Skillet Cooking

Think about being the 'woman of the house' in 1875 and getting ready to move west, whether to Texas or even on out to California. There are no fast food joints along the way. All the cooking will be done on the trail. Trail fare will mostly be bacon, beans, biscuits, cornbread, and possibly pancakes, or gruel.

If she was taking no other cooking implement with her, the woman would take her skillet, or, as some might called it, frying pan. She would use it to fry her bacon and make her cornbread over an open campfire, with smoke in her eyes and children running through the camp. I love to read, and write, about those adventures, but I am thankful for my own kitchen.

I think of those women every time I use my old cast iron skillet. It is a staple in my country kitchen. My favorite skillet is fairly old, though not old enough to have been 'on the trail' with anyone. My grandmother bought it about 45 years ago at a yard sale in California . She passed it on to me when I married 31 years ago. Maybe someday I will pass it on to one of my daughters, or maybe a granddaughter.

Do you have an old skillet that you love to use?

I'd like to share the recipe for our favorite skillet cake. Hope you enjoy it! To clarify, there is no baking powder or baking soda in this recipe.

Grease your skillet very well, or line it with aluminum foil and grease that. The foil can be used to life the cake out of the skillet.

Pecan Skillet Cake

1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 sticks of butter, melted
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vanilla flavoring
1 cup of chopped pecans, divided
2 tablespoons of sugar

Preheat oven to 350 and grease skillet.

Stir sugar into melted butter. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add flour and salt to batter, mixing well. Stir in vanilla and a half cup of chopped pecans. Spread in skillet. Top batter with the rest of the pecans and 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes, until top is slightly browned. Cool in skillet. Remove and enjoy! Do not overbake to point of dryness--this is a heavy cake and should be slightly doughy and moist inside.

Summer Reading

Summer weather is almost here! Our weatherman says that we will reach 100 degrees by the end of next week. Whew! I'm not sure I'm ready for that, just yet. Still, the warmth is welcome after such a long winter for us.

Have you made your summer reading list, yet? It's such a perfect time of year to sit in the shade in a comfy lounge chair, or, my favorite, sit on the porch swing and enjoy the cool morning air before the heat takes hold for the day.

I usually re-read a few books every summer. One of them is Shepherd of the Hills, by Harold Bell Wright. It is such an old-fashioned book and I love reading the old style of writing. The Branson area is one of my favorite summer destinations and this book always brings the beautiful area to mind.

I hope you are having a wonderful to start to summer:)

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

Happy Sunday

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God  I Corinthians 1:18 KJV

Homemade

Do you enjoy reading about the day to day activities of our fore mothers? I've always liked to read about pioneer women. In fact, Pioneer Women, Voices From The Kansas Frontier, by Joanna L. Stratton, is one of my favorite books. Can you imagine living in a dugout house with a dirt ceiling, dirt walls, and a dirt floor? No wonder they covered the ceiling with sheeting and papered the walls.

After reading about those brave women, I have a lot of sympathy for Ma Ingalls and her dislike of that dugout they were in for a while, despite Laura Ingalls Wilder's enthusiasm for the little home. The thought of snakes dropping through the ceiling is a little too much for me!

There are some aspects of their lives that I enjoy--making bread, soap, and cooking on a woodstove. Although my woodstove is really a stove for heating the house, I can cook on it in the winter. A Dutch oven filled with a roast, potatoes, onions, and carrots makes a wonderful supper!

What is your favorite pioneer woman book? And what aspects of their lives do you enjoy reading about and maybe like to 'copy' today?

Thank You!

A big thank you to all my fans on the enthusiastic comments about my new e-book, The Sweetgrass Bride! It is a joy getting to 'meet' all of you through cyberspace. And I love hearing from each and everyone of you.

In the coming weeks, I will be telling you more about the third book in the series--title pending, as yet, that will be out later this summer. Now that the older Murphy brothers are married, it is time for younger brother, Mark, to have his story told. This e-book will be a tad longer than the other two due to so many of your requests for a story with more detail.

I hope you are all having a great week.

Happy reading!

Book Release for June Foster

June Foster's third book is finally out! Enjoy, everyone!

Join us in celebrating the launch and release of June Foster's book, Deliver Us, Book Three in the Bellewood Series. Releasing April 1st from Desert Breeze Publishing

About the book:

The young fraternity man who coaxed Jillian Coleman upstairs that night is only a blur in her memory. Now she lives with the unrelenting guilt that she aborted her baby. God might forgive her, but she can't forgive herself. As Bellewood's premier gynecologist, she hopes to open the Jeremiah House to offer teen girls an abortion alternative. Though the handsome and successful Dr. Jett Camp wants to marry Jillian, he believes her plan is a waste of her skills.

Riley Mathis spent ten years in jail for dealing drugs. Now as a Christian, he's trying to put his life back together. Working as a janitor at night, he attends college by day. When he meets Dr. Coleman, he recognizes her from the sapphire necklace she wore the night he stole something precious from her. When she confesses the choice she made to abort her baby, Riley can't tell her he's the father of her child.

About the author:

June Foster is a retired school teacher, who until recently traveled full time with her husband, living in their RV. Now settled in Alabama, they are enjoying their new home, and being close to family.

Free Read

Today on Amazon, Kate's Kisses (Sweet Treats Bakery, is free on kindle books! Click that Buy Now button and enjoy one of Mary Manner's sweet romance novellas!