Picking Strawberries

Carol, my sister-in-law, and I picked strawberries this morning at McPeak's on highway 271 between Gilmer and Pittsburg. I had an errand to run for my mother so we didn't get out early before it started getting hot, but it wasn't too bad. We each picked a small bucketful. The pickin's were slim compared to last year...in the same groundspace and time, we had picked two buckets each. We hit them a bit late in the season this year. They are so good right out of the garden. But, since I didn't weigh myself before going to the garden, I couldn't eat any - well, maybe one or two or four. Quality control, don't ya know?! I can already taste sliced strawberries on pound cake.
How about my favorite pound cake recipe?

10 eggs, separated
2 cups butter, softened
4 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whip egg whites until they are stiff but not dry. In another bowl, combine butter, flour, and baking powder with mixer. In your third bowl, beat egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla until everything is completely mixed. Add the butter/flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture and beat. Add half of the beaten egg whites to the mixture and fold in. Fold in remaining egg whites.

Two choices here:
Pour batter in a greased and floured tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until golden brown.
OR
Pour batter in two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. Watch closely.

The way to check doneness is to insert a wooden skewer into the cake. Any bits of cake should not be overly moist and definitely not gooey.

Cool the cake completely before removing from pan(s).

Note: Please use butter. This is what the recipe calls for and not only works better than margarine, but also tastes better.

My husband likes a slice of buttered and toasted pound cake for breakfast. My youngest brother, Joey, is really weird! He cuts that beautiful golden crust off his pound cake. Pretty bad, huh? Mama caught him throwing the crusts away and stopped him. He now leaves his crusts on the cake plate...they manage to disappear!

I didn't take any photos today, but how about this one? These beauties are my oldest brother's grands. The red quilt is the Raggedy Ann and Andy quilt I made for one of the girls when she was born.





A sign in the orchard "shed" said:

If we are what we eat

Then I am

Fast, Cheap and Easy

On that note - enjoy the world where God put you. Be sure to laugh!