no idea where anything is.  I happened to mention to my daughter that I had a certain cookbook “somewhere” in the garage and a few other interesting things.  The next thing I knew there was a grin on her face and a gleem in her eyes.  She grabbed a pair of scissors and said “let’s go look!”

    There we were outside on the pavement by her garage going through box after box  and having a blast.  She “found” my knifeblock which she borrowed and a few other neat things.  We were laughing so hard that suddenly I wondered what her neighbors in the upscale neighborhood thought about all of this and voiced that question.  We looked at each other and laughed again.

    My soon to be fifteen year old grandson has graciously given up his bedroom and bathroom in the downstairs suite for his grandmom and is bunking in with his almost four year old brother upstairs.  Not one word of grumbling or complaint.  Pretty amazing kid!  I’m loving my time with my daughter and her family and am getting spoiled in the process.

    In the photo below:  my eight year old granddaughter and I were sorting and organizing when we came across a couple of my summer hats.  She thought trying them on was fun!

    grandmomandmakaylainhatsingarage