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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, August 8, 2008 The Forum: Beet cake sweet as a Rose or Rosie By Judyrae Kruse Herald Columnist 'Here is another super beet cake," Everett cook Rosie Batcheldor writes. "It's a recipe of my mother's, and I entered it in the Sky Valley 'Sultan Pepper' Cookbook. "The cookbook is put out by the Sky Valley Historical Society, and I say it's a dandy -- the recipes are all from local cooks and it's fun to read." At the end of Rosie's recipe, in the cookbook, she noted, "My mother, Rose Stuber, was an excellent cook. It was said of her that she could 'make something good out of nothing.' I remember big kettles of soup and platters piled high with corn-on-the-cob. Many evenings were spent shelling dry beans for winter meals. "Although Mother's favorite was Dutch apple cake, I'm sharing her beet cake recipe." Let's call this special recipe: ROSIE'S MOTHER'S BEET CAKE 1¾ cups flour ½ teaspoon salt 1½ teaspoons baking soda 1½ cups sugar 4 tablespoons cocoa 3 eggs, beaten 1 cup oil 1½ cups fairly finely shredded cooked beets 1 teaspoon vanilla Chocolate butter frosting or German coconut frosting In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, sugar and cocoa. Mix well and add the beaten eggs, oil, shredded beets and vanilla; mix for 4 minutes. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13-inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cake tests done. Remove from oven and let cool thoroughly, then frost with chocolate butter frosting or German coconut frosting. Makes one 9-by-13-inch cake. @1. Body Copy Bold Lede-in Name:Bits and pieces: Last October, Betty Ronning of Marysville gave us a classic, time-honored recipe for molasses crinkles and mentioned she always bakes two sheets of cookies at a time, switching sheets from top rack to bottom and bottom rack to top halfway through the baking time. "Ask your readers," she said, "to see if anyone else does this -- any pros or cons?" Longtime Forum helper-outer and Marysville cook (not to mention cookie guru/author of "I Like Cookies!" cookbook) Dianne Berst answers, "Yes, I always do a switcheroo with cookie sheets in the oven, moving the bottom sheet to the top and the top sheet to the bottom. It speeds up the use of the oven, and yes, you do have to watch them carefully. "Why do I do it that way? Well, because my mother did it that way, of course!" As you undoubtedly already know, the Forum is always happy to receive your contributions and requests, so don't hesitate to send them along to Judyrae Kruse at the Forum, c/o The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206. Please remember that all letters and e-mail must include a name, complete address with ZIP code and telephone number with area code. No exceptions and sorry, but no response to e-mail by return e-mail; send to kruse@heraldnet.com. The next Forum will appear in Monday's Time Out section.

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