Lisa's Kitchen Blog

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My grandma, Ruby Tilton, could bake a cake. That’s for sure. Like many good cooks, she never wrote many of her recipes down, which is too bad. Recipes are such a great way to reconnect with people we’ve lost, and even to get to know them. Grandma Ruby, pictured below, passed away when I was four years old. I do remember her, but only vaguely. I remember her hugging me, and that she was soft. 

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Luckily, my mom had the foresight to watch her mom bake her famous chocolate cake one day, and write the recipe down. Now Ruby’s descendants will be able to enjoy the taste of her delicious cake for generations to come! For me, this cake is like a big soft hug from my Grandma!

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You can frost this cake however you choose. I like white frosting on chocolate cake. My mom said when she was a kid, they’d eat this cake warm right out of the oven, with a little cream poured on top. YUM! 

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Like most old-fashioned cake recipes, this one is subject to falling. It happens once in a while. My mom said she isn’t sure what causes that to happen … opening the oven door once to often, kids jumping from kitchen chairs, who knows? But I highly recommend you make this cake and take that risk. It is so rich and moist, and a million times better and more chocolatey than anything you’ll find in a box. Take Grandma Ruby’s word for it!

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1 cup sour milk (add 1 Tbsp. vinegar to a measuring cup; add milk or half-and-half to make 1 cup)

1 cup boiling water

1 tsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. vanilla

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

2 sticks butter, room temperature

2 tsp. baking soda

3 eggs

4 HEAPING Tbsp. cocoa (use a serving tablespoon and heap … should be about 1 cup)

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Combine cocoa and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside.

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Combine flour and baking powder and set aside.

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Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour and baking powder mixture and beat until combined and no longer lumpy. 

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Pour the 1 cup boiling water into the large bowl containing the cocoa and baking soda and stir very quickly. This mixture will bubble up a lot. That’s why you really need to put it in a large bowl.

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Pour the cocoa mixture into the batter and beat until mixed well.

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Pour into a buttered and floured 9″ x 13″ baking pan, and place in a 325 degree F. oven for about 1 hour. Watch closely and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Enjoy!!

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My husband’s friend and high school classmate Hughie knows how to catch some crappie, and knows how to cook them, too. Every so often when we’re back in the ol’ hometown, Hughie will have a bunch of us over for a good, old-fashioned fish fry. He dredges the fresh fillets in a cornmeal mixture and cooks them up in his propane-powered fryer. Hush puppies and sliced potatoes usually round out the menu.

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The crappie fillets are so delicious … crispy and fresh, and seasoned just right. The kids love them. The grown-ups love them. They disappear as quickly as he can fry them! 

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A few weeks ago, my husband saw a fish sandwich on TV that he couldn’t wait to try. When we heard Hughie was going to be frying crappie on our last trip down, we made sure to bring all of the fixings. Jayson also brought a rack of scrumptious pork ribs and barbecue pork loin he smoked in the smoker his dad built. There was plenty of good eating that night! We had a fantastic time sitting around with friends and family on Hughie’s deck, eating, talking, and laughing. The kids played ladderball in the yard and ran around with the dogs. Later, we made s’mores … perfect!

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The base of this best-ever sandwich is a fresh roll made by Hughie’s mom, Ruth. These things are addictive! We opened the roll, spread tartar sauce on both sides, then piled on the crappie fillets, topped them with a drizzle of creamy hot wing sauce, and topped with cole slaw. Hello! 

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Give this sandwich a try … you won’t be sorry! It’s hot and cold, spicy and creamy, and delicious all the way around!

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This year for Mother’s Day, we decided to have a little brunch at my parents’ house. My husband (a former bartender) made Mimosas, I whipped up a quick batch of cinnamon roll bread pudding, and we tried something new. I love eggs, but didn’t want to stand around making them for 10 people, especially on Mother’s Day. This was a really good solution!

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Jayson fried up a pound of bacon, cut in half, until it was about half done. Next, I opened two tubes of extra large refrigerated buttermilk biscuits. I separated 6 biscuits in half by just pulling the layers apart horizontally. Each half was pressed into the bottom and up the sides of a non-stick muffin tin. We put a few slices of bacon into each biscuit-lined compartment, then simply cracked an egg on top. (You could also beat the eggs, but I thought they’d look pretty with the sunny yolks on top.

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We baked the bacon-and-egg-filled biscuits at 350 degrees F. for 35 minutes. If you like your yolks runny, start testing around 28 minutes and remove from oven when the whites are set. I wanted the yolks to be firm, so 35 minutes was about right.

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These were so yummy, and perfect for our little brunch buffet! They’d be perfect to take to a church breakfast or to make for Mom’s group. The best part, though, was the leftovers. We only had a few left, but they were delicious right out of the fridge. Like a bacon-wrapped hard-boiled egg in a biscuit. I’m going to make these again soon, so the boys will have quick and easy leftovers for those rushed school-day mornings, or a protein-packed snack before baseball practice.

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The Royal Wedding has come and gone, and my mom and I sure enjoyed the day. I went to her house and we watched it on DVR, and enjoyed British-style snacks throughout the day. For breakfast, she made two kinds of scones, using the same dough. She patted fresh blackberries into one half, and pomegranate-flavored dried cranberries into the other half. We enjoyed store-bought lemon curd on them, along with homemade Devonshire cream. The scones would have been delicious by themselves, but when topped with the lemon curd and scrumptious Devonshire cream, they were … well … fit for a Queen!

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For lunch, we had cucumber sandwiches: Rye bread spread with spinach-and-artichoke-flavored cream cheese, stuffed with baby spinach, cucumber slices, and sliced radishes. They were so delicious! And, of course, we drank tea. Lots and lots of tea!

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Blackberry (or choose your own fruit) scones

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2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup dried fruit
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg

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Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture and use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal). Stir in fruit.

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Whisk the sour cream and egg until well combined.

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Using a fork, stir the sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Shape the dough into a ball. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Place dough on a cookie sheet that has been greased or lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Score the dough into slices like a pizza, but don’t cut all the way through.

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Bake at 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

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Devonshire cream

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3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 Tbsp. sugar

Pinch salt

1 cup heavy whipping cream

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Cream the cream cheese, sugar, and salt. Add the cream and beat until stiff peaks form. Chill.