Carrots, Sugar, and the Holidays (plus a giveaway)

Christmas is almost here! In light of that, I wanted to share with you guys something really special. I mean really, really special. (I know the pictures are enticing, but stick around because at the end of the post I have a giveaway for you guys!)

In my family, as long as I can remember, my family has baked one thing during every holiday, carrot cakes. These little loaves of deliciousness were given out as gifts, brought to parties, and shared for breakfasts and deserts. On my father's side, this family recipe is the only one that has been passed down several generations. The cakes are moist and packed with flavor. Even the recipe card is written in my late Grandmother's handwriting (which I'm going to have framed one day soon).

Now here's where I break your heart. I can't share it! I know, I know. I'm sorry for the buildup. It's the only recipe passed down from several generations of Italians (not pasta, gravy, or biscotti, but carrot cake). It's special and will either go to the grave with me or be passed down to my (future) kids.

What I can give you is the next best thing another carrot cake recipe I found years ago--and let me tell you it is just as amazing.

First, a story (it is my trade after all).

I'm a baker at heart. I'm not sure when exactly it started since I don't remember doing an abnormal amount of baking as child, but some time in my teens I realized the cookie dough rolled up in the tubes at the grocery store wasn't as good as the one I could make from fresh ingredients. Yes, cookies are my drug of choice, but I've nothing against a great cake either. I baked long before I learned how to cook anything other than packaged mac and cheese and romin, so I feel like more of a baker than a cook.

Keeping with that, here is the recipe for my

Almost As Good As Grandma Basso’s Carrot Cake 

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon all spice
½ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 ½ cups vegetable oil (I know how it sounds, just trust me.)
1 pound carrots (about 2 cups) peeled and grated
Optional ingredients:
1 ½ cups toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped
1 cup of raisins

Now, before we get any further I have two things to say. One: When baking, always use fresh ingredients. Baking powder that’s more than a year old isn’t going to rise right, and old spices are bland. Two: Grate the carrots yourself or with a food processor, don’t go out and buy those pre-shredded carrots, they don’t have the texture or moisture you’ll need.

Putting these bad boys together:

1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9 by 13-inch cake pan (or two small rounds which will cook for 25-30 minutes) with vegetable oil spray. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Whisk the eggs and sugars together in a large bowl until frothy and the sugar is mostly dissolved, about 1 minute. While whisking, slowly add the oil until the mixture is combined and emulsified, about 1 minute. Whisk in the flour mixture until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in carrots (and nuts and raisins, if you’re choosing to use them).

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few crumbs attached (this part is important, don’t over bake), 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

4. Let the cake cool before applying the awe-mazing cream cheese frosting.

Cream cheese frosting, you say? Why yes! Did I forget to mention the preverbial cherry on top?

Here’s what you’ll need for the frosting:

8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon sour cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (but I always add a little more, about a teaspoon. Not into vanilla? Substitute the sour cream for orange juice and the vanilla for a teaspoon of freshly grated orange zest)
1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar

(Hey, this is a cake recipe for the holidays, not a quick guide for losing weight)

Stir together the cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla until combined. Add the confectioners’ sugar and continue to stir until smooth.

And boom. The yummiest (though maybe not the prettiest, sorry guys) carrot cake you’ve ever had!

Now I couldn’t think of a descent segue to get us from carrot cake to the rafflecopter, so I’ve done it the lazy man’s way. Look here! There’s a giveaway!
~Lisa
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Finding the joy of the season

Two years ago, two days after Christmas, my father-in-law passed away. He'd been sick for several months, and Christmas that year - my son's first - was spent sitting on the end of his bed because he was too weak to get up and come to the living room. It was a joyous time, but also incredibly sad.

This year, we are in the middle of a move. (This post is going up at 6:00 pm because this is the first time I've had a moment to breathe all day.) Our house is nothing but boxes and mess and chaos. No tree, no lights, no decorations. If it weren't for the music I keep playing in the background while I pack and clean (and the pile of snow I can see outside my office window as I type this), one wouldn't know it was Christmas around here at all. We leave in two days to take our first load to our new house, 500 miles away. We come back Christmas Eve, and start the day after Christmas to load the next trip.

But….

My kid will be three in a month. This is the first year he is actively excited about Christmas. He gets what is going on, recognizes Santa Claus, and asks for Christmas songs every time a radio comes on. He is beyond thrilled. So even though I feel nothing but overwhelmed, I need to find the joy of the Christmas season.

(Can we mention how bummed I am that I have to search for the joy? I LOVE Christmas. Love it. I start listening to Christmas songs in October August. Even two years ago, when John was so sick, I was excited for Christmas.)

So every so often, despite how busy I am and how badly I can't afford to take breaks, I need to step back from packing and prepping and cleaning. I grab my kid and we dance to some Christmas tunes. Or we read a book. Or watch Prep & Landing. We leave the house and play in the snow. We talk about Santa and family and traditions and Jesus.

Sometimes, in the back of my mind, I'm listing the millions of things I still have to do. But sometimes - and these are the best times - I forget all of that and just enjoy the moment with Boy Sprout, the excitement of Christmas all around us.

Have you ever had this experience of having to search and work for holiday joy? What's worked for you?

(Pssst….don't forget to enter our 12 Days of Christmas giveaway. There are some fantastic books and goodies up for grabs, y'all!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Love and traditions -- 12 Days of Christmas, Day 3

Hi, all! Welcome to day three of the 12 Days of Christmas with Indie Ignites! As I thought about my post today, the tradition of decorating the gumdrop tree with my grandpa came to mind.

