Charles Kenneth's Corner

What's on the Corner

2012-10-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

I have been noticing that when people come to the Corner all they see are date and no titles or what stories are here. So.... I've decided to try and make a Table of Contents. All these great stories only listed by dates. I have not been writing as much, but I'm in the process of building a Green House. That will bring many new stories as I learn about it. Here is a list of the stories from that start of the Corner to the latest post.

What is on the Corner

Welcome 7/18/11

That went well 7/18/11

Bad Brushes? or Bad Eyes? 7/19/11

Fried Green Tomatoes & Cornbread 7/21/11

Art for Art Sake 7/22/11

Canning Salsa 7/26/11

Chili Beans 7/30/11

Cool Stuff 8/4/11

Banana Nut Bread 8/5/11

JUMBO shrimp 8/6/11

GULLAH, Root Doctors, and the Sea Islands 8/7/11

Sculptured Canvas 8/9/11

The Box 8/11/11

Go Green with Me 8/14/11

Freebird an RV Adventure 8/18/11

Fall, Cooler Weather, and Folk Art 8/21/11

"The Plague Doctor" the birth of a painting 9/5/11

The Secret of the South 9/6/11

Chow-Chow is a Condiment 9/22/11

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie 9/24/11

The Ultimate Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies 9/26/11

Some of the Best Recipes in Grandma's Box 9/29/11

Taking Applications 10/17/11

The Money Masters and Who Shot Jr? 10/24/11

Southern Slow-Cooking Bar-B-Q Ribs 10/30/11

Occupy the Kitchen, taking stock in food 11/5/11

Walking the Walking Stick 11/10/11

Chocolate Pound Cake Occupy That 11/14/11

Egg Rolls 11/14/11

Frogg Leggs 11/16/11

Pecan Pie and Sweet Potato Souffle 11/16/11

Thanksgiving is an American Holiday 11/17/11

Fried Pork Chops-n- Rice and Gravy 11/19/11

Canadian War Cake 11/23/11

First Bread 11/26/11

Moving on from First Bread 12/11/11

Challah 1/11/12

Bread Baking 101 1/31/12

The Caramel Slam Brownie 2/8/12

Sourdough 2/13/12

Bird Houses by Chuck 4/12/12

Pie 5/11/12

Sweetgrass Baskets 6/6/12

Favorite Yeast Bread w/ Pinto Beams 6/10/12

Spring Air Ride 8/7/12

Spring Air Ride

2012-08-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

Spring Air Ride

The kids grow up so fast, and the decking of our old porch has been laying around the yard, so.....Spring Air Ride. This is a great story of recycled wood. Looking at the kids swing in the back yard, I got to thinking about when I was a kid, and the porch swings. Seems like everyone had a porch swing. One thing is for sure their swings were not made out of a porch.

As you can see in the background, that is the other half of the porch. I have finished taking it apart to make my next project. Thinking of making a breakfast table out of it. As you can see, this was a real job. We are going to keep to the subject here if I can, the making of "Swing Air Ride". To start with, I have never made a swing, and looked up "porch swings" on the web.

I decided that I would need 3 pair of these, and using the 2X6's from the porch, I got to work. Now, This wood we are using has a porch since 1995. This wood has done all the drying, twisting, cracking, and warping it is going to, and may I add, getting hard. Being an artist, in drawing the curves I add a little for the legs and a little less for the back. Back to being hard, I went threw a couple blades and broke a jig-saw ( it was kind-a old ).

As you can see with the chisel and hammer, I'm making a custom fit post for an arm rest. In the back instead of bolts and nuts, I drove re bar in. They wanted $30.oo for them and I have not even got started. OK, where was I? I clamped the 3 bottoms together, and I clamped the 3 tops together, and sanded them. For this part I did use the end grinder. That way all the bottoms, and tops are the same. If you follow my post here at Charles Kenneth's Corner you know I don't like to use power tools that much.

As you can see here, we are moving along nicely. The two ends need to have the back support to the outside, and the bottom to the inside to mount the armrest supports. Here we will buy the hardware. When I first looked on the web the prices were around $150.oo. Right; I have that just in hardware.

The springs are not in the photo. I bought them first thing, they were $10.oo. With that said, we cut the slats. I measured from ring to ring on the swing to the two outside swings hooks. So with the slats cut I nail one to the top, one to the middle, and one to the bottom. Not driving them in all the way. This is just to hold it in place.

None of these boards (slats) are screwed in yet. I'm figuring out where I want my front armrest post. Also, I'm figuring out how many more slats need cutting, and where to to put the back post. Alright let's get this thing put together.

Looking Good! If I do say myself. As you can see I have taken each slat, and sanded all four sides down to clean wood. All four corners have been rounded, as well as the ends. Doesn't look like 18 year old wood that has been out side the whole time, does it? The screws I bought are made for outside use, and glued Dow's cover them. I did not want to make the armrest until I hung it. This swing will be heavy. Glad I bought the springs. I will tell you I could have saved on the chain I bought. I forgot to include the spring when I measured and bought to long of chain. Better that to short I guess.

Trying to figure out how to make this sit. Slightly tilted back but not to much and how high to have it set. I took a string to measure just how much chain to go buy, and forgot about the spring. O well. All finished, it looks great! I sit in it about every day.

As you can see this beautiful swing was made from our old porch. The springs give it such smooth ride, and for us older people. It gives a little push when you go to get up. I love it! It is one of the best projects I've done so far. By the way I have a new Facebook page "Folk Art by Chuck". Hope you will come by and like the page. Other great news is you can buy my Folk Art at Bookquest used books, on main street in Fountain Inn SC.

Once again thank-you for coming to Charles Kenneth's Corner. Share it with your friends, and until next time your friend.

Favorite Yeast Bread w/ Pinto beans

2012-06-10T06:53:00.001-07:00

Most every Sunday, we have bacon for breakfast. We cook a whole slab, and make sandwiches or what ever later in the day. I have taken the bacon and put it in bread with fresh onions, and black olives. It is so good that I have made it three different times. So today's blog is pinto beans and this wonderful bread.

To start with put the yeast in the bowl. I now use three teaspoons of yeast instead of the two and a quarter teaspoons it calls for per loaf. I have also changed the flour to four and a half cups instead of three and a half, to get that nice round top.

Another change I have made in my bread baking is the mixer. I use the wooden spoons I make to mix and I believe it taste better. After sifting my flour we are ready. I a mixing cup I put two tablespoons of sugar, one tablespoon of butter, one tablespoon of honey ( do not measure just add), then a quarter cup of milk and microwave for one minute. When it comes out add a cup of water, then check the temperature. We want one hundred degrees. Let that set for a minute while chopping 8 to 10 black olives, half an onion, and crumble about six or seven strips of bacon. Lightly flour these before adding to the bowl for mixing, so they don't stick together. Add one teaspoon salt, and stir in one hundred degree liquid to three cups flour, and other ingredients. After mixing well about a minute or so add another cup flour, then add the other half a cup or so kneanding.

If using Bread Machine Yeast like I do just let bread sit on counter for ten minutes. If using Rapid Rise place in oiled bowl and cover for one hour, until rise double. Took me awhile to understand the differents in these two yeast.

Next step is bunch down and roll flat with bread roller. Form a rectangle brush with olive oil soaked in chopped garlic. (yum good stuff, good on pizza, french bread, or just plain toast.) Roll dough and place in bread pan make you slice marks in the top. Place in a warm spot to rise for one hour. While this rises, put half a bag of pinto beans in a pot of salted water and turn on medium.

This will simmer while the bread rises.

While we are waiting let's admire one of my spoons.

Here we have added the rest of our left-over bacon and diced onion.

Our bread should be ready. Preheat oven to 375 and when oven is ready, put in your bread and turn the oven down to 350. After fifteen minutes take bread out brush with olive oil, garlic mixture, and return to oven. Place aluminum foil on top of bread to prevent burning. Total bake time about thiryfive minutes.

My reward the first slice.

For the bread

3 tsp yeast

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp butter

2 tlb sugar

1 tlb honey

crumbled bacon

chopped black olives

chopped fresh onion

For the beans

1/2 bag of beans

salted water

chopped onions

bacon or ham

Sweetgrass Baskets

2012-06-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

I lived in the Low Country of South Carolina and I vacation at the beaches. Never forget the cast net or the fishing poles. Whether you fish or you just go to relax, you can't miss the Sweet grass Ladies. I have done several painting of the ladies who weave these beautiful baskets, and they sale right off. Maybe I should do a couple of them. What I did do, is made these baskets myself.

As always, out side working in the yard. I spotted the little red wagon full of the leaves from the Iris flowers. Mom had cut them back as always, and was taking them to the back to burn. I can't tell you how many time I have burned these leave, but this time I set them to the side. I'm going to try to weave a basket.

The hard part was getting it started, and with this first one the center shows that I'm just learning. Keep in mind I have never done this before. I have stood and watched the Sweet grass Ladies in awe, many times. "Amazing" is all my Mother keeps saying. I'm a little surprised myself.

Going into the house checking the size, with plates and such in the kitchen. Trying to decide where to start bringing up the side.

Well, that went well.........now I'll have to put on handles.

How high up the side to go?

Taking in the moment to look at my handy work. Looking perty good if I do say so myself. All my Mother keeps saying is "Amazing"

I asked her why do you keep saying that? She said; "You just amaze me with the stuff you keep coming up with." With that said here is a look at the finished basket.

There it is! My first basket and still have a lot of material to do another one. I'm not sure about this material, it might just dry up and crumble.

This is basket number two. It is made much tighter, and heavier. I also started this one much better. Basket II is made much better. Still not sure how they will hold up. I've decided to polyurethane them.

The request now is make it fit this dish.

Not enough material for handles, but considering until now, I have been burning these leaves. I hope you have enjoyed seeing my baskets. I'm sure I'll never be burning Iris leaves again.

As I put the final touches on this last basket, I want to thank-you for coming to the Corner and seeing "Amazing" things I come up with. Tell your friends about Charles Kenneth's Corner. Leave me comments, but only if they are nice.

I'll leave you with a taste of other things at the Corner.

Pie

2012-05-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

If you follow my blog then you know I just recently started making bread. I have become quite good at it now. I make a wonderful olive loaf, raisin with or without cinnamon, and pizza's without the recipes. I haven't eaten store bought bread since, and none have been failures. So I saw a pie crust on U-tube, and decided it looked so good I had to try to make it. I have looked and looked, but I have not found that video again. I found one recipe using butter, that sounds like lot of butter. It said flaky pie crust, so that is the one I tried. Here goes first pie crust.

You know me if things can go wrong they will. First of all, I spotted fruit filling in the cubboard, a good sign until I had to decide between cherry and blueberry. Daphne doesn't like cherry. You know they flavor medicine with grape and cherry to get kids to take their meds. then they stop eating jellies, and jams, or any thing else made with cherry or grape.

Sifting the flour, I have everything I need, except wax paper. I think real hard before I continue. I have a roll of brown paper in my room for art, I'll just just that. Keep in mind this is my first pie crust ever. I must say watching videos on you tube does help. To start with I cut thin slices of butter, not margarine, butter. A cup of butter, just looking at it sounds like a lot. I go back to the computer and watch a few more recipes. Some are 1/2 butter, and 1/2 shorting, but I stick with the recipe I have the first time.

I bought this to make biscuits. I guess you can do it with a fork, and in the videos they just use their hands. I put the butter in the freezer while getting everything ready, about 5 minutes will do it I guess. Here is the recipe to follow, and yes it did turn out flaky.

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter

3 cups flour

1/3 cup water

sugar (optional)

I put in 1 tlb

fruit filler

1 tsp vinegar

9" pie pan

I beat the egg with a fork with the water and vinegar. Then I set it in the freezer with the butter. Using a large bowl I sifted the flour and salt. The with the fancy pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until it was mixed very well. Now add the egg mixture. I ended up having to add 1 tlb of water to get it mixed enough to knead. Note only knead a little before rolling out flat. Break the dough in half, rolling each out on wax paper flat, and putting in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes are up, take one of the pie crust out and place pie pan upside down, cutting out a circle. The other crust place inside the pie pan and fill with the filling of choice. Place the cut out circle in the center, folding the edges over and pinching it all the way around. OOH I forgot, make fork holes in the bottom pie crust before adding filling. Also, make fork holes in top before baking.

Now, myself and the recipe did not tell me to do it but it turned out great. After about 3 or 4 minutes I took it out sprinkled sugar over the top and baked until the top browned.

That my friends is my first pie. Not bad!

Well as always thank-you for reading my blog, and do share with your friends. If this is your first time at Charles Kenneth's Corner, do read the older stories. Everything from my art work, to great southern recipes. Every story is different, as of this one their 42 stories. Please enjoy, share, and leave a comment.

