Lindsey Nair

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Christine Martin's coconut cake with seven-minute frosting

When I was a little girl, my dad would actually help [my mom] by cracking the fresh coconut and peeling and grating the coconut for her (that is a really hard job).

This cake is a favorite now when I take it to Christmas parties for our extended families and family reunions. There is never anything left, usually not even the crumbs. My mama is a great cook and a great teacher.

-- Linda Brown, Roanoke

Cake:

1 ²₃ cups sugar

²₃ cup shortening

3 eggs

2 ¹₂ cups all-purpose flour (if using self-rising flour, omit baking powder and salt)

3 ¹₂ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 ¹₄ cups milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, juice reserved

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream sugar and shortening together and add eggs, one at a time, until well-blended. Add dry ingredients alternately with liquid ingredients and beat for 2 minutes. Pour batter into greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center (if using a 13-by-9-inch pan, bake for 35-40 minutes).

3. Cool cake on a wire rack and remove from pans. Spread crushed pineapple between the two layers. Sprinkle a little bit of the juice over the pineapple before topping with second layer.

Frosting:

1 ¹₂ cups granulated sugar

¹₂ tsp. salt

2 egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla

¹₃ cup water

1 bag sweetened, shredded coconut

1. Combine sugar, salt, water and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Place over boiling water in lower pan and beat for approximately 7 minutes with a mixer or until the frosting holds stiff peaks. Mix in vanilla.

2. Frost top and sides of cake. While the frosting is still sticky, gently press coconut into the frosting on the sides and then on the top of the cake.

NOTE: This cake only keeps for about three days outside the refrigerator, so eat it fast!

Batty's hamburger soup

My mom, Betty Fisher (yes, it is Batty's Hamburger Soup, not Betty's), used to make this soup often when we were kids.

One of the ingredients is peppercorns, and she used to give us a nickel for each one we found in our bowl after we ate our soup. She put a stop to that when she caught us in her spice cabinet, putting extra peppercorns in the soup!

-- Georgia Chapman, Bedford

1 ¹₂ lb. ground beef

1 chopped onion

2 (16 oz.) cans tomatoes

1 (10.5 oz.) can consomme or beef broth

2 soup cans of water

2 beef bouillon cubes

4 snipped celery tops

2 or 3 sliced carrots

1 bay leaf

2 tsp. parsley flakes

¹₂ tsp. basil

1 tsp. salt

10 peppercorns (whole black pepper)

1. Brown the hamburger and onions together and pour off the grease. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer 45 minutes.

Dorothy Mildred Light Johnson's old-fashioned macaroni

Though stricken by a stroke some 10 years ago, my mom, at 94, is still so precious to us and our family.

A former hairdresser and retail associate with downtown Heironimus, she treasured getting back to Roanoke after my father's death and has been a wonderful part of our family for the duration of this time.

-- Carolyn Underwood, Roanoke

1 lb. (more or less) Colby Longhorn cheese*

8 oz. macaroni, cooked according to package directions

2 ¹₂ cups whole milk (or a combination of half & half and 2 percent milk)

2 eggs

3 tsp. flour

1 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 1.5-quart glass loaf pan.

2. Slice cheese into ¹₈-inch to ¹₄-inch slices.

3. Mix milk and eggs in a pourable container. Add salt.

4. Layer ingredients in the baking dish in this order: macaroni, cheese, liquid, then 1 teaspoon of flour. Repeat twice. If any cheese is left over, put that on top.

5. Cover with foil and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for about 10 more minutes or until it is bubbly and golden on top. Be careful not to overcook -- this is better when it is just done.

*This specific cheese and the way it is sliced is the secret to this dish.

Lucy Sparks' cocoa gravy

My paternal grandmother, Lucy Sparks, taught my mother, Ethel Lowe Smith, to make this. It was thoroughly enjoyed by family and friends alike. Serve over hot, homemade, buttered biscuits.

-- Carolyn S. Miller, Roanoke

1 heaping Tbsp. cocoa powder

1 heaping Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

1. Mix cocoa powder, flour and sugar together in a saucepan. Add one cup of milk and stir well.

2. Cook and bring to a good boil. Let boil until it achieves the consistency of a gravy.

Winnie Johnson's Thanksgiving pumpkin soup

I have so many childhood memories of my mother getting up before dawn in order to have that special holiday meal on the table for us. Wonderful smells would awaken us as they drifted up the stairs from the kitchen. I am thankful for those special memories of times spent as an adult in the kitchen with her.

She is gone now, but I am hoping that someday I will be blessed with a daughter-in-law who will fill that empty place. I want to laugh with her and share recipes with her and tell her about her husband's grandmother, a woman who taught me, by the way she lived, so much more than just how to cook.

-- Delora J. Bright, Roanoke County

¹₄ cup onions, finely chopped

4 Tbsp. margarine

1 (10 oz.) can condensed tomato soup

1 ²₃ cups mashed pumpkin

¹₂ tsp. ground nutmeg

¹₄ cup sugar

¹₄ tsp. salt

Dash of pepper

1 soup can of water, give or take for desired thickness

In a saucepan, cook onions in margarine until tender. Add tomato soup, pumpkin, nutmeg, sugar, salt and pepper. Gradually add water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until hot. Do not boil.

Lucy Stone's lemon pie

This is my favorite lemon pie recipe and everyone seems to like it when I share. It could not be easier. My mother, Lucy, lived in Reidsville, N.C. She passed away in 2001.

I have tried this with fat-free Cool Whip but it does not set up as well as with the regular Cool Whip.

-- Gerry Minter, Daleville

1 graham cracker crust

1 can sweetened condensed milk

¹₃ cup fresh lemon juice

8 oz. whipped topping, thawed

1. Mix together milk and lemon juice. Stir in whipped topping.

2. Pour mixture into the graham cracker shell and refrigerate until set.

Judy Craft's chicken and dumplings

Yield: 2 gallons

My mom is a cook at a small restaurant just outside Clifton Forge called "The Triangle." She makes most stuff from scratch and when she makes chicken and dumplings, she has a list of people who have asked her to call them so they can come by and eat.

-- Brian Craft, Clifton Forge

1 (5 lb.) whole chicken

¹₂ tsp. freshly ground pepper

¹₂ tsp. parsley flakes

1 tsp. salt

Dumplings:

5 cups self-rising flour

¹₃ cup shortening

3 cups buttermilk

Sauce:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of celery soup

2 cans of water

Additional ingredient:

1 stick butter

1. Wash chicken and place in a large stockpot with a gallon of water, pepper, salt and parsley flakes. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 to 1 ¹₂ hours. Remove the chicken and set broth aside.

2. Remove all of the chicken from the carcass. Discard skin and bones. Cut chicken meat into bite-size pieces and set aside in a bowl. Strain the chicken broth and add a little to the meat.

3. Mix together self-rising flour, shortening and buttermilk. Turn out on a floured surface and roll to ¹₂-inch thickness. Let rise, then sprinkle with flour and roll back down. Cut into 1-inch squares.

4. Bring broth to a boil and add dough squares to boiling broth, 3 dozen at a time. Cook for 5 minutes and dip out into another stockpot. Continue until all of the dumplings are cooked. If broth thickens up too much, add water, one cup at a time.

5. Discard cooking liquid. Mix together canned soups and two cans of water. Blend until smooth, then pour over dumplings and gently stir together over low heat. Add the stick of butter and stir until melted. Stir in chicken and mix well.