My piddly little tree. No comparison to the original.

When I say this is a piddly little tree in the comment above, I'm not kidding. I have no idea where my grandpa found our gumdrop tree, but it was huge. And dark, dark green. And fat. And the branches came out, and upward a little. It took forever to get it covered (I probably ate half the bag of gumdrops before we were done), and we always used the colorful ones, not just red and green like in this picture. 

As I grew older and became engaged, things changed a little bit with my grandparents. My grandpa was sick, and for some reason, at word of my engagement at seventeen years old (yes, I know--I have three daughters in high school so I now get how this is a big deal) he took that as me rejecting him (the dementia working) and stopped talking to me. It broke my heart, but at the same time, I was in high school. I moved on.

Then, my grandpa passed away. And my grandma had to move. And a lot of stuff was sold. In those few years of all of that happening and me having three kids and whatnot, I completely forgot about the tree. Apparently, my grandma didn't think of it either, because when I finally remembered six years ago or so and asked about it, she had no clue where it was, and we figured she must have sold it. Which, of course, broke my heart again. So just like the book, back to the internet I went, searching for a "gumdrop tree". Not an easy thing to find, let me tell you. 

After searching for forever (okay, only months, but still), this little, piddly tree was all I could find. It's not the same to me, but the girls love it anyway. In fact, we've already had to fill it a couple of times this year because, of course, every time someone walks by they have to eat at least one "ornament". 

A lot of times, the "good" things about the holiday season are tied to things and people and feelings and emotions that aren't necessarily as "good". It's important to remember that this is the whole point of traditions--passing along the "good" that was done with those who are no longer here, so that other people will also have the opportunity to enjoy it. And why do we share in traditions? Well, ultimately, love. Love is the reason for this season. As one song goes, "Love came down and rescued me, Love came down and set me free." So for me, it's about, yes, Love with a capital L for my Savior's love, but also love for my family and those who are near and dear to my heart. We share and celebrate traditions out of love for one another, out of the love He gives us to pass along. 

When I look at that gumdrop tree, I think of the good days with my grandpa. Though the girls never really met him, this tree still reminds me of the good times we had together, and I know that, in a way, it ties them to him, too. And as Hattie says, in Pity Isn't An Option, "...When you love someone, it doesn't matter what they do or don't, or if what they promise takes a little long in carrying out. It doesn't matter if they've hurt you, how many ties you've fought, because true love is unconditional. It's a burning, lasting love, the kind that overlooks all the bad in your soul, and sees only the beautiful. It's an unquestionable pardon connecting...you for your entire life."

Here's to that kind of love this Christmas, and always. Have a blessed holiday season, and don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'll have the (Christmas) special

I'm honored to be the first to post for the INDIE IGNITES TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS.

As the senior member of Indie Ignites (I think), I’m going to tell you young folks a little story of Christmas past. It goes all the way back to the days before blu-ray, before DVDs, even before VCRs – before cable TV, even. Yes, television used to come to us on four, maybe five stations, the three national networks and a couple of crappy local stations that played mostly local talent shows and horror movies (though I fondly recall one that had the Super G races, in which gerbils raced each other live, or even Dialing for Dollars, on which a host would call people during commercial breaks and give out prizes to those watching the movie.) Those were the days, kids. 

And the most magical part of the television viewing year was Christmas with its much-anticipated Christmas specials. They were only on once a year, so you had to study TV Guide to make sure you got the right night, because if you missed Santa Claus is Comin' to Town you were stone out of luck. You just had to wait another 360 days to catch it again.

My favorites were The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas. I was always bathed, in my jammies, and right in front of the set on those special nights, and I didn’t even mind if they pre-empted The Brady Bunch. (Can you tell how old I am yet?).  I think my first crush on a fictional character was on Linus, despite his unfortunate hair.  He was thoughtful and had a spiritual quality I really admired even then. Plus his last name is "Van Pelt." How cool is that? And to this day, whenever I am in a situation that calls for dancing, I imitate the side-to-side sort of pogo that Charlie and his friends did onstage at the Christmas pageant, hoping that it looks kind of cool and retro and ironic and not evidence that I have all the grace of a crippled donkey. (I could not find a free-use image from the special, but here is a Charlie Brown latte, which is almost as good):

 

Charlie Brown latte, Christopher from San Francisco, July 9, 2012 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charlie_Brown!_(7539446408).jpg

Unlike my own children, I was never scared of the Grinch. As a kid, I found his underbite kind of charming, though I cried whenever he mistreated Max, who had to be the sweetest little cartoon dog in history.  As an adult, I still love this special because it's about the holiday being about love and not material goods, my daughter bore an uncanny resemblance to Cindy Lou Hoo as an infant (though, mercifully, without the antennae), and because as a veg*n I appreciate the sly anti-meat critique in the serving of the "roast beast." Plus, I live in Dr. Seuss' hometown now (in fact, his wife grew up just down the street from here) and I like to visit Springfield Museum Quadrangle's Sculpture Garden to hang out with a bronze Grinch and Max. I could not find a photo of that that I could post without risking copyright infringement, but here is a pretty awesome sand sculpture Grinch:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cayobo/5293971507/

You don't need to snow in Key West to make a festive holiday snowsandman.

    And you don't need snow either to win some holiday presents. Just enter the Rafflecopter giveaway here! Best of luck and have the happiest of  holidays!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway