A Tutu Post

Last week the nicest surprise came in the mail. My Mamanan (that's what I call my grandmother) found an awesome cookbook while travelling through Ohio and sent it my way. I spent the rest of the week drooling over the food photography and planning out menus. I love cookbooks. Jess teases me because I usually bring a stack along on road trips. I wouldn't exactly call myself a "foodie" because I'm not inspired enough to stop at a specialty store for strange ingredients but I do love to cook and eat and I love cook books.

Here's a picture of my favorite cookbook. It once belonged to my Tutu before she passed and has her handwriting in the margins. Tutu is what we called my great grandmother. It is Hawaiian for grandmother. She wasn't Hawaiian but she did love the islands and spent a good bit of time there. This cookbook is a gathering of tried and true recipes from the ladies of Abilene, TX. Its from a time where people didn't count calories and Oleo existed. Food was simple and good. My Tutu survived the Great Depression and loosing her husband in World War II and she was tough. I also remember my Tutu being very fair, very honest, very dedicated to learning and full of adventure. One of my best memories of Tutu is driving around town in my beat up 1970 VW Bug shopping for a party for her friends. Tutu weighed less than 100 pounds and that car didn't have shocks.

In honor of my Tutu and a time in history when people were tough and honest I'm posting my favorite cake recipe from this book. You'll notice a shortage of instructions. The whole book is like that. It was written by women who knew how to cook and they didn't really need the instructions. I hope you enjoy this cake too.

Bohemian Coffee Cake

1C Vegetable Oil

1 C Brown Sugar

1 Cup White Sugar

1 Cup Butter Milk

1 Cup Coconut

1 Cup Pecans

2 Eggs

2 1/2 C Flour

1 t Salt

1 t Baking Soda

1 t Cinnamon

1 t Nutmeg

1 t Vanilla

Mix all ingredients together. Pour in greased and floured tube pan. Bake at 350 for 45 min - 1hr.

Icing

1 Pkg Cream Cheese

1lb Powdered Sugar

1/2 Stick Butter

1t Almond Extract

1t Vanilla

1 C Pecans