This Week's Recipe--Oatmeal Cake

I had a hard time deciding which of the many to start with, but something sweet seemed most appropriate. So here's a great cake for fall--it even has oatmeal in it so we can all pretend it's healthy! (Oatmeal!--that must mean it's for breakfast!) It's a recipe mom got from our neighbor Margaret Jeppsen. I don't know if Grandma used it or not, but it seems like something she would make (and make sure we ate if we happened to come over while she even a crumb of it left!)

Oatmeal Cake

Pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water over 1 cup of oatmeal and let stand for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cream together till fluffy:

1/4 cup milk
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs

Add to above and mix well:

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour

Add oatmeal and mix well. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes in a greased and floured 9 x 13 (Grandma would have called it a Dripper) pan.

Frosting

Bring to a boil and pour over hot cake:

1/2 to 1 cup nuts (walnuts of course)
6 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup coconut (the recipe says optional, but I think it's not)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Place cake under broiler and broil till topping bubbles and begins to turn golden. Watch closely so it doesn't burn.

Note and random memory: before you preheat your oven make sure there isn't another cake (like a chocolate sheet cake) in the oven, with a split-open store-bought bread bag on top of it (to keep the cake fresh.) Why store things in the oven you may ask? It wasn't to hide them, because we all knew that's where mom kept left-over cake. It's one of the mysteries of my childhood I guess. Did anyone else do this? Anyway, if you forgot to check the oven, and there was a cake in there, soon you would smell the "plastic-is-melting-to-the-cake-and-pan" odor wafting from the oven. Then that melted mess would have to be cleaned up (usually by me). Plus, melted-plastic coverd frosting is not at all yummy! Scrubbing melted colored plastic bag off of aluminum baking pans takes elbow grease! So, remember to check inside the oven before you turn it on!! One more thing. Does anyone know why it's called a "Dripper" Pan?