I was thinking the other day about how some cooks will not share recipes. Me, I love to share recipes. I get a great deal of happiness knowing I gave someone a recipe, they prepared it and served it, and it was a hit. My friend Judy recently took my recipe for Rocks [a sweet/savory nut and raisin cookie] and prepared the cookies and took them to a function in California, and the cookies were a big hit. That made my heart sing with joy.
A friend of mine who bakes a lot of cakes told me recently she has used my Apricot Brandy Pound Cake recipe a lot and it's always a hit. That made me so happy, to hear that.
I am of the school of thought that recipes should be shared. After all, sharing good food is a joyful experience, and we all need more joy in our lives, right?!
Not everyone would agree with me, however.
A friend on Facebook posted photos of herself making an Italian dish called Caponata. I had never heard of it so I Googled it. According to the New York Times: "Caponata is a Sicilian sweet and sour version of ratatouille. Because eggplant absorbs flavors like a sponge, it’s particularly good in such a pungent dish. Like most eggplant dishes, this gets better overnight. It’s meant to be served at room temperature, and I like it cold as well. It makes a great topping for bruschetta."
I would love to try it. I dropped a comment and asked if she would share her recipe. She did not reply. Now, she has a job and two small children, so I am not going to jump to the conclusion she didn't want to share. Maybe she just didn't have time to sit down and write it out. A lot of times cooks have been shown family recipes and they don't share just because it's a pain to sit down and puzzle out exact measurements for other cooks.
However, some cooks are just not going to share. They want all the glory.
Or they are caterers and their recipes have to be secret, because that's their livelihood. I totally understand that.
However, the most famous example in my family of not sharing a recipe is my aunt Ceph [rhymes with "beef"]. She was the one who devised the original recipe for Rocks. They became her signature. She became famous in her small southern hometown for making these cookies, and she was certainly famous for them in the Henderson family. Rocks are delicious, and they are sort of unique. They meld the pecan and raisin flavors so beautifully, even a person who doesn't particularly care for cookies will likely love Rocks. [the recipe is below]
Ceph almost always had a tin or Tupperware container of Rocks in her house but she was miserly about sharing them. I recall one time when I was a small child going to her house and she pulled my father back into the kitchen and gave him Rocks -- his favorite cookie, which she well knew. For me and my brother, small children? No Rocks. After practically begging we got a glass of tap water and some stale Saltines.
Ceph was likely related on some level to the Soup Nazi, made famous on Seinfeld.
Ceph didn't want to give up her recipe but my aunt finally got it. I'm not sure what cajoling she had to do, but it has become the go-to cookie for the holidays in my family.
ROCKS
NOTE FROM MY AUNT: I copied this directly from either Cordelia or Ceph. I still have the original which I wrote on the back of a card asking voters to support W.R. Loflin and Frank H. Turner for Board of Education Election to be held on November 2nd, 1954! Frank Turner was a friend of theirs so I got this card from one of their houses and jotted it down as told. - Diddy
1 t. soda 1 t. cinnamon
2 egg yolks 1 t. cloves
3/4 c. butter 1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour 1 t. to 1 T. water
1 1/2 c. sugar 1 box raisins [the large box]
1 c. chopped pecans
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks, well beaten. Sift flour, spices, and soda together, and blend well with butter and sugar. Add water, nuts, and raisins. Mix well. Drop by teaspoon on cookie sheet and bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes. I use part butter and part margarine, and rarely add water unless the dough is too stiff after testing a few in the oven first.
left, my grandmother Cordelia, her sister Annie, and her sister Ceph [there were a total of 7 sisters] I don't know why, but Ceph was famous for sticking her tongue out in photos, which was actually ironic since in most ways she was a properly dignified, matronly person
A few years ago I compiled a recipe book of recipes famous in the Henderson family and below is Aunt Ceph's spice cake recipe, which sounds pretty similar in flavor to the Rocks recipe. I am sure Ceph is blessing this blog from on high, happy her recipes are getting shared.
Aunt Ceph’s Spice Cake
Recipe of Cephia Henderson Adkins, Courtesy of Elaine Zachary McElyea and Julia Embry
1 cup butter (2-1/2 sticks) 2 cups sugar
3 cups self-rising flour 4 eggs
2 cups pecans 1 box raisins
1 tsp. Vanilla 1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Sprinkle one cup flour over pecans and raisins…set aside. To remaining flour, add cloves and cinnamon… then add to first mixture, one tablespoon at a time. Add vanilla. By hand, mix in pecans and raisins. Bake in tube pan at 275 deg. For 1-1/2 hours or until cake test done
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