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The recipes below are from The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love, The Gardens of Covington and From the Heart of Covington. The photographs of the cake are courtesy of Ann Morrison and the California Covington Fan Club. Enjoy!

The first Ladies of Covington Fan Club made cookies, cake, meatballs and prunes and had a party.

The Bookworms of Hendersonville left to right: Rita, Debbie, Nancy, Terry, Lois, Helen, Cathy and the Grace’s Vienna Cake they had with tea.

Grace's Multicolored Vienna Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 ½ cups self-rising flour
1/14 cups all-purpose flour
3 level teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
red, yellow and green food coloring
strawberry or apricot jam
frosting (see recipe below)

Using three nine inch cake pans, this recipe will make one three-layer cake. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour lightly three cake pans and line the bottoms with rounds of wax paper. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl, then add to batter slowly, in four parts, alternating with milk and vanilla extract. Beat well after each addition. Divide the batter into three small bowls and add the food coloring – two or three drops at the most – green to one bowl, yellow to another, and red to the third. You will have pale yellow, pinkish, and light green batters. Pour the batters into three different baking pans. Bake for 20 or 25 minutes. Watch carefully, and test with knife tip or toothpick for doneness. Be sure layers are baking through. Let the layers of the cake cool in their pans for ten minutes, then remove and finish cooling on racks. When completely cooled, spread a thin layer of strawberry or apricot jam on top of the first and second layers as well as a thin layer of frosting on top of the jam. Stack the layers and frost the top and sides with cream cheese frosting. Keep cake in a cool place before serving.

Grace's Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

2/3 of a cup of butter
¾ of a cup of granulated sugar
1 egg
4 teaspoons of milk
2 cups of shifted all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons of baking powder’1/4 teaspoon of salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Thoroughly cream the sugar, butter, and vanilla
Add egg and milk and beat until light and fluffy
Sift the dry ingredients together then
Blend into the creamed mixture
Divide the dough in half
Cover both halves and chill them for at least one hour
These good old-fashioned cookies, thin and slightly crisp, are great with a cup of tea.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 (eight ounce) packages cream cheese, slightly softened and cut into small pieces
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened slightly and cut into small pieces
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar

Makes enough frosting for a three-layer cake. In a medium-size bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla extract. Gradually add sugar and beat well unil mixed and of a consistency to spread easily.

Meatballs and Prunes

1 ½ lbs. of ground beef – round or sirloin
1 egg (for every 1 ½ lbs. of beef)
Seasoned breadcrumbs as needed
1 box of pitted prunes
1 can of original tomato PASTE
1 or 2 onions chopped
Seasoning for meat
1 quart of water
Olive oil

Should make 8-10 meatballs, depending on the size of the ball.

In a blender or a bowl add water, then tomato paste and blend until well mixed. Pour mixture into a deep pot (whatever you use for stew). Sauté onions in olive oil. Remove and drain them, then add to pot. Put meat in a bowl and crack the egg into it. Work egg into the meat with a fork or your hands. (You may have to sprinkle some bread crumbs into the meat mixture if it is not holding well. Go careful here because you will use crumbs on the exterior after you form the meatball.) Form round balls of meat in your hand and insert a prune into each ball. Be sure prune is surrounded with meat and not visible. In your hand, sprinkle bread crumbs, as needed, to hold meat ball together. Usually you end up with a meatball slightly coated in crumbs. Heat a skillet and add olive oil. When hot, brown meatballs quickly on all sides. Remove and drain. Add meatballs to pot along with the rest of the prunes. If you need more liquid, add water to cover the meatballs. Season to taste. Cover pot ( I use tin foil under the cover to make a good seal.) Bring to a boil. Then, reduce to medium heat for approximately 30 minutes (bubbling slightly). Lower heat again, keep covered and cook for approximately 60 minutes. Uncover. Bring back to boil for 30 minutes or less. You need to watch it because the gravy will become nice and thick. (Without adding flour or anything at all!) Caveat: If you let the mixture cook too long it will fry out and burn the bottom of the pot.

(Grace prefers it with rice, Amelia with noodles, and Hannah with potatoes.)

Cold Zucchini Soup
(reduced-calorie)

4 medium or 6 small zucchini
4 cups of home-made or canned fat-free chicken broth
1 bunch of green onions, chopped well
1 ¼ tablespoon of fresh dill
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (8 oz) container of plain fat-free yogurt
Garnish with fresh chopped chives

Mix the first five ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally for fifteen to twenty minutes, or until the zucchini is medium soft, but not mushy. A cup at a time, place mixture in blender. Mix until smooth. Cover and chill for 6 hours. Remove and stir in yogurt and garnish. Makes about 8 cups. This soup keeps well in the refrigerator and can be used for several days.

Cheesy Cauliflower Bake

1 nice, fresh cauliflower
1/3 cup of fat-free milk
3 tablespoons of butter or margarine
1 ¾ teaspoons of powdered mustard
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
¾ cup of grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut cauliflower into florets and cook uncovered in boiling, salted water for 12 minutes or until they have softened. Drain and mix the cauliflower well with milk, butter and mustard. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Place in an approximately 7 x 11 inch Pyrex baking dish and distribute Parmesan over the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the top turns gold and crusty.

Apple Oat Bran Muffin

4 egg whites (use only the whites)
¾ cup of nonfat milk
½ cup of nonfat yogurt
¼ cup of frozen apple juice concentrate
1 cup of regular rolled oats
1 cup of bran
2 apples (Gala or Delicious) peeled and grated
¾ cup of raisins
1 ½ cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Combine egg whites, milk, yogurt, apple juice, oats and bran. Mix lightly. Then stir in apples and raisins. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and cinnamon, stirring to mix well. Add the dry ingredients to the fruit mix, stirring lightly to combine well. The mixture will be slightly thick and sticky, not smooth. Spoon into non-stick muffin pans and bake in a 425 degree preheated oven for 25 minutes.

Avocado Pineapple Dip

You will need:
1 ripe avocado
1 can of crushed pineapple

Peel and mash the avocado. Add the crushed pineapple using some, but not all of the liquid. Season to taste and serve cold with crackers.
(Grace has made this for so many years, she can't recall if she made it up herself or if someone passed along the recipe.)

Cinnamon Curried Fruit

Great side dish with ham

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter melted
2/3 cup brown sugar firmly packed
1 No.1 can pear halves
1 large can peaches
1 large can apricots
1 large can pineapple chunks
5 marachino cherries
3 teaspsoons curry powder or to taste

Open cans and drain fruit well. Pat dry.

Melt butter and add brown sugar and curry. Mix well.

Place well drained fruit in a very lightly buttered casserole. An aluminum cake size pan will do fine. The fruit can lay any which way to fill the casserole

Spoon the sugar/curry mixture over fruit. The mix may be crunbly, so use your hands.
Bake uncovered in 325 oven for one hour. Serve hot or warm. Flavor improves if fruit stays in fridge covered and then is reheated. It can be reheated 2 or 3 times until used up. Makes approx 10 servings.

Cove Road Cold Veggie Salad

Simple to put together at the last minute.

Toss into a bowl:
Two small or one large can of yellow or white corn
I can of baby carrots from can or fresh (blanched)
A bundle of fresh asparagus, thin if possible cut into no longer than 2 uinch pieces.(do not blanch) You want them crunchy.
A can of cut up Black olives
Yellow squash cut into small pieces
Walnuts at least quartered
Any good Walnut Raspberry salad dressing (vinagrette)
Mix all veggies and add salad dressing laste when you are ready to eat.


Grace’s Fruit & Veggie Chicken Salad

2 cups orange juice
8-10 skinless chicken tenders
4 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cups seedless green or red grapes
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped orange bell pepper
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
6 green onions chopped
1 and ½ cups of light mayonnaise
½ cup plain non fat yogurt
About ½ cup fresh chopped dill
2/3 cup almond pieces
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Step One.
Bring the orange juice to a boil. Add chicken tenders and cook in the juice. Turn once. Do not overcook.
Remove cooked chicken and cool. Then cut into pieces.
Place the cut up chicken in a large bowl and add the tomatoes, grapes, celery, orange and red bell peppers and the green onions.

Step Two.
In a smaller bowl, mix mayonnaise, yogurt, dill, and seasonings to taste. Add three tablespoons of unused orange juice to mix. Stir well.
Stir into the chicken mixture. Sprinkle almonds on top before serving.

Chicken Divan Royale

Ingredients:
Two packages frozen broccoli spears or 2 bunches of fresh broccoli.
6 chicken breasts cooked, or 2 cups cooked and chunked chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup of mayonnaise
1 teasp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. curry powder
½ cup shredded cheese (mozzarella and mild cheddar)
½ cup soft bread crumbs
1 tsp. butter melted

Proceed:

Cook broccoli—do not overcook. Drain and arrange in greased 11 ½ x 7 ½ approx. size baking dish

Mix cheese and soup with lemon juice and curry and sprinkle and pour half over broccoli

Add a layer of chicken

Pour remainder of soup mixture over chicken
Sprinkle with more cheese ( mix of mozzarella and cheddar) and bake in 350 oven until it bubbles.

This recipe came to Grace from an old family friend in Dentry, Ohio. It’s not a fat or sugar free recipe but it’s delicious.

Elice’s Apple Fritters

Core 6 delicious apples, cut into rings and soak in water with lime-juice added to prevent discoloration.
Separate 2 egg yolks from whites and save whites
Beat egg yolks
Add 2/3 cup milk
Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1tablespoon melted butter
Sift 1 cup of all purpose flour—resift adding ¼ teasp of salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Combine the liquid and dry items above
Whip egg whites until stiff
Fold them into the batter
Drain the apple rings and pat them thoroughly dry
Dunk them in the batter and brown both sided in hot oil
Drain well
Sprinkle with confectionery sugar
Serve immediately

Joan Medlicott
P.O. Box 355
Barnardsville, NC 28709