"Coconut cake has a long history in my family. Grandma Etta was famous for hers. You would be woken on Christmas Eve by the sound of Grandma in the back yard beating a whole coconut with a hammer to crack it open. Quite a sight since she was about 90 lbs. She would drain the milk first, use it in the icing and then grate the meat for the topping. My mother still makes hers from a whole coconut as well. Now that I have children, I've taken over the Christmas tradition but have updated my Grandmother's recipe for my busy schedule. I start with a box cake mix, add crème of coconut instead of oil and water and then use pre-shredded coconut. A cake that has the taste and smell of my grandmother and mother's, but easy enough that I actually have the time to do it!" – Ken
"My mama was a cook on a riverboat in Mississippi. My mom knows her way around the kitchen. First of all, her grandmother, my great-grandmother, owned a little restaurant in our town. We lived in a one Dairy Queen kinda town, Ashland, Kentucky. The Judd family traditional holiday dinner is all made from scratch, and I think if I didn't make my Spinach and Sweet Potato Casserole, Wynonna and Ashley would think they were orphans. They’d walk into the woods and never be heard from again… This is our traditional recipe" - Naomi
