Wednesday, January 28, 2009

GOOD FOOD.....GOOD CAKE....GOOD FRIENDS.....

I Love cake!! there I admit it...I especially like carrot cake with that wonderful cream cheese icing...I think it may just be the combo of butter and cream cheese but either way I can eat the icing with a spoon....I love to bake, but cakes is not my forte'....they always seem too heavy and I'm just never happy with the outcome. So when I do bake a cake I go the Sandra Lee route...Today we celebrated Mrs. Duval's birthday....I brought the food, Miss Necie did the driving. Mr. D had just gotten out of the hospital after having surgery and we were happy that he was feeling well enough to join us....Infact he hedged a bit when he was offered a slice of cake saying he would have a taste then save the rest for later...I think I saw him minutes later licking the plate....... We feasted on Ina's chicken salad on croissants, bow tie pesto pasta salad with red peppers, plum tomatoes and black olives and for desert the above carrot cake.....I had never made the chicken salad or the pesto pasta salad before so I was a bit worried that they wouldn't be up to snuff....But every last bit was eaten and I think they both tasted pretty good. The pasta salad very very tasty and next time I make it I will take a picture and post the recipe...It's very easy to make....Now about the cake.
Thank you Mr. Duncan Hines...
I always use Duncan Hines cake mixes they are the best. always moist always delicious. I was very happy to see the new carrot cake on the market. It's a bit more then the regular cakes but certainly worth it. It comes with freeze dried carrots and raisins that you soak it hot water before mixing it in with the batter. I used the cupcake recipe on the side of the box and added a small can of crushed pineapple, the recipe is slightly different then the one for the cake. The pineapple made it extra moist. I never use can frosting I think it's awful so I made my own ....I used 2 8oz. packages of cream cheese, 2 sticks of butter, 2 boxes of powdered sugar a hint of vanilla and a touch of pineapple juice. I beat the heck out of it in the Kitchen Aid and it was yummy....I added the walnuts and a little orange peel for color....You would swear it was all homemade....I recommend it highly....
Here's another favorite thing of mine....I love brown paper shopping bags. I always have some on hand and here's one way you can decorate it for a birthday....I just cut the letters out of an old Better Homes and Garden and glued them on....a little matching tissue and some colorful curly ribbon....which I buy for cheap at IKEA, and you have a great looking gift bag. I also use the bags when Boo is going off to the kennel.....I fill the bag with his toys, his box of biscuits and whatever else he'll need while he's away from home....On the bag itself I write all the info that the kennel needs.....the dates he'll be staying with them, any phone numbers for contact, his feeding schedule, when he gets his meds and the vet's phone number....


14 comments:

Lisa Pogue said...

Goodness, sounds like quite the little celebration!! I know what you mean about cr. cheese frosting. Canned can't hold a candle to homemade. Sometimes I think cr. cheese frosting can be put on shoe leather and people will eat it. Ha.ah.

Salmagundi said...

I love carrot cake! I've never tried D. Hines carrot cake, but I will! Do you have the "Cake Doctor" cookbook with recipes for beefing (not literally) up cake mixes? Your brown shopping bag idea is great. Take care, Sally

Tami said...

I love cake, in fact I judge a wedding by the cake. Thanks for the carrot cake cheater tip, love it.
Tomorrow one of my guys is having a birthday and I always make the same chocolate cake from scratch with homemade frosting!

Also, I loved your comment about your daughter-very clever!

Mimi Sue said...

I have a great carrot cake recipe that I'll share. Very moist and not too dense. I'll do a post on it soon. That's the frosting recipe I use with it. Great gift bag idea. Mimi

Mary said...

Oh YUM! That cake looks delicious! My mom always used Duncan Hines, and her cakes were fab. :)
xoxo,
Mary

nikkicrumpet said...

Oh man...that cake looks soooo good! Why weren't we invited??????

Daryl said...

Husband and I have a tradition. For each other's birthdays we invite Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines to the house and whip up a cake ... Husband loves canned chocolate icing (I prefer the same as you do ... cream cheese frosting.. yum) ... my birthday is approaching and I am going to ask him to see if our totally NOT Supermarket carries the Carrot Cake mix ...

And I love the bag idea ... I love recycling ribbon and have a ton of it .. so next gift I give will be in a Rue Mouffetard One of a Kind Bag!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I love carrot cake too! I've made it from scratch and I've also used spice cake mix and just doctored it by adding the grated carrots and pineapple. Both were equally as good!

Nice idea with the paper bag :-) I have lots of art rubber stamps I could use.

I didn't use a cannoli mold for my tuiles -- they were too small! I used a laddle handle as a mold..lol Next time I'll make them larger and stuff them.

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

Love that cake! Carrot is our FAVORITE cake and I have a really good carrot cake recipe from scratch that is super, duper easy. The hardest part is shredding carrots and that's really nothing big (mister shore house even volunteers for that gig sometimes. :-) One of these days I'll bake and post. I'll just need an occasion to bake it...'cause I can't have a whole cake just sitting around the house. :-)

Susie Q said...

Love the bags...they are perfect for so mahy occasions!
I am also one who thinks that God put cake mixes here for a reason. Oh, that and Mrs. Smith's pies. If God had wanted me to bake pies, he would never have created Mrs. Smith. HMPF.
I think I wil try the DH Carrot Cake. Sounds yummy.

Love,
Sue

Anonymous said...

Hi Sue!

Carrot cake is my very favorite cake! Mostly because of the cream cheese frosting! Actually I'll have a little bit of cake with my frosting please LOL! Do post the recipe and pic it sounds scrumptous! I bought a box of the carrot cake mix a while back when they were all on sale at Kroger but I haven't used it yet. Good to know it's good!

Have a good weekend!

xo,

Manuela

Anonymous said...

The cake, chicken salad, and pasta salad was really good. I am so lucky to have my very own Martha Stewart living next door!

Necie

dawn said...

i licked the monitor. that's just wrong....

Donna said...

I would love to have a piece of that cake, right now. Yum!