By Sheri Hopkins,
Lifestyle Contributor
Hello everyone! It’s circus day in the River Valley with temps expected to be in the upper 70’s. It’s a beautiful day in God’s country.
Michael Wagoner, Jacob Hopkins and myself are in a contest to see who can hold out the longest without A/C. I don’t know why we do crazy things like that, but we do the same thing when it’s time to turn on the heat.
Yesterday was the funeral for one precious soul, Elsie Allen. She is my niece Tonya’s Great-Aunt. She was a spitfire for sure. If she liked you, she would fight a bear for you. She would always tell you what she thought whether you liked it or not. As I was visiting with Michael and Tonya on Saturday, Tonya was telling me about the time she took Elsie to Martins Funeral Home to make her arrangements and pick out her casket. Elsie asked Tonya if she needed her to lay in one of them to try it out so Tonya could see what she would look like in it. I thought that was hilarious and sounded just like her. She even had her clothes and jewelry picked out. See, I’m not the only one who thinks about their funeral. I have never thought of trying out a casket. I may ask Sammy Callahan at Heritage if I can do that next time I’m down there. I probably should just go ahead and pick out my urn because Jacob will have me cremated and be on the first flight to Florida for vacation. Honey the gravy won’t be cold, and he will be making plans for the money he has left. He really does love me, he’s just a tight wad. Ask his wife Loren. I have decided I want Michael Wagoner to do my funeral if he can for fighting back all the tears. I still want Curtis Feimster to sing though. I change my mind a lot, I better start writing this stuff down.
On a lighter note, spring is here and the flowers are starting to bloom. Have a wonderful week!
This week’s recipe comes from my cousin Jon’s wife, Brenda. It’s called a Twinkie Cake. So, get you some strawberries and crush them and add them to the top.
TWINKIE CAKE
1 box yellow cake mix as prepared by box directions
5 tablespoons of flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix the cake according to box directions and make two layers, divide the batter evenly between two 9×13 pans, one greased with cooking spray, the other lined with parchment paper so it won’t stick. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cakes are done. Then, cool completely. In a saucepan, mix flour and milk with a whisk, bring to a boil, stirring constantly until thick. Remove from the heat and let cool. In a large bowl or stand mixer with a whisk attachment beat the shortening, butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until fluffy. Add the cooled milk mixture and beat until smooth. Remove the cake that’s been baked in the parchment lined pan onto a cooling rack. Peel off the parchment paper. Spread the filling over the cake that’s still in the 9×13 pan and top with the other layer. Like I said, I would like strawberries on mine. Enjoy!!
