The Home Front
One branch of my family arrived in the Alabama Territory in 1818. I am so thankful my ancestors realized that Alabama was our family’s promised land. Writing my cookbooks that celebrate the culinary heritage of Sweet Home Alabama has given me a beautiful gift. As I researched and wrote the stories, I was able to look back over the lives and times of my family since Alabama became a state in 1819. What I found in my family is what many of our Alabama families have embedded in their DNA: fortitude, grit, and determination along with a heaping helping of hospitality.
I found out who we are through our stories and recipes. When my Great-Grandma Parker passed, I was gifted with her rolling pin. It’s a treasure to me. I display it proudly in my kitchen. The secret of the rolling pin? It gives me strength every time I look at it. When my son was shipped off to defend our country, I thought so often about my Grandma Parker and the God-fearing strength she needed to cope with her son missing in World War II for eighteen months. I looked at her rolling pin often, and it gave me strength. I said to myself, “If Grandma Parker made it through that, then I can make it through sending my son to war in Afghanistan.” I’m happy to say that both our soldiers returned home to the warmth of home and their momma’s kitchen. Grandma Parker even had her hands in her dough bowl making biscuits for her family when she found out that her oldest son was still alive and coming home. So, you see, food is at the heart of our homes.
When thinking of my ancestors and the times they went through, both good and bad, I have hope. Hope that my children and grandchildren will learn where they came from, and what our Alabama families have been through, both the triumphs and the hard times. I hope that this knowledge will propel them into the future and sustain them with the certainty that we are Alabamians and that we will prevail and gain strength as we gather around our tables, love one another, and break bread together. As I cook with my grandchildren in my Alabama kitchen, as the flour flies, so do the family stories.
April is the perfect time to gather family together and make fresh strawberry pound cake. Where to get the perfect farm fresh strawberry? Seek out our Alabama u-pick strawberry farms near you at www.sweetgrownalabama.org. Cooking with your children and grandchildren is the time for passing along those family stories. And getting them out into the strawberry patch is a great adventure that will turn into a sweet pound cake and a sweet family memory.
Our Favorite Fresh Strawberry Pound Cake
Ingredients:
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, divided
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided * (if using self-rising flour, omit the salt and baking soda)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz. plain or vanilla yogurt
- 12 oz. fresh strawberries, washed and diced
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a Bundt pan. Sift together 2 ¼ cups of flour with baking soda and salt. Mix in lemon zest and set aside. With mixer, cream butter and granulated sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in 1 Tablespoon lemon juice. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the yogurt until just incorporated. Toss in the diced strawberries in the remaining flour and stir into the batter. Pour in the prepared Bundt pan. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake for 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Turn out on a wire rack and cool completely. Whisk together 2 tablespoons lemon juice with the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the cake.
This recipe can be found in my best-selling cookbook, Happiness is Homemade, Y’all available on Amazon.
-Danna Standridge
Author of Happiness is Homemade Y’all! and 2024 Sweet Grown Alabama Ambassador
Read her faith story at www.birminghamchristian.com/issues.
Join her in the kitchen on Facebook and YouTube.
