Grandma & the Texas Sheet Cake recipe

My Grandma was such a unique person, she was a pioneer in so many ways! She married my Grandfather in 1929, he was literally a "one arm house painter."

Grandpa lost his left arm when he was 19 from a misfiring shotgun. He was hunting on horseback and was in the woods alone. After the injury he passed out on his horse & the horse took him back home. He always laughed and told me" I survived WWI and blew my own arm off!" He was so funny, loved life & never let his lack of a left arm slow him down.

They lived in rural Central Texas on a farm, raised cattle & cotton. Grandpa was the county Tax Assessor & House Painter.  Grandma was a preacher! What a combination...

Grandma was such a serious soul. It was hard to get her to laugh, she was so intense about everything. She loved her family incredibly and wanted to help everyone around her. She was going to being a school teacher but felt that God wanted her to be a preacher.

She would have made a good teacher but I would have felt so sorry for those students! Grandma was a strict disciplinarian to say the least. So God knew what he was doing when he lead her down the path to preaching. Although it wasn't common in those days for a lady to preach, no one ever called Grandma ordinary!

During the 1940's they pastored a church in Beat Five, Texas. She would always tell me "I left all the dealings to the men, I just preached & prayed!" And a great preacher she was!! She could make me shake in my shoes when she preached, mostly because I was afraid she would use me for an example in her sermons.

She taught me so much about being my best, but mostly she gave me unconditional love. She taught me to cook & show hospitality to everyone who entered my home. My love of cooking & feeding others comes from years of watching my grandmothers lovingly prepare food for their families.

Grandma was a stickler on the rules. I tend to see most things as black & white, I'm sure that came from her too! I appreciate this heritage more than I can say. She shaped me into the strong woman I am today.

Thinking about the holidays always reminds me of those who are no longer with us, but when we cook their recipes they live on in our minds.  My grandma always made a Texas Sheet Cake. She was so funny, she would put pecan halves on top so there would be 20 pieces with a pecan half on each one. We all expected that cake, and as you can see in the picture, even after she was well up in age she still felt like she had to make it. She said it just wasn't a holiday dinner if she didn't!

Holiday cooking is a heritage to pass on to our children & grandchildren. Start traditions with your families now & one day they will just have to have that "Texas Sheet Cake" memory of you for the holiday's.

I am happy to share this recipe with you, it's a common one but Grandma's was just a little better! Think that may be a childlike belief...but hey it's the most wonderful time of the year.

Grandma wouldn't use store bought pecans, they had to come from a friends tree & she had to shell them herself...wonder where I get the set in my ways behavior?

Texas Sheet Cake

CAKE

1 stick margarine

1/2 c. shortening ( these two can be replaced with 2 sticks of butter)

1 cup water

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 c. buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

ICING

1/2 cup butter or margarine

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 lb ( 2 cups) powdered sugar

6 tablespoons milk

1 cup chopped pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For the cake, combine the butter, water and cocoa in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Add the butter mixture all at once, and stir to blend.  Whisk eggs and buttermilk together, add to the batter and mix well.  Pour the batter into a 9x13 pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Just before the cake is done, make the icing: Combine the butter, milk, and cocoa in a large, heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, mix well. Add the icing to the cake while it is still warm & pours easily then add the pecans. Grandma used halves, but I used chopped sometimes, hope she doesn't know!

Southern Ladies..there's a reason we are nuts!

For reasons that are never explained to little girls in the South, we are groomed from birth to be the way we are. Our Mom's, Grandmother's, & Aunt's take their jobs very seriously.


As a little girl I knew you couldn't wear white shoes before Easter. My birthday is in the summer, need I say more?
I think my Mom should have been more concerned with me falling & breaking my neck!

With those lovely manners of standing in a chair, I guess I had the etiquette down!

You don't go barefoot after Labor Day, even though it may be 85 degrees outside!
Your feet could still get chilled & the story of the little girl who died with something akin to the consumption is burned in your brain.

Notice it's warm enough for my arms, but the feet were totally a different story. This picture was taken at Thanksgiving of course!


All Southern homes are built with huge fireplaces & beautiful hearths. When it does drop below 50 the wife starts wanting a fire in that fireplace. Southern men like to please their wives so they build huge wood fires. As long as the wife wants the ambiance of a log fire burning, it will burn regardless of the need for comfort measures from the A/C. So when you come in from outside, you have to shed layers of clothes quickly to prevent your make up from running down your chin! It is acceptable to turn the air conditioner on to prevent this from occurring. I can vouch for the fact that the A/C is running full blast because my Daddy was really into that PacMan game. I'm sure my Mom ask for that lovely fire!

Horror stories are told by women everywhere in the South about the dangers of running to the store in curlers & no makeup. Some will try to cover it up by wearing a scarf or hat. Just the time you take the chance & go out looking a mess, that's when you'll run into the one person who will tell everyone in town!



Southern ladies love beautiful things that are passed down from generations before.
They must be displayed in a place of honor.
Never make the mistake and use these items. Family feuds have started over much less in the South. 

Heaven help you if you break a tooth out of Great-Great Aunt Alice's comb!!!!

Southern Ladies of a Certain Age Club

Welcome to the Southern Ladies Club! You have achieved the great age of 40 and now you can know all the secrets of the club. If your not in that group, we are going to make your life easier and share all our well kept secrets with you!  

Have you been told all your life to do things a certain way in the South? Were you made to feel less than a gentile Southern Belle if you didn't? Did you feel like you might be asked to surrender your Mason-Dixon club card at any minute?

Don't despair, I have 40 suggestions that I gifted my sister with on the celebration of her 40th birthday. I know she will be okay with my sharing those with you...considering she is now well over the shock of that birthday!

Now for all those reading this who are not Southern born...I'm sure you have a set of "rules" passed down from your female relatives that are equally as thought provoking and frustrating as some of these Southern Ladies rules.

Day 1: You will not catch pneumonia without a slip on under your clothes in the South, even in the winter when it hits 40 degrees. My mom has literally chased me out the door with my undergarment in her hand. She could become completely hysterical in her concern over my delicate respiratory system. Now a nice slip is a must with that gauzey springtime skirt....enough said!