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.
If you have the time, come on over to follow, and check out my new Happy (Dusty) Trails blog. There will be posts about country life, western life, history, cowboys, and cowgirls, crafts, and recipes, as well as a contest or two every once in a while. 
Caleb is a man that loves God. But the fact that he is strong, independent, and enjoys taking matters into his own hands tends to complicate things. But maybe that is about to change. Does God have something more for his life than the plans Caleb
Whew! That's a mouthful for a national day, isn't it, LOL! But art is such an important part of our lives. Celebrate today with the types of art that make you happy. Photography, painting, quilting, needlework. . .the list goes on and on. And don't forget God's creation that is there for us to see every day. No human art can compare to His artistry!
June Foster is a retired teacher with a BA in Education and a MA in counseling. June has written four novels for Desert Breeze Publishing. The Bellewood Series, Give Us This Day – February 1, 2012, As We Forgive – September 1, 2012, and Deliver Us – April 1, 2013, and Hometown Fourth of July – July 1, 2012. June's book, Ryan's Father, is available from WhiteFire Publishing January 2014. For All Eternity, Red and the Wolf, and Misty Hollow, God willing, will be published in the near future. June loves to write stories about characters who overcome the issues in their lives by the power of God and His Word. June uses her training in counseling and her Christian beliefs in creating characters who find freedom to live godly lives.
“…I never understood until the past months why the Master so often withdrew alone into the wilderness. There is not only food and medicine for one’s body; there is also healing for the heart and strength for the soul in nature. One gets very close to God…in these temples of God’s own building.” 
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. 
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.
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.
Do you make New Year's resolutions? (And do you have black-eyed peas on New Year's Day?--it is a definite tradition at our house!). I have made resolutions in the past, but these days I tend to work more on what I call 'eventual' goals for the year. In 2013, I want to eat better, read more, garden--flowers and vegetables, and, of course, I want to spend more time writing. I'm not sure how I'm going to make all of that work together, but I'm going to try, LOL!
