Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Sharing from Cyberspace

Since the onset of the internet, I have made many friends from far and wide. I have conversed with people from foreign countries, along with many others from a number of states here in the U.S. They tend to brighten my day as well as opening my mind to other cultures and ideas. But among them all, I look forward to those closer home with whom I share a mutual background.

For example, I have enjoyed an internet friendship with Charles Archer for some time now. Although I didn’t know Charles personally when we both lived in Corbin, I am finding that we have much in common, almost claiming kin since his sister Martha was married to my cousin, Glenn Rowlette.

Charles writes of several things in which the two of us have a mutual interest, Bert Vincent, who wrote the popular Strolling Column for the Knoxville News-Sentinel in the 1940’s, and the legendary Ernie Pyle, WWII columnist. (I remember shedding  many tears back then when I read Ernie’s descriptive and heartbreaking stories of the GI’s and the hardships they endured.)

"My best of Ernie Pyle’s stories concerned GIs in Italy using mules to bring the body of their captain down from the mountain who had been slain in fighting retreating German troops." Charles wrote.

And:

 "Vincent wrote many down-home stories, and the one I remember most was of a man who was digging up the ground in preparation for planting a few grape vines. Soon a man came by, asked what he was doing, and then told him he was doing it all wrong. The stranger told him to dig a deeper hole, line it with chunks of limestone and then fill in the dirt around his plants. After he had labored a long time, he sat down to rest beside the man who had given him such valuable information. Then two men approached, searching for the patient who had walked off from the nearby mental hospital. Bert found out later that the vines did grow and produce grapes." (I still recall my father laughing after reading one of Bert’s articles which he never missed.)

I was taken back to my old high school days at Corbin High when Charles wrote about several of my classmates with whom he has kept in touch. Such memories are priceless and puts one in a nostalgic, if not bittersweet mood for the rest of the day.

If only we could save time in a bottle. Oh, well.

This is the best cake I have ever tasted.  It’s perfect for your Easter dinner. Hope it lasts more than a day at your house!

Orange Bundt Cake

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

1 (3 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix

3/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1/3 cup orange juice

2/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup butter

Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in 3/4 cup orange juice, oil, eggs and lemon extract. Beat on low speed until blended. Scrape bowl, and beat 4 minutes on medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

In a saucepan over medium heat, cook 1/3 cup orange juice, sugar and butter for two minutes. Drizzle over cake.