Family Recipe Friday: Joyce Schooler Reedy's Sock-It-To-Me Cake

Cooking Cousins
Joyce S. Reedy & Betty Jo Williamson
Middlesboro, KY, c. 1963

Today's recipe is another by my cousin, Joyce Schooler Reedy, daughter of Gladys Lane Schooler.  Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Sock-It-To-Me Cake

1 pkg. butter yellow cake mix
2/3 C. oil
1/4 C. water
4 eggs
1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream
1 C. sugar
1 1/2 C. pecans

Mix together all the above ingredients.

3 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon.  Pour a small amount of the cake batter into a Bundt pan and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture.  Repeat until all batter is used.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Family Recipe Friday: "Dang" Good Pie by Mildred Lane Partin

My Papaw, William B. Lane, & his daughter-in-law,
Mildred Wagner Lane Partin
1954

Can't wait to try my Aunt Mildred's "Dang" Good Pie.  Thanks for sharing your mom's recipe with me, Phil!

Recipe from Mildred W. Lane Partin

(click on recipe to enlarge)

Family Recipe Friday: Betty's Fried Corn

Betty Lane Lee's Recipe for Fried Corn

FOUND--the recipe my mom used to make her fried corn!  I knew how Mom made fresh fried corn, but I never knew she had an actual recipe for it.  While looking through one of her old cookbooks this week, I found this index card with a recipe from a newspaper taped to it.  This is indeed how she made it, and it was yummy!  Just thinking about Mom's fried corn reminds me of summer suppers in the mountains, and that's a sweet memory to relish on this icy February morning in the Bluegrass.

The old newspaper clipping is difficult to read, so here's a transcription of the recipe:

Fried Corn

6 to 8 medium ears of tender corn

1/2 C. bacon drippings

1 C. milk or cream

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Cut kernels from cob. Scrape the ear to remove all the milk.  Have skillet very hot; add bacon drippings and corn.  Let the corn crust but not burn.  Stir constantly for five minutes, until thick.  Add milk or cream.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes or until thick.  Serves 4-6.

Betty Lane Lee & Frank Welch Lee in their kitchen
Middlesboro, Kentucky, c. 1980

Mom would use an iron skillet, and I know she used more than 1/8 tsp. of pepper and probably more salt than the recipe calls for.  My dad would hope for Hickory Cane corn--his favorite.  He would often get it from friends and customers who would visit his drug store, Lee's, in downtown Middlesboro, Kentucky.

Family Recipe Friday: Phil and Judy's Tomato Basil Chicken Noodle Soup

Phillip David Lane

Today's recipe was sent to me by my cousin, Phillip Lane, and his wife, Judy.  Phil is the youngest son of Roy B. Lane and Mildred Wagner Lane.  This soup, Phil says, is a favorite of his and Judy's, and I think it's the perfect time of year to enjoy it.  Thanks, Phil and Judy!










Tomato Basil Chicken Noodle Soup

1 pkg. (12 oz) Reames Frozen Noodles, cooked per directions on package
1 lb. chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large onion, chopped
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 (14 1/2 oz) cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, & oregano
2 (14 1/2 oz) cans chicken stock
1 Tbsp. basil leaves
1 C. grated Parmesan cheese

Cook noodles per package instructions and set aside.  In soup pot, saute chicken pieces and onion in olive oil until onions are transparent and chicken is done.  Add the garlic, salt, and pepper.  Saute for 1 minute.  Add the diced tomatoes and the chicken stock, and heat until the mixture is boiling.  Add the noodles and the basil, and bring back to a boil.  Serve immediately.  Garnish each serving with Parmesan cheese and your favorite crackers.

Family Recipe Friday: Betty Jo's Butterscotch Pie

Betty Jo Williamson
c. 1960

My cousin, Betty Jo Williamson McManaway, used to make the MOST delicious Butterscotch Pie!  Though I  sampled this pie several times while I was growing up, I gained a true appreciation of it's awesomeness when Betty Jo made it for me once on our shared birthday (January 13).  She brought the pie, still warm from the oven, to our house on this cold, gray afternoon, and it was such a treat.  Below is her recipe which, according to Betty Jo's daughter, Joy, is the recipe used by our Granny, Martha Pierce Lane.








Butterscotch Pie

2 1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. water
4 C. whole milk
9 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 egg yolks, beaten
4 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract


In a large saucepan, combine brown sugar, salt, and water over medium heat.  In a large mixing bowl, mix together 1/4 C. of the milk with the cornstarch.  Add the rest of the milk to the mixing bowl and blend.  Add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan of heated syrup and cook until thick.  Cook 15 minutes more.  Add the beaten egg yolks to the saucepan and stir.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.  Cool.  Pour into pie shell, cover with meringue, and brown in the oven.