Bird Houses by Chuck

2012-04-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

Birdhouses; my yard is full of them, and they are fun to watch. Some birds come back to the same bird house year after year. I made a couple last year from ceder cut down in the back woods. I made them into log homes. Just like my walking sticks I made one with no power tools, you can see it in this photo with the ceder roof. I put it together with a glue gun. Guess that has power. Then I took some blocks of ceder and mill them into square logs. This bird house I put up in my woods. With in a few days a bird moved in.

Birdhouses like this are time consuming, from milling the wood to putting them together. So this year I bought a band saw, hopefully cut down on some of the time to cut wood. Right off the bat, I started breaking saw blades. Now working in a small shop in the shed I have started making more, and more birdhouses.

The birds don't have to have a fancy bird house, they make homes in my shed.

The first birdhouse I made was another log home. They are still time consuming. Then, with the new saw, I started breaking blades at $7.50 a piece. Part of the breaking of the blades comes from having to learn to setting up the saw. After breaking 3 blades, I still have not set it right. Well, the blades are made in China.

Speaking of China, breaking the $100.00 problem with the things I make. Everything in America comes from China today. We also know the Chinese are used as slave labor, yet we keep buying Chinese products. You know it is actually hard not to buy Chinese, because just about everything is made in China.

In this birdhouse the logs are put together by drilling a hole and putting nails down threw the logs so as not to split the wood. No glue is needed this way, and the logs just look stacked. With my next birdhouse the wood from a pecan tree had worm holes threw it. When making the birdhouse I decided to put it mounted on a pole. I was worried that this airy home had to many holes for a bird, but a Carolina Chickadee moved in the next day. Wow, that was fast. Then the following day a Bluebird tried to move in and move the Chickadee out. That was the best day ever watching these two birds fighting over one of my birdhouses.

This next birdhouse is occupied every year by the same type of bird and most likely the same family. They move in every spring and stay all summer having 3 or 4 sets of off spring before winter.

They're 10 birdhouses in the woods and around the back yard, yet they have several nest inside the shed. They're 2 in the other end, where we keep the garden tools. So if you live in a subdivision, or even in town, you need to get some birdhouses. All the trees in the back of our house and neighborhood, and the birds still fill up my birdhouses. Also we have 3 birdbaths, 3 bird feeders, and 2 humming bird feeders

With this birdhouse; for the first time I hinged the back so the roof will raise up to clean it out. Also breaking the $100.00 barrier, this simple birdhouse I put at $65.00. Then for my next birdhouse I added more details till I was back above the $100.00's. Calling this next one the bait shop, I hit the too cute mark.

Now,I had to look up what other people are charging for birdhouses, and found them from $20.00 up to $289.00, and even higher. With this bird house move the barrel and the top front swings down to get inside. This bird house I decided to put at $115.00. Not that the ones I seen on other sites at $189.00 and up are any better. As a matter of fact the difference in prices on that site from $50.00 and up did not compare to mine. I do feel as a Folk Artist the time I put in the different piece justifies my prices. They are all one of a kind.

The Chelsea Hotel inspired the next birdhouse that I made it like the one in my yard that has had many family's in it over the past 15 years or so. It has no door and the birds clean it their selves. My brother calls it the Dr. Seuss house, that was not even on my mind when I distorted its shape. Creating this shape involved cutting wood strips very, very thin so they could bend. Then covering it with painted on cloth, sort of like the method you do papier mache. Keeping in mind that shipping will have to be added I have put the hotel at $135.00. With the two coats of red and excellent paint job on the trim, I have never picked put any thing in a gift shop painted this well.

This shows you just how well done my bird houses are made. The next birdhouse just like the bait shop is just too cute. The Church I still need to add the vents to the top part, but I can almost hear the bell ringing with out them.

Keeping this at the same price as the bait store $115.00. I hope the ideas keep coming because the next is a hardware store with a sign for Weber Wagons 1845, Coca-cola, Dry Goods and more. This one is setting my goals even higher as I keep working on the just too cute factor.

With B.W. Burdett & Bros on the top banner and a coca cola sign above the door, this bird property will bring $129.99. With me being a house painter for 30 years or so, they all are caulked and painted to keep the little families warm and dry. I'm thinking about a general store, a grocery store, maybe a fire department, or even a barn. I have not made any patterns for these so each one is a one of a kind. No two windows on the Church are the same as a matter of fact.

That rustic split-log bird house with a ceder roof is $109.00 and the wire in the middle is wrapped around the ridge pole. If you decide not to hang it just cut it with wire cutters. As I make more and start shipping more I'll better be able to guess the shipping cost. The weight is different on everyone. I wish a gift store or Folk Art store might be interested. In the past Art Gallery's doubled my price and made good money off my paintings. By trying to keep my prices in the $100 zone, room is left for someone to do just that.

You can find me on facebook or message me here in the comments. I look forward to talking with you and your ideas. As always share Charles Kenneth's Corner with your friends.

Sourdough

2012-02-13T13:11:00.000-08:00

Sourdough, since I first stared reading about making bread, it falls back to wild yeast. The part that got me, was throwing away flour, while making your starter. I don't like throwing away money, and throwing away flour is the same thing. I'm on my third jar of yeast now, and have decided not to do the starter thing. Sourdough recipes, I just replace the starter with the yeast sponge, and it has been working just fine. I have gotten some great recipe.

Well, I got to thinking, and decided I would try a tablespoon of flour and a tablespoon warm water, in a jar. Just to see what happens. I went to bed and the next morning I added one tablespoon flour and water. That night the same thing, the next morning, so on and so on. After three of four days smelling the brew, it smells like flour dough. nothing bad. I decided to move it up some. Made it heaping spoon fulls.

It has been a week, and no dark spots, doesn't smell bad, but is starting to smell some what sour. So before I go to bed I put 1/2 cup of flour, and 1/2 cup warm water in. Tomorrow going to see what happens. In everything I've read the starter should double. Mine bubbles up some, but doesn't double, and they say it has to be at least a week old. The thing is it not going to rise. I think about using yeast and adding the brew for the sour taste. I pour one cup into a mixing cup, what is left I add some flour and warm water. That, that is left is the photo above. I put this up for next time.

San Francisco is where sourdough is famous. The germ that is the yeast, is called San Francisco sourdough yeast. No, it's not, I made that up, but it is named after San Francisco, it's called (sanfranciscensis), that is real. The lactic acid is the bubbles, and what makes the bread rise. I also read Pumpernickel means; well nickel means Devil and pumper means fart. So you have a bread that will make the Devil fart. If you want to know more about gas, and bram, go to Wikipedia. I did learn if your starter is to sour, feed it more. If it is not sour enough, feed it less. The one I made is very sour, with a strong taste, might even have San Francisco beat.

In this picture the dough has been rising about four hours. When I made this I just went by my regular bread recipe. Adding milk, water, sugar, honey, salt, and butter. I ended up adding a lot more flour, so next time not a whole cup of water and a whole cup of wet starter. As you can see it has risen, and that is about double. Notice I sliced the top and it did not fall. At this point I pre-heated the oven at 350 degrees. I've been having trouble with the oven being to hot. With this bread I should have heated it to 400 degrees. It ended up taking longer to bake, try the hotter oven next time.

Look how that bread has risen. Not one bread I have made using yeast has risen that much, not once. At this point I put foil over the top to keep it from burning. I close the door and wait the full thirty minutes, and take the foil cover off to let the top brown.

Sticking the thermometer in the bottom to see if it is 190 degrees I pull it out and wet dough is still on it. Back in the oven. This bread ended up cooking for an hour. That is why I said I should have baked it a 400 degrees. I'm learning and this has turned out as one nice bread.

The top where I cut it turned out beautifully. Now I let this sit till it cools off. I'm very nervous about this bread. Knowing that I grew the wild yeast, and it is basic bacteria. Boy, did it rise. Reading more about sourdoughs. Salmonella, and ecoli, start coming to mind. Cutting into the bread a very rich sour smell. Not a bad smell mind you, I taste it, it cut nicely I might add. It is good. San Francisco is famous for the most sour, but I think mine is right up there. The slice is so large it just fits in the toaster, end to end. After it is toasted I half it and make a ham and cheese sandwich. It is so good.

After it cools I bag it and put it away. Later as the evening goes on the sourness, I start feeling it in my stomach. Well it is germs that make sourdough what it is. No where did I read that any one died from making sourdough. O there was "Death by Sourdough" but it was a lady was hit by a bread truck. All the next day I didn't eat any of the sourdough. I ate the rest of another bread I had made. Always looking at how perfect the sourdough bread looked. Nice and big just like I had wished my other breads had turned out. Everywhere on the net, nothing. It said if it had dark stuff growing in it, or if it had a fowl smell, throw it out and start over. It had neither, it smelled kind of good.

San Francisco is world famous for having the most sourest, sourdough. I think I just tied with Boudin Bakery on my very first try. I didn't die that first night, and since then I have had it for breakfast with butter, and another ham and cheese. This time a whole sandwich. It does leave you knowing that it is a special bread. Most all bread is made from yeast from beer brewing. The active dry yeast in the packages comes from beer yeast. To get this strong, sour bread, you got to grow your own, yeast that is.

Now; to make everything clear. I did not add yeast to start my starter. I did not throw any away. Everywhere I read said one cup flour, one cup water, throw away one cup or bake with it. I started with one level tablespoon of flour, and add to it twice a day. I only increased the amount of flour after the forth day. All I used was flour and warm water. You do not want a real warm place to keep this. In San Francisco it is rainy and wet, and the 49er's did take it to Alaska for the Gold Rush. They kept it close to their body.

The Caramel Slam Brownie

2012-02-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

This is the ultimate brownie, and I spent most of the afternoon making this and a Chocolate Crazin Bread. You know you want some and this is a bad photo. Inside this hand full of chocolate is 50 individually wrapped caramel squares melted in a sauce pan with a can of sweetened condensed milk. A cup and a half of chopped pecans. This thing is packed with chocolate chips. I had pieces of bags of chips in the freezer so, you said it, in it went in. Here is what you need to be the best mom, wife, or husband in the world.

Caramel Slam Brownie

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cup flour ( all-purpose)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup pecans chopped

14 oz caramels ( 50 each )

1 can condensed milk

In a bowl mix on low sugar, cocoa powder, oil, eggs, and milk. When smooth add flour, baking powder, salt and after is mixed well stir in with spoon chips and 1/2 your nuts. This is where I set the measuring cup on the table I poured in white chocolate chips to about a third maybe 1/2, then add bittersweet mini- chocolate chips, then piled the rest of the cup over-flowing with semi-sweet chocolate chips. No level cup here, and pecans about 2/3 a cup.

Put 2/3 of this batter into a 9X13 pan sprayed with vegetable oil. Place in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. In a sauce pan melt your caramels and sweetened condensed milk on low heat stirring the whole time. Do not stop stirring, keep it from burning on the bottom. When the 12 minutes are up pull out the brownies and set on wire racks. Pour the melted caramel on to the brownies spreading evenly. Now add 2/3 cup more pecans on top of caramel coating. Notice I came up with an extra 1/2 cup of nuts. On top of this pour the remaining brownie mix you have in your bowl. Spread evenly with a spoon. Now taking a butter knife make swirling motions mixing to marbleize the top.

Place back in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Now Go Get A Paper Towel and clean the drool off of your computer table. Sit up straight in your chair, that is exactly why there is no center fold picture included with this recipe. I have been told that my recipes are "food porn" and hard for some readers to handle. Come back for more great things at Charles Kenneth's Corner, and do share with your friends.

