Crossroads and Pineapple Upsidedown Cake

This blog is just for Susan. She is at a crossroads in her life and has decided that making a decision is better than just staring at the choices and wondering what to do.


Pineapple Upside down Cake

3 1/2 T butter or margarine
1/2 C brown sugar
1 can (No 2) chunks(the short can)
6 maraschino cherries
1 1/4 C sifted flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/3 C shortening
1 t vanilla
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1/2 C pineapple juice

Melt the butter or margarine in 6 to 8 inch baking dish. Sprinkle sugar over it once it is melted. Arrange pineapple (1/2 inch thickness)into flower-shaped pattern; place well drained cherry in the center of each flower. Let that sit while you prepare the batter.

Sift four, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

Add vanilla to shortening and gradually add the sugar creaming until fluffy. Add egg to this mixture and beat with mixer until blended. Add flour and pineapple juice alternately to this mixture, stirring until blended after each addition.

Spread the batter over the pineapple. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Turn onto flat plate immediately. Serve warm or cold.

This was the very first desert recipe that was successful for me. I made it first when I was in junior high school and trusted it would always come out perfect. Other cakes did not turn out so well. There were no plastic tubs of frosting to buy in the grocery store and I just could not seem to get any of the recipes from books to look like the picture. Sometimes the results was a complete failure so I came to rely on what I knew would work. I left the other cakes to those who could make them with ease. You just have to know what you can and can't do well.

Susan has some major decisions ahead as she enters college and she will find that some of the things she loves to do (like me making upside down cake) will not help her in the studies there. She will learn not only about the subjects but about herself. For the first time in her life she will have many choices instead of a few under the shelter and guidance of her parents. Some of the choices others present to her will be energetic and insistent with loud voices... "come on. It will be fun! You are on your own and it is your choice... you are over 18 you don't have to ask permission from anyone!" If the voices are too loud or make her feel like "no" is her best answer, I hope she listens to the logical side of her brain but if it will be fun and she is just not sure of herself, I hope she does experience life at it's fullest. She chose the college all by herself, researched it then invited me and her dad to tour it with her. She registered for classes for both summer and fall and did her own research for her best financial options to pay for school. She understands she does not have to ask permission for her choices but she also seems to grasp that with choices also comes responsibility. Today she is going to work. She has saved about ninety percent of what she has earned to pay for school. She is head and shoulders above most of the people in her graduating class in being prepared for this crossroads they all are at now. We are very proud of her confidence.

One of my favorite hymns is Softly and Tenderly. The voice of the Master is both soft and tender. He will call you to Himself and sometimes He knocks at your hearts door and the sound is very soft... He is a gentleman and will not enter your heart or life without invitation. He may ask you to befriend someone others shun because they are shy and do not seem to have much to offer the group. Sometimes He may just want to sit with you and hear your burdens but He is always soft and tender in His approach. I have asked Him to be with Susan as I have asked Him to be with all my children. The wonderful thing is she also invited Him to accompany her on life's journey so I know He is with her anywhere and everywhere she goes. He will help her sort through the loud voices of the world and draw her to Himself. Invite Him into your life and He will help you with your crossroads too.

Revelations 3:20 I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him and he with Me.

Love,
Nana