My kid rocks...

and totally jammed out to this:

Ken's Birthday Carrot Cake Recipe

For my father in law's birthday today, I made him a Carrot Cake from scratch :) his choice. It's nice to be able to cook for family- especially when they're so appreciative! :)

Here is my recipe (tweaked a bit from the Joy of Baking version)

The Cake:

1 cup walnuts- toasted and chopped

1 finely grated carrot

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar

1 cup vegetable

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup of Apple Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Toast the walnuts for about 8 minutes Let cool and then chop.

Peel and finely grate the carrot. Set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs until frothy (about 1 minute). Gradually add the sugar and beat until the batter is thick and light colored (about 3 - 4 minutes). Add the oil in a steady stream and then beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. With a large rubber spatula fold in the grated carrots, applesauce and chopped nuts. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

The Frosting

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups confectioners sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

dash of Lemon Zest

Beat the cream cheese and butter, until blended with no lumps. Add the sifted confectioners sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract, and lemon zest.

More, better, Halloween Pictures

Thanks Aunt Katie!

Kat's First Birthday

Kat's birthday was so great! I'd have posted earlier, but Jenni and Johnny were still here at the house and we were having too much fun to blog. Trust me when I say there are many more pictures to come, but these are the ones that Tim's Dad e mailed to me. Our camera battery went dead just as the party was starting (which is the same thing that happened at our wedding to the photographer's camera, so it's a running theme with us) I know Ken took many many more pictures, as did Karen, Jenni, and Aunt Katie- so once I shake everyone down I'll post them. There's also video that I need to chop up so we can post it- all things to come when I get a minute.

Kat got SO many sweet presents and toys that it's hard to even list them here. She's playing with nearly all of them already, so everyone that came obviously had good taste! All the kids had so much fun playing together, and all the adults had so much fun watching them play that we didn't need much more entertainment than that.

I did learn that chocolate icing takes about 3 full shampoos to come completely out of a child's hair- a valuable thing to know. I also learned that when someone Kat's size eats 3 cupcakes worth of icing that they, in fact, do not sleep for a few days. :)

Kat and Johnny had an absolute BALL playing together all weekend (again more pictures to come I'm sure!) and that was probably the nicest present for Kat. After we took them to the airport today she kept running around the house yelling Ja Ja (Johnny) and trying to get into our spare room door. Methinks the WeeKat needs a playmate!

It was a wonderful weekend, and as we took a break from packing/unpacking/ and cleaning to enjoy it, we're back to the grind tomorrow. It was a lovely little break though!

For now here's the basic pictures: