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Better Eggnog Pound Cake

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It's not often that I love a recipe straight out of the cookbook. Typically I make it the way the recipe says once, then fix it to my satisfaction the next go round. This pound cake is no exception. The first one was good but not quite perfect. This time I nailed it. It's about ingredients, the way I mixed them, and having the perfect pan for the desired result. Here's the finished recipe, modified from the original I found in the November 1990 issue of Southern Living magazine. Kristina's Eggnog Pound Cake 1 c. unsalted butter, softened 3 c. granulated sugar 6 lg. eggs 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1 tsp. lemon extract 1 c. commercial dairy eggnog  3 c. all-purpose flour (spooned into dry measuring cup and carefully leveled off; sift if necessary) 1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan, place on baking sheet and set aside. Using a heavy duty mixer, beat butter at medium  speed for 1-2 minut...
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Gratitude Day 3: Fabulous Friends

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In the Christmas movie classic It's a Wonderful Life, Clarence, the angel, tells George Bailey (aka Jimmy Stewart) that "no man is a failure that has friends." When life gets hard you find out who your real friends are. You know the ones -- the people who call or text you just to see how you are doing, the ones who just show up with loving words and generous hugs, the ones who are happy when you call them at 11 PM or 6 AM because you're life is falling apart and you need someone to reassure you that things will be OK, and the ones that take you away from your troubles for a morning and surround you with love and laughter. I'm very grateful to have such friends, including the lovely women who took me hiking in the Smokies today. Thank you all so much!
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Persistent

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Sharp-lobed hepatica (H. acutiloba) blooming along Cove Hardwood Nature Trail the first spring after devastating wildfires scorched the area in November, 2016. Great Smoky Mountains National Park © 2017 Kristina Plaas Persistent (adj): lasting or enduring tenaciously. Every year at the time I take my camera out to find wildflowers. I look for them everywhere, but I have specific locations where I know I will find the flowers. One of those locations, a nature trail through old growth forest, was one of those places affected by the Chimney tops 2 wildfire last fall. The fire, once small and well-contained, was whipped up by hurricane-force winds to wreak much devastation in the Smokies. All winter wildflower lovers asked themselves, "What ab out Cove Hardwood, what will happen to the wildflowers?" In my first foray up the trail after it's reopening this week, I found the flowers. They were small and many were a bit bruised and banged up from recent rains and storms, b...
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