The name of this quilt is Star of Wonder.
It is out of the book,
Winter Wonderland by Sherri Falls. Copyright 2015.
We still have a couple of copies of the book. $19.95.
In the book, it’s just a table topper.
As you can see, I got a little carried away.
Hello Everyone,
I’m still hung up on this Christmas memories thing. We had our sewing session this weekend and everyone had a different memory of their Christmas tree. Some said they held to German tradition and the tree magically appeared while they were sleeping. They woke up to a beautiful tree and presents. Some said they had a simple cedar tree, (That’s what we had. Why would you buy a tree?) with Shiny Brite ornaments from the dime store. (Which cost a fortune now!) Some people said they had an aluminum trees with the rotating color wheel light. Several people remembered bubble lights. We all remembered getting an Operation game.
My daddy always loved to tell a story about my cousin, now in his 70’s. He got a box with a cowboy outfit in it. Those were the days of Roy Rogers and Gene Autrey. The front of the box had a picture of a cowboy all dressed up. Daddy said he tore through the box, pulled out the hat, the vest, the chaps, the holster and the cap guns. He looked up with big tears and said, “Where’s the horse?”
Food is still what sparks memories for me. Around here the ultimate Christmas delicacy was Coconut Cake.
We had a neighbor whose cakes were the stuff of legends. Her name was Hazel Guffy. She was born in 1917. She milked 12 cows everyday. She keep a garden. She kept house. She fed 2 boys and a husband. She was also a test cook for Betty Crocker. She would make a coconut cake using real coconut. Can you even find coconut in the shell anymore? She would save the milk and grate the coconut by hand. It was a day’s work before you even got started on the cake. She would make the yellow cake and ice it with 7 Minute Frosting. Then she put the coconut on the top and sides. But here’s the secret – as she assembled the cake, she would put a couple of teaspoons of coconut milk on each layer. Once it was frosted, she wrapped it up and put it in the refrigerator “To Cure” for 4 days.
Just for full disclosure, I have never made a coconut cake, but I think I’m going to give it a try. I bought some coconut water. I’m going to see it I can make a simple syrup using the coconut water and sugar to moisten the cake. I’m not sure if I will do Cream Cheese Frosting or 7 Minute Frosting. Stay turned.
Here is Hazel Guffy’s
Hot Milk Cake Recipe
4 eggs – preferably from your own chickens.
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. unsifted AP flour
2 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1 c. milk
1 stick (1/2 c.) of butter. (Kerrygold brand is the best. Make sure you cut it in 2 pieces, since it is packaged in double sticks.)
Grease and flour three 9 inch cake pans.
Beat room temperature eggs until light and lemon colored, gradually adding sugar. Continue beating and add vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to egg/sugar mixture and blend. Heat milk and butter together until milk is hot and butter is melted. Stir the hot milk and butter mixture into the sugar/egg/flour mixture. Blend together quickly and pour into a cake pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until the cake tests done.
(Hazel’s notes say – “for any layer cake, it’s usually drier than you like, put 1 teaspoon sugar in 1/4 cup of warm water and sprinkle over the layers”)
As I said, she always used 7 Minute Frosting on her cakes. Use your desired frosting, but make sure you let it sit “to cure” in the refrigerator before you serve it.
Mom always served this cake with Broiled Frosting. It was Hazel Guffy’s recipe as well. The cake recipe above would probably make two 9″ x 13″ pans. This is the frosting recipe. You might need to double it up for two cakes.
Broiled Frosting Recipe
1 c. brown sugar
2 T. heavy cream
3 T. butter
1 c. coconut
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook to boiling point. Spread on cake and put under the broiler to brown. Do not walk away during this step or you will have wasted your afternoon.
January
Lastly, it’s time to mark your calendars for our shows in January. Save your Christmas money for fabric shopping.
I will be telling you about all the vendors over the next month, but here are some of the new vendors:
Bull Town Fabrics from Durham, NC.
Dusty’s Vintage Buttons from Monroe, NC.
French Connection from Pittsboro, NC.
Manda Panda Soy Candles from Durham, NC
Sew Beautifully Creative from Graham, NC.
Stash Tools from Huntsville, Ala.
Wingspan Crafts from Mebane, NC
New vendors for Statesville are:
Epicurean Boutique from Occoquan, Va.
Goddess Rags from Weaverville, NC
The Last Stitch from Lenoir, NC.
Quilts Like Crazy from Wake Forest, NC.
Ruby Ribbon from Holly Springs, NC
Sew Beautifully Creative from Graham, NC
Stash Tools from Huntsville, Ala.
February
Pop Up Shop
Thursday, Feb. 16 and Friday, Feb. 17
1601 N. Ocean Blvd.
Surfside Beach, SC
All you beach quilters, join us for two days of shopping at our “pop up” event. We’ll be there with Featherweight Poppy, Empty Pockets Alpacas and The Cotton Quilt.
Here are a few photos from our last “Show and Tell”. More picture next week. Enjoy.
Call Cindy – 704-376-2531 if you would like to order anything.
As most of you know, we are not a brick and mortar shop. We are just a studio.
We are available by appointment. Call us if you need directions. We are located off I-40 between
Statesville and Mocksville, NC.
Our address is 186 Page Farm Road, Cleveland, NC 27013.
We are not anywhere close to Cleveland, NC, even though that is our mailing address.
Did you know that donkeys have to go to the dentist? Neither did I until yesterday.
This picture shows the vet filing off some rough places on Lady’s Mary’s teeth.
She’s got to be perfect for her upcoming Christmas photos.
Cindy – 704-376-2531
Patti – 704-807-6992
website:www.quiltersgallery.net
Email: [email protected]
