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  • Great Cake is Good Chemistry

    In the simplest terms, baking is nothing more than a chemical reaction between ingredients that produce a very pleasing end result. As with most chemical reactions, any variation on the recipe will result in disaster; or worse, no cake. When I came across several recipes that seemed to “break” all the rules of baking that I knew to be essential I knew I had to do some baking.

    During war times, when baking supplies were often in short supply, many resourceful American women devised a variety of “make-do” cakes that were not dependent on traditional ingredients. Wacky Cake is one of those Make-Do Cakes that stuck around.

    a_04_wacky-cake
    This Wacky Cake is mixed right in the pan with unusual ingredients. It may be wacky, but it works!

    Wacky Cake

    Yield: 6-8 servings

    1½ cups all-purpose flour

    ¾ cup granulated sugar

    ¼ cup cocoa powder

    ¾ teaspoon baking soda

    ½ teaspoon salt

    5 Tablespoons vegetable oil

    1 Tablespoon white vinegar

    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    1 cup water

    Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

    In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Pour the dry ingredients into the prepared pan. Make one large and two small holes in the dry ingredients. Add the oil to the large hole and the vinegar and vanilla extract separately into the small holes. Pour the water into the pan and mix until just a few streaks of flour remain. Immediately put the pan in the oven.

    Bake until a pick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan and serve. This cake is best on the day it’s cooked.

     

    In 1966 Ella Helfrich of Houston, Texas won second place in the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off for her Tunnel of Fudge Cake. While the original ingredients to make the cake are no longer available, this recipe makes a very delicious substitute.

    Tunnel of Fudge Cake

    Yield: 12 servings

    Cake:

    ½ cup boiling water

    a_04_tunnel-of-fudge-cake
    Believe it or not, there is a rich, creamy tunnel of fudge hiding in this cake.

    2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

    2 cups of all-purpose flour

    2 cups finely chopped pecans or walnuts

    2 cups of confectioners’ sugar

    ¾ cup of cocoa powder

    1 teaspoon of salt

    2½ sticks of butter, softened

    1 cup granulated sugar

    ¾ cup packed light brown sugar

    1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract

    5 eggs at room temperature

    Glaze:

    4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

    1/3 cup heavy cream, very hot but not boiling

    2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

    ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

    Pinch of salt

    For the cake:

    Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 12-cup non-stick Bundt pan.

    Whisk the boiling water and chocolate together in a small bowl until melted and smooth. Let the mixture cool slightly. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, nuts, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa and salt.

    In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes) with an electric mixer set on medium. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the chocolate mixture until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly beat in the flour mixture until just incorporated.

    Pour the batter in to the prepared pan. Bake the cake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and the top feels springy when touched, about 40-45 minutes. Take care not to over bake this cake. Do not test with a wooden pick.

    Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto a wire cooling rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Let the cake cool completely (about 2 hours).

    While the cake is cooling, prepare the glaze. Place the chopped chocolate in a small mixing bowl; pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate; add the corn syrup, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Let the hot mixture sit for 3-5 minutes and then whisk to combine. Whisk until the glaze is smooth and the chocolate is completely melted. Let cool for 25 minutes or until thickened.

    Drizzle the glaze over the top and sides of the cake. Let the glaze set before serving, about 25 minutes.

     

    It took all my strength NOT to preheat the oven for this Cold Oven Pound Cake. Surprisingly enough, this recipe worked. The cake will rival any traditional pound cake recipes; the crumb is tender and fine and the crust was deliciously crisp like classic pound cake.

    Cold Oven Pound Cake

    a_04_cold-oven-pound-cake
    Oddly enough, this Cold Oven Pound Cake MUST be started in a cold oven. It will not work in a preheated oven.

    Yield: 12 servings

    3 cups of cake flour

    1 teaspoon of salt

    ½ teaspoon baking powder

    1 cup whole milk, room temperature

    2 teaspoons vanilla extract

    2 ½ sticks butter, softened

    2 ½ cups of granulated sugar

    6 large farm fresh eggs, room temperature

    Grease and flour a 16-cup tube pan. Set aside.

    In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. In a measuring cup mix the milk and vanilla together.

    In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer set on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, beating well after each addition. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one third of the flour mixture followed by half the milk mixture. Repeat with half the remaining flour mixture and the remaining milk mixture. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.

    Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Set the oven to 325°F and turn it on. Immediately put the cake into the oven and bake, without opening the door for 70 to 80 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.

    Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack; flip the cake and cool completely.

  • Winnsboro Moves Forward on Sewer Project

    WINNSBORO (Sept. 28, 2016) – After two years of haggling, the Town of Winnsboro finally appears ready to move forward on their McCulley Creek sewer line project.

    Following executive session at their Sept. 20 meeting, Council voted to authorize John Fantry, the Town’s utilities attorney, to begin the process of obtaining rights of way on properties near the Town’s water treatment plant for the installation of the line.

    “The project is to put a sewer line in there through a CDBG (Community Development Block) grant,” Mayor Roger Gaddy said. “We’ve been going around and around with it to get all the land owners on board to get the temporary easement to their properties so we can get on there and work.”

    Town Manager Don Wood said the project, once completed, would increase the Town’s sewer capacity.

    Capital Expenditures

    Council also approved $15,510 for the Department of Public Safety to upgrade the department’s radios. By Dec. 31, according to the S.C. Budget and Control Board, all Palmetto 800 radios must be upgraded to the new P25 system.

    Council OK’d $8,584 for a pump overhaul for the wastewater treatment plant, while also approving lift station upgrades for the plant, not to exceed $25,000.

    The Gas, Water and Sewer Department will be getting two new trucks for its operations – a Chevrolet 2500 extended cab, four-wheel drive, and a Dodge 3500 crew cab four-wheel drive – for a total of $105,550. The trucks replace the department’s 1989 and 1990 Chevrolet 3500’s and its 1997 and 1998 Chevrolet 2500’s.

    The expenditures were forwarded to Council with a recommendation from the Town’s Finance Committee, which met earlier in the evening.

     

  • Candidates Make Their Cases at Forums

    WINNSBORO (Sept. 29, 2016) – The Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a series of candidate forums every other Monday in October at the Winnsboro Woman’s Club at 102 S. Vanderhorst St.

    The forums begin next Monday, Oct. 3, with Ron Smith moderating questions for candidates for District 2 on the Fairfield County School Board (Paula Hartman, incumbent and Janet Mason), as well as for candidates for the District 17 seat in the State Senate (Democrat Mike Fanning, and Republican Mark Palmer).

    Mike Kelly will moderate the remaining forums, beginning on Oct. 17 with candidates for County Council’s District 2 seat (Jimmy Ray Douglas, J. Renee Green and Clyde Wade) and District 3 seat (Kirk Chappell, Peggy D. Swearingen and Mikel R. Trapp Sr.). Both seats are open, with no incumbent running for another term.

    The forums conclude on Oct. 31 with candidates for County Council’s District 4 seat (Kamau Marcharia, incumbent; Bertha Goins and Quincy D. Pringle Sr.) and District 6 seat (Mary Lynn Kinley, incumbent; Gwen Harden; Cornelius Neil Robinson; and Mary Anne Tolbert).

    The forums run from 6 to 8 p.m. and will feature written questions from the audience.

     

  • Sheriff’s Office Seeks Missing Lake Wateree Man

    WINNSBORO – The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources are currently looking for a missing/endangered individual in the Lake Wateree area of Fairfield County.

    Barry Wingert, of Wateree Estates Road in the Dutchman Creek area of Fairfield County, was last seen at approximately 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at his residence. Mr. Wingert is a white male, 59 years old, 5-foot-6, 165 pounds, with gray, thinning hair. Additionally, Mr. Wingert may suffer from Alzheimer’s and may have become disoriented.

    If you see Mr. Wingert, please contact the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office at 803-635-4141.

     

  • Blythewood Father and Son Killed in Crash

    ELGIN (Sept. 28, 2016) – A father and son from Blythewood were killed early Saturday morning when their car raced through a stop sign and struck a home in Elgin before bursting into flames.

    Kershaw County Coroner David West said Maurice Lamar Milliner, 27, and his father, Timothy Millner, 46 were pronounced dead at the scene of the 4:53 a.m. accident. The two were returning home from a night of celebrating Timothy’s recent birthday in Columbia on Sept. 24 when the crash occurred, West said.

    According to the S.C. Highway Patrol, Maurice Milliner was at the wheel of a 2015 Kia Optima, traveling north down Cherokee Blvd., approximately 7.5 miles from downtown Blythewood. His father was in the passenger seat. The Highway Patrol said Maurice Milliner disregarded the stop sign at the intersection of Cherokee Blvd. and Tookie Doo Lane, continued across the roadway and crashed into a home at 1065 Tookie Doo Lane. Both men were wearing seat belts, the Highway Patrol said, and were trapped inside the Kia when it erupted into flames.

    No one was reported injured inside the home.

    Results of a toxicology report were still pending at press time. The Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.

    West said Maurice Milliner had just recently moved back to Blythewood from New Jersey and was a manager at a local Walgreen’s. Timothy Milliner, West said, worked for a local truck driving company.

     

  • Dukes Named to BAR –

    pam_dukes_img_2340-copyLongtime Blythewood resident Pam Dukes has been appointed to the Town’s Board of Architectural Review. Dukes is the Executive Director of Senior Resources, Inc. Prior to that she served 28 years at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) and most recently held the position of Deputy Director of Health Regulation. Dukes has previously served on Town Council.

     

  • Enor Corp. Shutting Down

    WINNSBORO (Sept. 22, 2016) – The days of Enor Corp., the toy manufacturing plant that opened its doors at 1 Quality Lane in Winnsboro in the fall of 2014, are apparently numbered, according to the company’s headquarters in Northvale, N.J.

    “We have stopped production there,” a source within the company’s N.J. headquarters, who wished not to be identified, told The Voice this week. “We are still open, but we have moved all the machinery out.”

    The source said Enor plans to close down the site for good within the next three months.

    “The building is for sale,” the source said. “It should already be sold. We don’t have the final contract yet.”

    A review this week of Fairfield County’s tax records shows the building to still be owned by Enor Corp.

    The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last December. In documents filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey, the manufacturer of toys and games said they faced more than $5 million in liabilities, while claiming only $248,659 in assets with cash, cash equivalents and financial assets totaling just over $11,595.

    Shortly after the bankruptcy documents were filed, a spokesperson with the company told The Voice that Enor had no plans to shut down operations in Winnsboro. This week, however, the company’s tone had changed.

    “It just wasn’t a profitable business for us (at the Winnsboro location),” the unidentified source said. “We had heavy losses there.”

    Enor was introduced to Fairfield County in August 2014. Recruited to the area by Fairfield County Council and the S.C. Department of Commerce under the code name “Project Leprechaun,” Enor received a $300,000 Rural Infrastructure Fund grant from the S.C. Coordinating Council for Economic Development. Those funds were used to retrofit the 78,000-square-foot former Ruff & Tuff building at 1 Quality Lane, off Highway 321 S. Operations at the Winnsboro location began a month later.

    A spokesperson with the Department of Commerce said this week that since the $300,000 grant went to retrofitting the building and not to the company itself, there would be no recovery of those funds.

    “Hopefully, Fairfield County will be able to move another business into that site,” the spokesperson said. “The (grant) was for the building. Whether the company stays or goes, the building is still there. It is still a marketable building.”

    The company was also the beneficiary of a Fee-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (FILOT) agreement with the County. Under the agreement, Enor committed to invest a minimum of $2,500,000 in economic development property and a minimum of $3,870,000 in property subject to ad valorem taxation over a 20-year period. Enor also agreed to create at least 151 new full-time jobs at the plant over a five-year span.

    Enor’s payments to the County in lieu of taxes were capped at a 403.5 mills, with a 6 percent assessment ratio on economic development property.

    Bankruptcy proceedings are not listed in the FILOT documents among the terms of default. A cessation of operations, including a closure of the plant or cessation of productions and shipment of products to customers for a continuous period of 12 months, however, is. A default on a FILOT agreement could mean the company is subject to what is commonly referred to as “claw-backs,” or the recovery by the State or the County of incentives provided to the company to entice them to set up shop in Winnsboro.

    But, according to Michelle Mishoe of the S.C. Department of Revenue’s Manufacturing & Property Division, which oversees FILOT agreements in the state, Enor’s FILOT never had time to kick in.

    “A company has three years (to begin production),” Mishoe said, at which time the FILOT would take effect. “They have to file a return for us to track. Once they file, we make sure they’re meeting their statutory requirements. We have no knowledge of them actually ever being in production. It’s possible they never produced a single toy there. The FILOT does not start until they start claiming for income tax purposes.”

