Carrot Cake, Christmas and Jerry Lee

As a child growing up in Kentucky and Southern Ohio, all Christmases were joyous times. I do not have many exact memories of some of those years, but I do remember that sense of family togetherness, camaraderie, and fun.

We were a large family, six of us kids, Mommy and Daddy, and more times than not, a stray, honorary brother or sister that Mommy had taken in for one reason or another. My Mother could not bear the thought of a child "doing without" at Christmastime, so she opened our home to a friend of a brother, or mine, or an odd cousin or two  She was just like that. I can't remember a Christmas in which there were merely the eight of us.

Gifts were never the center of attention, as we were poor, I found out once I was grown. I had no clue as to our plight as a child. There were always presents under the tree, ample, wonderful, although simple, food, and music, lots of music. Mommy made sure of it.

I do remember one magical Christmas, as clear as crystal. It was 1964,and I was seven. Still full of the wonder of the Nativity, and more importantly, Santa. Christmas eve, after a meal of glazed ham, obtained from a relative who had slaughtered the pig himself,  we gathered around the piano, Mommy at the keys, and sang carols. Daddy's fine tenor harmonizing with Mommy's sweet soprano, along with my brother's deep baritone  on "Silent Night", is a memory I will cherish till my dying breath.

If we were lucky, we could cajole Mommy into a raucous rendition of a Jerry Lee Lewis tune or two, complete with the elbow running down the keyboard. Daddy always feigned being appalled, but we could see the pride in his eyes as Mommy pounded those ivories like Jerry Lee. For a woman who had played mostly hymns, carols and the like for most of her life, that gal could rock with the best of them! 

As bedtime approached, always early for me (the youngest),  as Santa was coming. We tacked our stockings, always a tube sock of Daddy's, to the mantle. Come Christmas morning, these would be filled with apples, oranges, bananas, nuts and one of those huge, thick candy canes.  It wasn't until I had kids of my own that I discovered that some kids had "special" stockings, and that they could be filled with toys or candy too.

That Christmas morning, I received the best Christmas present I have ever received, before or since. After opening the prerequisite gifts of socks and underwear, I opened the heavy, gaily wrapped box I had been eyeing all morning.

I had never before gotten a gift this big and heavy, and I was almost drooling with anticipation. What it contained was books. A full set of Nancy Drew Mysteries. I was in heaven. I had been an early reader, and Mommy was forever shooing me away from whatever novel she was reading. Now I had my own. I don't remember much of the rest of that day, as I delved into those books and didn't come up for air till bedtime.

One thing I do remember from that day, and every Christmas before or since is Mommy's Carrot Cake. It was a holiday staple, and I have never tasted one so incredible, yet so simple. I do not know where she obtained the recipe, but I have never seen it in print. For all I know, she created it herself. I will share it with you now, as my Christmas gift to you.

 Mommy's Carrot Cake

1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 drops black walnut flavoring
1/2 cup black walnuts, finely chopped
2 cups self rising flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups shredded carrots

Mix sugar and oil in mixing bowl.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg.  Add vanilla and walnut flavorings, carrots ,chopped nuts, flour and cinnamon.  Pour into a well greased tube pan and bake for 1 1/4 hours. *Do not open oven door, cake will fall*. Remove from oven, and pour glaze over top of cake, while hot. 

** I personally omit the black walnut flavoring, as I think the nuts themselves flavor it amply **

 Glaze

1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup sugar
1 Tbs. white corn syrup
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Bring to boil, boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Pour over hot cake in pan. Cool completely, and carefully remove from pan to serving platter.

Tip for removing cake from tube pan: run a knife around the sides and cone, remove sides of pan, then slide the knife under the bottom of the cake all the way around, and carefully lift to platter.

If you decide to print this recipe, place it in a safe place. For some reason, every time I go to make this thing, I have to call my dear sister LoRena for the recipe. Every Single Time. She has mailed it, emailed it, hand written it in front of me, and it gets lost every time. I have saved it in cookbooks,  it disappears, saved in on hard drives, they crash, placed in in a recipe card box, gone. Mommy passed away in 1979, and sometimes I think she wants it to remain hers and hers alone.   

 I think it is too wonderful not to share, but if your hard drive crashes and burns, blame Mommy. 
                              
Happy holidays and Peace on Earth,

Donna