I am definitely a Baby Boomer and that was a great time, also a dangerous time, to be a kid. No seatbelts, cigarette lighters in the armrest of all four doors, Mom smoking menthol Salem Longs without the window being down and that was just the car.
We had Lawn Jarts a heavy metal projectile that was supposed to be thrown at the opposing teams ring on the ground, but what kid in those days did not throw it straight up in the air and see who it came down closest to, of course you were not supposed to move. We did not have Legos for the parents to step on OH NO, we had Jacks, a five-pointed metal star about an inch long that if stepped on got you an immediate whoopin’ and the rest of the Jacks thrown in the trash.
We were unsupervised most of if not all the day time hours in the summer. We were basically thrown out of the house at the crack of dawn and we didn’t come back until we got hungry. If we were playing at the neighbors we got fed there if they were at our house we were all fed there. Momma Said, “Keep the youngins fed and they will be happy.”
Now you can’t get a kid out of bed before the crack of noon and you couldn’t get them to go outside if their lives depended on it. Give them a game or something to do on the computer and you can’t pry them away. It was a form of capital punishment to keep us in the house, good weather or bad. Momma Said, “Kids today are missing a very important building block of life, being outside and getting dirty.”
Lemon Cream Cheese Dump Cake
Ingredients
Two 15.25 oz. boxes yellow cake mixes
1 ½ cups + 2 Tbsp. of unsalted butter, 26 Tbsp. total
21 or 22 oz. can lemon pie filling (can substitute any flavor)
8 oz. cream cheese
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Before starting, check the size of your cake mixes—each box must be 15.25 oz. If they are not, do not proceed.
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 box of dry cake mix with 11 tablespoons melted butter until the mixture is thick and resembles cookie dough. Press this mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9×13-inch pan to form the crust.
Spread the can of pie filling evenly over the crust.
Cut the cream cheese into small pieces and distribute them evenly over the filling. I found it easiest to pinch off small pieces with my fingers as you go.
Sprinkle the second box of dry cake mix evenly over the top. Melt the remaining 15 tablespoons of butter and drizzle it evenly over the cake mix. Use a fork to gently distribute the butter so most of the dry mix is moistened, but do not stir.
Bake for 50–60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