    Enor Corp., in business in Winnsboro for a little more than a year, never progressed to the point of filing a tax return.

    Ty Davenport, Fairfield County’s Economic Development Director, said the property at 1 Quality Lane was on the books as assessed at 6 percent before Enor took up residence there. Enor paid their required 6 percent property taxes in 2015, Davenport said, and they met their required minimum investment and hires as well.

    “They did hire the people they were supposed to hire,” Davenport said. “They just laid them off just as quickly.”

    Enor was in line for a 25 percent tax credit from the County, Davenport said, but did not remain in production long enough to get it.

    “They never got any advantage for us to take back,” Davenport said, “so it’s a wash. What we get out of it is a building (that can be marketed), which has been upfitted.”

     

  • BHS Honors State Champions

    BLYTHEWOOD (Sept. 21, 2016) – Blythewood High School will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Bengals’ remarkable class 3A state championship run this Friday during halftime of the Blythewood’s homecoming football game against River Bluff.

    Jeff Scott, head coach of the 2006 team and now co-offensive coordinator at Clemson, will be on hand to welcome back former players and join them for dinner in the school cafeteria prior to the game.

    The Bengals captured the 3A title in their first year of varsity play, the first team in the state to do so. After dropping their opening game in 2006 to Ridge View (21-13), they went on an amazing 14-game winning streak en route to the crown.

     

  • County, Town Talk Water

    WINNSBORO (Sept. 22, 2016) – The question of whether the Town of Winnsboro can provide enough water and sewer service for Fairfield County officials’ planned burgeoning industrial growth in the County was the focus of a workshop last week when Mayor Roger Gaddy and the Winnsboro Town Council met with Fairfield County Administrator Jason Taylor and a County entourage that included Economic Development Director Ty Davenport.

    After asking the Town for a re-certification of current service it provides to the County’s Peach Road Industrial Park, Taylor quizzed Town officials about future availability of water and sewer capacity for the County’s industry.

    “We’ve had some interest, some companies looking at us and they’ve liked some of the sites and buildings they’ve seen,” Taylor told Town Council members.

    “The County is seen in a good light right now by the Department of Commerce,” Davenport added. “We’re getting activity, but we’re limited in the types of projects we can pursue because of limited water and sewer capacity. The more water and sewer an industry uses, the more investment they probably have in it, and also people who work there make more money. We’re missing out on some of the better projects. We have all the other pieces in place – location, workforce, etc. – but the infrastructure is not there.”

    Davenport said the Department of Commerce has told him that five industries have rejected the county in recent years because of insufficient water and sewer infrastructure.

    “At a significant dollar amount,” Davenport said. “So we need to get that rolling.”

    And Taylor reminded Council that the County will be needing water and sewer for about 2,000 industrial-use acres the County is in the process of purchasing on the east side of I-77 near Ridgeway. He said his first and foremost preference is to get more water and sewer capacity from within the County.

    “Our Alliance is going to step up and spend the money to serve that property with infrastructure,” Taylor said. “They say the quickest and easiest way is for a neighboring county to provide that. But that’s not creating any capacity in Fairfield County. If that same amount of money was spent here in the county on our systems, then we’d be creating capacity. My preference is to do this in-county, but we may be forced to go to another county – Kershaw or Richland (for water and sewer).”

    While Gaddy and Town Administrator Don Wood acknowledged that Winnsboro’s water capacity took a hit following the drought several years ago, they assured their County counterparts that the Town would have ample water flowing from the Broad River by the end of 2017 to meet the County’s industrial needs. Wood was less optimistic about sewer.

    “We don’t have any plans for additional sewer capacity,” Wood said. “It’s a money-loser because we can’t make it up on volume. And Ridgeway is pretty much maxed out, I think.”

    Ken Parnel of EPG Engineering said the Town’s current available sewer capacity is between 600,000 -700,000 gallons.

    “For us to market the county to industry, we need better numbers than that,” Taylor said.

    “The biggest problem with the sewer is the expense of upgrades to the sewer plant and getting it to you,” Parnell said. “The entire sewer system from the edge of the town to the interstate is a series of pump stations and a small diameter pipe. It’s very limited in capacity.”

    “Even if we could make all this work,” Wood said, “with our water lines and upgrades to our other facilities, we’ve maxed out our debt. That money’s got to come from somewhere else.”