Bread Baking 101

2012-01-31T10:24:00.000-08:00

Ready for the Oven

          Wow; Let's see, it is the last day of the month, and this is only the second blog. I must say it was a busy month, the first one of the year and all. Yesterday, I tilled the garden spot. We're in what seems like an Indian Summer. The weather is mild, and really nice out, but winter is not over yet. As you know from the last couple of blogs that I have always wanted to bake bread. Those blogs show that even if you don't know what you are doing, you can still eat the bread. So far the only bread the birds and squirrels got was the Jumbo Soft Pretzels the next day. They were good the night I baked them, but the next day not so good. I used to much XVOO and didn't have pretzel salt.
           In today's blog I'm going to let you know this, there has been something wrong with every bread I've baked. I have not yet been able to cut the top of the loaf with a razor, that it hasn't fell. Painting the egg wash on too, has made it fall. So even after a month, I'm still learning about yeast, water temperatures, and the chemistry of bread making. I can say I have confidence in the kitchen, while making the breads, because they have all tasted good. Whether you are making pizza or an olive loaf, you will enjoy what comes out of the oven. I even saw on the Fleischmann's web site, a great video making bread with kids. It is all mixed in a freezer bag, and if kids can do it so can the rest of us.
            When it comes to bread rising, that is the yeast. Louie Pasture I thought just gave us penicillin but he also gave us baker's yeast. I started reading about sourdough, and by the way that is where I have got some great recipes. More about that later, but sourdough is basically yeast. To make sourdough is easy, yeast is in the air just like the mold on your bread, and so is the yeast. Get some water about 100 degrees and flour and in 12 hours it will double in size. In 12 hours or twice a day add flour for the yeast to feed on and in a week it will fill a swimming pool. To keep the sourdough for baking, every time you add a cup of flour you take a cup of dough starter to bake with.
            To me, I don't plan to bake a couple of loafs of bread every day, and 2 cups of flour to be thrown away seems like a waste. That is how friendship breads get started, but I don't have that many friends, so in come baker's yeast. When I first started I bought a jar of the bread machine yeast. I've gone threw 2 jars, and every thing has been fine. I bake breads where the recipe calls to have water at 120 to 130 degrees. Then recipes that say anything over 100 degrees kills the yeast. Then I have recipes that say make a yeast sponge, or to proof the yeast.
           Well, as you can see it all gets confusing. Next after it is mixed with one recipe you let to bread rise for an hour in an oiled bowl for an hour, and in the next recipe you let it sit for 10 minutes before shaping into a loaf, then that rises for an hour. What's more is breads don't have eggs, the a recipe has an egg. Another recipe has 2 eggs, and even another recipe had 5 eggs and 12 egg yokes. OK, I'm going to take all that out. We here at Charles Kenneth's Corner we keep things simple. When I bought my 3rd jar of yeast it said Active Dry, not Bread Machine Rapid Rise. When I looked up the difference in them, I got a small incite.

Bread machine yeast you let sit 10 minutes, then shape into loaf, let rise till double ( about an hour) then bake. Active Dry, or baker's yeast you need to proof, or make a sponge. To proof you put yeast in a bowl with 100 degree water. To make a sponge just add flour. This you let sit until rises double or 1 hour. This part I have done with both yeast and it works just fine. At this point you have the start of your bread. Whether a sourdough recipe, bread machine recipe, or a recipe for yeast bread. I do not have a bread machine nor do I want one. I wanted to learn to make bread, not have a machine do it for me.

The part about the 15 eggs, turns out that was for, 4 loaves of a Jewish bread and the egg yokes give it a nice yellow color. So what I have done in the breads I bake, is reduce them to just 1 or 2 loaves of bread. Now I'm going to leave you with a 100% Whole Wheat Recipe for one loaf of bread in a loaf pan.

2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

Yeast (2 1/4 tsp or 1 packet)

1 tlb sugar

2 tlb honey (does not have to be exact)

1 tsp salt

1 cup water ( 100 degrees)

1/4 cup milk warm

1 tlb butter ( margarine, vegetable oil, EVOO)

Using the water, 1cup of flour, and yeast make your sponge and let sit for about 1 hour.

In a small pot put milk, honey, and butter. Warm to melt butter no hotter than 100 degrees.

Combine these ingredients in a mixing bowl, adding 1/2 cup flour sugar and salt. Mix on low speed for 4 minutes. Take out and add flour mixing with spoon, until it starts to thicken. Flour a spot for kneading, sprinkle the top with flour, and pour out on counter. Start kneading by taking the heel of your hand pushing down into the dough and away from your body. Spinning it as you knead and adding sprinkles of flour.

With vegetable spray, spray a bowl and place dough ball into bowl, and lightly spray the top, cover with plastic rap, and sit for 1 hour. After it has risen punch it down a couple times letting the gases out, knead lightly again and place in baking loaf pan that has been sprayed, cover and let rise a second time. After an hour it has risen double, place in pre-heated oven at 375 degree. After baking for 10 minutes cover the top with tinfoil. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes total. Check with tooth pick to see if done

Now, if you replace the 100% whole wheat flour, with all-purpose flour you get french bread, dinner rolls, or a wonderful loaf of white bread.

Challah

2012-01-11T16:51:00.000-08:00

I have been asked to share this recipe. This is a recipe I got off of Mike's web site, Sourdough. Mike got the recipe off of Breads Bread. Mike changed Beards recipe from using yeast, to a sourdough recipe. Because I'm still learning about sourdough, I changed the recipe back to a yeast, recipe. If you follow my blog you know I'm just starting to learn about breads. I went to the Fleischmann's yeast web site, and just started baking using their recipes. Every recipe there has heat your water to 120 -130 degrees. When I went to Mike's web site, he says anything over 100 degrees kills the yeast.

I have lost count of how many breads I have made. Some where over 12 breads now, I have decided, that I'm not happy with the way they are rising. Because of that I have been read more web sites. By reading about the sourdough, I better understand the yeast. Just like feeding the sourdough starter, and the whole filling up a swimming pool in 12 days thing. I am now back blogging. Even though the breads I made were good. Now, I better understand how it works.

In this bowl I am making a yeast sponge. In the bowl we put 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of warm water. I made sure it was under 100 degrees. To this I added 2-1/4 teaspoons of yeast, which is equal to one packet. Cover and let sit for 1 hour. This is a Jewish Bread which has no milk, and uses Kosher salt. Also note I added the pecans to the recipe myself.

1 cup of starter @100% hydration

(this is for a sourdough, I replaced it with the sponge)

1/2 cup water (leave this out water is in sponge)

Sift about 4 cups of flour

2 tsp. Salt

1/4 Sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg lightly beaten

2 egg yolks lightly beaten

Poppy Seeds

Sesame Seeds

1 cup pecans chopped

The pecans I chopped up the by hand because in the chopper, it chops them up to fine. I put these to the side. In a large bowl I put 2 cups of flour, in the center of flour I made a ditch. Into this I put the egg, 2 egg yolks, sugar, kosher salt, and oil. Mixing all this with a wooden spoon, then add the sponge, and mix with the mixer on low 2 or 3 minutes. Add flour until just before dough is formed. Change mixer to dough hooks, or remove from mixer and stir in pecans with spoon. Turn out on floured table and knead for 6 to 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise until triple in size.

In this picture it is about double in size. It will continue to rise until the bowl is full and touching the plastic wrap. In the recipe of the 1920 Nut Bread I made in the past, you fold the nuts in after it has risen. I decided I would try adding earlier this time and it worked just fine. Guess you can do it either way. It did seem to mix better while the batter was still wet.

When the dough has tripled in size, punch out the dough and pour out on flour table. Knead briefly, then cut into 4 equal parts. Cut one of the parts into 3 pieces and form 12" to 14" ropes. You should have 3 small ropes and 3 thick ropes. Take the 3 large pieces and braid, then braid the smaller ones. Taking the side of your hand, make a dent the length of the large braid. Brush it with water and place the smaller braid on top of the larger braid.

The recipe calls for using another egg, but I added a tablespoon of water to the egg whites that were left over. Place the loaf on a baking sheet cover in a coat of 100% Whole Wheat flour. Paint the loaf with egg and cover with plastic wrap, let rise until double in size. This recipe calls for baking on a baking stone, but my bread is bigger that my baking stone. So, I just placed this baking sheet in the oven on top of the baking stone. Hey, it worked. Another thing that worked, was the yeast sponge, and changing the water temperature to under 100 degrees.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, with a Baking Stone or tiles this will take about 45 minutes to an hour. When oven is ready brush loaf with egg wash again. Bake about 35 minutes, or until golden brown. Check the inside with toothpick. If while baking the top cooks to fast place parchment paper or foil tent over bread.

The picture is not that good, but the bread is great. I hope you try this bread with or without the pecans. I'm also sure this is one bread, that I won't be eating by myself. As you can see I forgot to put the Poppy Seed and Sesame Seed on it. You are suppost to put them on after the second egg wash is put on, and before you put it into the oven. Well, there is always next time.

Moving on from first breads

2011-12-11T09:43:00.001-08:00

This is so far, the best thing I have baked, since I started baking. Baking the last two weeks is what some call their bucket list. One of the things you always wanted to do. Yes, something that I could have done anytime. There are things in every ones life like that. Things you just haven't done, for what ever reason. This beautiful thing with the icing melting off the picture is a "Stollen" I believe, it is from Germany. I've been seeing them in the check out at the grocer, and since I'm baking I thought I would give it a try. I stared baking to make my own pizzas, and have loved the aroma of fresh bread. I did start with a bread that sounded easy enough. It didn't rise the way I hoped, but it tasted really good. Not discouraged, I went to your basic, all round french bread, or recipe for bread sticks.

This is good, but here again they are not rising enough. Don't get me wrong if it was easy we would all make bread at home. Actually it is hard work. A friend who bakes told never let the salt met the yeast. Then I watch a video of baking bread , and he pours the salt right on top the the yeast, in the bowl. He said the yeast is dead, right, OK.

Now, this has rose up nice, but when the egg wash went on top it fell some. This is looking so good though. Just looking at the picture, I wish I had made one today, for supper. For this Master Dough, it makes two loafs. 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, the reason for the difference is temperature, moisture in the air, time of day, a lot of things. 3 tablespoons of sugar, sugar speeds up the action of the yeast. Next the yeast 2 envelopes, I bought a jar of yeast. I know I'm going to be making bread often. I also know I'll be messing up. With the jar of yeast it is 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast to make one packet. Now 2 teaspoons of salt, just on the safe side I'm not going to let them touch any ways. The yeast has to be kept in the refrigerator when not in use. I put it in the bowl first, while I get the rest stuff together. That lets it get to room temperature.

That was it for the dry ingredients. In a small pot on the stove put 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, 1/2 a stick, 1 1/2 cup of water, and 1/2 of milk. Warm this to 120 - 130 degrees. On every bread this is the same. It is important to the yeast, below 120 is not good, and above 130 is to hot. The water is important or they would not tell me this on every bread. Also this french bread looks good and even taste good, but when the melted butter was painted on top it fell. When it came out of the oven it is heavy.

With this recipe you just but 2 1/2cups of flour in the bowl, add the warm butter, milk, and water and mix with a mixer at low speed. Then after it is mixed for about 2 minutes, add 1/2 cup flour and mix on high speed for 2 minutes. With a wooden spoon add the remaining flour to make soft dough. Smooth and elastic about 8 - 10 minutes, cover and let rest 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes, split dough into two pieces. Take one piece split it into 3 pieces. Roll out each piece into ropes and braid on a greased cookie sheet, pinching the ends together. The other one roll out into a long rope, and with a knife cut off 16 small pieces. Roll these up into individual bread sticks twisting and pinching the ends to a greased cookie sheet. Into the oven at 400 for 10 - 20 minutes. The braided loaf bake about 25 minutes, or until done.

The next bread is the Harvest Stuffing Bread, and yes it taste like Dressing at Christmas. Once again when I put the egg wash on top it fell. This is a hardy bread full of flavor, and just like in the video it is great for making sandwiches. I tried slicing it at an angle to make the slices bigger. I ended up eating it like cornbread, but once again it has kind of heavy. Even though I'm not getting these breads just right, they still taste good. I'm eating them, nothing in back yard for the birds yet. This bread is so good I have baked it twice. It fell both times, the second was in a loaf pan so it was a little taller, but still heave.

This one has 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 tbs sugar,1 envelope yeast, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbs minced onions, 1 tbs parsley flakes, 1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning. Here I used just 1/2 tsp sage. Even with Christmas Dressing go lite on the sage. Most important, go lite on the sage. Wish someone had told my Grandmother that.

That is it for the dry ingredients. Warm up 1 1/4 cup of water and 1 tbs butter, 120 to 130, cooking at 375 for 35 minutes.

This is the main reason I want to make yeast breads. Home made pizza better than Pizza Hut, or Papa John. I have been making pizza's, with french bread from the grocer. French bread makes a good pizza, but I want the real thing, and I did it. The pizza you see here was great. Question, are you supposed to put the pepperoni, onions, and olives on top of the cheese or under it? I went to Wal-mart just to buy a large pizza pan cookie sheet. Got 2 of them.

If it is your dream to make pizza's at home like mine, then just follow these easy steps. Remember practice makes better. We need 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 envelope yeast, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup water, and instead of butter, 1 tablespoons of EVOO. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Put a small pot on the stove with the water and EVOO. Heat it between 120 and 130 degrees. Combine 1 cup flour, yeast, and salt in a bowl. With mixer on low add warm water and EVOO, mix for 2 minutes. Then with a wooden spoon stir in the rest of flour a little at a time until smooth and elastic. About 8 to 10 minutes. Cover and let sit and rest for 10 minutes.

Unless you know how to stretch dough and throw it in the air like they do at the pizzeria. Then let me warn you that rolling out a circle and place on a greased baking sheet is not easy. What I did is lay down wax paper with some XVOO on it. I Rolled it out on that, lay ed the pizza pan on top, and flipped it over. Then just pill ed the wax paper off. Poke some fork holes in the dough, and put in an oven at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Take it out, put my topping on, lowered the temperature to 375 and baked for 20 minutes. It was the best pizza ever.

