Day 45~ Nana Mae's Pound Cake

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Superman wanted a pound cake for Valentine's. He specifically requested that I make it with Nana's icing. Her pound cake recipe is the only one I've ever used, but sadly, one of the things I never learned from Nana was how to do her icing. It turned out pretty well, but I definitely need to work on my icing making skills!

I also need to buy some more Baker's Joy! As you can see, my cake stuck! Guess Nana was right- Baker's Joy truly is the best!

Here is her recipe:
3 cups plain flour (She always used Red Band flour, but they don't make it any more.)

2 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups Crisco

6 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

1 teaspoon lemon flavoring

Preheat oven to 325. Cream sugar and Crisco together. Add 1 egg at a time and blend (on lowest setting). Add flavoring. Then add part of milk and part of flour. Blend well. Then add rest of milk and water and rest of flour last. Cook in a tube pan that has been sprayed with Baker's Joy. Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes and then 350 for about 15-20 minutes longer.

March 29, 1926 - August 11, 2009

Daddy Robert was an amazing man! And, even at 83, it was a shock to lose him!But it's comforting to think of him, hand in hand with Nana Mae, in Beulah Land. She had been gone almost 16 months. He was heart-sick for her every one of those days.

He was the kind of man that could re-store this 1952 Catalina back to near perfection with his bare hands and willpower.

He was the type of grandpa that would show up on your door step with Pepsi and Nutty Buddies for your children, his great-grandchildren, just because he thought of them while he was in the grocery store. (I took this picture long ago with the intent of blogging about him. Wish I would have sooner...)
He was the type of great-grandpa that understood how excited a little boy could get over a new camera from Santa. And he willingly let that little boy practice using his new camera, again and again, and again

and again, and again. Thank heavens he was so patient with my little Wyatt! Otherwise we never would have gotten this sweet picture of him smiling. You see, he didn't like having his picture taken, but he loved us. And he knew the greater importance of what children remember about you, and the time you spend with them!

The type of grandpa that when Wyatt and I stopped by his shop to visit him one afternoon while he was re-building his A-Model, he stopped to sit and chat with us. Then, he got up out of his chair and called Wyatt to walk to the back of the car with him. He lifted up the tire and threaded it onto the back. Then, he handed Wyatt the bolts and the tool to tighten them. As they worked together I heard him say, "Son, one day you can look back and remember helping me work on my A-Model, and that you did this right here with your own hands."

Finding ME

Y'all, I'm still here! I just haven't been myself! But I'm working on it! And I think I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

This threw me for a loop. But you know what? She would be so sad to know that I'm still sad! And since Christmas I've really tried to get back to the old me!

Because you know what? I kinda like the old me!

She's blessed with squeezable children:

She's goofy:

She loves the Tigers:

She likes to cook:

She likes to decorate:

She loves to take pictures:

Did I mention she's goofy:

She has a twisted sense of humor:

And she is head-over-heels, deeply, madly in love with this man:So, I say all of this to simply say: I'm finding me again! And it feels so good to be writing again on here! Let the creative juices flow! I've got a few things going that I can't wait to share with you, so I'll be back later this week! Promise!

But for now, I'm off to take care of my littlest joy

He's got a tummy bug! And he's not his typical goofy self!Bless his heart!

The apple didn't fall far from the tree!

No wonder I refer to him as the child that looks like his daddy, but acts like his mama!

This happy, blessed gal will see you soon! Thanks for sticking around! And thanks for the emails checking on me! I love you guys!

Bittersweet

Two of the most important, influential, and special people in my life were born on July 25th. Growing up, I always thought that was really neat! It was like all the stars in the cosmos must have aligned on July 25th for such wonderful people to have been born on that day! Today though, I'm a little sad! My sweet Nana Mae would have been 80 today, and we would have celebrated! I miss her terribly! BUT, thankfully, there is still a wonderful, terrific, fantastic reason to celebrate today! My Daddy turns 58 today! And well, I've pretty much been a Daddy's Girl since birth, so it makes me smile to think about him today! Daddy is who I got my love of photography from! One day when I'm home again, I'd love to track down his old retro 70's camera strap, and 'borrow' it--- forever.
Poor Daddy has had two stubborn, strong-willed, hot-headed, competitive daughters to raise. (He also has a son, but my brother was the EASY child to raise.)
My sister likes to pretend she's a Daddy's Girl... but she's NOT!
My sister likes to pretend that she's his favorite... but she's NOT!

I love you Daddy!
I hope you have a wonderful birthday!
You're the best!

