LINDA LEDFORD PORTER now lives in Swartz Creek, Michigan, but she was born and raised in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Her grandma, FLORENCE DELLINGER MCKINNEY (also of Spruce Pine), was one of eight children and lived to be ninety-two years old. Linda remembers that Grandma loved sweet stuff, making it for her family and for “decoration days”—days at church, when they decorated graves at the church and had a huge potluck meal. Grandma knew all the old health remedies from the Depression days, and one of her favorites was the use of sassafras tea, said to help with bronchitis, gout, and arthritis. Linda’s family once took her for a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Grandma said, “It seems like I’ve been around the world.” One of Grandma’s funny sayings was, “That person is meaner than a striped snake; bless their heart, they better get right with the Lord.” She also shares that her grandma, whom she loved so very much, taught her to can, bake, cook, and pray.
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened, plus extra to prepare pan
½ cup vegetable shortening
3 cups sugar
1 cup whole milk
5 large eggs
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (optional)
Fresh berries (optional)
Whipped topping (optional)
1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a tube pan.
2 In a large bowl use a hand mixer to cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar. Add the milk and blend. Add one egg at a time, alternating with about 1 cup of flour at a time and beating after each addition.
3 Add the salt, lemon juice, and vanilla and blend. Pour the batter into the tube pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
4 Serve with powdered sugar, fresh berries, or whipped topping. As Grandma used to say: “Cut in slivers it serves a lot; cut in big chunks and it might not.”
MAKES 8 SERVINGS.