As always share this Blog with your friends. If you were hoping for the recipe for the German Stollen. Guess what? You have to read it in my next Blog. Charles Kenneth's Corner is a collection of stories about family, art, and such. Lots of good food recipes for young people just starting out. Some recipes of bread as I'm learning the ins and outs of baking. Don't be afraid to try something new, even if you mess up you tried. If you have never fail or messed up. You are not living. Yeast was $5.00 and all-purpose flour was less than $2.00. So far I was able eat it myself. If not the birds and squirrels won't mind. O, you just might have fun while you are doing it.

First Bread

2011-11-26T09:27:00.001-08:00

I have always wanted to make bread. The smell of fresh bread, well it is just wonderful. When I was stationed in Germany their were bakeries and guest houses everywhere. Shoppes that sold cheese, wines, and bread, with tables to sit at. Eat it there if you like, or take it home. Well 35 years later I decided to buy a jar of yeast. My Mother said I was on my own with this. I guess my love of yeast rolls goes back to grade school. I asked the cooks in the cafeteria for the recipe to their rolls we had at lunch. Kids today should get the lunches we did. My mother, she only tried to bake the rolls once. That's why I'm on my own with this now.

After all those years that recipe for rolls is still in Mom's box of recipes. I decided not to try that as my first attempt at baking. Getting out the trusty cookbook "the Betty Furness Westinghouse, Cook Book", from 1954. This the second copy my Mother has, the first was burned in a house fire. My sister was lucky to find another copy. The notes and stuff are missing, but it is a great cook book. Now the chapter on yeast bread comes with pointers. I read this part many times before attempting to bake.

To start off with it list 5 tricks to baking bread and I'm going to share them with you. Guess you might need to know them if you decide to try it to. Tip one is be careful about the temperature of liquid used. Yeast should never be put in liquid hotter that 85 degrees. It also said it is like checking a babies bottle. Tip 2, use fresh yeast. Tip 3, keep the bread dough away from drafts. Between 80 and 85 degrees is ideal. Tip 4, if the house is chilly, when you finish kneading the dough. Turn on the oven for 1 minute, then turn it off, set dough in and let it rise. This only works in an electric oven. And tip 5, have a large bowl for the dough to rise in, and don't let it cascade over the side. Measure accurate, follow recipe, and be sure to use all-purpose flour.

As I'm reading in this book, and pondering over all these recipes, I come upon Oatmeal Bread. I love Oatmeal Cookies, this looks like a good one, until words like sponge, and dough as separate parts. OK , I have a recipe for sponge, then combine the ingredients of dough. As I read down some more it said this makes 3 loaves. I don't think I want to mess up 3 loaves of bread my first time trying. Is that wrong, well the lady who taught me to cook, refuses to help bake bread. With that said, I'm going to pick something easier. Plymouth Bread is only one paragraph, this is it.

The first ingredient is corn meal. Corn meal in bread? OK; but it doesn't look hard. 2 cups water, 2 tablespoons butter, or margarine, and a 1/2 cup sorghum molasses. Then more water, some salt, and 4 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour. As I read it, it said stir corn meal into boiling water, stirring constantly. I can do this, it's not rocket science. Famous last words, before I mess up all 5 tips, and bake bread for the first time. I start by putting a pot of water on to boil, then start getting out my ingredients.

I messed up already. Pour out the boiling water, measure out 2 cups of water put back on the stove. Make sure you have all your ingredients ready before you start. Now add 1/2 cup of corn meal stirring constantly thing. Messed up again, this is where not having 3 hands comes in. I was supposed to pour the corn meal slowly with one hand, stir with the other hand and keep the pot from falling off the stove with the other hand. O Well, I'll break up the lumps on the side of the pot, since I have to stir for 5 minutes. Now, with another hand put 1/2 cup of lukewarm water into a bowl. In this we add 1 cake quick-acting yeast.

Yes I have messed up again. I bought a jar of yeast, and 2 1/4 teaspoons equals 1 package or 1 cake of yeast. I measured out 2 1/4 tablespoons. I did realize it in time though. It looked like to much, so I poured it back. Measuring it again 2 1/4 teaspoons, I add the 1/2 cup warm water. To my corn meal boiling and still stirring, I add 1/2 cup molasses, and 2 tablespoons margarine. The margarine and molasses all mixed together with the corn meal I turn off and let sit. This is not going well.

Going over to the counter I measure 4 3/4 cups of flour. Putting it in a large bowl. Check the mixture on the stove. The old milk on the wrist trick, right, I stuck my finger in the pot. It didn't burn, it was just warm, so I poured in the bowl of melted yeast. Stirring in the yeast mixing it well, then pouring into the bowl of flour. Now taking the wooden spoon and mixing it all into the flour. The direction say knead the mixture, but this isn't right. The mixture is sticking to my fingers. I thought kneading was folding the mixture over and over. This is just sticking to my fingers.

The book said let the mixture rise to double in size. This does not look like what I thought it should. I just set it on the stove and realized I had just used self-rising flour, instead of plain flour. I got the flour off the counter, and the all purpose flour is in the cupboard. I do not believe this. What else can go wrong. I just can't believe I just messed up that bad. What is done is done. Worse thing will be throwing it in the trash and starting over. The biggest lost is the molasses. I have totally messed up, but an hour later I split this in two well greased bread pans.

It said do not cover, seems like they covered dough when it rises. I covered it and thought about it, then decided to turn the oven on for 1 minute. Turning off the oven, I un-covered them and stuck them in for about 1/2 hour or so. I didn't leave covered long but since I made every mistake in the book, thought it made a great picture. When they had doubled in size I took them out, turn the oven on to 350 to pre-heat. Popped them back in to bake. What can it hurt now, the book said one hour.

Looks like Bread

Looks like maybe I should have checked on it before the hour was up. Just one more mess up, check on it next time. Some ovens cook faster than others. We are going to taste it, before throwing it away. You know I think maybe, that molasses might be why the dough, doesn't look like dough. That molasses is some sticky stuff. Well lets cut one of these loaves. They do feel spongy, I wonder how they taste.

That doesn't look so bad

With a little melted butter

Well, I guess, seeing one loaf is almost gone. Considering everything I did wrong, you know you can use yeast with self-rising flour. Now, if you think you can't bake. I have just done everything wrong, and the Plymouth Bread taste great. I do hope my next bread goes better. If not at least I hope it taste as good as this one. As always share with your friends. Thank-you for reading Charles Kenneth's Corner.

Canadian War Cake

2011-11-23T08:45:00.001-08:00

The Canadian War Cake. It is Thanksgiving and I was looking threw recipes to Blog on and found this 3X5 card of my Grandmother's cake. When I mentioned that I have not had that cake in like a hundred years, I was told it was because only my

Grandmother and I liked it. After deciding to make it, I had second thoughts. Why make it if I'm the only one who likes it. All my life it was just "War Cake", I didn't even know it was called a Canadian War Cake until I saw the title on the 3X5 card.

A couple days went by my Mother and I discussed what we were cooking, the plan was to make a Lain Cake. The Lain Cake was another cake that was taken to Christmas dinner long time ago. OK the War Cake is more for a Christmas thing, or the Lain Cake, then a couple days ago Mom said it's going to be War Cake for Thanksgiving. With that decided, maybe I should look up Canadian War Cake on the Internet.

Did you look it up on the Internet? No I didn't. We just will go by the recipe. Mistake! My Grandmother is despicable. I have other family members who say I'm giving away all the family secrets. I would keep them private, those are the family's, you're not supposed to tell everyone in the world. I tell them you are just like Grandma, she would never give the right recipe. She would leave something out to mess you up. Well she did it to us here, with this recipe too. It is like she came back from the grave, just to laugh at us, trying to cook her favorite cake.

We are lucky, because she didn't mess us up to bad. She even gave me this great family story to tell y'all, while we cook it. For one thing, there are times when I think she was just mean. My Mother tells the story that she loved coconut cake and would always ask her mom to make her one. My father's mother, made coconut cakes but it was not the same. Her mother made the best coconut cake ever made. At least in her eyes, yet she goes to her Mothers house one day. Her Mom says; I made you a Coconut Cake. So where is it? O, I let Jerry and Yvonne, take it home with them, they were here yesterday for a visit. She never did get it.

May she rest in peace, because even Yvonne tells a story that my Grandmother made her an apple pie, and she sat and ate it all her self. She never missed going to Church, right up till she died. Yet she would talk about so, and so, who wore a red dress to Church, or some other gossip. Her house is the memory I have of Thanksgiving, and Christmas. As the years went by and less, and less showed up. That house and the family are my

Hallmark Christmas Card memory. My Father, being in the Air Force, coming home for Christmas was just that.

The whole thing about the War Cake is that food was rationed. Ingredients which include butter, milk, and eggs, were expensive, or hard to come by. You can't tell, but that is 1/2 a stick of margarine, or 4 tablespoons. When I looked it up on the Internet they used a whole stick. We are sticking to the card. To our pan we will add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of brown sugar. Getting out our measuring spoons we need 1 teaspoon each of nutmeg, all spice, and cinnamon. You can see in our picture we have apple pie spice instead. It has the nutmeg in it.

To this we are going to add 2 cups of raisins, one box is what the recipe calls for. Our container is 4 cups so it would be 1/2 that. Now when I looked this up on the Internet, I found Depression Cake, and Boiled Raisin Cake. I found some saying it came from WWII, and the Great Depression. What I didn't realize is it was WWI. The more I read, it goes back to the America Civil War.

We bring this up to a boil, just let it boil for a good 5 minutes before turning off to cool. While this is cooling get out your mixer, baking soda, and flour. Once again on the Internet they used self-rising flour, we are using all purpose flour. Most of the time we will use all purpose flour, unless specified. As this is cooling it will form sugar crystals on the side of the pot. Keep stirring periodically with a wooden spoon until cooled.

The all purpose flour needs the baking soda the self-rising doesn't, that is the difference. In the back ground of this picture we have our baking pans for the cake. We are going to mix 3 cups of flour and 3 teaspoons of baking powder into our raisins. Then pour equal parts into the two pans.

Our recipe call for cooking in a pre-heated oven at 300 degrees for 40 minutes. On the Internet I was surprised that they said 375, for 20-30 minutes. Most of the time you cook on 350 degrees. I think with the raisins in the mixture, I like the 300 degrees as the way to go. Also, I saw a lot of recipes with out the frosting, which would make a great coffee cake. To me the frosting is the best part. So, while that is in the oven, go take a break while I chop some nuts.

Here we have Pecans and Walnuts. 2 cups, a cup of each chopped up fine. Now here is where things get tricky. We need 2 cups of brown sugar and 1 cup of white sugar. Take 2 sticks of margarine, and 3/4 cup of sweet milk. Back then they called whole milk sweet milk, and then you had butter milk. We are going to use 3/4 cup of evaporated milk from the can. Today's milk just isn't the same.

The Pecans we are going to set to the side and get out our pot for cooking on top of the stove. Our sugar, milk, and butter, we will bring to a boil. We will also have a bowl of cold water. The mixture will continue to boil for 12 minutes or so. As you stir let a drip fall into the cold water. When the frosting drip you drop into water is a small ball, it is ready. Then turn off burner and let cool.

This is the part where Grandmother is laughing at us looking down from heave, Ha, Ha, Grandma. I am showing a lot of pictures on this cake, so we get it right. But Grandma wrote and I quote, " but in vanilla beat a little, and spread". The frosting needs to cool completely and thicken. Add about 1/2 of your chopped nuts and stir in as it cools. Keep stirring as it thickens.

While our frosting is cooling, let's get the cake out of the oven. When the cake comes out will let it cool on our wire racks. We want the cake completely cool before putting on the frosting.

As you can see in the next photo, this frosting has not set up enough. This is where Grandma got us.

And here after we put the frosting on the cake, we take it back off and put it into the pot and stirred until it thickens. This is what it should look like.

As I end this story and I'm sure you got a laugh. Mom and I are laughing too. Because not only have we made Grandma's favorite cake for the first time, and shared it with you. With all the mistakes it is delicious, we had fun, and we will remember it forever.

I took the first picture of the cake to post in the Blog and when I got back, my piece of cake was gone. Have a great Thanksgiving, as always share with your friends and click on the ads. We thank-you very much. Cooking is fun.

