I'm glad this brought back some memories from the '70s, Andy! :) And enjoy the cake - it's a good one! My eyes are doing well. After two post-surgery visits to the eye doctor, the next step is one more visit and then tweaking the lenses in my four pair of glasses. And to celebrate, I'm probably going to buy one more pair of glasses! They are a great accessory and also great camouflage when one gets to be a certain age. Now I just need to take out a loan to pay for them all! Thanks for your kind words.
Thanks, Kitty. I'm hoping people do find some comfort in these articles, and you do need that cake...right now! :) And the plate - I got that set a hundred years ago at Target for outdoor dining. But it works well indoors when the grandkids are here, too. Take care of yourselves up there.
I'm so happy to see this column. This is the first cake I learned how to make in 4-H in Springfield IL in the 1960's!!! It was called Funny Cake. I'm going to make it this week with my toddler granddaughter since I found it again with your post. It's easy enough and the 3 holes will be an enchanting feature for her.
I love this, Laura! It's wonderful that the story brought back memories. Enjoy making it with your granddaughter. I hope she just has so much fun! Thank you for reading the column and sending this message!
I think I have heard it called "Wacky Cake" and I think I made it once long ago. So easy and frugal, too! Why don't I make it more often? I have to have chocolate every day!
Like Wini, I grew up always, always having dessert, too. Something about living in a rural community, those farm women had to have pie and cake to help round out that meal for all the workers.
As to why the recipes were written in pencil, do you think it was because a "pen" probably would have meant a fountain pen, as in needing to have a pen manually filled with ink and that that was probably kept for special occasions. Maybe ink was expensive or maybe it was messy, and you wouldn't want to get ink on your apron or your tablecloth. Maybe pens were kept on the man's desk.
Hi Joan! Well, I think you should make this cake again. :) I did not know about it, but it will go into my cake rotation now. SO easy and really good. And it makes a reasonable amount. The pen thing...I'm wondering if pens were too "fancy" or maybe too expensive back then. I think you might be on to something with the pens being kept on the man's desk. Very possible. When I was growing up and spending time at my grandma's house, we did a lot of crossword puzzles, and we always used pencils. Hey....congratulations on your story being picked up by the Iowa Capital Dispatch! It's a great piece!
Thank you. It was really nice to get some extra press. It always surprises me, though, what lands with readers. I felt like I kind of tossed that one off, but it got lots of response.
I love that this cake recipe brought back some memories. Well, this is kind of a homemade version of a Jiffy Cake, I think! I have to agree with you about the pencil/pen thing. I don't remember many pens being in my grandma's house. I think they were kind of fancy! My grandma and I did crossword puzzles all the time, and thinking about it now, I'm pretty sure they were in pencil.
Thanks Connie! A college roommate made this quite a bit for our apartment of always ravenous folks...it was the 1970s after all.
I had forgot all about it until you awakened this memory.
Thanks Connie, I'll be baking this today. Let the weight gain begin!
(Hope your world isn't too hazy. Glad the surgery went well.)
I'm glad this brought back some memories from the '70s, Andy! :) And enjoy the cake - it's a good one! My eyes are doing well. After two post-surgery visits to the eye doctor, the next step is one more visit and then tweaking the lenses in my four pair of glasses. And to celebrate, I'm probably going to buy one more pair of glasses! They are a great accessory and also great camouflage when one gets to be a certain age. Now I just need to take out a loan to pay for them all! Thanks for your kind words.
LOVE this so much, Connie. I save up your posts to read like comfort food. And they are. I need to make this cake NOW. Plus I need that striped plate.
Thanks, Kitty. I'm hoping people do find some comfort in these articles, and you do need that cake...right now! :) And the plate - I got that set a hundred years ago at Target for outdoor dining. But it works well indoors when the grandkids are here, too. Take care of yourselves up there.
I'm so happy to see this column. This is the first cake I learned how to make in 4-H in Springfield IL in the 1960's!!! It was called Funny Cake. I'm going to make it this week with my toddler granddaughter since I found it again with your post. It's easy enough and the 3 holes will be an enchanting feature for her.
I love this, Laura! It's wonderful that the story brought back memories. Enjoy making it with your granddaughter. I hope she just has so much fun! Thank you for reading the column and sending this message!
I think I have heard it called "Wacky Cake" and I think I made it once long ago. So easy and frugal, too! Why don't I make it more often? I have to have chocolate every day!
Like Wini, I grew up always, always having dessert, too. Something about living in a rural community, those farm women had to have pie and cake to help round out that meal for all the workers.
As to why the recipes were written in pencil, do you think it was because a "pen" probably would have meant a fountain pen, as in needing to have a pen manually filled with ink and that that was probably kept for special occasions. Maybe ink was expensive or maybe it was messy, and you wouldn't want to get ink on your apron or your tablecloth. Maybe pens were kept on the man's desk.
Thanks, Connie!
Hi Joan! Well, I think you should make this cake again. :) I did not know about it, but it will go into my cake rotation now. SO easy and really good. And it makes a reasonable amount. The pen thing...I'm wondering if pens were too "fancy" or maybe too expensive back then. I think you might be on to something with the pens being kept on the man's desk. Very possible. When I was growing up and spending time at my grandma's house, we did a lot of crossword puzzles, and we always used pencils. Hey....congratulations on your story being picked up by the Iowa Capital Dispatch! It's a great piece!
Thank you. It was really nice to get some extra press. It always surprises me, though, what lands with readers. I felt like I kind of tossed that one off, but it got lots of response.
We just never know! That's happened to me too.So we just keep writing...
This is amazing! I had forgotten all about this cake. I'm pretty sure I made it as a kid, too.
Two things:
--My grandparents always has dessert, as did my family growing up. Even if it was a Jiffy Cake. Always.
--My grandmother (on the farm) always wrote in pencil. I don't recall seeing many pens in the farmhouse. I think they were kind of rare and fancy.
Love this story! Thanks, Connie!
I love that this cake recipe brought back some memories. Well, this is kind of a homemade version of a Jiffy Cake, I think! I have to agree with you about the pencil/pen thing. I don't remember many pens being in my grandma's house. I think they were kind of fancy! My grandma and I did crossword puzzles all the time, and thinking about it now, I'm pretty sure they were in pencil.