Chocolate Cake

Oh YUM! 

Chocolate Cake!

Who can resist?

This recipe looks well used - I will have to try it soon!

It was in Wilma June Faires Parker Vissotzky's recipe box.

The mystery lies in where the recipe originated...

perhaps Bernice, her mother

Another relative?

A church frined?

A fellow school teacher?

The possibilities are endless and will remain a mystery!

Please go through some of your recipes this weekend

and write down where you got it or had it first! 

Someone down the line may thank you for it! 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Chocolate cake, anyone?

Deep Dish Dewberry Pie

Tell me true, tell me, dew! 

Sorry - couldn't resist! 

A dewberry resembles a blackberry...or a black raspberry...

only instead of having an upright growing habit,

sends out runners across the ground.  

Now it makes me wonder if all the bushes I walk

past are dewberries and not blackberries as I always though?

Either way, this pie sounds great. 

You could always substitute blackberries or raspberries for dewberries.

I assume this pie has a lattice crust...that's the way I'll make it anyway! 

Tell me, dew, how YOU make it!   :)

Mrs. Richard (Betty) Berry Boiled Peanut Butter Cookies Bluefield College Virginia

Bluefield College is a small Christian Liberal Arts School in Virginia - it's on the border of West VA and VA.

  I figure this boiled cookies recipe is either June's or Bernice's recipe.  It may be June's, becuase she was a teacher, and intereacted with a lot of other teachers from all over...Or more probably it may have been Bernice's because she was a pastor's wife, and knew many other people from Christian backgrounds.  I tried to google Mrs. Betty Berry.  There seem to be several other Berrys still attending Bluefield College....but I still need to do an ancestry search on Mrs. Berry.  I am curious!  It makes me think I need to go back through all my recipes and put notes about how and where and when I got MY recipes from friends.  That way my descendants will know a little bit more about me and not have to wonder......

Family Recipe Friday: Chocolate or Vanilla Spritzkuchen Cookies with Fluffo!

June was very good friends with a couple of Mary's,

so I am not going to guess which Mary this recipe is from. 

All I know if that they sound like good cookies to make for Easter. 

Or anytime!

And here is another recipe for FLUFFO!  

Maybe I should have just designated this as

FLUFFO week!

It just cracks me up.

(You can use Crisco instead of Fluffo.)

Sounds like a dog's name!

Or instead of "Here kitty, kitty."...

"Here, Fluffo!"

Thinking of Easter...

Fluffo would be a fantastic name for any Easter chicks or bunnies.

If you get live ones that is. 

Someday, I will have to get a good laying hen

and name her Fluffo! 

Have a good weekend everyone! 

Fluffo Jam Sandwich Cookie Bars

Word of the day:

FLUFFO!

This was a new one to me.

Maybe I'm just dating myself,

How many of you have ever used FLUFFO?

How many of your grandmothers have ever used FLUFFO?

You should ask them!

These jam sandwich cookies sound like a precursor to

a power breakfast bar. 

Not anything you really worried about

back in the days of

FLUFFO!

While you're at it though...

don't forget to take off the paper before you bake the cookies!

ANd for more tidbits on FLUFFO, do a search on youtube....

Nowadays you can probably use Crisco shortening instead. 

Hot Fudge Sauce for Ice Cream Sundaes

Umm  Yummm!  I think I could make this and eat the whole pot! 

My dear hubby (aka resident tomato hater)  made stir fry for me tonight. 

It was delicious, but has left me hankering for something sweet. 

I wonder if he'd notice if I made this and ate the whole potful? 

I am sure June Parker Vissotzky would approve! 

Although the more I think of it the less appealing the "whole pot" idea is sounding. 

Plus I have no ice cream in the house. 

Soooooooooo

just strike the whole pot idea. 

 Hot fudge sauce will have to wait for another day.

Sometimes it is a good thing I talk myself out of things.

Sometimes.... 

Pineapple Icebox Dessert with Vanilla Wafers

Opal Faires Troop never had any kids. 

My husband and sister-in-law remember her as being very set in her ways

and always having to be on best behavior when they went to visit her in Oklahoma City.

Maybe it's because I met her as an adult. 

Or maybe it's because she was always nice to me and loved

holding my son when he was a baby.

But I liked Opal.

I liked Opal alot.

And I miss her now that she is gone. 

Which is why it is especially nice to have her recipe. 

It's the kind of recipe you could take to a potluck and never get a chance

to try it unless you were in the front of the line.