Now to re-cap;

2 cups Brown Sugar

2 cups Hot Water

4 Tablespoon Butter (Margarine)

1 teaspoon each; Nutmeg (Apple Pie Spice)

All Spice

Cinnamon

2 cups Raisins

3 teaspoons Baking Soda

3 cups Flour

Frosting;

2 cups Brown Sugar

1 cup White Sugar

2 sticks Butter (Margarine)

3/4 cup Evaporated Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 cup Pecans

1 cup Walnuts

Fried Pork Chops -n- Rice and Gravy

2011-11-19T06:47:00.001-08:00

Fried Pork Chops -n- Rice and Gravy

Seems to me pork chops are getting thinner and thinner. I love gnaw-in on the pork chop bone. Around here you don't need a knife and fork when it come to poke chops, or chicken for that matter. Just reach down and pick it up. Where you think they got finger lick-in-good from. It sure wasn't from eating spaghetti. There is no bone in these, because I like to taste the pork in a pork chop. Once in a while I find a good thick pork chop with a bone, but it might be pork stakes. No they don't taste the same. Family packs, some times has a mixture of both. I separate out the pork stakes, and use them to cut up in beans and such.

First off we get out a large frying pan, pot, and a baking dish. That grease in the frying pan is from frying bacon. There in the picture with the salt and pepper, is a small kettle. That is for left over bacon grease only. Get you grease good and hot for fry-in. In your pot, put in the collie flour, and carrots. They need to cook longer than the broccoli. Your rice put in covered baking dish, 2 to 1, 2 water, to 1 rice. We use 1 cup of rice, if is just 2 of you, you might just want to make 1/2 a cup of rice.

We do this the same way we did in the Blog "Fried Green Tomatoes". Put some flour in a bag and shake each pork chop one at a time. You want a good coat of flour on each one before putting it into the hot grease. Make sure it is hot by dropping just a little flour in. If it is sizzle-in, then slid the pork chop in, like slide-in, in a hot tub. Don't just drop it in, that grease will pop all over you. You want these pork chops to stay on one side and cook awhile before flipping over. Talk about some thing looking good.

Look at it, just look at that frying in that pan. See the brown in the bottom of the frying pan that, is going to be the pride of your dinner. No lumpy gravy any more. No bad gravy here. After today, your friends will brag on your gravy. Today we are making brown gravy, there is white gravy, even red-eye grave. Red-eye grave is made using coffee, brown gravy is made with milk and water. I have made it with all milk for a creamer taste, and with just water, when I was out of milk. No matter which way you make it, it will not have lumps.

Now before you get to this point, put some water in a glass. When your pork chops are golden brown and crusty on both sides. Take them out and put on a plate, then cover with a upside down plate. Pour off some, but not all of your grease. Leave the brown crusty part, and about a tablespoon of grease in the pan. With the burner on medium heat, put in two heaping tablespoons of flour. Use the flour from the bag you coated the pork chops with. The important part is now. Mess this up and you'll have lumpy gravy. Stir in this flour real good making sure it is all dissolved. You can add more flour now if you need more, but after the milk goes in, that's it.

With the flour melted into the grease, add a cup of milk. Slowly pouring in the milk while stirring. Constantly stirring, and adding milk until the milk is gone. Now while still stirring add about 2 cups of water, With practice you will not measure this, and acquire a feel for it. You can stop stirring for a minute or so, but don't go far, as it will start thick-in-ing.

As you stir, get the gravy off the sides or it will start a film. Just keep stirring and add the secrete to brown gravy. Kitchen Bouquet, for browning and seasoning. You can fine it at your grocery store. Don't panic if you don't have any. That's how you make white gravy. You just learned how to make 2 different gravy's. Brown is for pork chops, hamburger, and chicken. White grave is for sausage gravy and biscuits, and hamburger gravy too.

Now, a word from our sponsor. I do not get paid for the products I use in my Blogs. Like this one and the other spices I use. It is just the things that it takes to cook in the south. The difference in the food you make, and every one wishes they could. That is why people will tell you, "Mine just don't taste the same". I do get a little sompin, sompin, when you click on the ads. I do thank-you for that. Now, back to lump free gravy.

When your gravy is just about thick enough, turn off the burner. If your gravy is getting to thick, with the glass of water you have, just add a little and keep stirring. Take the rice out of the oven when done and take the top off. Let the rice breath a minute, and take the top off the steamed veggies.

The main thing about steaming vegetables is not to cook them to long. Vegetables should be just done enough, not mushy. Well if everything went alright with the house is smell-in, and the food it ready. I must tell you this; As always share my Blogs with your friends, and click on the ads. I would show you a picture of this meal all plated up, but, well, I, it, this is all that is left.

Thanksgiving is an American Holiday

2011-11-17T06:14:00.001-08:00

Christmas time once again, but let's have Thanksgiving first. Every year I think of my father say Christmas is so commercialized. What if he could see it today. People putting up Christmas trees in their homes, and little kids coming to the door for trick-or-treat. Wal mart has Christmas and Halloween decorations, side by side. The corporate world, and black Friday. What has happen?

I saw a joke with a turkey telling Santa to get out of here, this was his day, pointing to the calender. Tradition has been that Thanksgiving is on a Thursday. Most people get a 4 day weekend, and that is when after stuffing their selves. They start getting the Christmas stuff out of the attic. Shoot, in some traditions the tree doesn't go up till Christmas eve. How is it that we forget what Thanksgiving is about.

Daphne is 9 years old, going to be 10. When I picked her up the other day, Christmas music was on the radio. She ask me to change the station. When I asked her why? She plainly said it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Now, this little girl loves to sing. Her dream in life is to be a singer, yet she knows it is to soon. We are still eating on her Halloween candy. When did Christmas stop being for kids, and stories of Reindeer, Elves, and Santa. When did Christmas become about corporate bottom lines, year end markets and such. What's more, what happen to stopping everything for one day out of the year to be thankful?

The leaves haven't stop falling out of the trees yet. Lets be thankful this year, a lot of people are seeing hard times. I think the corporate bottom line is doing just fine. I think the home front needs this Thanksgiving more than ever. Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock, 1620, Indians, we now call Native Americans. It is about the food. It is about, not only the food, but the harvest, the summer coming to an end. In some places the last chance to go out side with out freezing to death.

Since it is about the food, a must have is Sausage Balls. Easy to make, and high blood pressure or not, I love them. Bisquick, sausage, and cheese. That's it. 1 lb. of sausage, a package of mild cheddar cheese (12 oz.) and 2 1/2 cups Bisquick. Mix in a bowl until crumbly, then roll walnut size balls. Place on an un-greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Pile them high on a plate because I'll be eating them the whole time we are cooking.

No, I think maybe this year, we need to be thankful more than ever. More people are out of work, losing their homes, and the cost of every thing just goes up and up. Maybe as we enjoy family and friends, let's try think about the fact that Thanksgiving is an American thing. While looking threw "The Box" for recipes to share with you. I have come across one of my Grandmothers' it is called a War Cake. I think of her now reading the ingredients.

During WWII, there was rationing. My Grandmother came up threw the Great Depression. A lot of her ways, only having chicken on Sunday, or canning jelly's and jams. I still do some of it with my mother, but for her it was a necessity. She too has left us. She lived a long time, and did quite well. She lived off of some investments, and toward the end lived in a very nice retirement home. You don't see that much these day. Back then Banks paid you, to use your money.

Right now I guess just having a good job, is a lot to be thankful for. I feel this time now, is the ending of the year. Not New Years, but Thanksgiving, where the harvest of the year is celebrated. Like the War Cake, that; it something that should wait for Christmas. Thanksgiving is turkey, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Pecan pie too. This week we will be cleaning the ceiling fans, getting the house ready for company. This house will be full of family, with food on their minds.

Now for a good Thanksgiving cake we have Fresh Apple w/ Nuts. Get your mixing bowl out, we are going to put a little flour in our hair and on our nose. You know it has to look like we are working here. Blend 1 1/4 cups Mazola (cooking oil), 2 cups of sugar and 3 eggs together. Then slow mix in 3 cups of plain flour with a teaspoon each of baking soda, salt, and Cinnamon. With a wooden spoon fold in 1 cup of pecans, a teaspoon vanilla, and 3 cups of chopped up fresh apples.

Spray your tube-pan with vegetable oil, after you put your wax paper in the bottom. Fill with the mixture, and put in pre-heated oven, at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Do not open the door!

For the topping we are going to melt in a sauce pan 3/4 cup of lite brown sugar with 1/2 cup evaporated milk, and 1/4 cup of margarine. Pour this all over the top and down the sides. Sprinkle pecans all over the top. With the entire house smelling of brown sugar, and apples, every one can't help being thankful. Thankful to be getting a piece of that cake.

I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving with family, and friends. I hope your home is full of the smells, that truly make a wonderful holiday, called Thanksgiving. As always share with your friends, click on the ads. May there only be love and joy in your hearts.

Pecan Pie and Sweet Potato Souffle

2011-11-16T16:28:00.001-08:00

Yes it is my job to crack the nuts. When I was a kid my father would sit in his chair, and crack pecans. My Dad is no longer with us but I do think of him often. Things sure have changed since those days. When my Dad came home, he put on brown pajama pants, his t-shirt, and sat in his chair. He had a remote control, me. We had 3 VHF channels, plus 1 UHF channel, 4,7,13, and 21. The antenna was on a tall pole, I had to go outside and turn by hand. Rain or shine, even in the snow, I had to go outside and around the other side of the trailer, to turn it.

There are a few things about my father I'll never forget. He loved Banana Cream Pies. My mother had to make 2 of them when she made them. One pie was just for him, the 4 of us shared the other one. I have asked my mother to make one now, and she will not do it. I do know she made them quite often back then. At Thanksgiving, and Christmas it was Pecan Pies. My brother liked pumpkin, but I'm like my father. It's the Pecan Pie for me, and I crack the nuts now.

Something else about my father, he never complained about the grocery bill. We didn't have a lot, but we had food, and cloths on our backs. I know I heard stories about walking to school, up hill both ways. My dad was hard on us, and I got the business end of a belt, often. I was the oldest and was to know better. Any way I survived, just like a lot of us. I do think that today, there are many who could stand a trip to the wood shed. Some of them are running this country.

Today we get pie crust already made in an aluminum pie pan, and just have to make the filling. You can buy a Pecan Pie already made, but if you need more than one, make it. You can't have to many pies. First of all we will blend 3/4 of a cup of brown sugar with a tablespoon of butter. After that is smooth, add a cup of either dark or lite corn syrup, 3 eggs, and a dash of salt. Now, put in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and mix well. With your wooden spoon stir in 1 cup of chopped pecans.

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Pour mixture into pie pan of crust, and place in oven for 10 minutes. Then turn oven down to 350 until pie is set, about 35 minutes. Glad you made it, then go ahead and make another one. Now to use some more of the pecans, lets make a Sweet Potato Souffle. Everybody is going to love you this year.

With either 1 can of sweet potatoes, 3 cups of sweet potatoes after cooked. 1 cup of sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of milk, and 1/3 cup butter. 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon vanilla, mix all of these together with your mixer, till smooth. Pour ingredients into a casserole dish. Now for the Topping; 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and 1/3 cup of butter. Mix in 1 cup of pecans until crumbly and sprinkle on top. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees, then bake 25-30 minutes. With all the baking for Thanksgiving, you may not have to worry about pre-heating the oven. The pies and such, and then the turkey. The oven might not get cooled off for awhile.

As always please share this and all of my stories with your friends. If you would, please click the ads, leave comments, and join in as a follower. Happy Thanksgiving, if you are away from home invite friends over to share in food with you. God Bless.

