Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Cabin Fever

Recently I bumped carts with an old friend at the grocery store. We hadn’t seen each other in quite a spell and hungry to talk with someone other than ourselves, we parked our carts and engaged in a much needed conversation.

“My daughter told me not to bother with going to the store,” she said. “She told me to stay in out of the weather and she would do my shopping for me. I told her that I preferred– I needed– to do my own shopping because it would get me out of the house, that staying in 24/7 was driving me up the walls. Isn’t it funny that a simple thing like a trip to the grocery store will lift our spirits?”

I agreed that I, too was about at my wits end and any escape from looking at four walls all day was worth the effort. “I’d even go to a hanging to get out of the house,” I told her.

This cold gloomy January has forced many of us to stay indoors for far too long. It has caused us to become irritable, restless, and bored from continually being home alone. There’s a term that describes it my friend. It’s called “Cabin Fever.”

The dictionary’s definition for cabin fever is “an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in, for an extended period. It is a condition that many of us suffer through between the months of January through March, when the world is cold and the days are short.”

It’s a very real thing, nothing funny about it at all. And it causes us to do bizarre things that under normal circumstances we would never think of. Like hiding all the guns and knives that might cause us to do ourselves bodily harm when we’ve reached a breaking point. Or putting a bullet through the TV because there are only so many CSI Miami episodes we can sit through.

Fortunately, cabin fever isn’t fatal. And it’s usually preventable if you find the right antidote. For some, it may be a day at the mall. For others, it may be a good time for arranging family pictures in the photo album, or catching up on our scrapbooking.

Speaking for myself, it’s a time to watch reruns of old black and white movies like Goodbye Mr. Chips or An Affair to Remember.

Or making a trip to the grocery store.

A very rich and moist cake. Can be made with any flavored cake mix, but I like the butter pecan. Some people like it better than pecan pie.

Pecan Pie Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 (18.25 ounce) package butter pecan cake

mix

2 tablespoons water

2 cups chopped pecans

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.

Reserve 3/4 cup cake mix for second layer. Set aside.

For the first layer: In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup margarine or butter, brown sugar, cake mix (minus 3/4 cup), water, pecans and 2 eggs. Mix well.

Spread batter into pan. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 20 minutes.

For the second layer: In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 2 eggs, milk, sugar, corn syrup and reserved 3/4 cup cake mix. Mix well and pour over first layer.

Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C), for 25 to 30 minutes.