Mother’s Day requires a cake, or Mississippi Mud Cake, we think

By Peggy | May 10, 2014 |

It’s been a while since I’ve looked over Regina’s recipes. I’d put together such a long initial list — brown sugar pound cake, fruitcake, chicken and dumplings, homemade salami, to name a few —  it took a while to work through it all.

But Mother’s Day is coming up and that just requires a cake, so I’ve been going through Regina’s recipes again. She has so many cake recipes. I counted 34 in all that she said were keepers. She has three Italian Cream Cake recipes and four fruitcake recipes and at least a half dozen different kinds of pound cake: buttermilk, coconut, jello, plain, poppyseed, and “Mabel’s” (with chocolate or butterscotch chips mixed in).

Here’s Mississippi Mud Cake, “I think,” Regina said.

This may be our winner this weekend.

Mississippi Fudge Cake

Posted in recipes

Overheard in the Wolfe House #268

By Peggy | May 4, 2014 |

Sam: Sharon Wilson sent me an invitation to a porch party. I want to go.

Peggy: You bet.

Sam: So what is that about?

Peggy: Some people in Denton are trying to have an election to make Denton frack free.

Sam: If Denton is frack free, I want to move there.

Posted in What Sam says

Saturday night in the kitchen with Sam

By Peggy | April 27, 2014 |

Over the years we have made a true commitment to our family’s health by doing a lot of cooking and baking. Tonight, I’m making another batch of yogurt and Sam is making kolaches.

I had enough variety of leftover beans from a bunch of winter cooking to make a mixed-bean soup, too.

Over conversation about tablet computers, e-reader apps, and area equestrian Special Olympics (they moved it up to today instead of tomorrow … awesome flexibility demonstrated by area stables in order to avoid predicted storms), I put this old family favorite together, substituting in lamb stock for water at the end.

Bountiful Bean Soup

2 cups mixed beans

1 quart water

4 slices of bacon, diced

1 large carrot, sliced

1 clove garlic

1 bay leaf

6 cups water

Salt and pepper to taste

Bring beans and first quart of water to a boil. Cover and let stand for an hour. Drain and rinse a little. (This helps reduce your need for Bean-o)

Fry bacon in a dutch oven and discard all but 2 t. of the rendered fat. (Or, leave out the bacon and heat 2 T. of olive oil.)

Add the carrot and garlic and saute for a few minutes to carmelize, then add beans and water and bay leaf.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, cooking for 90 minutes or so until the beans are tender.

Remove bay leaf, taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Posted in getting back on the horse, health, problem-solving, recipes

Sam’s TV Guide

By Peggy | April 25, 2014 |

A dear friend visited us last weekend and remarked at one point about how we don’t watch television. That’s not quite true. It is true that we’ve never had cable and now, with all the online availability, we probably never will. When we watch television, it’s deliberate: it’s on for a particular show and then we turn it off when it’s done.

I like to watch the 10 p.m. news and the first part of The Late Show with David Letterman in the evening, and I always holler out when Dave’s ready to read the Top 10 list because Sam enjoys them so much.

Here’s Sam’s T.V. Guide:

  • Dancing with the Stars, but after the first few eliminations (“They aren’t that good in the beginning,” Sam says)
  • America’s Funniest Home Videos
  • Wheel of Fortune
  • Saturday Night Live: the opening sketch and Weekend Update
  • The weather, especially Ch. 5 Rameisha Shade
  • Dave Letterman reading the Top Ten List

I’m not sure what this says, but it says something.

Posted in social life, What Sam says