Not forgetting the other special person who was born on July 25th, I made this:

It's the first flower arrangement I've ever made. Nana's favorite color was yellow. I find myself drawn to yellow things these days. Superman is going to help me take this to Nana's grave today. I bought a basket that he could use tent spikes to anchor it into the ground.
This last photo was of four generations: Mom, W, me, C, Ashleigh, and Nana Mae.

Happy Mother's Day

For Mama & Nannie~ I found some fun photos and thought I'd share them with you for Mother's Day! Enjoy!

My Sweet Nana Mae~ A Sad Update

Sorry that I've been away so long. My sweet Nana Mae passed away after two weeks in the hospital. Although I've had a little time on the computer, I'm struggling to find balance again. I always told my Nana that if anything ever happened to her that they needed to go ahead and bury me with her. Some days I still feel that way. I didn't want to have post after post of sadness, so instead I stayed silent. I've been working on a video for our family of photos of her, and thought I'd make a short one to post here, too. Nana had the most amazing smile and even now, when I look at these pictures, it makes me overflow with joy instead of sorrow.

I'll eventually get back to my normal posting. I've always stood firm in my personal belief that if given the opportunity to laugh or cry, you should always choose laughter. I'm trying!

Prayers for Nana

Just wanted to let you know I'll be away from the blog for awhile. My sweet grandma fell and broke her hip. She underwent surgery today, but the next ten days are crucial. We're spending a lot of time at the hospital, and there's not enough hours in the day to get it all done. Hopefully I'll be back soon to post. In the meanwhile, say a little prayer for Nana Mae!

It's SNOWING!!!

If you can look past the dying pond palms and all the dead leaf debris, you will see a rare sight for those of us living down south!

It is SNOWING!

And I love me some snow!


About 15 minutes ago my phone rang. When Superman announced that it was Nana Mae, I thought to myself, "What on earth is wrong?" Panic struck me, and my heart began to race. Then I heard Superman's startled voice say, "Snow?!?!"

With that, the boys and I made a mad dash to the door. I never even had a chance to talk to Nana. But that's OK! Nana and I have this unspoken code between us. Anytime there is snow, we call each other. Sometimes it's like tonight, as a way to let each other know that it's snowing, and to look outside. Sometimes it's like this past Thanksgiving. I was in the mountains with my dad's side of the family. We woke up the morning after Thanksgiving to see a blanket of white. Of course, my first thought was to grab my phone and call Nana.

So I did!

At 7 a.m.!

And we giggled and chatted about the snow! Even though she wasn't there to see it, she got excited with me.

Because that's how our unspoken code works!

Yep, I love me some snow!

And so does Nana!

Nana Mae's Cheese Straws

This is my grandmother, Nana Mae (pronounced "non-uh ").

She's the best thing since sliced bread. Seriously!


Nana Mae is the queen of the kitchen! I always said if I ever lived close to her, I'd weigh 500 pounds. Well, I grew up and married Superman, who lived about 2 miles from Nana Mae's house. Thankfully, I don't weigh 500 pounds, but I have managed to get my hands on a few of her Nana-rific recipes.

Superman has a thing for Nana's pound cake and her cheese straws. They are his favorites! At the urging of my littlest joy, I decided to make cheese straws for Santa instead of cookies. W thought Santa might need a break from sweets, and wanted to let Santa try something cheesy. And down deep, I know the boy that looks like his daddy but acts like his mama is thinking that he may score some extra goodies from Santa once Santa tastes them, because Nana Mae's cheese straws are really that good!

Her recipes are kept under lock and key, but I thought that since it's Christmas, I should spread peace and good will to all men by sharing the recipe for her cheese straws. Because we all know that nothing says "peace and goodwill" like yummy food! Right?!?!

Here's the recipe:
2 cups shredded, sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups Red Band flour (I don't argue, I use the brands Nana Mae prefers!)

2 cups Rice Krispies

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 pound "oleo" (or for those of you like me that have a tendency to get lost in the kitchen, the translation for oleo is butter)

Mix all ingredients with a fork, or by hand.

Roll out into small balls.

Place balls on cookie sheet.

Flatten the balls with a fork, leaving the prong indention on the top.

When pressed out, the balls should look like quarter-sized disk, or a tad larger . They should be about as thick as 2-3 nickels stacked. If my description has left you clueless as to the shape and size, just refer to the picture below. I never claimed to be an expert in the kitchen! I just call 'em like I see 'em!

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

You're guaranteed to love them... and so is Santa!