Im Back!

    Hey friends, I'm excited to post again and hope you will enjoy! My goal is to post 1 to 2 times a week at least!  Have I told you already how much I love to bake? Well if not I'm telling you now. I think what motivates me is the finished product and enjoyment it brings to others.
    This recipe is a family favorite at our holiday family gatherings. My precious grandmother, who is now 93 still bakes this cake when requested. Once, after a family gathering at my sisters house, I was driving home with our 5 children in a Burgundy conversion  van with pink interior! Yes, that is a whole other story!  As I was driving, one of the children was crying hysterically, so in desperation I tried to hand a passey to the back seat. Yes, multitasking was how I survived! A few minutes later I saw a red siren in my rear view mirror so I pulled over. "Mam, do you realize you were swerving on and off the road, have you been drinking he said." "No officer" I replied ,"but I did have some of my grandmothers Rum cake. Well needless to say he did not find that at all comical and asked me to explain. After my attempt to explain my circumstances he released me with a warning and followed me all the way home!!
   
                         
Dede's Rum Cake
1 package yellow cake mix                     
1 cup sour cream
1 package instant chocolate pudding       
1 teas. vanilla
4 eggs                        
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup Wesson oil     
1 cup chopped nuts   (Optional)
1/2 cup light rum

Beat first 7 ingredients together for 8 minutes. Fold in Chocolate chips and nuts.
**Bake in well greased floured bunt pan at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
Glaze: 1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 cup light rum
1/4 cup water
**Cook for 3 minutes and pour over cake immediately when cake is removed from oven!
Enjoy! But avoid driving in a Burgundy conversion van if at all possible!!

HERE WE GO!!

I cant wait to share with you one of my all time favorite recipes today. My Great -grandmother Whites Banana Nut bread! I remember very little about her but for some reason I remember listening and dancing to a "Chipmunks" record in her living room. I also recall being afraid of her basement and standing at the top of the stairs while my cousins tried to convince me to join them. Funny what sticks in our minds over the years isn't it.

                Grandmother Whites Banana Nut Bread
1 stick real butter-room temp         2 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar                               1 teas baking soda
1 1/2 cup flour                                4 Tbls buttermilk
1/2 teas. salt               1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 cup mashed bananas                     1 teas, vanilla

Mix sugar and butter till creamy, Add eggs one at a time. Mix flour, soda and salt in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture alternately with milk. Add vanilla, bananas and nuts.
Bake 350 degrees for 1 hour or until fork comes out clean.
*I do use margarine and regular milk and it is still very good. But to get the taste of Grandmother Whites original Nut bread I would try the real butter and buttermilk at least once!
*Carrying on a tradition I grew up with, this is a recipe I love to share. I often bake it in 3 mini loaf pans and give to neighbors and friends. Hope you'll keep one and then be a blessing to others by doing the same. 
*The smell of homemade baked goods cooking helps to create a warm and cozy atmosphere where friends and family love to gather and reconnect.  I try to do this at least one a week just to draw everyone HOME at the same time!
* Baking is also a great way to keep your children and their friends close by. My mother was always baking something and all my friends always wanted to come to my house to see what was cooking. When I became a mom I realized what my mom was doing, she had an alternative motive, to keep me and my friends within eye and ear distance! Smart move MOM!
Our GOAL- Creating an atmosphere of good smells, good eating and the opportunity to teach and train  our children in the art of baking and hospitality ,while also being a blessing to others!

Returning Home: My Mission Statement

I am so excited to start my new blog! My prayer is that this blog will draw, cultivate and strenghen the hearts of women around the globe to return to the home front. I know this sounds like we are going to the front lines, well essencially we are. You see, I strongly feel that the home is key to strenghthening our families which in turn strenghens our churches and towns and nations! This is a big statement ,but I also believe the home is where it all starts. So this is my heart for beginning this blog; to draw the hearts of women everywhere to RETURN HOME!  To embrace the calling on our lives as daughters, wives,mothers and grandmothers.  I want this to be a fun place you can come to daily for inspiration, ideas ,recipies and more! Looking so forward as we journey together, learn and grow in our role of "Keepers of the Home" Titus 2.