Good Cookin'!

What do you mean, you don't know how to

 bake a cake?

I always told my boys to be sure to marry a girl who could cook! However, just in case they happened to fall in love with someone who had never rattled those pots and pans, I ensured THEY could survive on their OWN cooking skills. I have been constantly amazed over the past few years of the number of young women I have talked with who had no cooking skills whatsoever. They had no desire to learn the art of baking a cake or whipping up a southern casserole, make a Sunday pot roast or serve up buttermilk biscuits for a weekend breakfast! WHAT?? No little darlin's, this will never do...not when you marry one of my boys! As I recall my own childhood, Mother had both Miss Judy and I in the kitchen attached to her apron strings, helping measure, sift, shake and bake! Seriously, as small children, it was not unusual to know how to scramble eggs, mix up brownies for Daddy or prepare an Italian dinner of spaghetti! I don't know where women dropped the ball on teaching their babies to bake and cook, but it's a life lesson we practiced from a long lineage of good cooks! So, from the Divine Miss M (who has surpassed her Mom in the kitchen) all the way down to the last baby, Rob.....the guys and dolls from Estelle's are known for "puttin on the grits!"

One of the best and easiest cakes to prepare for Baking Lesson #101

Vintage Busy Day Cake

1 1/3 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

 Broiled Coconut Topping

Grease an 8” x 8” baking pan and set it aside. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, and sugar. Add milk, butter, egg, and vanilla. Beat on low speed until combined. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Spread the Broiled Coconut Topping over the warm cake. Broil about 4 inches from heat for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack and serve warm.

BROILED COCONUT TOPPING

Mix 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 2 T softened butter until combined.

Stir in 1 T milk. Stir in 1/2 cup flaked coconut and 1/4 cup chopped Pecans.