My accomplishment for the day. This cake goes by several different names. Some call it a stack cake. Some call it a lassie (molasses) cake. No matter what name you call it, it is just plain GOOD. When I was growing up in the mountains of southwest va, this cake was very popular among my mom’s family. You very seldom had any type of family get together that someone didn’t make this cake. Of course, as a young girl I took this for granted. Ate the cake and never thought about learning to make it myself. Then we moved away from family and of course I wanted me some stack cake. I called my aunt and got the recipe. It has taken much trial and error but I think I’ve just about got it right. This is a recipe I want to pass down to my girls. Old mountain recipes will be lost if we don’t teach the next generation how to make them (even if they don’t want to learn). If anyone is interested in the recipe, here it is: 1/2 cup oil, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/2 cup hot water, 1/2 cup molasses, 3 cups self-rising flour. Mix all ingredients together. Turn mixture onto floured surface. Knead until slightly stiff. Divide into 6 parts. Put wax paper into round cake pans. ( I do three at a time) Take each section of dough, spread out thinly in cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Romove from oven. Place on cooling rack. Repeat process for the other 3 sections. Spread apple butter between the sections. Let set overnight to allow the apple butter to moisten the cake layers. Then serve. Many enjoy this cake with buttermilk. Any questions, just leave a comment or e-mail me. Enjoy and God Bless.
P.E. Class
Every day the weather permits the girls try to take Jasper on a walk. They want to teach him how to walk on a lease. They call this their P.E. class. They walk to the top of the hill on the tractor road. As you can tell, the kitten goes too. Sometimes, however, Dad has a real P.E. class for them. Anyone who has ever moved much wood knows what a workout that can be. It was a beautiful day for working outside. A litte windy, as usual, but warm with lots of sunshine. The last two days, however, have not been so nice. Lots of fog and wet. Oh well. The girls were probably glad for the fog. The splitter was loaned to us from a friend at church. We are very thankful for the use of it. Splitting wood by hand, I think, is a young man job. The older we get the harder it is to do. So thanks again, Dale. We appreciate it. Hubby is gone today with other church members to shoot some clays. The place, I think, is called Primland and that’s about all I know. They go there quite often. George has been looking forward to going with them for quite some time. They seem to always have lots of fun. Tonight is our Halloween Alternative at church. We call it Christfest. Lots of fun. Dress Up-kids and adults. Lots of games and candy. I will try to get some pictures to post so you all can see what fun it really is. I pray everyone enjoys the children tonight and that everyone will be safe. In my Daily Bread devotional today, it talks about children tonight filling their bags with candy and then it asks “What are we filling our vessels with?” Think about it tonight every time you drop candy in a child’s bag. If we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, we leave room for other things to fill us. End of sermon. God Bless.
Eagle
Coming home from church Sunday, we had this wonderful surprise. An eagle perched high in the top of this tree. We have saw a few eagles here on the farm before but never got a picture this good. It was very exciting. Today is a very pleasant day here in Floyd. Sunshine, warm temperatures, and wind. Of course wind. School has been going very well today. Several tests but good grades on all. I like it when they make good grades, makes me think they must be listening. Tonight is church night. We are still doing the Beth Moore study on fruits of the spirit. It is going very well. A very interesting study. For those of you who have done Beth Moore studies you know she does such a great job. Well lunch break is over. School Time. God Bless.
Leaves Everywhere
This picture was taken the other day when we went on our hike. Absolutely beautiful. Leaves were everywhere. They sounded so nice when we walked on them. Of course the batteries died in the camera before I got any other shots but this one is nice. On our hike we spotted a baby possum walking on a log. This would have been a great picture but the camera hung useless around my neck because we didn’t think to take extra batteries with us. Oh well, life goes on. We had a great hike and enjoyed outside time. Today is overcast and slightly chilly. Just enough to need a fire. George and a friend of ours from church cut wood yesterday afternoon. We heat this old farmhouse with wood and it takes a LOT of wood. If the rain holds off we will be splitting and stacking the wood this evening. Always work to do. Speaking of work, lunch break is over and time for school. Gotta go. God Bless.