    The evening did not pass without a reminder from each Council member that the lines of communication between the County and the Town had not, in the past, been well traveled.

    “Historically,” Gaddy said, “there’s been very little information shared between the County and the Town whenever industrial recruitment was being done. Maybe the County had all the information they needed. But from my standpoint, sometimes I felt if there had been more communication, we might have been able to decrease some rates, do something to incentivize people to come to Fairfield County.”

    Councilman Danny Miller agreed, adding, “In the past (County) administration, we were made to feel like we didn’t live in the county, so we’re glad you’ve come to the table to sit down and talk with us.”

    “We’re going to try to do a better job on some of these things,” Taylor said. “We want to make sure that Winnsboro becomes a vibrant, thriving community.”

    Taylor said he felt the County Council would welcome any potential to partner with the Town for downtown revitalization.

    “I’ve had conversation with individual Council members, and they agree we need to step up and do our part in the Town’s community revitalization,” Taylor said.

    Councilman Jackie Wilkes then asked the big question.

    “Would you find out from your Council if they’d be willing to put any money into the resurrection of the Mt. Zion building?” Wilkes asked. “We would like a definite answer so we can proceed with whether or not to tear it down.”

    Town Councilman Clyde Sanders joked, “We’ll give it to y’all, and we even have a little money we’ll throw in.”

    Taylor said the County’s strategic planner will be addressing several options for Mt. Zion during a full presentation on the strategic plan at County Council later in September.

     

  • Ridgeway Icon on Last Legs

    Council is seeking grant funds to replace its aging water tank.
    Council is seeking grant funds to replace its aging water tank.

    RIDGEWAY (Sept. 22, 2016) – The iconic Ridgeway water tank may soon be relegated to the scrap yard, or at best to the grounds of the old school property for use as a photo backdrop. The one thing that is certain, Town Council said during their Sept. 8 meeting, is that its days as a fully functioning 75,000-gallon storage tank are all but over.

    Council voted unanimously last week to apply for a Rural Infrastructure Authority grant to help cover the cost of replacing the tank, an endeavor that could run to nearly $600,000.

    The price of a new elevated tank alone, Councilman Doug Porter said during the meeting, is $446,000. Piping will add another $35,000, while removal of the existing tank will add $15,000. With a 10-percent contingency built in, he said, the total cost of the project could cost up to $598,000.

    “We looked at this for over a year or more, and made this a priority this year,” Mayor Charlene Herring said. “A review from an outside agency concluded that there were so many things in disrepair. One, you can’t fill the tank – it’s a 75,000-gallon tank – you can’t fill it to the top because of the leaks. We don’t have safety ladders, it needs to be painted again. We had it cleaned inside twice, what they call waxing, but you cannot do that anymore, it has to be (sand) blasted. Once you sand blast something that was built in 1922, there will be more holes. So we believe it is the best option to purchase a new tank.”

    In order to receive the grant, Herring said, the application for which was due Tuesday, the Town would have to commit to at most $97,950 to cover the engineering fee, the contingency, permitting and geotechnical services.

    Councilwoman Angela Harrison suggested moving the old tank to the school grounds as a kind of museum piece. Councilman Donald Prioleau said he didn’t want the Town to overcommit to other grants while the water tank was clearly Ridgeway’s top priority.

    Council had previously during the meeting agreed to apply for a Department of Tourism grant to construct a playground at the old school. That grant – for $80,250 – would require a 20-percent match. Also on the agenda was a Municipal Association economic development grant of $25,000, which Herring said could be used to make repairs to the police station, sidewalks and the school arch. That grant requires a 5-percent match.

    “What I’m hearing, we’ve got a lot of grants,” Prioleau said. “Some of them are matching, like 20 percent. I think we need to make this water project a priority.”

    But Herring said the match for the Department of Tourism grant was being provided in part by $16,050 given to the Town by the Pulpwood Committee. It was hoped that the remainder, she said, would come from a County grant. County Council’s Administrative and Finance Committee, however, nixed that idea during their Sept. 12 meeting.

    The Municipal Association grant, Herring said, could be matched either with cash or “in-kind,” with labor for the projects provided by the Town or donated by local businesses.

    Council gave the OK to apply for all three grants. Matching funds for the water tank grant would come from cashing in part of the Town’s Certificate of Deposit.