Holly Mitchell Gore

Holly Mitchell Gore loves bundt cake baking, and her favorite is sour cream pound cake, a recipe of her grandmother’s, the late Allie Mae Mayhan.

Holly says that was probably the first thing she ever made, and called it a staple of “Granny’s”, adding that she kept a cake made all the time. When baking, Holly prefers the precise measurement method to her grandmother’s “smidge of this and smidge of that” even though that worked for her.

Holly and sister Haley spent a lot of time in the kitchen with their grandmother when they were young, and in addition to baking, Holly always helped her with holiday cooking. She learned about cooking from her mother, Becky Mayhan Mitchell, and both grandmothers, Allie Mae, and Mable Mitchell.

Holly and Becky are the dressing makers now, and Becky “makes the best chicken and dumplings,” said Holly, which is a favorite of son, Mose.
A few years ago, Holly put together a cookbook for the family, “30 of the Mayhans’ Family Favorites.”

She later added more family favorites to total about 50 recipes. Among them include Granny Mayhan’s cakes, her chicken and dumplings, and chicken and dressing.
Another of Holly’s bundt pan favorites is a “wonderful Paula Deen Mountain Dew cake”, which she  says you can mix up the flavors to change it up.

“We love some Paula Deen!” she said.

Chocolate Chip Cake is also on her bundt cake list.
Daughter, Mattie, is the chocoholic, and Mose is her spicy eater. A recipe she made up that has become a favorite of her family is a spiced-up Rotel dip.

She makes it for all of their family birthday get-togethers, and sometimes they even have it for supper.

Bacon ranch cheeseball is something Holly fixes often at work for someone’s birthday or on knick-knack Friday, and she serves it with wheat thin crackers.
“We like to eat at this place (Dr. Lee Pullen’s office)!”

Sour Cream Pound Cake
1 box butter cake mix
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz. carton sour cream
3/4 cup Wesson oil
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans (chopped)
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
Mix all ingredients except brown sugar and cinnamon, fold in chopped nuts. Pour half of batter in greased and floured tube pan. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over half batter. Then add other batter. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Topping:
1 cup confectioners sugar
6 Tbsp. cream
1/2 cup pecans (chopped)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix and drizzle over warm cake.

Mose &?Mattie Beck’s Favorite Ro-tel
1 lb. hamburger meat
1 lb. block of Velveeta
1 can cream of chicken
1/2 cup milk
1 can Ro-tel
1 pkg. taco seasoning
Brown and drain hamburger. Mix together and melt Velveeta, cream of chicken, and milk. Then add Ro-tel and hamburger meat and stir. Then add a half pack of taco seasoning or more, depending on how spicy you want it. Great with Scoops or Doritos.

Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball
2 pkg. cream cheese softened
1 pkg. dry ranch dressing mix
1 pkg. real bacon bits
Mix cream cheese, dressing mix, and 1/3 cup of bacon bits together. Form into ball. Roll in additional bacon bits. Serve with Wheat Thins.

Mountain Dew Cake
1 box lemon cake mix
1 box lemon flavored instant pudding mix
1 (12 oz.) can Mountain Dew
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
Preheat oven to 325°. Lightly grease and flour a bundt pan. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Add Mtn. Dew, oil, and eggs. Beat with mixer until batter is smooth. Pour batter into pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 box chocolate instant pudding mix
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup water
1 box butter cake mix
1 (8 oz.) sour cream
1 (6 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
Mix all ingredients well and bake in bundt pan at 325° for 1 hour.