I doubt you'd have even have a crumb to bring back. 

Especially on a hot summer day.

It will be here soon enough!  

But until it is...make your family some of Opal's Pineapple Icebox Dessert

and make your plans for warmer weather!  

Peach Cobbler from Laura McLeod

Maybe because it is the end of March and feels like the end of January here in the South....

and I am hankering for a little bit warmer weather right now.

Or maybe because we enjoyed cobbler earlier this month

at the Booth Western Art Museum's Dutch Oven Cookoff...

I had to post this recipe for Peach Cobbler!

Or maybe it's just because I love Peach cobbler!

It brings to mind big drippy fresh peaches from Charlie, Texas, 

Don't blink as you go through Charlie.

You may miss both the town and the peaches. 

They are the best peaches I have ever had. 

And I live in the Peach State! 

That should tell you how good Charlie Texas peaches are!

All us kids would pile into the car and Mom would drive us to go pick peaches.

We'd come home full of peaches.

Both our stomachs as well as the paper bags in the back of the station wagon were full!

Mom would make peach preserves...

if the fresh peaches weren't devoured first!

I think I'll make some peach cobbler this weekend !

Hello Dolly! Chocolate Chip Seven Layer Kitchen Sink Bar Cookies

Well, HELLO DOLLY! 

After yesterday's dump cake kind of a day,

I thought these decadent bars would be appropriate. 

Today is another day!

Plus they are SO easy!

Sweeten the rest of your week with these babies!

 Your family, friends, and co-workers will love you for it.

I think this is one of June's recipes. 

She had beautiful hand-writiing!

I would say it is because she was an artist...

but I have an art degree and MY handwriting is

nothing to write home about, especially as I get older :D

June liked to make dessert part of every evening meal.

I imagine this was one that was easy to make in a hurry,

either for dinner or to take to school or church.

We should all take a little more time to sweeten our days!

Dump Cake for a manic Monday

Dump Cake.

That just about says it all. 

Posted on a Monday after a full moon. 

Not just ANY full moon. 

The Perigree Moon!

The brightest and fullest full moon since 1993.

THAT just about says it all right there in a nutshell.

It has been one of THOSE Mondays.  One big humungous dump cake!

I think I could eat an entire dump cake myself! 

Except for one thing...

2 cubes of oleo.

2 CUBES?

OLEO?

(oops, that is TWO things! Told you it has been one of those days!)

I am assuming June Vissotzky meant 2 TB of margarine -

although I prefer to use butter.

It's more natural!

(or maybe I have just listened to my mother and Mrs. Deen too much!)

Regardless what kind of Monday YOU have had,

this makes an EXCELLENT and EASY cake -

Just whatever you do DON'T STIR IT TOGETHER!

I am not speaking from experience or anything... lol!

I wonder if June ever felt like her day was one big dump cake?

She was an art teacher in Stephenville, TX and

well-loved for her infectious laugh and sense of humor.

May YOUR day end as sweetly as this dump cake!

Nut Apricot Bars from Lavinia Lohrmann, Stephenville, Texas

Yesterday I gave you Hamburger Dip for March Madness games...

today I give you Nut Apricot Bars! 

If you have any room left after pigging out on the the Hamburger dip,

you might want to have these ready! 

I am going to make these soon to send up to my son in college...

I never knew Lavinia Lohrmann, but she must have been quite a character.

She was a good friend of my mother-in-law, and my husband was good friends with a son of hers.

(That was long before I entered the scene!)

If I remember correctly, she served as mayor of

Stephenville, Texas (Erath County),

was a founding member of Faith Lutheran Church in Stephenville,

and owned a ranch, among several other endeavours. 

Stephenville is creating a Memorial Nature Trail in her honor. 

She must have been quite the cook as well,

because she has several recipes in my

Faith Lutheran Church cookbook from Stephenville. 

I just love community cookbooks, don't you?

What is your favorite community cookbook?

Pineapple Turnovers Jiffy Dish

Pineapples bring to mind warm tropical breezes while we lived on Oahu in Hawaii. 

Close your eyes.

Can't you feel it?

There, don't you feel better now?

I do! 

All the times I have eaten pineapple, I realized I didn't know much about their nutritional value.

Except that they were good for slowing down inflammation and also aided in digestion.

Here's a link for you:

http://www.philippineherbalmedicine.org/pineapple.htm

All you ever needed to know about pineapples!

Thank you Christopher Columbus, for introducing them to us!

