Tickled

My grandchildren tickle me with the things they say.

Teka, my 6-year old granddaughter, was watching "Alvin and the Chipmunks" for the umpteenth time and practically had it memorized. "Uh-oh," she said, "Alvin is about to say the 'S' word." My daughter is thinking, surely not that word! Alvin says, "stupid," and Carrie breathes a sigh of relief. Sometimes children do listen to their parents and Teka knows that "stupid" is not a nice word, either.

Little Allie, at three, is still a little hypochondriac. She had a slight temperature one day this past week and ran to get the thermometer. "Wait until it goes 'beep-beep'", said my daughter. "Take me to dokor," Little Allie tells her. I have never seen a child that loves going to the doctor and is curious about everything. Perhaps she'll want to study medicine when she grows up.

Carrie was making  reservations for a cabin in the Smoky Mountains for Fall Break. When Little Allie saw the cabin on the computer she said, "I wanna go, I wanna go." "No, silly," said Teka, "you can't go now. The invisible woman on the computer said it won't be ready for six more years."

Kids..they say the darndest things.

Blessings,

Plum Cake

My mother used to make the most delicious Plum Cake. Unfortunately I couldn't remember her recipe, but I found one a few years ago in "Heartland Baking" that is pretty close to my mother's Plum Cake.

"Plum Cake"

2/3 cup butter or margarine, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 lbs of purple plums, pitted and cut into halves

For the topping:

1 cup flour

2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 1/2 tsps cinnamon

6 tablespoons of butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 350. For the topping, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon and add the butter with a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside. Line a 9-inch round or square pan with wax paper and grease. Cream the butter or margarine with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. In a bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder and fold into the butter mixture. Pour the batter into the pan. Cut the plums into half once more and layer the plums on top of the batter. Sprinkle the Streusel topping over the plums. Bake approximately 45 minutes, or until done. Let cake cool down, and then serve slightly warm. It is also good the next day with your morning coffee.

Enjoy!