Good Story, Hansel. Happy Birthday, Jeremy!

I wear contacts. But, I don't always put them in on weekend mornings. Like yesterday, for instance. I got up and started baking immediately so that I could have Jeremy's birthday cake finished by the time we were going to a Friendsgiving. Halfway through the baking process I thought, "Oh hey, I should totally take pictures of this!" So I picked up my camera to shoot.

"Oh. No," I thought. "My camera is BROKEN!!" Nothing I did could get it to focus. I switched modes. I tried working it manually. I had my own personal Zoolander-Hansel technology moment.

Nothing.

And then:

DUH.

I hadn't put my contacts in. There was absolutely nothing wrong with my camera. Drrrrr. But did I put contacts in at that point? Nope. I just shot away and checked in the playback screen to see if the result was what I wanted. For making such a labor-intensive cake, that is one lazy move, letmetellyou.

I don't think it affected me too much, though, since I got this in the end:

Jeremy's favorite is carrot cake, so that is what I made. Carrot cake takes a lot of work, but I think it turned out well. I was also super proud of my frosting job since I haven't frosted a cake in FOREVER. Cupcakes -- yeah, a lot. But it's been a while since I've gotten cozy with a cake. I also haven't written on a cake before . . . I was happy with that, too, considering. Seeing all those cakewrecks, I'm just pleased I spelled everything correctly.

This is another gluten-free recipe. I also made my carrot cake nut free. After the shredding of the carrots, which takes a million years, the rest of the recipe is easy to follow. First, before you do anything, put your raisins in a bowl (or mug) with about a shot of rum. I let mine marinate overnight, but an hour will do. Also, grate those carrots!

Ah, the shredded carrots. I'd say it's about three to four carrots per cup and you'll need three PACKED cups of carrots. I grated my carrots against a grater so all the carrot pieces are small. Then I was like, "Hey, self, you have a Vitamix . . ." So I used that to chop up about half the carrots into even tinier pieces. Set those aside for now.

In a mixer, blend together the sugar, oil, and apple sauce. Then add all the other ingredients in order of how they are listed below.

 Ok, carrots, it's your turn to shine! We welcome you back into the (batter) fold.

 

And now our raisin friends are invited to the party. What am I saying? They ARE the party. (It's ok if the party juice gets in the batter. And by "party juice" I mean "rum.)

I forgot to take pictures of the frosting steps because at this point I was running behind. That's what you get when you decide to run to Hallmark and buy surprise birthday balloons and drop them off at Jeremy's house while your cake cools.

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup oil

½ cup apple sauce

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free all-purpose blend

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon xanthum gum

1 pinch salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups (fully packed!) grated carrots

1 1/3 cup raisins, soaked in rum 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 9" cake pans. Line with parchment paper and grease that.

2. Soak raisins in rum. 

3. Grate carrots. 

4. Beat oil, apple sauce, and sugar.

5. Then add eggs.

6. Add and mix the rest of the cake ingredients in the order given. 

7. Pour into 3 9" cake pans.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. For cupcakes, bake for 20 – 22 minutes.

5. Wait for the cake to cool ENTIRELY before icing. 

 

A Cooker, a Baker, a Green Salad Maker

Honestly, if Jeremy and I end up eating pasta as much as my family did when I was younger, we'll have a special homemade pasta sauce recipe down in no time.

 

In some ways, I doubt we'll eat as much pasta as I did growing up (back then known as "spaghetti"), since now I'm gluten-free. Pasta isn't cheap when it's GF! But, I have found some favorites that are totally worth the extra bucks. Bionaturae has so far won over my GF taste buds, but if you have any other suggestions that I should try, please leave me a comment!

 

Pizza is another family specialty -- in fact, when my brother and I were little, we planned on opening a pizza restaurant in the backyard. I'd write up the menu (fancy handwriting and swirly accents, of course) and my brother would do most of the cooking. Obviously the dessert was up to me. And, being from a family of entrepreneurs, we expected our parents to pay for the meal -- did they think the menu with prices was just for fun?! That we were PLAYING?! No. We worked hard; we made dinner: now pay us. (Using kid logic, it somehow escaped us that we actually didn't BUY any of the ingredients ourselves . . . so we were asking our parents to pay for food they had already paid for. However, should we not have been compensated for our labor in this whole arrangement? What about the presentation? The ambiance?)

So, now Jeremy and I are working on a pasta sauce. Here's what I'm learning about cooking: it's not like baking. I knew that -- I mean, baking is a science and your recipe is a list of precise directions to follow. If baking is like architecture, cooking is like Jackson Pollock. In other words, baking and cooking are both art forms -- but they come together as masterpieces in very different ways.

In baking, I do a lot of planning ahead of time. I think of flavors that go to together and how to achieve the final product before I start. With cooking, you determine the result as you go.

Salads are way easier for me to figure out than spices in main dishes. Maybe because the ingredients are more pronounced than spices? Here I made a spinach salad with green apples, dates, and some feta. I wanted to use goat cheese, but that goat cheese was WAY beyond using (buh-bye).

I'm also getting into making my own dressing (basically I study the labels of dressings I like and try to replicate it). If I don't make my own, then I use Tessemae's. They're a new local company and so far everything I have tried has been a winner. I think they're exclusively at Whole Foods, and to me, it's worth the trip (refrigerated section in produce). Bwahaha, who am I kidding? I'm at Whole Foods anyway. (If I'm not at MOM's Organic Market -- a great local organic food store.)

What about you? Are you a cooker, a baker, or a green salad maker?

(p.s. I mentioned these products because I like them. They don't know me; it's just unrequited love here.)

Crappy Mood ---> Head Outdoors

Some days are just crappy days. I do my best to keep gratitude in the forefront of my mind, but stress creeps in. Little things become big things. My mind magnifies the minute to the point that the positive is pushed out. Instead of opting for "cranky pants" I put on a full suit. And then I go outside.

And then the armor of anger sheds more easily. It seems to melt off. I notice the small beauty within the expansive space.

I am able to feel more clearly. Something about being outdoors helps me to see myself, situations, emotions, others through a different filter -- or perhaps without one at all. 

Too often I feel like we only share "the best" -- we post what we want people to see. We construct our image and identity through our selfies and status messages, but leave out the hard times. I get it. Who wants to broadcast when things suck? But, sometimes they do. Sometimes for legit reasons. Sometimes because you've been looking at Facebook for too long and it's pretty easy to put on cranky pants.

And then I think it's good to get outside.