One week after Ken was born, the family went camping at Turkey Swamp with a group from the Reformed Church of Freehold. Ken was a very good camper and we had many happy trips to Turkey Swamp after that.
In fact, the day before Jon was born, My mother had come to visit so we decided to take a picnic with some friends and go to Turkey Swamp. The friend brought a delicious cake and my mother was quite anxious to get the recipe. When I finally got it to send her, it was dubbed "Turkey Swamp Coffee Cake" and has been known as that ever since.
Papa was already in Japan and my Mom stayed with the older kids. Jon was born the very next day. Today Norie and Leia were here and we decided that the Turkey Swamp cake would be the best thing to celebrate Jon's Birthday and the birthday of the son of Ken.
The little Mame-chan joined us at the table and Leia demonstrated the proper way to blow out a candle.
The lily is from our front garden.
After we sang, Norie cut some generous slices.
Doesn't that look yummy?
We all celebrated with cake and iced tea and Norie took some home to share.
Maybe you would like to make some cake to celebrate too. Here is the recipe:
TURKEY SWAMP COFFEE CAKE
one box yellow cake mix
one box instant pudding
4 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, 1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 3 Tbsp. sugar, 1 cup nuts
Mix cake mix, pudding, eggs, oil, and sour cream.
Pour 1/2 into a ten-inch tube pan.
Mix cinnamon, sugar, and nuts. Spread half on batter in pan.
Add rest of the batter and sprinkle rest of nut mix on top.
Bake one hour at 375 degrees F.
We did not have cake mix so Norie mixed up 2C flour, 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch, 1tsp.salt,
1/2 cup sugar (cut down from 1 1/2 cup).
1 Tbsp baking powder.
Then, after mixing the liquids, added 1 tsp. vanilla
We used yogurt instead of sour cream.
The nuts we used were walnuts, chopped (you can get more in the cup that way)
I don't think I have had this cake since we were living in Mejiro and I know why my mother loved it so much. What a great way to celebrate Jon's birthday and "the Bean"s arrival
We also have a new tree to mark the occasion.
Sunday we had lunch with a long-time friend and she had moved to a smaller and cheaper apartment, having to leave her lovely maple tree behind. After lunch, she took us back to her old apartment to see the tree and I told her we could take it. In fact, we picked it up Monday morning when we drove to the church for the onigiri.
It is a Japanese Maple with leaves a wee bit larger than the average. The leaf stems are red and it is reported to be beautiful in the fall. It might be a matsumurae variety, or Yamamomiji. Here it stands in a row with our other two maples. The newest is near the gate. The cut-leaf maple has weeping branches and still has purple leaves. It is being guarded by my lilies. The tallest maple was supposed to be a snake-bark maple but turned out to be a "mitsude-kaede" (Acer cissifolium), having three leaves but turning quite beautiful in the fall. Three maples is a very auspicious name for our little home and Papa was quite excited, running out with the camera to take this picture Monday after we returned home.
With best wishes to all, Mom
In fact, the day before Jon was born, My mother had come to visit so we decided to take a picnic with some friends and go to Turkey Swamp. The friend brought a delicious cake and my mother was quite anxious to get the recipe. When I finally got it to send her, it was dubbed "Turkey Swamp Coffee Cake" and has been known as that ever since.
Papa was already in Japan and my Mom stayed with the older kids. Jon was born the very next day. Today Norie and Leia were here and we decided that the Turkey Swamp cake would be the best thing to celebrate Jon's Birthday and the birthday of the son of Ken.
The lily is from our front garden.
Doesn't that look yummy?
We all celebrated with cake and iced tea and Norie took some home to share.
Maybe you would like to make some cake to celebrate too. Here is the recipe:
TURKEY SWAMP COFFEE CAKE
one box yellow cake mix
one box instant pudding
4 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, 1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 3 Tbsp. sugar, 1 cup nuts
Mix cake mix, pudding, eggs, oil, and sour cream.
Pour 1/2 into a ten-inch tube pan.
Mix cinnamon, sugar, and nuts. Spread half on batter in pan.
Add rest of the batter and sprinkle rest of nut mix on top.
Bake one hour at 375 degrees F.
We did not have cake mix so Norie mixed up 2C flour, 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch, 1tsp.salt,
1/2 cup sugar (cut down from 1 1/2 cup).
1 Tbsp baking powder.
Then, after mixing the liquids, added 1 tsp. vanilla
We used yogurt instead of sour cream.
The nuts we used were walnuts, chopped (you can get more in the cup that way)
I don't think I have had this cake since we were living in Mejiro and I know why my mother loved it so much. What a great way to celebrate Jon's birthday and "the Bean"s arrival
We also have a new tree to mark the occasion.
It is a Japanese Maple with leaves a wee bit larger than the average. The leaf stems are red and it is reported to be beautiful in the fall. It might be a matsumurae variety, or Yamamomiji. Here it stands in a row with our other two maples. The newest is near the gate. The cut-leaf maple has weeping branches and still has purple leaves. It is being guarded by my lilies. The tallest maple was supposed to be a snake-bark maple but turned out to be a "mitsude-kaede" (Acer cissifolium), having three leaves but turning quite beautiful in the fall. Three maples is a very auspicious name for our little home and Papa was quite excited, running out with the camera to take this picture Monday after we returned home.
With best wishes to all, Mom
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