Reality, Recipes,and Relaxation

Good Saturday evening to all my friends.  Let me say first and most importantly I am joining all you who are sending up prayers for all our blogging friends who may be in Irene's path.  So hoping you all will be safe .  Please let us hear from you as soon as it is safe to do so.

The last few days have been busy ones as I am so close to the craft show actually next weekend.  Mr. P and I will start setting up on Thursday afternoon.  Visiting with Mother and trying to take care of all her affairs this past week has really been mind boggling. Like I didn't have enough on my plate on Thursday I decided to bake a pound cake.  Okay.... let me tell you this was not my first time.  I have made this cake so many , many times.  I know there are oodles of pound cake recipes but this was given to me years ago from a lady at our church. It is my absolute favorite and so easy. 

Don't you just love my mixer.  This was my first Mother's Day gift after I became a Mother.  It is close to 30 years old and never has failed me.  You will need a heavy duty mixer as the batter is thick.

Mixes up really fast and has to be in a tube pan.  Does not work good in a bundt pan.  Don't know why, but that's what I was told.  It goes in the oven and smells wonderful.  I get busy doing other chores and when the timer goes off , out comes my beautiful cake.  I let it cool in the pan, then dump it onto cake plate and this is what I get. 

Okay ladies, don't say "I wouldn't post that ugly cake"  But this is reality!!  No touch up photo could help this cake. This recipe forms a crisp crust usually around the edges and is delicious.  The longer it set , the more it cracked.  But DELICIOUS,,, that crusty top was.  The cake stayed in tack, and was moist and firm.  I immediately called the lady from church, and she had no idea what happened either.  You could have sworn I baked it last week during the earthquake.   I was so glad I had baked it only for Mr. P and myself, not to take anywhere. I slice them up anyway, wrap each slice and put in freezer to pull out at night with our coffee.  I really think it just didin't like all the pictures I was taking of it during the process.  Can I blame it on my camera? Anyway if you would like the recipe, just let me know and I will gladly share.

Today we had our annual  church "Back to School Picnic" at a local park. Altho our schools have been in session almost a month now, this is the end to our summer activities at church.  I made my favorite Cornbread Salad to take as my side item.  I was so proud you don't cook it especially after the cake baking deal.

Sharing the recipe with you today.

Cornbread Salad

1 box Jiffy Cornbread Mix

1 (12oz) package of bacon ( cooked crisp and crumbled)

1/2 cup of sweet pickle relish

1/2 cup sweet pickle juice

3 Large tomatoes, chopped

1 Large green bell pepper, chopped

1 Large sweet onion chopped fine

1 cup of mayo or more to taste

Prepare cornbread according to package directions.  Cool, and crumble into very small pieces.

In a large bowl, layer one half of the cornbread, top with 1/2 of the pickle relish, 1/2 of the pickle juice

1/2 of the chopped tomatoes,peppers, onions, bacon, and 1/2 of the mayo.  Repeat layers one more time reserving a small amout of the bacon to garnish if you wish. Cover and chill until time to serve.

This is always a big hit at a gathering.  My bowl is now empty and I have to share the recipe with several ladies at church tomorrow.

For dessert Mr..P took the ice cream freezer and made ice cream for everyone.  Can you guess who was first in line to get her share?

You guessed it, Darbee Rae wanted to make sure she got her cup full.

After a great lunch and  ice cream on a hot afternoon the ladies got together to play a fun game of bingo.(just for fun, no money pot or prizes, ammmm, it is a church gathering.)

Sorry don't know why this one turned out blurry.   So there you have a recap of my last few days, yep, reality hits us all sometime and this time it did me in good with my cake, a great  " can't flop " recipe to share and a day of fun and relaxation. 

Hoping all of you have had a great weekend so far and will have a blessed Sunday tomorrow.  Until we talk again.