Plug was my Mom's nickname, acquired as a child when an uncle told her she was uglier than a plug nickle (nice uncle, huh?). When she passed away in 1991 at the age of 83, most of her 24 grandchildren referred to her as Plug Cooper. Plug was a country cook who never owned measuring spoons and rarely used measuring cups; truly a Rachael Ray type personality who used a handful of this, a pinch of that & cooked things till they smelled done . As the youngest of her 10 children, I was lucky to have one-on-one time with her & gather enough knowledge to preserve her recipes. And it was no easy task since my hands are half the size her's were! On to the cake - I've tried lots of apple cake recipes and still consider this one the benchmark. We called it hand cake since it was never iced & easy to grab & run.