Frogg Leggs

2011-11-16T10:00:00.001-08:00

          This is a true story, It just might be the reason some have said I was crazy. This story takes place in Lee County, North Carolina. Fort Bragg is where I was stationed in the army, and Spring Lake was where I went to school since 5th grade. My father was in the Air Force, at Pope AFB. After high school I join the Army there. These places were in Cumberland County, and everywhere was the military. Over in the next county was the country. So when I came home from Germany, and was out of the Army, this is where I lived.
           Hwy 87 ran from Spring Lake to Sanford, the brick capital of the South. At least that is what the sign said any way. Half way between the two was Carolina Springs Golf Course, and a junk yard. That was about it except for farms, and farmers ponds. This story is about those ponds. I have never done any fishing like it since. Some of the things we did, in hind sight, I would never do again.
           My best friend Smitty, bought 10 acres on the same dirt road the junk yard was on. Wooded land means no road in, and lots of trees to cut. Every weekend I was out at Smitty's cutting trees and drinking beer. We would have large bon-fires, and work out in the woods till late. We both knew McLeod up at the junk yard from getting parts. Smitty knew him all the way back in school. Smitty was older, he had been in Vietnam. I had gone in the Army as the war ended.
           Understanding all of that, we worked every weekend cutting trees. McLeod's junk yard was closed on Saturdays at 1o'clock. They had a backhoe, and road grader that we used cutting in the road. We worked very hard on this because, Smitty was paying rent where he lived, as well as for the land. The idea was to get his trailer moved as soon as possible. Then when we did get the trailer moved in, the work didn't stop. We just didn't have to work as hard on it.
           This is where the fishing comes in. We had permission to fish in about 4 or 5 different ponds in the area. These ponds were a good ways from the farm houses. The crop they mostly grew in this area was tobacco. Mid-summer when the tobacco was tall, we would even get into ponds, we didn't have permission. Sitting out in the middle of two counties, there wasn't any police around for 25 miles in any direction.
           Sometimes on a Friday night after drinking more than a few beers. We would load up a 22 rifle, and a crate that bags of milk came in at the mess hall. The crate had a door on it so the frogs couldn't get out. We new very little about frogs, or that we were suppose gig them, not shoot them. I must say learning was the fun part thinking back on it. We are out in a boat rowing around a pond at 2 am with rifle and a net. I'm holding the light on frogs, Smitty is shooting them. I stick the net into the reeds, and water, but getting nothing. I know he is hitting them but I'm not getting any in the net.
           This goes on quite awhile, until I start getting a few frog's in the net. The frogs have 3 and 4 bullet holes in their heads and still jumping around. You can not catch frogs with a gun. As the sun comes up Saturday morning we just start fishing. I catch a large mouth bass, and Smitty catches one bigger. We do this back and forth and it just stops as fast as it started. We go home with 5 nice bass and let the 3 or 4 frogs with the bullet holes in their heads go.
           Now, we have invested in a gig and a bamboo pole. This is also where I get the nick name snake bait. Some thing about my being in Special Forces, I thought I was Superman or something. I have had Smitty shoot snakes out between my legs, as I ran out of the marsh. One time I could not even get the word snake out. I put the light on the biggest frog ever. I went down an embankment, on the back side of the lake. Putting the light on the frog, Smitty behind me. I get to this frog, and the light moves.
           The light is shinning on the biggest water moccasin, coiled up and ready to strike this frog I just gigged. "SSSSnnnnnaakkeee, SSSSSSnnnnnnnnaaakkkeeeeee!" Don't Shoot! SSSSSnnnnn Smitty had a shotgun. We brought a shotgun, not the 22. I backed slowly backward up the embankment, took the gun from Smitty and shot. That snake skipped across the lake in dark. Yes I was scared. Not as scared as another friend was, who wanted to come see what we called fun.
           Tripp, who I went to high school with was in 82nd Airborne. We are suppose to be some of the toughest the United States Army has. Tripp's father was Special Forces, and the reason I joined the Army. Well, Tripp wanted to go, so we went to this pond where we caught the bass. Nothing dangerous, it is about midnight, we are rowing around the edges, shinning the light on the bank. We are drinking beers, talking about the different times we've had. I'm in the back of the boat rowing. Tripp is in front with light, Smitty in the middle, with the 22.
          Now, a little cove runs along side where the car is parked. It isn't much bigger than the driveway at your house. We are starting to enter this cove, as I row under a tree, that is hanging over the water. I see a snake drop down looking Tripp in eye, at eye level. I start back paddling as fast as I can. Smitty is twisting and turning, trying to get the gun free. Some how Tripp's leg is in the strap of the rifle. I am frantically backing the boat, and suddenly Tripp is gone. Tripp is gone, out of the boat and sitting on Smitty's car.
           This is the truth so help me, the car is 30 feet away from us, with 20 feet of water. Tripp is sitting on the car cussing us. He wants to go home, and we are in the boat laughing our asses off. I row the boat to shore, and Smitty, and I go up to Tripp and feel his pants legs and they are dry. I don't know if he flew, walked on water, or what but his pants were dry. Needless to say we went home, and Tripp never went with us again.
           Ever since then when I go to a restaurant, and see frog legs on the menu. I think back to these times, of plates piled high, with 20 or 30 frog legs, fried golden brown. No I have never ordered them from a restaurant, and I never plan to go gigging again. I must say I do get a smile on my face thinking of Tripp sitting on Smitty's car.
           As always please share with your friends, and click on the ads. The ads don't cost you anything, and each click helps us. Deer hunting has nothing on frogs, snakes, and a couple drunks on a farmers pond.

Egg Rolls

2011-11-14T12:37:00.001-08:00

I don't know about you but I love egg rolls and spring rolls. My high school sweet heart was Japanese. I must say she was as American as they come. Her mother was Japan- Japanese. Her father was Hawaiian- Japanese, a first Sergent in the army. Talk about a strict parent. If they got bad grades, it was a boot in the you know what for real. When I was little my father was stationed in Japan. Here is a picture of some of my fathers friends back then.

Now this girl in high school could not speak a word of Japanese, and never dressed like this. An Issei, is a Japanese person born in Japan. A Nisei, is a Japanese person outside of Japan. Now, a person born of these two is third generation Sansei. Later this girl became my wife and mother of my two girls. They are Yonsei, and what is neat my daughter studied Japanese in college. She went to Japan and tought English.

A little history there, other that egg rolls, I would not eat their food. Yes I was stupid, back then, if it didn't look good, I didn't eat it. I did not even try any of their food. Now, I wish I had. One day in her moms kitchen I saw an octopus trying to get out of a boiling pot of water. No I did not eat any of it, to this day I regret it. Kemchi, is another thing she made I would not eat. When they ate it, it was so hot you could smell it on them. I was 17 and didn't like hot food. How things have changed. Kemchi is cabbage fixed like sauerkraut, except very-very HOT.

The cabbage, we are going cut this in shreds, thin to put in the wraps. As you can see here I lost my job chopping. There are no onions in this, if there were onions, or peppers, I would be doing the cutting. We are going to cook this on the stove until tinder.

We are only going to cook 1/2 of the cabbage. Cabbage, is a staple food, It doesn't cost much and there are many ways to cook it. As you have seen I'll cook a whole cabbage just to eat with cornbread. Chow-chow is made with it too. Enough about that let's put on some shrimp. These little popcorn shrimp are perfect for this. Pre-cooked we are going to boil them just long enough to thaw. Spread a dish towel on the table. We will put the cabbage and shrimp on it the dry some.

Strain off your cabbage, and shrimp and place on towel.

This is the hard part for me, do not eat any shrimp they are for the egg rolls. OK what is the difference in egg rolls, and spring rolls? No, one doesn't have an egg and the other does. Spring rolls don't have meat, and egg rolls do. One thing is missing here, bean sprouts. O-well the grocery store didn't have them. The wraps can be found where you get the fresh cabbage in the store. Lay out some wax paper on your table to work on. Take one egg and scramble well in a bowl. You will paint egg on wrap to seal it closed.

This is not rocket science, you can do this. Every thing I show you, I use pictures to help you along. My favorite egg rolls are with sausage and some green peppers. You can use chicken, or pork too. All of these with meat in them are egg rolls. Ever how you do it is fine.

A little cabbage, a little shrimp.

We are moving a little fast here. Take your time and try not to tear the wraps by putting to much in them. Now all you have to do is heat up the Fry Daddy, Fry Baby, but you don't have one. Not a problem, fill a deep cooking pot with vegetable oil and heat it up for frying. If you do use a pot save your oil. The way I check oil to see if it is hot enough, is a drip of water. Be careful doing it this way, the oil will pop out on you.

We are going to have fried rice with our egg rolls. You need day old rice, we had to make some rice. I didn't know Mom had a 3X5 card for fried rice, I always just make it with what I have. Mine always has green peppers and onions. We are doing this by the card. 1/2 cup of shrimp chopped fine, but you can use ham, chicken, or pork. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. 3 oz can of mushrooms or fresh if you have them. 4 cups of rice, 1 chopped onion and after all this is stirred well, add 1 egg and continue stirring until cooked well.

Some thing else that goes real good is stir-fry. Today you can get the stir-fry vegetables in the frozen foods. A must have is a can of water chest nuts. I love water chest nuts, I could eat a whole can. Bamboo shoots too. When you start adding those, the price goes up.

We are on a budget, so it is just the fried-rice. We do have a pile of egg rolls to go with it.

Once again this is enough food for two nights. I hope you enjoy the food. I try to show just how easy, and fun cooking can be. Cooking like this does not cost that much, you feed a family, and smiles are free. Share this with your friends, and click on the ads to support the Blog. Become a follower and read all the blog's at Charles Kenneth's Corner.

Chocolate Pound Cake, "Occupy That"

2011-11-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

Chocolate, Who doesn't love Chocolate. Chocolate is a word that should always be capitalized. As a matter of fact, Chocolate should be written in bold letters. If you are in trouble with your wife, Chocolate. Girl friends is letting the answer machine take her calls, Chocolate. If they are both made at you, lots of Chocolate. If you want to make every one in your home, happy. Here is some serious bowl licking.

Pound cake is one of my favorite. It is not real sweet, yet it satisfies the sweet tooth. A chocolate cake is even better. Why it has not hit the Blog yet I don't know, but here it is. As always put your margarine sticks in your mixing bowl, and let sit while you get every thing ready. This is one of the times a little flour on your face is not necessary, this is going to take some time to make. The flour on the face is possible though. Today's flour doesn't need sifting, but that lets you know this recipe is old. It comes out of "The Box".

We have our bowl out and put 3 cups of Flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 cup of cocoa.

After stirring well with you wooden spoon, we get our bowl with the margarine. We are going to keep these 2 bowls separate. Setting the one with the flour to the side, out of the way. We put the one with the margarine in the microwave for about 10 to 15 seconds, or soft not melted. If you set it out early you don't have to nuke it. To this bowl put in 3 cups of sugar, and measure out Crisco.

We measure out 1 cup of Crisco, and mix with mixer until fluffy. Get out another bowl, and 5 eggs. this small bowl is to crack your eggs in one at a time. I'm not sure the reason why, except when you got eggs on the farm, they some times had blood in them. Plus it makes mixing easier. Put in 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Here is where it gets fun. Crack one egg at a time crack into small bowl. Put 1 cup of milk in measuring cup, and your bowl of flour, and cocoa mixture, all ready. We are going to add 1 egg, a little mixture, and a little milk and mix well. We are going to do this with all 5 eggs, one at a time. A little milk, a little flour, cocoa mix.

Are you Love-in-This

This next part, get out the cake pan with a hole in it. Now when I was young we bought groceries and brought them home in brown paper bags. Grandma would cut out the circle, with brown paper. We will use wax paper. This is so the cake will come out of the pan.

Now I folded my wax paper twice, and cut a 1/2 circle out of the corner to make the opening. This does not have to be perfect. Spray the inside with vegetable oil, and now I have made this cake as easy as I can, with pictures. The most important part is coming up. Who gets to lick the bowl?

Pre-heat you oven to 325 degrees. Not 350, most of the cooking we do is at 350, do not make this mistake that we did. The cake turned out good, and still moist. Just to let you know we make mistakes too. It turns out fine. A matter of fact, one of the best cakes my mother ever made, fail. Us kids playing and all. When the cake goes in the oven, no jumping up and down, or slamming doors. The cake will fall. Do not peak or open door to oven for 1 hour. Cooking time is 1 1/2 hour stick in tooth pick to check if done.

Peel the wax paper off, and let cool. Put on some coffee, or pour a glass of milk. After about 15 minutes or so have a slice of heaven while it is still warm. Chocolate Pound Cake now your new favorite.

I will leave you with one last picture. Please as always share this with a friend, cake taste better when you share it. Share this Blog with as many as you can too, and click on a few ads. Become a follower of Charles Kenneth's Corner, and collect recipes to put in your "The Box". Thank-you every one.

Walking the Walking Stick

2011-11-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you can hear the music, but I can hear it all over the back yard. Mostly Country, but it varies from time to time. This is the work shop, tool shed, catch all studio. Whether fixing the weed eater, tiller, or like today making a walking stick. With the weather here I'm able to work outside threw Christmas. If it does get cold I just make a fire. The little one likes the fires because she can make "Smores". I always keep a chocolate bar around just for that. With that I guess you are wondering what we are cooking. Well, get a pot out we are cooking "Great Northern Beans".

Now, if you are new. Go back to the story about fried green tomatoes, it will tell you all about making your cornbread. The rest of you loyal followers lets go out side, the leaves are changing.

That tree is changing every day, I don't have to ride to the mountains. The fall is all around. I raked up 8 bags of leaves the other day and put them around the Azalea's in front. Now, I hope you didn't need help with dried beans. If you did, fill pot with water, add a little salt, and add beans. The salt helps the water to boil, that might be a wives tale, but I do it any way. I love beans and cornbread. Ant no Jiffy in this house. A lot of people like sweet cornbread, and if you do, just add a little sugar to my recipe.

These trees are seen from the front porch. In talking with friends on the Internet, they already have snow sharks. What are snow sharks? Well that is when you are sitting on the porch, or looking out the window, and theirs one, theirs another one. Not really snowing yet, just a flake here, and a flake there. Around here it can do that all morning and not snow. Those are "Snow Sharks". Let's go find a good "walking stick", stick.

