Kathy “Bee” Vance Benfield, my childhood friend who has stuck by me through thick and thin through the years and grew into the best adult friend a gal ever had, recently gifted me with a huge file box of recipes that once belonged to her aunt.

I let it get covered up with “other important things” and just have unearthed it from its hiding place. As I began leafing through the recipes, I recalled a recent conversation with co-worker, Marie Freeman, who reflected on the importance of treasured family recipes, many of which we’ve all found stuffed in drawers or boxes over time, handwritten but now fading on yellowed and tattered pieces of paper, or whatever was handy at the time a favorite recipe needed to be recorded. I thought back to the drawer in my mother’s kitchen that was stuffed with these priceless mementos. Whether or not I would ever conceive of trying Granny’s “souse meat” or “head cheese,” remains anyone’s guess (probably not!), but the beauty of finding those pieces of paper lay mainly in the fact that it was in my granny’s or mother’s handwriting, and it was something that played an important part of their lives at one time. I kept many of those frayed pieces of paper and was able to use several of their recipes in my cookbook that otherwise, I would never have been able to do. I hope you will come to see those recipes lying around in your drawers as treasures that might not mean so much today, but at some point in your life, they will be as gold. Hang on to them, carefully preserve them and hold close the memory of the one who took the time to write out a part of her legacy to those she left behind.

Now let’s dig into this pot of gold my friend has shared with me.

Meat And Cabbage Casserole

1 lb. lean ground meat (beef, turkey, pork)
1 med. onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1 cup finely shredded carrots
3 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 tsp. salt
Dash black pepper
1 (16 oz.) jar herb-flavored spaghetti sauce
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. chopped chives
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese

In medium skillet, sauté onion in butter until soft. Add meat and cook, breaking up until it loses pink color. In large buttered baking dish, layer carrots and half the cabbage. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add meat mixture, press down lightly. Add remaining cabbage. To spaghetti sauce, add Worcestershire sauce and chives. Pour sauce over top of casserole. Cover; bake at 350 for about an hour or until cabbage is soft and meat is cooked through. Add cheese on top. Bake uncovered for another 5-8 minutes or until cheese melts.

Best Ever Carrot Cake

1½ cups corn oil
1¾ cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
2 cups peeled and grated carrots
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple
Cream cheese icing
¾ cup shredded coconut

Mix well the oil, sugar and eggs. In a bowl, sift together dry ingredients; add to egg-sugar mixture, mixing well. Drain pineapple well. Add carrots, walnuts and pineapple to mixture and blend well. Pour into greased oblong cake pan. Bake at 350 for about an hour or until pick inserted in middle comes out clean. Let cook and then frost with cream cheese icing and sprinkle with coconut.

Cream Cheese Icing

Cream together 2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix well.


(Any of you who would like to share your favorite family recicpes and memories with me, please do so, send by email to vsgnorris@bellsouth.net or by mail to at P.O. Box 3285 Boone, NC 28607)