Family Recipe Friday: My Family's Favorite Potato Soup

It's 8 degrees here in Lexington, Kentucky, this morning.  Snow is on the ground, and more is predicted throughout the weekend.  Most importantly, the Super Bowl is almost upon us!  Sounds like the perfect weekend for this warm, delicious soup.  I've made this for years, and my husband and our two sons LOVE it.




Potato Soup

6 slices of uncooked bacon
1 C. chopped onion
3 C. potatoes, cubed
1-2 C. water
2  10.5 oz. cans Cream of Chicken Soup
2 soup cans milk
salt and pepper to taste
shredded cheddar cheese

In a dutch oven or large saucepan, cook the bacon until it's crisp.  Remove bacon from pan and set aside.  Pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the bacon drippings from your pan.  Add chopped onion to this same pan and brown.  Add to the pan the potatoes and water.  Cook uncovered for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Blend in the Cream of Chicken soup, milk, salt, and pepper.  Heat through on low heat.  My boys like to top their bowls of soup with crumbled bacon and shredded cheddar cheese.

Family Recipe Friday: Ruth Lane Williamson's 24-Hour Salad

Ruth Lane Williamson

24-Hour Salad

Mix together the following ingredients and set aside.

pineapple chunks, quartered
1 pkg. miniature marshmallows
pecan pieces

Next, mix together the following ingredients and heat over medium high heat until thickened, stirring constantly.

2 eggs, beaten
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. white vinegar

Add 2 Tbsp. butter to heated mixture, stir, and then let mixture cool.  When mixture has cooled, stir in 1/2 pint of fresh whipped cream.  Fold this gently into pineapple mixture.  Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.



A big thanks to my cousin, Joy Goins Lewis, granddaughter of Ruth L. Williamson, for sharing this recipe.

Happy Birthday to my precious Aunt Ruth who would have been 96 years old today.

Ruth Lane Williamson, c. 1940

Family Recipe Friday: Joyce Schooler Reedy's Buttermilk Pie

Joyce Schooler, c. 1944

When I got married in 1990, my first cousin, Joyce Schooler Reedy, gave me a copy of a cookbook she contributed to and helped assemble.  Joyce is a grandchild of William and Martha Lane, the oldest child of Gladys M. Lane and James Schooler, and the mother of Terry Keith Reedy, Pamela B. Reedy, and Rolf  Reedy.  AND she's a wonderful cook!  Below is her recipe for Buttermilk Pie taken from page 75 of the cookbook Oak Ridge Woman's Club Recipes.  Thank you, Joyce!

Buttermilk Pie 

(No Crust)

1 C. buttermilk

1 1/2 C. sugar

1/2 C. Bisquick

1/2 C. melted margarine

1 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

Mix in blender on high for 30 seconds.  Grease pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Joyce Schooler Reedy (right) with her sister, M. Anne Schooler Derksen,
and their precious mom & my aunt, Gladys M. Lane Schooler
c.  1995

Family Recipe Friday: Betty's Cornbread (via Martha Pierce Lane)

Cornbread was a staple in our house when I was growing up, and my mom's cornbread was delicious.  She always used the recipe below which she said was dictated to her by her mother, Martha Pierce Lane, in the early 1950s.  The recipe was written on a 3 x 5 inch index card by my mom.  In parentheses to the right of each ingredient is the amount of that ingredient needed should you want to double the recipe.  These were written by my dad, Frank W. Lee, because he got tired of telling mom how to add fractions every time she made a big batch of cornbread!  (Like me, mom was "mathematically challenged," and she hated fractions.)

Betty Jewel Lane's Cornbread Recipe, c. 1950

Mom always used a cast iron skillet when she made cornbread.  She would grease the skillet with bacon drippings (which she kept in a can by the stove), and then she would put the skillet in the oven to warm while the oven was preheating.  "This gives your cornbread a nice crispy crust," she always said.

While I don't have mom's iron skillet, I do still have a couple of the other items she used when mixing up a batch of cornbread.  The measuring spoons have lost their luster, and the old Pyrex bowl shows wear from years stirring, but I wouldn't want them any other way.  I use them, too, when making cornbread for my family, and I think of her every time.

Betty Lane's Mixing Bowl, Measuring Cup, and Measuring Spoons, c. 1960

Betty Lane's Well-Worn Mixing Bowl, c. 1960