It’s not very often I make two posts in one day, but I thought this was worth sharing. Tomorrow we will be going down to play with the boys while Jess has another doctor’s appointment. She asked me if I could make her a stack cake. This cake goes by different names. Some call it a stack cake, others a “lassie” cake (molasses). No matter what you call it, it is GOOD! In the mountains where I grew up, this cake was common at most all family get-togethers. It is not as common now, as the art of making them has all but disappeared. It took me many years of trial and error, but I finally got it. (I think, anyway.) These cakes are best eaten the next day. Most like them with a cold glass of buttermilk. In Grundy, these sell for $15.00-$20.00 and worth every penny. The layers are thin and between them is a good amount of homemade applebutter. Well, I just wanted to show you all my accomplishment for the day. Just kidding, it didn’t take me all day to make it but it did take a long time to clean up afterward. Enjoy your day and God bless.
My Accomplishment-Pumpkin Roll
For many years, I have thought about trying to make one of these. However I have always been intimidated by the idea of rolling it up. I’m not sure why as I make many other things that need to be rolled. Anyway, today was the day I put my fears behind me and tackled it. Guess what? It was not near as difficult as I thought it would be. With a little practice, I think it would even be easy.
Today is an absolutely beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperatures are in the mid 60’s. Lots of sunshine. Just beautiful! I can hardly wait to get my stuff finished and get out in this wonderful weather. Yesterday I cooked a large pork roast in the crockpot. We had pork roast, cheesy potatoes and pinto beans. Tonights menu will be pork bbq with homemade buns, home fries and slaw. I think there will be enough pork left over for burrittos tomorrow night. I like to do this. Cook a large amount of meat and then use it in several different ways for supper over the next few days. This speeds up cooking time in the evening.
I think I need to get busy. My “green swing” is lonely and needs me to come keep it company. God bless.
Cake
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.
Chimney
Our biggest accomplishment for today was getting the chimney fixed. High winds in early spring had blown down the chimney and as I have said it is starting to get cool at night here in Floyd. My brother-in-law came over to help us fix it. We were very blessed to find this aluminum pipe down at the barn and it just fit perfectly over the stainless steel pipe that fits in the brick part of the chimney. This all sounds complicated and in some ways it is. The original chimney( as you can tell) is very old and was not useable. We had to line it with a stainless steel pipe which was not tall enough. The chimney must be above the ridgeline of the house or it will not draw. Every year we have to replace the pipes that extend on above the ridgeline. Hopefully this won’t happen now as aluminum does not rust. Therefore it should last much longer. I certainly pray so. George was very glad to get this off his to-do list. Today is busy with school and getting ready for church tonight. Hope everyone has a great day. God Bless.