Country cooking for Caralynne Hayman is as common as the West Virginia mountains. A method to keep her sanity in a difficult environment and provide her girls with healthy, homemade food.
Caralynne is angry and bitter over the death of her eleven-year-old daughter, but when Dayne MacFarland re-enters her life, Cara is torn between her determination to render revenge upon the murderer and Dayne's love. Can she have both?
When Dayne returns home, determined to bring the truth to the people he’s known all his life, he rediscovers Cara and realizes the love he once felt for her is still deeply embedded within his heart. But can Dayne's love for Caralynne bridge the gulf of anger and bitterness that divides the community? Or will Caralynne's deadly secrets prove too high a price for her redemption?
Amid all the angst and trouble in this small community, Caralynne's cooking is a gleam of hope. Even when some of the ladies belittle her cooking abilities, Cara knows jealousy is at the root of their problem. For her? She has people like Dayne who sample and enjoy such temptations as her apple pie and cherry cobbler.
Here's the recipe for Caralynne Hayman’s Cherry Mountain Pie . . .
• Melt one stick of butter in round pan (I suppose you could use square, but I can’t see how that could improve the flavor!)
• Pour thickened, sweetened cherries (you can use canned cherry pie filling, but really? Who doesn’t want the “real” thing? We’re not talking easy! ) into the pan
Dough:
Stir one cup sugar, 1 ½ cup of self-rising flour and ¾ cup milk together. Pour batter onto top of cherries.
Bake till brown 350 degrees.
Enjoy!
Caralynne received this recipe from my mother. We children thought it was divine! The only problem? I wasn’t crazy about cherries so I always requested “no cherries” (the juice was okay), and my patient mother dipped out nice chewy crust with lots of juice onto my plate and topped it with ice cream. Hmmm. Delicious.
And to prove to you that Caralynne Hayman's an excellent cook, here's a short excerpt where Dayne MacFarland, the preacher, praises her apple pie. And since he'd always adored her, that was an easy task. :)
Chapter 15 Excerpt on Cara's apple pie:
“What shall I do with this?”
Kathy Raymond popped from behind Ruby Simmons and sniffed. “What did you bring?”
“Meatloaf.”
Another indignant sniff. “Common.”
“And cherry cobbler,” Cara offered. Nothing she did ever pleased Kathy Raymond.
“Ruby brought cherry cobbler. Two of them. You know very well our men love her pies. You should have brought something else.”
“Can you ever have too much pie?” Cara ordered herself to smile. Sticking out her tongue seemed way too childish and improper and would let them know she was miffed. “My pie is different. The preacher liked it.”
“Liked what?” Dayne stepped up beside her.
“My cherry cobbler.” Cara allowed her eyes to twinkle at him.
Dayne strolled away but tossed over his shoulder. “Delicious stuff. Best I've ever eaten.”
Tempted to try it? Dayne sure was! I think it might have sealed the deal on the love between them—at least for him. :) Check it out at the link below and see for yourself why The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman is a best seller!
Thanks for stopping by to share your food for thought, Carole!
You can find Carole here: