This week, I want to introduce a few of my dad’s five sisters and their recipes I treasure dearly. My aunt Dot Thomas is still actively cooking and entertaining guests in her home. Aunt Dot and her daughter Jennifer Brunson were always making Nuts and Bolts, Alabama Caviar and her wonderful pound cake. Another wonderful cook in my dad’s family was his older sister, Eva Sewell. Everything these women cooked tasted wonderful and looked beautiful. I remember going to my Aunt Eva’s house on a Saturday evening, and her dinner was on her kitchen table. It looked so good. She had country fried steak, and I had never seen steak look that perfect. I am telling you, these women knew how to fry and bake everything! I am so honored to have a number of their recipes, and especially being able to preserve them in my cookbook.
Aunt Dot’s Pound Cake
3 cups sugar
2 sticks margarine
½ cup shortening
5 eggs
3 cups sifted plain flour
7-ounce 7-Up or Sprite
1 teaspoon lemon flavoring
Lemon Glaze:
Juice of 1 lemon and grated rind
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon melted margarine
Beat sugar, margarine and shortening well. Add eggs, one at a time. Add dry ingredients with 7-Up. Pour into a greased and floured tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour and 15 minutes. Mix glaze ingredients and pour over the warm cake.
Andy’s Note: When Mac was in the hospital for five months at UAB, Jennifer and my cousin Jane McCleskey Cosby brought many different “goodies” for us to enjoy during Christmas. Aunt Dot had sliced this pound cake and put in individual bags for us to store in our little refrigerator. This pound cake is fabulous!!
Aunt Eva’s Cinnamon Crisp Cookies
1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 cups, chopped (save ½ of them for the top)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix all ingredients and spread on a cookie sheet. Beat one egg white and spread over the top of the mixture and sprinkle nuts on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cut into finger strips while hot. Cool a little before removing from the cookie sheet.
Andy’s Note: I can remember when my kids were little, I always carried them to Aunt Eva’s for Halloween. She would set up a long table with a cloth in front of her garage, filled with the best homemade “stuff” that you have ever seen. Homemade cookies, popcorn balls, brownies and homemade candy were on the table. After you fixed your plate, she would hand you a cup of her famous punch. Cars were lined on the highway to turn in at Aunt Eva’s house. My memories are priceless!
To be continued next week.
Happy Cooking, Andy
“Southern Cooking with Andy Bedwell” may be purchased at The Messenger at 1957 Rainbow Drive.
