Why does everything have to be “New and Improved”?  I just wish the manufacturers would leave stuff alone.  Like my mother and siblings I do not like scented products.  I have to hunt high and low these days just to find trash bags that are not scented up with something.  A trash can is supposed to smell bad I don’t need to try to cover up one stink with another.  Momma Said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

If I wanted to smell like a lavender, citrus bouquet I would roll around in a field of flowers.  I just want my clothes to smell like they did when Mom hung them on the line in the sunshine.  Why can’t they bottle that smell, it would sell like crazy.

Bleach, fabric softener, laundry detergent, trash bags, candles have all been transformed into some smelly conglomeration that makes me sick.  It is really hard these days to find anything unscented and that is definitely what I need. My poor nose can’t take the stink that comes from everything these days.  It was the best of days to come home from school and see the bed sheets hanging on the line.  She would even hang them outside in the winter.  It smelled so wonderful to cuddle under the clean sheets and smell the outside.

I still try to hang my clothes outside as much as possible.  That is something you don’t see these days.  Most people don’t even know what a clothes line is.  That was the first thing I put up 25 years ago when I moved into my home, and I still use it today.  Momma Said, “You can’t beat the smell of sunshine.”

Caramel Pecan Pound Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 lb. box light brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 large eggs
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1 bag finely chopped pecans, 6 oz

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar thoroughly at medium speed. Gradually add sugar and continue creaming.
3. Add egg one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. In a medium bowl, combine baking powder, salt, and flour. Add flour mixture alternately with milk to cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Blend well after each addition.
5. Stir in vanilla and pecans.
6. Pour into a greased and floured tube or Bundt pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Let cake cool for 15 minutes beforeremoving from pan. If desired, dust lightly with powdered sugar