Friday Friend Recipe #148 -- Rum Cake

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook: I have about 50 of my closest friends and family on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends (from all over the county). At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 18 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to this... recipe #148

Ashley's

Rum Cake

Rum cake reminds me of CHRISTMAS! 

Rum Cakes, rum balls, bourbon balls---all alcohol infused desserts are Christmas to me.

I love this cake most of all!  It's so moist and lasts forever and has a great rum-butter glaze  that soaks into it.  You can add walnuts if you like--I like, but my family does not.

And again we meet our Friday Friend Ashley, with her 4th recipe in the countdown!  You can see all her recipes here. (just click)

If you recall (I kind of feel like I'm narrating an old Batman episode--when we last left our caped crusaders....)  Ashley and her husband David, own the  Winnemucca restaurant, 'The Griddle'.  David's father opened the original one in 1948.  He passed away in the late 70's I believe. 

Ashley and David now own it and  have opened 3 more Griddle restaurants  in Idaho.

(I'll do a little advertising for them here)

They are now in the process of opening a 5th in McCall, Idaho, where they had to go before the city council and prove they were not a chain.

For years, McCall has enforced a "mostly local" ordinance, limiting the number of chain restaurants that can operate in the resort community. Now, there is a proposal before the city that would open the gates to restaurateurs who own multiple eateries in other communities.

The debate surfaced earlier this month when owners of The Griddle, who operate four other iterations of the restaurant in Idaho and Nevada, said they wanted to open fifth location in McCall. However, the "mostly local" ordinance dictates no more than 10 percent of the town's restaurants can be chains, and that limit is maxed out with Subway, Chapala, Moxie Java, Stax and KB's Burritos already operating in McCall. All together, there 44 eateries currently operating in McCall.

This week's McCall Star-News reports the city's Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended approval of a modification to the ordinance that would allow restaurants with five or fewer out-of-town locations to open in McCall.

The Griddle owners said they already have their eye on space in Alpine Village. If the proposed rule change is approved by the McCall City Council, they'll be flipping pancakes in the resort community sooner than later.

I think that is so funny!  The Griddle being  a Chain restaurant.

I, of course, have eaten at the one in Winnemucca, and also at the one in Meridian, Idaho. (seen below)  It's the same "Good Cookin" as is touted in their logo---lots of David's father's original recipes.

 I don't get to see Ashley very often anymore.  She doesn't live in Winemucca, and is very busy with 5 restaurants, so when she comes here, her time is limited.  But 10 years ago, when my niece, who lived in the Boise, Idaho area, graduated from High School, I made the Handyman's family drive to Meridian just to have breakfast at the Griddle.  I mean, we were in the area already, right? 

Here are Ashley and David!

 The Handyman's Family (minus the Handyman, as he had to work,  and others in the family who wouldn't get up and drive 40 minutes one way to have breakfast with me). 

Ashley is kneeling down at the end of the table.

It was a great breakfast, as always -- she comes from a great background of cooks, SO this must mean her Rum cake is GREAT!

The Meridian "Griddle" was the is one they opened when they moved to Idaho-- the 1st one after the original.  On the wall they have this design/artwork.  It's a drawing of the original Winnemucca restaurant with Winnemucca mountain in the background.  You can see the "W" on the mountain!

(by the way---did I mention I live in Winnemucca?)

So, what do you think? A Close resemblance?

That is Ashley's story for today!

Recipe #148 is done!

Only 146 left to go!

Friday Friend Recipe #146 & 147 -- Cream Puff Appetizers

This is recipe #147 out of #294!

I'm halfway there!!

Woo Hoo!!

Come with me as I continue to countdown my Friday Friend Cookbook!

What is it, you may ask?

In a nutshell...
About 17 years ago, 50 of my closest friends and family, who had been on an e-mail forum with me, sent in recipes in different categories and we compiled a cookbook.
I decided to count those down!
Why?

Because  one night I was looking thru the cookbook and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog"
The Handyman--who thinks he knows me better than I know myself, said,  "you'll never EVER do that."
Well,  maybe I will!  Maybe I'll show him!

Which brings me to recipes #146 and #147

 My mom, Bev, and Barb's  cream puff appetizers!

onion                       nacho cheese                    shrimp                salmon

For this competition---Barb was clearly the overall winner!

Not that my mother's were bad---it's just that my taste buds preferred the taste of Barb's cream puff fillings.

To be fair tho, I only chose 2 flavors from each of those they submitted.  I didn't do the pudding filling that my mom turned in--obviously the winner in any situation--nor did I do my mom's shrimp filling, because Barb had one also. So maybe this wasn't a competition at all?

It was kind of fun to do a taste test.  I made them and took them to one of my favorite, beautiful Daughter-in-law's house, for her birthday dinner. 

