Betty Feezor

I truly meant to blog last night, but I managed to get side tracked in front of the computer. You know the drill, you find something that interests you and you follow one link to the other and the next thing you know it is midnight and you have no idea where the evening went.

I was home alone last night as SideStreet filled in for a band that had to cancel at the last minute at the marina. I thought about going down and at least having supper but by the time I got home I just wanted to stay in. On very rare occasions, I welcome the time alone.

So, with this time on my hands I started to plan for Lacy and Bashar's visit home in June. I always like to have a small gift for her that reminds her of home. I had thought about an old cookbook that epitomizes southern cooking. That is when the name Betty Feezor came to mind. Betty Feezor superseded the Food Network by at least 20 years. She was a true southern lady that hosted a live "homemaking" show on WBTV out of Charlotte every weekday at 1:00 pm. I used to stay with my grandmother some in the summers and we watched Betty Feezor everyday. Even on the rare occasions that my Mother was home from work, she made sure to catch Betty Feezor. Betty was real, when she burned something or made some other mistake she put it out there for all the world to see. I particularly loved the commercial for Harris Teeter where she is taking the turkey out of the oven and she is using an old beat up and bent pan just like everyone of us that really cook actually own.
Anyway, back to my search for the cookbook. I popped in the name Betty Feezor in my handy dandy google search and was shocked at what I found. It appears that my old adage "if you can't find it on Ebay or Amazon it just is not available", turns out to be true. Not to say there is not a market. Page after page revealed people with the same fond memories as mine that were on the hunt. The first one that I actually located (after an hour of searching) was $699.00, another half hour did reveal a stray copy available at $417.65!!! Now, I actually own both of these precious cookbooks, I am thinking I should make sure they are well taken care of. This is unreal.

My Mother made two recipes from Betty Feezor that I remember well. Apparently they were some of her best, as I easily found many references to both many times over during my lengthy research. I have added both to my list to make in the next few weeks. I have included these recipes for you as well.

Another surprise was some clips of her show on You Tube. There is apparently only one show that survives today. I guess with live TV they did not tape as often as we would have thought.
This show is divided into four clips and posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNGYb3PBwb8 by her son. Be sure to read his notes on the side.
After watching these clips over and over I find that my beloved Food Network now seems superficial.

Sadly, Betty passed away at 53 years old in February of 1978 from brain cancer, after 20 plus years of live television. If I believed in reincarnation (which I do not) I would want to come back as Betty Feezor. In her last show she said "live your life so that when you are gone, it will have mattered". I think she succeeded, I hope I will.

If you remember Betty I would be thrilled if you would share with us.

Betty Feezor Brownies

1 cup margarine (melted in a sauce pan)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
½ cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
nuts (optional at about ½ cup or to what you like)

Mix melted margarine and sugar with mixer. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in cocoa and then the flour. Use a spoon to mix in the nuts if you add those. Cook at 350 F for 13-20 minutes.


Betty Feezor Buttermilk Lemon Pound Cake

1 cup shortening
½ cup butter or margarine
2 ½ cups sugar
4 eggs
3 ½ cups plain flour (not self rising)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon lemon flavoring or extract


Put the margarine or butter out to soften a little before mixing up the cake, so it is easier to blend with the other ingredients.
Combine butter, shortening and sugar and cream until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time and beat until well mixed with sugar/butter ingredients.
In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda.
Add the lemon flavoring to the cup of buttermilk.
Alternative small amounts of the flour mixture with the buttermilk and beat well after each addition. Pound cakes need a lot of mixing to get enough air in the batter so that the cake turns out high and with a good texture.
Grease and lightly flour a pound cake tube pan.
Bake in a preheated oven for around an hour and fifteen minutes. A toothpick should come out clean from the center when the cake is done.

So, until tomorrow........
S~~~