grace grits and gardening - ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Yum Yum Cake – old southern recipe!

October 9, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Keiser’s Kitchen Cookbook

Last week I decided I would begin making recipes from the Keiser’s Kitchen cookbook, a cookbook compiled in 1969 by the Keiser Elementary School PTA moms as a Halloween fundraiser. First up: the Yum Yum Cake, a recipe submitted by Cleo Woodard.

Mrs. Woodard was a friend of my Nana’s. They were both members of the Sunshine Club. Although I know zero about the Sunshine Club’s mission, I bet the ladies did selfless things for the area and took turns bringing amazing desserts (like the Yum Yum Cake) to eat while discussing issues of the day. I remember snippets about Mrs. Woodard mainly because my sister and I, along with several of our friends, took ballet lessons in her home from her daughter, Annelle.

That’s me on the far right side wearing green. My sister is on the opposite side wearing the matching outfit in orange. We always matched. Always.

My best friend, Anita, is standing beside me with the perfectly pointed toe. There’s more I could say about this picture, but I should get on to the recipe. It’s a keeper.

Yum Yum Cake

(One thing to note about this and many of the dishes in the Keiser’s Kitchen cookbook…recipes call for margarine or oleo. I never buy margarine, and I’m not sure what oleo is. I substituted unsalted butter 1:1 with no problem.)

Yum Yum Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

2 cups self-rising flour
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups crushed pineapple drained

Icing

1 cup sugar
1 stick margarine I used butter
1 small can Pet milk 5 oz
1 cup coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Method

Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased 9x13" pan.
Bake for 25 minutes or until it tests done in a 350 degree oven.
Ice while still warm.

Icing

Boil sugar, margarine and milk for two minutes (stir constantly).
Remove from heat. Add coconut, vanilla and pecans.
Pour over cake while still warm.

This cake lives up to its name. In fact, I think it should be called the Yum Yum Eat Em Up Cake. It tastes a bit like pineapple upside down cake. The icing makes it super moist and gooey. I’m pretty sure I said “yummmmmmmm” at least once while tasting it.

You will too.

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

working on my fall porch decor

October 8, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Fall is the best season for decorating a porch. Think about it. Most anything rustic, scary or harvest related will work. Throw in a few pumpkins, gourds and/or mums and you’ve created an autumn vignette to see you through to Thanksgiving.

We purchased these heavy clay pots years ago at Jackson’s Home and Garden, Dallas’ ultimate one stop shop for anything outdoor and garden related.

For the movers to bring our pots, they had to be empty. Plants cannot cross state lines. Texas plants are not welcome in Oklahoma. Oklahoma plants are not invited to Arkansas, etc. Sad really, but I suppose this is one way to prevent the spread of disease and bugs.

We could only bring so many potted plants in our vehicles, and these were super heavy with gravel in the bottom. After getting over the initial shock of dumping out (or giving away) perfectly good plants, I regrouped. An empty pot provided a fresh start. And what’s fresher and happier than pansies? I always have a difficult time choosing among all the colors, so this year I stuck with the traditional mix.

Lucy helped. Those plastic containers are her nemesis.

Along with the pansies, I planted salvia and ornamental kale.

A fall porch must have pumpkins, right? I love to mix the various shapes and colors.

Gnarly stems are the best.

I placed one warty pumpkin out on the front yard bench. He’s keeping watch.

Although most of my Halloween decor is still in Dallas (yes there are a few things in the Dallas garage), I did pull out this Halloween pillow that pairs perfectly with my vintage wicker rocker (a yard sale find!).

I’ll be doing a little more Halloween porch decorating soon once I find my bats… Stay tuned!

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

“Fall makes me think that if I fail horribly at this art thing, and then fail horribly with this writing thing, I’ll go run a pumpkin patch.”
― Tyler Hojberg

Musical Pairing:

Neil Young, Harvest Moon

Junkin around Northwest Arkansas

October 7, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

If you know anything about me, you know I can’t resist a good flea market, yard sale, vintage store, dumpster dive. Northwest Arkansas is junkin heaven, I’m not kidding. My personal favorites that carry everything from rusted farm equipment and repurposed everything to Brady Bunch Seventies are 410 Vintage Market, Fayetteville’s Funky Yard Sale, Long Ago Antiques, and Daisies and Olive (Prairie Grove). Of course technically I’ve only been here a few weeks so I’m sure there are many I have missed. I will check them all out eventually.

Mostly I just browse (I swear). I enjoying looking at how things are displayed and repurposed.

Here are a few pictures from The Junk Ranch, a two day event held each fall and spring in Prairie Grove, Arkansas. I met up with my writer friend Laurie who is a serious junker with a great eye for cool finds. Laurie is the perfect person to thrift with, plus we have similar tastes which is fun too.

What a flawless autumn afternoon. Look at that sky. Better yet, LOOK AT THAT BARN!