I should have gotten a photo of us eating the cream puffs--but I did make them taste them all--and then we voted.  Again, the onion filling and the shrimp filling won the taste test.

Half way!

I'm on the downhill side now!

HALF WAY THRU THE COOKBOOK!!!

WOO HOO!

I spent yesterday afternoon,  counting how many recipes from each person I have left to post and Barb has about 50 left and my mom about 30, so I figure I can take a story break for this post.

But really......these photos?  I have no words at all anyway.

No. Words.  At. All.

(but I do have the outfits my parents have on.)

I give you...my mom and dad and Barb and Doug-- Proud Americans.

Yeseriee  I inherited those wonderful USA outfits of my parents.

Someday I might break them out and put them on.

Someday I might not.

Recipes #146 and #147 completed

147 left to go!!

Friday Friend Recipe #145 -- Fast Sauce (spaghetti sauce #10)

My Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown #145!

(#willreallyfinishthissomeday)

Theda's Fast Sauce (spaghetti sauce #10)

and you know all the whys and wherefores of this countdown, right? Homemade cookbook, friends contributed, Handyman said I couldn't/wouldn't do it, I'll show him, yadda yadda yadda....

...and the rest is cookbook history!

First of all, I must apologize to all my other Friday Friends who turned in a 'fast sauce'...because this is my favorite ever!!  It's because of the Italian sausage!  I love the flavor of Italian sausage.  It's Mmmmm---mmmmm good to me.

Fast Sauce

Theda Pansevicius

Tualatin, OR

Combine Pregro, Sliced olives, ground Italian sausage (cooked).  Mix with your favorite pasta and top with fresh grated Romano cheese.

Theda.

This summer is our 40th high school class reunion.

(neither one of us is going--it's just not working out)

So that means we've been friends for 45 years.  She might say 44 years, because one year was Junior High and we weren't friends then--but we knew each other, so, I say 45!

Funny how that works out when we are only 29.

We've hardly aged at all over the  years!

(and I didn't gain ANY  weight!)

I cannot find any photos of the two of us 'alone' from High School.... except once when we were skipping school and hung out down by the lagoon.

Theda and Me circa 1976

For my 50th birthday Theda sent me scrap book of memories.

One page had what I had written in her Freshman Yearbook...

so.... we began to be friends thru Algebra?  Something I've never used again in my life.  At least something good came from this class!

Then fast forward to our senior year.... I wrote this on the back of my senior photo--the one I gave to her....

In 4 short years, it grew from "it was fun having you in Algebra" to  "I love you" (still do)

BUT---what?  Please don't ever forget the good times we've had together, especially the summer of '76.

OMG!!  I've forgotten! 

What happened Theda? What happened the summer of 1976?

Then a  year out of high school...1978

3 years later....1981

The rest is history....forever young! (and skinny!)

 Theda and me circa 1994

Theda and Me circa 1998

Theda and Me circa 2000 

Theda and Me circa 2005

Once when we lived in Los Banos, California, Theda and John came to visit us on their way to Disneyland.  (from the Portland, Oregon area)

During their visit to us,  my middle son, Dustin took their Daughter, Sarah to lunch.  They were about 11.

There is a Federal Lunch program where they give out free lunches to kids during the summer.  We have one here in Winnemucca and the lunches are distributed by the Family to Family Coalition. No questions asked--any child who asks will be fed.

At the time this program was also going on in the park by our house in California and I did not know it. 

Dustin took Sarah  to lunch at the park and they came home and told us all about how they hand out food at the park!  I guess he had been eating lunch there all week.

What do I know, I'm just the mom?

He was so excited to have found free food! AND to share it with a friend!

  I didn't quite have the heart to tell him that the program wasn't for him and he would have to come home and have peanut butter from now on.

Theda is a planner and organizer--and I remember that she had a notebook (this was back before GPS and Cell phones), a vacation notebook, and in it she listed the towns they were going thru with "Spaghetti Factory Restaurants" in them and directions on how to get there.  

She liked pasta even then, as did her family, so why not stop at every Spaghetti Factory on the west coast?

Actually,  I like to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory too!

We used to eat at this one in Stockton, CA when our son lived there. Every time we visited them, we would take them out to dinner.

Just recently I found out that pasta is not his favorite.

He is a weirdo.

WHO DOESN'T LIKE SPAGHETTI!?

******************************

That is my Theda Story!

(PS Theda...were we dating brothers the summer of '76?)

Recipe #145 COMPLETED

149 left to go!

Friday Friend Recipe #144 -- Hominy Fry Delight

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook: I have about 50 of my closest friends and family on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends (from all over the county). At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 18 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to this... recipe #144

Barb's

Hominy Fry Delight

This is surprisingly, really, really good.  Full of crisp, tender veggies and hominy. 