More Fall Pictures
Here are some more pictures taken on the back side of the road leading to our house. This little creek has always been a favorite of mine. Most of the pretty fall colors are disappearing now. They are not near as vibrant as they were. Still pretty though. Important things have happened today. However time does not allow me to tell them right now as it is almost time to leave for church tonight. I will post on these things tomorrow. We had a great time at the “critter chompin” last night. I won a $20.00 gift certificate to Cracker Barrel. We are all looking forward to dinner out sometime soon. Tonights menu at church is mostly leftovers from the ‘critter chompin” and from the business meeting we had today at church. Turkey Chili, Mexican Cornbread, ham biscuits, cheese ball, cakes, and who knows what else. We finish our study on Daniel tonight and then begin a study on Revelation. The two just seemed to go together. Time to leave. God Bless.
Critter Chompin
Tonight our church sponsors something called a Sportman’s Banquet, or as we call it The Critter Chompin. Our church has a really great men’s ministry that reaches out to the hunters in our community. Many women and youth from our church are hunters too. So this is a great opportunity for them (and us) to enjoy the fruits of their labor. They will bring lots of wild game especially deer as they are in abundance here. We’ve taking turkey chili and it is simmering now in the pot. It smells SO GOOD in here. I can hardly wait to sample all the good food tonight. We give away door prizes and have people give testimonies to what Christ has done in their life. A very nice way to spend an evening. Today has been a georgeous day in Floyd. Sunshine, wind, warm temperatures. Just wonderful. I think I’ll go enjoy some outside time before we have to leave. God Bless.
Thread Holder
This is a picture of the thread holder hubby made for me. I used to keep them in the basket and everytime I needed thread they were all jumbled up together. One day I told him I needed something to keep all my thread on. Something that would keep them organized. Today he finished it. I really like it. The other picture shows my sewing area with my new machine. Just looking at the pictures makes me want to go make an apron. I am very blessed to have a talented husband who enjoys making things. Well, I have tests to make and work to do. God Bless.
Fall Pictures
Here’s some pictures taken on the back side of our road. It is a very beautiful drive. We’ve been down to Dave and Jess’ for a few days working on the bathroom project. Making progress. Commode is set and walls are ready for paint. Jess hopes to have it ready in time for Thanksgiving. I think we’ll make it in time. Temperatures here are nice today. Upper 60’s. The sun is shining. A beautiful fall day. Dad is home and has suggested a hike on one of the many trials here on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The girls are hurrying to finish school and get ready for the hike. It promises to be a really nice afternoon. I hope everyone enjoys their afternoon as much as I am planning on enjoying mine. God Bless.
A Good Day
Today has been a really good day. We had a quest speaker at church and he did such a great job. A very humble man with a desire to preach the Word. It was one of those days when you really didn’t want church to end. Tonight we continue our Daniel study. We’re almost finished with it and then we will begin Revelation. A very hard book to understand. Tonight’s menu is sloppy joes, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, sweet potatoes, and who knows what else. I am taking some hot pepper jelly with cream cheese on ritz crackers. I know it doesn’t sound too good but it really is delicious. Well we better get going. God Bless.
Flowers
These are some late blooming flowers in one of my flower beds. Yes, I actually took these pictures this morning . Temperatures in the low to mid 30’s. These flowers are close to the house so they are kinda sheltered. I certainly am glad they decided to bloom so late, adding their special color to fall. Almost all my flowers are gone so these are especially appreciated. I think today I will work on making Grace’s poodle shirt for our Christfest (Halloween alternative) at church. The girls look forward to it every year. Lots of games and of course more candy than any 2 girls could eat. We have a new member at our Friday Ladies Bible study. So good to have you, Vicki! We had a surprise yesterday. We heard a kitten meowing in one of our outbuildings. When we went to check it out we discovered 3 new kittens, 2 gray, and 1 black with a little white on her face. I will try to get a picture of them later today and post it so you all can see them. They are very cute! Of course, we never seem to have a shortage of cats here on the farm but no matter how many we have it is always exciting to the girls to find new kittens. Hours of playtime for them. Well it is time for me to do some work. God Bless.