a tale of tails, tenacity, and tedium, as told by me, usually barefoot and bellowing

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Hoecakes and Strawberry Shortcake...

It's been a busy week  Working all week.  There's that retirement thing I NEED to talk about again!

Toni, my nephew, has been staying with us.  The slave labor we have provided has been returned in kind by Toni and Andrew cooking dinner each night.

We've had poke salad and fresh garden salad.  We've had pork ribs, pork pasta and pulled barbecued pork.  We had pasta with cheese and corn, baked potatoes, zucchini, hoecakes and fresh strawberries with cake.  Not all at one meal and not in this combination but through out this week after we labored and moved Toni's storage items to the shop.

Toni taught me a  few tricks about cooking he has picked up in his world travels and I taught Andrew and Toni some old cooking tricks handed down for generations.

Andrew thought I was talking dirty when I asked if they wanted Hoecakes with their greens.  I showed the guys how to make them.  THEN I googled the name.  By golly, I had it right.  I made them the same way Paula Deen did.  The recipe wasn't written down but stored in my head as it has been for generations.
Toni shared how they cooked pork ribs quickly in Guam and I demonstrated how to make glaze for a cake. Andrew made the cake, I made the glaze, Toni dressed and cut the berries while Cool Whip made the topping.  I think this looks better than Paula Deen's.


My two best kept secrets in the kitchen are spraying the cake pan with olive oil and using sugar instead of flour to coat the pan.  The cake still turns loose and you  have a little caramel on the bottom. The second secret was from Uncle Grover who cooked in the Army and afterwards cooked in a restaurant for years. Drop the pan. Repeatedly. That's the secret. Drop the pan to settle the big air bubbles from the cake. This allows the cake to rise evenly.

So after a long hot exhausting day a meal cooked together just makes you feel like you are home. Then there's game time after the table cleared.  I have forgotten I had a tv.
Oh, and eat your heart out, Paula Deen!

12 comments:

DFW said...

Sounds like the perfect night! Plus I am starving right now while my husband prepare a healthy meal of fish, asparagus & wild rice. Sounds better than I bet it will taste, even though he is an amazing cook.

jp@A Green Ridge said...

LOL about dropping the pan...been doing that for years!!!...:)JP

Ginny Hartzler said...

All your meals sound SO good!!! I will try the sugar in the pan! I have also heard to use cocoa powder if it is a chocolate cake. You and your nephew are having a marvelous time!! And with no T.V. or computers!

LindaG said...

I needed to know that about the pan and cakes, a long time ago!
Your stuff definitely looks better than Paula Deen's. :-)
I loved playing board games or family games. Hubby didn't grow up that way.

And your own live music!
Hope you all have a wonderful week!

TexWisGirl said...

it truly sounds like an awesome time you ALL are having. that kind of family time is the best.

Irene said...

I like the fact that Andrew is learning how to cook and bake. There is nothing better than a domestically independent young man who can take care of himself. You are doing a good job. xox

DesertHen said...

I think that sounds like a fair trade for all of that work!

I haven't had hoecakes in years! Mom used to make them once in awhile for us when dad would request them. I should ask her for her recipe.

Just today, I made a strawberry pie! I picked up a case of them yesterday! I like your tips and will try them!

Josie Two Shoes said...

What a delightful post, and what an awesome way for family to come together, sharing old and new ways, making meals together. I really can't think of anything nicer, and board games as a finish just top that off! I love how deep the river of family and tradition runs at your house, I am hoping the young ones will carry on when you have passed!

MadSnapper said...

i had fun reading about your fun... i would much rather do hard work than cook.. you are helping each other and enjoying it..it all looks and sounds delish. my daddy taught me to make hoecakes, they are so easy... i am wondering what yours are made from... mine is nothing but flour/egg/milk...

Sketching with Dogs said...

My mouth is watering now!
Lynne x

Lynne said...

You make it sound real, fun, great food and best of all a real sense of family helping one another . . .
Relaxing week ahead?

Sandy Livesay said...

I'm hurrying to get to your place for the hoe cakes and the strawberry short cake........

I'm out of breath, lol

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