Okay, yes, I did start my paragraph with 'surprisingly', but really?  Do people even eat hominy anymore?   I think if I took a survey on who eats hominy anymore, I would get a low response in favor.

   I don't think my grown kids even remember what it is, as I didn't fix hominy often for them...but when I was a kid, it was a staple on the table.  Or a semi-staple. 

That we had every so often. 

(hominy just isn't a staple in the West)

I am meandering, but,

The fact of the matter is, that hominy deserves a comeback! You should definitely try this dish. It's really good.

Just try it---you might discover that hominy is great.

I loved this dish.

Hominy Fry Delight

Barbara Brown

Buckeye, AZ

2 T. oil

1 medium sized carrot, thinly sliced

1 medium size red or green pepper cut into thin short strips

1 medium sized zucchini, thinly sliced

1 can (1lb) white or yellow hominy, drained

1/2 tsp lemon paper

3 sliced green onions

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Stir in hot oil until crisp tender.  Add onion and Worcestershire.

And now my dear friend and cohort in the original making of the Friday Friend Cookbook, Barbara Brown.

This is her 33rd appearance in the cookbook.

(she and my mom run a close race, but as she has always said, to the typer go the spoils.  Well she didn't actually say that, but since she typed the cookbook, she got to add whatever she wanted.  I'm just glad she typed it in the first place!)

Now for a story---and this gets harder and harder and harder, as I've told almost everything I know about Barb.

Except maybe this....

Years ago, when she and her husband Doug, and the Handyman all worked for the JCPenney Co. and they all had stores in California, where they sold Levi Docker pants---Levi/Docker gave them complementary tickets to the Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach, where Levi/Docker sponsored a 'tent'.

(Tents were private affairs with tables, beverages--both alcoholic and non, and appetizers.  Great, fancy appetizers)

But... PEBBLE BEACH!

The view....

 The clubhouse

So, this is how my story goes.....

1st year.

Pro - Am means they have some professional golfers and some armature golfers (including Glen Campbell, Clint Eastwood, Don Johnson,  Bryant Gumble, and many more)

I've never considered myself a celebrity chaser-- I have never asked for an autograph--but I have to admit it was fun to watch the celebrities on the golf course, up close.  Glen Campbell was in good health, Don Johnson just looked good, it was funny/interesting to see Clint Eastwood finish a hot dog and wander off down the beach to his home (he was mayor of  Carmel at the time), and Bryant Gumbal? Well made the fashion mistake of wearing a yellow and black striped shirt that day--so Barb and I called him Gumblebee all day.

But the funniest celebrity was Bill Murray.  

While standing behind the ropes on the 9th hole, a woman who had baked some homemade cookies, would call out to the celebrities to get them to come over to her "Cookie?  Want a homemade cookie?" and of course most of them would run over and take a cookie.  Barb and I shook our heads and said, we wouldn't just take a cookie from a STRANGER!   But then we wondered if we should shout out "got milk?" (remember the old commercials?) and lift our shirts.  We thought better of it. (whew!!  As you wouldn't want a photo of that)

When Bill Murray approached the 9th hole, the woman called out "cookie? Want a  homemade cookie?"  and Bill ran over, grabbed her big Tupperware container and ran down the line handing out cookies to everybody.  Of course Barb and I grabbed one from him...HE was not a stranger, he was Bill Murray.

It was funny but I did feel a bit bad for the cookie lady, cuz she would get no more celebrities that day.

2nd year

The Handyman slipped and fell into a little ditch, tumbled, rolled and hopped back up without missing a beat.  Except Barb and I couldn't stop laughing. 

3rd year

It got rained out.  The golfing part anyway.

While walking Barb slipped and fell down a small ravine and got her shoulder all muddy.  

I tried not to laugh. Laughing at the Handyman is one thing, but girlfriends?

She took over the men's bathroom to both "go and to wash her jacket off".

Men always have such a funny look on their faces when a woman comes out of their bathroom.

The year it was rained out, we had nothing to do but drink in the Levi/Dockers Tent obviously.  The Handyman got to feeling 'very good', so when we walked out of the tent and he saw Tommy Smothers going into another sponsored tent--he followed him.  And sat with him at the bar, while the rest of us waited for him to get kicked out of this tent (he didn't have the right tent badge)  Finally Tommy Smothers nods his head at the Handyman and says hi. Handyman says hi back.

Those are my 2 celebrity stories.

I still don't have an autograph ---and that's okay because I had a cookie given to me from Bill Murray!

This was back before we had cell phones, so the photos are few and far between.. but here are a couple more.

The Handyman looks like he is holding me back??

Well, he and Barb are partners  (card games, board games, etc)  I'm just kinda getting in the way there.

And Bloody Marys all around, I think!

So, that's my story!

Recipe #144

Only 150 to go!