This one is Oak, I make a lot from cedar. Oak is a hard wood. Cedar is a hard wood too, but easier to carve. Oak is what they make baseball bats of. I make my own ax handles from oak. What you going to carve on it? Uncle Chuck, what you going to carve on it? Well the wood has to talk to me. I have no idea, I just start chopping with a machete, and using a rasp to shape it.

What you say I tell you a story. This is a true story. I have been making walking sticks for a long time now. Even made the local news paper. They came out to my house to do an article about my paintings of the passion of Christ done in a sculptured style on canvas. It was Easter time, they thought it was a good feature story, till .......... The photographer and reporter started asking about the walking sticks. For my second 15 sec. of fame. I had been in a news paper in North Carolina for the paintings and now at home for my walking sticks.

In the land where the stories of our Bible come from, the people watch after sheep. This story goes way back, back past Jesus. Past Moses, even Elijah may have had his, when he was carried up to heaven. Their staff. The staff was their testimony to God. The testimony of all the events in their lives good and bad. You see there were no books like we have today. The writing of that time was marks on clay tablets.

Shepherds would have a long staff with a hook, to grab a little one to keep it on path with the rest. It was strong to lean on on the long journeys to find grass. At night while it was quite he would take out his knife and carve the birth of a child. On his walking stick, he might carve the marriage, or death of a loved one. The testimony of his life was always with him. If he run across wild dogs, or robbers, it was his weapon. Then at the end of his life and he stood before his maker. He would hold his "Staff" or his "Walking Stick" high in the sky above his head and shout "This is my TESTIMONY to God of my Life"

This stick is starting to take shape. With a few curves here and there to give it, it's own personality. As you can see at top there, which is the bottom of the walking stick it is still rough. The rasp shapes it. I don't use any power tools to do this. I like it this way, I feel like I give a piece of myself to the wood and it gives piece of it back to me. Each one is different.

These are just a few, the last one there I gave my sister. She just had a hip replacement. From what I've heard about the surgery she won't need to use it much. Well, I've got this one with some stain on it, and as time goes by I'll carve on it. What it will be, I don't know yet. Some one might just ask to have it so they can carve it, who knows. One of these days, we all have to stand with a testimony.

If you would, please share this, and the other stories with your friends. Click on an ad or two, they won't cost you anything and they generate a small income for me and my stories. Leave comments, XXOO's and thank-you.

"Occupy the Kitchen" taking stock in food

2011-11-05T17:41:00.000-07:00

As it usually starts in the kitchen, I get out an onion, cutting board, and either a frying pan or a pot. This time it is going to be a pot of soup. We had tacos night before last. I made plenty ground beef so with what is left over we are going to make taco soup. We are going to make enough to put some up, the weather is starting to turn cold. Here in the south it is a wet rainy cold, that seems to get in your bones. Nothing is better than home made soup. Usually it consist of okra, corn, green beans, and such. Today is made in the same way, just the ingredients are different.

There is nothing like cutting into a fresh onion, chopping it up and putting it into a pot. The tears welled up in your eyes. That is a fresh one when the tears start to run down your cheek. You can't wipe your eyes till you finish cutting them up, now your nose starts running. Next you find yourself washing your hands, and blowing your nose. You're ready to go back to the kitchen to cook, sinus, clear.

I have some stuff left over from the tacos we had the other night, but you will need to brown 1 lb. of hamburger meat about 80% lean. I would do that first, and then add the onions and pour in 2 packages of taco mix. Also the whole green chile's in the can have to be cut into chunks. Something else left over, is some pinto beans from last night cabbage, that was left over from the corn beef. We don't waste no food around here. If you only have enough money for 2 pork chops and have 6 kids, you make stew.

If you have been following my blogs, you might have some of this home made salsa, if not you can use store bought. If you also didn't read the blog on canning tomatoes, you will need a large can of dices tomatoes. No, every one can't grow their own tomatoes, and peppers, but every one does need to stretch every dollar these days. Most of the food, stories about food, and/or recipes, are about getting the most for your money and still eating good. Now back to cooking. We have a bunch of cans to open.

In this pot we will add, can of corn, a can of dark red kidney beans, a can of white hominy, and a can of Frijoles Negros. My eyes pop every time I see that written in this day and time. Black beans, and if you buy the hominy, and black beans in the regular can food section, it's cheaper. Always trying to save money.

Whole Green Chile's

Left over Pintos

Think we need a

Bigger Pot

Corn, Chick Peas, Black-eye Peas

Dark Red Kidney Beans

Hominy, and the notorious black beans. Stir a pack of Ranch Salad Dressing Mix in, and let simmer. This is a lot of food, but you can freeze it. There is plenty here if you have young kids a growing, or a student in college with friends. When I was first starting out I would cook every Sunday.

Working construction jobs 6 days a week, Sundays were for cooking, drinking some beers, but mostly cooking. I would cook fry ed chicken, make a meat loaf, green beans, rice and gravy. I would 3 or 4 dishes all at once. You see, just fixing this big pot of Taco Soup. I would eat all day,a little bit of this and that, a little of everything I was cooking. Girls loved to come over on my day off. Monday was back to 10 or 12 hour days until next Sunday.

I would pack a lunch to heat in the microwave, or most times just eat it room temperature. At night I would come back home to a hot shower, a few cold beers, and food ready to eat. While the other guys ate at fast food joints for lunch, or going out at night, I liked my cooking. I just wish had been smart about money in other ways too. Even today I can get the most for my money in the grocery store. It pays to know how to make the food last too.

You know me, the bowl I fix for myself will have 2, or 3 Hot Peppers. A Tabasco, or a cayenne, maybe both. Hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy bringing it to you. Healthy food, the sticks to your ribs kind, so to speak. As always please share my blog with your friends as I reach a mile stone of 1000 views this week. Once again thank-you.

Southern Slow-Cooking Bar-B-Q Ribs

2011-10-30T14:28:00.000-07:00

You do not have to be a great cook, to cook pork ribs that fall off the bone. You can even have a meal like this on a work night. With a little planning, it is easy. First of all, ribs are not just a summer thing, and ribs don't always have to be cooked on a grill. After reading this blog, you may never cook ribs any other way.

A Northeaster, moved in last night, and yesterday. The drop in temperature caused the smoke alarm to go off. This happen last year and scared the you know what out of us. Five years ago, our house burned the eve of Christmas Eve at 1 o'clock in the morning. The old heater never did it, but well, this is not the other house either. Enough of that.

As I always tell the young one, " Back in the cowboy days, when I was young we............". We were able to buy pork ribs cheap. Thanks to the Blacks in the South, we have slow cooked ribs that fall off the bone. Guess first we need to catch ribs on sale, because they are not cheap any more. Someone went and let the secret out. The thing is, I have gone to so many cookouts where they ruined the ribs. I could just cry, it is a sin to ruin the ribs. Bar-B-Q is not about the sauce.

Now, buying ribs in the store is easy. People ask me how to pick ribs, because theirs are tough, and I say I pick by price. They are ribs, you are buying a bunch of bones with a little meat on them. Try to get as much meat as you can, but they are really all the same. The whole thing in a nut shell is, they just was never told the right way to cook them. While you are at the store to look at spices. Don't freak out their are 100's to pick from, just like sauces. I always hear that in the south they use a mustard Bar-B-Q sauce. I never have, not that they are not good too. It is all up to taste, and I like to change it up. Bar-B-Q, and Bar-B-Q sauce, are two different things. Bar-B-Q, is the cooking of meat, slow. Grilling is what you do cooking hamburgers in the back yard. Bar-B-Q, can be done on a grill, or in the oven in your house. A Gas Grill is the same as cooking in the house except no flies. Charcoal Grilling, or better yet,Oak, or Hickory, wood make good Bar-B-Q.

We are going to cook our ribs in the oven. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees, and take the ribs out of the package, and place in baking pan. Your ribs will be great if all you do is this, and cover with tin foil. In the spice department in your grocery store, they have all kinds of rubs. I have three different ones in my cabinet. One for chicken, one pork, and one called Sweet and Smoky, for ribs. Do Not put sauce on it yet, but you can put rub. Place the covered pan in the oven, and close the door. Now, what next? In about 15 or 20 minutes come back and turn the oven down to 200 degrees, then it is up to you.

We are cooking slow, I mean take the kids to the park slow. If you want to be gone all day, turn it down to 125-150. We are going to keep ours at 200, and put some collards on, to put in the freezer. Right now I going to tell you how to make the best bake potato ever. Take that scrubber thing like you use on pots, and pans, hopefully a new one. Under running water scrub the outside of the potato vigorously. Then take a fork and poke forty, eleven, million, holes into the potatoes. Place each potato in a square of aluminum with a 1/4 stick of margarine on each side. Seal, margarine and potato, and place in oven with ribs. Do this before turning the temperature down, and cook together. Yum mm.

While you go read a good book, and enjoy this beautiful day. I'm going outside in this crisp-Autumn air, and wash greens. I have been putting them in the freeze all week. Today is a mixture, of greens. Spinach, and Mustard Greens, to go with the mushrooms and cherry tomatoes I bought, and make a salad. I find washing them in 5 gal. buckets is best, and keeps the mess outside. Washing, back and forth 4 to 6 times, gets all the dirt off, and ready to cook.

After removing stems, leaves from the trees, and anything else that doesn't belong, they are ready to cook. This takes a long time so, now still with time on my hands, I'm going to crack pecans. Every year at this time I crack nuts, well pecans, for cooking. Received a bag of pecans from some local trees, and that makes it even better. Local grocery stores have them already cracked, and quite often we buy them. The first one I cracked was rotten, as were others, but I did get this bag full. Plus, the best part is I got to eat some.

One nice thing is, hopefully, something good is on TV. This being Halloween weekend every thing is zombies. I'm not much on gore, but what shah-gonna-do. One thing is, I bought a pack of brownie mix for a dollar, at the Dollar Store. They don't make that many, but they had packs of; peanut butter, sugar, chocolate chip cookie, and brownie mix. I bought one of each. Put a hand full of pecans in the chopper, and added it to the brownie mix. Sorry no picture, with ever thing we are cooking I thought it would be to much for you.

OK, let us speed this up 3, or 4 hours, and check on those ribs. We have the greens on top of the stove smelling up the house, with wonderful flavors. Open the oven door, and you have pleasure written all over your face. Use pot holders, and set it on top of the stove. Now is the time to put on the sauce. Once again it is all a matter of taste, and you don't have to add sauce. The true taste of that slow cooking, is great all by it self. Now that is Bar-B-Q!

We, are going to use KC Masterpiece, on this masterpiece. I should get paid for plugging them, but I don't. That is just what I like. Like I said before, it is not sauce that makes good Bar-B-Q, it is slow cooking. Now, pour off some of the juice, and spread generous amount of sauce. Put the tinfoil back on, and turn the oven up to 350 degree for about 30 minutes. Every one in the house is saying when are we going to eat? Just tell um, it il-be ready, when I say it's ready, and not before. Then go back to reading your book knowing you are the master of the universe.

After 30 minutes or so, take the ribs back out. Re-move the tin foil, spread some more sauce, and place back in oven without the foil. Turn the oven to 450 for about 20 minutes. Watch inside the oven, for the sauce to dry up some. Add butter toast or french bread, and take out potatoes. I hope at some point you made the salad, because I forgot to add it to the blog.

If you have never had Bar-B-Q, that falls off the bone before, do not try to remove the ribs from pan to serve. Serve it right from the pan on the stove. Trust me, no one will mind. Just tell them to get in line, behind you. Notice when you open the foil off of your potato, the moist yellow color from the butter. Eat it skin and all, it is much better for you that way. The ribs I bought, were not on sale, and just $13.00. This is a meal for two days at my house. I bought a Corn beef, that same day for $9.00. Guess what my next blog is?

Finger Lick-en

The Money Masters and Who Shot JR?????

2011-10-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

This is a painting of my Aunt Maude's house at the turn of the century. I have a lot of memories of that house when I was a kid. The very first painting I ever did was of that house. Their was a barn up on the hill behind it. We would sit in the top, at the back of it at night, and down the hill on the back side was the dirt race track. In the 60's you could hear um all over the country side. I only got to go to the race a couple times. The best seat was in Aunt Maude's barn you could see everything from up there. When we actually went we came home covered in red dust. Red mud all over our shoes and in the car, paints and cloths. Today their NasCar has nothing on that dirt track, they never even stopped for rain. No that was when the race really was good, and from the barn we were dry.

This was a great place to be a kid. There was two or three old cars from the 1930's with bullet holes all in them. Look like Bonnie and Clyde's, or maybe Dillinger's cars. Farm family is where I come from. Not farms like out west who feed the whole country. Farm family, that we would go to Aunt Maud's house and the woman sit around a table and snap beans. I can hear her lace up black shoes on the wood floors. Her stockings down around her ankles, clomp, clomp, clomp. I'm not sure but this kitchen I think, was her back porch at one time. It had a small bathroom to the left, as you came in the back door, and the kitchen was to the right. There was a big sink, with the old hand pump. The sink was deep enough to wash a whole bushel of corn.

In my minds eye, I can still see her out the field of corn right beside her house. She is bent over at the waist, stocking around her ankles, watering the corn with a cup. A cup, and a bucket of water, giving each stalk a drink. If it was Sunday, then we were at Aunt Maude's house. My Grandmother, running a knife down ears of corn. That's cream corn, green beans, a chicken frying, and home made biscuits. The only time we were aloud in the house was to eat, or the weather was bad.

The table always had a table cloth, and the silverware was silver. The rooms all had coal stoves, and the lights were just a single bulb hanging from the center of the ceiling. It was dark in the house even in the middle of the day. In the hall, and in the living room, was a Victrola, and 78 records. A hall run the middle of the house, out on to the front porch. Out there was a porch swing, and some oak rocking chairs. All the pictures on the walls had bubble glass, and were from, like the first camera ever made.

Now, about 3 miles down Jones Mill Road is the mill. Papa Jones, house sat up on a hill and down by the creek was the Grit's Mill. My uncle Jim Jones lived there, and it was another house where you had to play outside. Now, just like Aunt Maude's house it had a long drive way up to the house. I didn't realize at the time, but the stage coach line ran up close to the houses. It was when they cut the black top road, they straighten it out. My Great Grandpa had to buy land from the man across the street, to get to his mailbox.

I thought every one was so old. They wore dresses they must have made, and their shoes black leather. A working out house, us kids had to use, part of the staying out side thing. Grandma would say we were to be seen, and not heard. No talking at the dinner table at all, or the back of a spoon across your knuckles. Coming in all black in your Sunday best cloths, from playing in the coal bend.

You know that was not really that long ago. The world sure has change though. "Occupy Wall Street", all over the news. "Occupy Government", "Occupy Earth", how did we let just a few smart bankers do this. This place and this town called Fountain Inn, is more than just paintings.

Just like this old buckboard, and that old dirt track, it is gone. How is it that all of this has happened in so short of a time. Back then $50.00 was a lot of money, now every one wants to be a millionaire. I watched at first when these young people started protesting and none of it was getting into the news. TV stations, news papers, no one was talking. I started asking questions, and not getting answers.

Now, there is nothing that will stir me up more, than to ignore me. Or worse tell me it is nothing, when I know it's something. I started looking into this "Occupy" mess. After about three weeks it finally was put on the TV news. Nothing but a bunch of college kids that want the American people to pay for their college loans, won't get a job, and just want to draw unemployment. None of these protesters even know what they want. They are not organized. This could be nothing farther from the truth.

Now, just when we started realizing that Democrats and Republicans have been doing nothing but disagree on everything. The Republicans have put the entire country out of work, trying to get Obama out of the White House. These young people, occupying Wall Street, and they are not just young people. It is not just in NY City any more either. It is all over the country, the news has to notice now. So, what can we do? I started researching how it is that corporate America got so powerful. In order to fix it, we need to know what broke it to start with.

Why is it there is a news black out? It is not just this occupy wall street thing. Think about the fact there is no Watergate stories. Viet-Nam was in the news every night, and we have soldiers coming home with missing arms and legs, and none of it on TV. Then all of a sudden I got the answers I was looking for, in a 3 1/2 hour video on you tube. It was called "Money Masters", and like who shot JR, things started making sense. Hell I figured out who shot JFK, Abraham Lincoln, and what caused the great depression.

"Money Masters" You would think if some thing like this is on you tube, every body would know about it. Then after you see it, and learn the truth, why hasn't someone fixed it long time ago. I don't, but I know now, it just might be to late. Is it that our presidents, congress, all of them are apart of it. Have they pulled the cash out of the economy, caused banks to fail, and sent our jobs away, just to show how powerful they are. I was wondering how in the world China even got our debt. The money changers. The only thing that made Jesus lose his temper was the money changers. The Knights Templar, started banking. The masters of money, own the whole world. There is no Gold in Ft. Knox. With interest, and credit, they have indebted the United States. They wiped out Russia's economy, and by using China's cheap labor, the US will follow.

There is a way to stop this if it is not to late. The first thing we need to do is bring back Abraham Lincoln's greenback's. If our government can issue bonds, it can issue cash. CASH that is interest free. Use these newly created cash notes to pay off the debt. 2nd and the most important, abolish fractional reserve banking. As the debt is paid off, the reserve requirements of all banks and financial institutions would be raised proportionally at the same time. To absorb the new cash notes. And 3rd, a bill, or act, was put threw congress, and signed by the president, with out most of congress even there, they were on Christmas break. This was the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. After abolishing the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, and the National Banking Act of 1864, we must never let this happen again. Now, finally we must withdraw the United States from the IMF, the BIS, and the World Bank.

Considering that these people who are running our country have been at it 100 years, I don't think they are just going to let us stop them that easy. Look at how Moammar Gadhafi, or Osama Bi Laden died. You know now that being Democratic or Republican doesn't make any difference any more, they both have sold us out. If we are lucky enough to find a few honest people to put in Congress. Think about the fact they robbed Ft. Knox right under our noses. Another depression is possible if they so wish it. We must have our own interest free cash notes. We have to have someone not afraid of assassination, and figure out how to protect them, if we find them.
No just making a bunch of signs and sitting in some park is not going the undo what has been done. I hope the country is prepared to go threw what it will take to fix it. If it is not to late.

Taking Applications

2011-10-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

With so much going on with all this "Occupy" stuff, I made a statement "Occupy Earth". That is exactly what it is starting to look like. I complained that it was not being covered by the media, then after 3 weeks it started to spread. I too, have been unemployed for an extended time. I have never in my life collected unemployment. Being a Painter, has really become one of those hindsight deals. In hindsight, Paint companies didn't withhold taxes. Paint companies had no insurance. When you finished painting something, you moved on to the next job, or company. After 30 years my resume is like 3 pages long.
Toward the end of the time where I was working, It started with jobs where I had more experience that my bosses. Home owners would bring their questions about the job to me, instead of the owner of the company. Not good, I would have to let me go too. Then there was the jobs where I was exploited. After years of painting, I have become very efficient with spray painting, or brush and roll. I end up painting jobs all by myself, which is hard on a person day in and day out. Might as well go back into business myself.
Filling out applications, God I hate it. It is like trying to remember all the places I have lived. One thing I hate is the social security number. It was meant for the collection of money from you, and your employer for retirement. We all know that our government stole from it, till it was all gone. Now, they try to make us think that social security is like welfare. How in the world has it become that our social security number is used for credit checks, and your credit score prevents you from getting a job.
Now my daddy taught me to be a man of my word. If I must have credit, pay it on time, and pay it off as soon as possible. To live within my means, if I wanted something, save for it. All of that seems to be thrown out the window today. Since social security is gone, our government has borrowed trillions, not billions, but trillions, with a "T", from China, a communist country.
I feel like Rip-van-winkle, who has some how just woke up. I have never worn a suit, except to church. Now I'm suppose ware one to fill out an application, or interview for a job, they have no intention giving me. The application process is plain out job
discrimination, plain and simple. How else is it that 350 people apply for a job, no one gets hired, and 600 apply the following month. That many people did not fail the drug test.
Now, they have sent troops to Africa. This "Occupy Wall Street" was not put on TV, or in the news for 3 weeks. Then when it was it was portrayed as just kids with no jobs, wanting to freeload on taxpayers. Wanting free college, and paid to be unemployed. How naive and stupid can you be. You tell me I need to go back to school. They got out of college with loans to pay, and their jobs have been sent over seas. It is not an education factor, when the jobs were sent to Mexico, or China. It was cheap labor, child labor, and no environmental restrictions. Corporate greed, plain and simple.
These are not Democrats, or Republicans. This movement is for radical reform of the entire election process. The whole song and dance of who can raise the most money wins. The 99%, plan to end the collusion between corporations, and politicians. What is going to happen when these police officers go home, and realize they are part of the 99% them selves. A lot of talk about the white shirt police officers. Corporation rent a cop, off our tax dollars. These police officers have wives, and children, who see them as human, and love them. This all is quickly becoming "Occupy Earth".
It was only a few months ago that our government threaten to not pay our military their checks. Our fighting men and woman, have not forgotten that. Bill Clinton said at his birthday, "It is not just going to be what we do about America, but what we do about America, and the World. I find it inspiring that there is no leader or hierarchy, no specific agenda, no ties to a political party. This is truly grass roots. The way this country was formed. We all need to get our voice into Democracy. Democracy is not for sitting on the side lines. We have a obligation to our children, and our selves, to get involved. I would be afraid of any one who said he had all the answers, but We the People can. This is the time for America to really set the example for the world.

Some of the best recipes in Grandma's box

2011-09-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

I was sitting here thinking about what would make as good a story as the last one. Chocolate is a hard subject to follow up. In Mom comes with one of her recipe books. She knows I enjoy reading in them, but this time she wanted me to share it with you. The recipes I have been sharing are hers, because she is responsible for teaching me to cook. Long before Hamburger Helper came along, there was Chuck-a-roni. A little dish I invented when I was 12. I grilled hamburger, onions, and green peppers, then I added Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Just think of all the royalties I have lost out on. I hope by sharing these recipes, and stories on this blog, that people enjoy cooking them and share the stories with their friends, and familey's.

Now the best recipes of any recipe book

GOD SOUFFLE

1 cup Loyalty

1 1/2 cup Friendship

2 cups Prayers

10 cups Love

Stir ingredients until smooth. Add hope and respect. Sprinkle with joy. Bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees or until overflowing. Servings:

Unlimited, enough for everyone

by Linda Walters

BIBLE CAKE

2 cups Judges 5:25

3 1/2 cups Exodus 29:2

3 cups Jeremiah 6:20

2 cups 1 Samuel 30:12

2 cup Nahum 3:12

1/2 cup Judges 4:19

1 cup Genesis 43:11

6 cups Isaiah 10:14

2 tsp. 1 Corinthians 5:6

1 Tbsp. 1 Samuel 14:25

season to taste with 1 Kings 10:10

and Leviticus 2:13

Follow Solomon's advice for making good boys and you will have a good cake. Look up the ingredients in the Bible.

by Hester Donald, Seneca Florence Childress

HOW TO PRESERVE A HUSBAND

Be careful in your selection. Don't choose too young and take only such as have been reared in good moral atmosphere. Make your selections carefully and let it be final. Do not go to market for him, as the best are always brought to your door.

When once decided upon, give your entire thought to preparation for domestic use. Like wine, they improve with age.

Do not pickle or put in hot water, as this makes them sour or bitter. Do not freeze, as this hardens them. They are also unsuited to roasting or putting in a stew.

Prepare as follows: Garnish with patience. Sweeten generously with smiles. Flavor with kisses and spice with laughter. Wrap carefully in charity and keep warm over a good fire of steady devotion. Serve with peaches and cream. Thus prepared, even the poorest varieties may become prize specimens and will keep well for years.

written by Jean Beacham, and Mary Coward as well as the next 2

HAPPINESS CAKE

1 cup good thoughts

1 cup kind deeds

1 cup consideration for others

2 cups sacrifice

2 cups well beaten faults

3 cups forgiveness

Mix thoroughly. Add tears of joy, sorrow and sympathy. Flavor with love and kindness. Fold in 4 cups of prayer and faith. Blend well. Fold into daily life. Bake well with the warmth of human kindness and service with a smile anytime. It will satisfy the hunger of starved souls.

RECIPE FOR MAKING A GOOD HOME

Take 1 cup of friendship, add 1 cup of thoughtfulness. Mix well with a pinch of powdered tenderness, lightly beaten into a bowl of loyality to which has been added 1 cup of faith, 1 cup of hope and 1 cup of charity. Be sure to add a teaspoon of gaiety that sings and the ability to laugh at little things. Moisten with sudden tears and heartfelt sympathy. Bake in a good-natured pan.

Pat Daugherty leaves us with a wonderful recipe for Christmas, and as Christmas gifts.

CHRISTMAS AROMA

3 (4inch) cinnamon sticks

1/2 cup whole cloves

3 bay leaves

1 or 2 lemmons cut in 1/2

Combine in a saucepan, bring to boil in a quart of water. Creates a nice fragrant atmosphere.

There are many suprizes in a recipe box. Some times, just the right ingredents to make a house, a home. How about a new word, like dredge, means to flour meat, like chicken for frying.

As always; thank-you for reading Charles Kenneth's Corner, and share with your friends. I hope you enjoyed it.