And now for those turnovers!  These sound delicious!

Broken Glass Jello & Graham Cracker Dessert from Mrs. Potter in Illinois

Broken Glass Jell-O dessert! 

It is a gray day here in the south...and I need this recipe. 

 When you slice it it looks like broken stained glass...or a cathedral window. 

Which leads me back to the gray day.  I need this recipe because of the name! 

 I can close my eyes and imagine I am in front of a beautiful stained glass cathedral window,

being warmed by the filtered sunlight streaming through. 

It's a long shot, I know, but that is what I think of when I think of stained glass. 

It leads me back to a visit in Germany -

My 8 year old son and I 

stepped into church with the most beautiful cathedral windows. 

Timing is everything,

because it also happened to be the practice time for the organist. 

My young son and I sat down,

with the warm colored light playing down upon us,

and listened to some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. 

How can one not feel closer to your maker, no matter your religion, when in a setting such as that? 

Which is why I must make this recipe, to remind me of special times! 

Bless Mrs. Potter from Illinois, for bringing it to whatever function

Bernice Parker attended.

I think I will save it for Easter..

stay tuned for added photos to this post! 

Dream Whip Icing

Because it's my resident-tomato-hater-hubby's birthday tomorrow,

I thought Dream Whip Icing

would be an appropriate recipe card to pull from the box and post today.

I don't know if this is the same icing that was made green every year for his cake.

But it sounds deliciously light.

And totally dreamy!

Sorry.

Really I am.

It has been a long Monday! 

Fried Navajo Indian Bread from Mrs. Robert Pacheco (like Sopapillas)

I MUST TRY THIS! 

First, let me start by saying that we are talking about American Indian Fry Bread...not the flatbread variety!

We had Fried Indian Bread when we traveled to the Southwest last summer.

I had had some before that. 

I make some for my resident tomato hater hubby to take along on hunting trips.

But they are NOTHING like the Indian Fry Bread we had last summer! 

 Unfortunately I have no clue what paper this is from, which makes it hard to give any credit, where credit is due.  Maybe the Alberquerque, New Mexico paper?  June Vissotzky and her crew lived there for a short while.  It would make sense!  This clipping is a little hard to read,

so here is the typed recipe. I'll post some pictures later after I make this recipe! 

Mrs. Robert Pacheco, whoever you are, wherever you are, THANK YOU!!!!

 4 cups unsifted flour

1 teasoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 cup lukewarm water

Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. 

Add water and knead throughly. 

Cover and let stand 10 minutes.

Roll dough into balls about 2 inches in diameter and roll out flat with a rolling pin into a circle.

Cut two slashes in the center of the circle and ease it gently in to the hot grease in a frying pan.

Fry the dough until both sides are browned.

Serve with salt

(my note - also delicious with honey, or sugar and cinnamon!  Enter the danger zone at your own risk!!!)

Makes 10-12 servings. 

Meet Mrs. Clyde Stuart and her Pecan Pie from Fayetteville (NC, GA,??)

This sounds ALMOST like my "never going to try another pecan pie recipe in my life" recipe.

Ok...

Maybe I'll try this one.

But that's just to see if it is as wonderful as my stand-by recipe for pecan pie.

I just wanted you to know that.

Banana Bread

Forgive me while  I drool.

I can't believe I have no bananas in the house! 

I MUST get some.....

Fantasy Fudge

It's a rainy day!

and oh fudge, it's on the weekend. 

sorry - i couldn't resist!!!

Strawberry Cake

Yummmmmm! 

Strawberries are starting to be in season...

so here is the recipe for the strawberry cake

 that was in my mother-in-law's recipe box. 

But I think this recipe is really from Bernice Neighbors Faires Parker. 

It is her writing at the bottom of the recipe. 

And I can't wait to try this. 

I think I could eat just the recipe for the frosting!  

Guilty pleasures.....!

Marble Pound Cake

Marble Pound Cake!  All in 5 simple ingredients (not counting the number of eggs here you know!) actually, it is 6 items, because either June or Bernice left the chocolate out of the ingredients - but clearly it says to "Mix all but the packet of chocolate"!  

OOPS!

I think she meant MAYBE a box of chocloate pudding since there is also a vanilla pudding box involved.  But (after my diet LOL) I will have to try this one too...

because my son would love it up at college and it SHOULD mail well! 

So stay tuned for more Marble Pound Cake! 

Unless you beat me to it. 

Let me know!