Simply February

I have a luxurious day off today!

I'm such a wimp - I survived my night shift again this week but have slept poorly for the last several days and adding a post-night shift "let's sleep even less" left me one part angry/one part weepy yesterday afternoon, so much so that I put myself back to bed in my room on solitary confinement.

On top of that I realized that in the last 4 weekends I had been away by myself for 2 weekends, worked one and was sick for one so I really felt out of touch with my guys and myself.

When I woke today I had this eager restless energy of wondering HOW I could/should/would spend this day!!  One guy is at work for a long day (boo), one guy is off on an adventure for the day (yay) and one guy is still sleeping.

So there's lots of time for some random thinking.

I should.....

Read a book.  Quick, start that right now.  Which one - which one - WHICH ONE?  The stack beside my bed is at least 15 books high.

I should.....

Watch a movie.  ANOTHER HUGE DECISION - WHICH ONE?????????

I should.....

Go shopping, vintage finds await at my local Salvation Army #fav.  BUT THEN I HAVE TO GET DRESSED AND LEAVE THE HOUSE....NOOOOOOOO

I should.....

Make bread or buns or cinnamon buns.  But that's sooooo much work.

I should.....

Clean up my room and declutter.  *shut up* I hate that option.

I should.....

Go see those fireworks tonight.  Maybe.  #coldout



Suddenly, I'm all worn out.

And so I sit in indecision and my day wastes away and I'll likely get the dishes done and maybe not a lot more.

But.

Perhaps the simplicity of that is what I need and if I can unsubscribe from #OverthinkersAnonymous I'd likely settle down and be refreshed.

It was Andrew's birthday yesterday.  He turned 19.  What do you do for a 19 year old on their birthday?  We value birthday celebrations but this felt like a big year transitioning into the adult child stage.  So we asked him what he wanted and he took some time to give his answer as to what he wanted from us, which ended up to be:

Greek Ribs
Potatoes
Asparagus
Ice Water
Carrot Cake
Bowling
Grandparents
Money

We sat down at the table last night with the 6 of us around the table with 3 dishes of food and mismatched napkins and I jokingly said "why didn't I learn the simplicity of this back in the day when we had 13 people around this table for birthdays?"

Years ago when we had more family here, we had a family birthday almost every month of the year and family birthdays meant that we had a family supper.  There were all ages of babies and toddlers and preschoolers and adults and senior citizens and we'd somehow manage to squeeze into my little house when it was our turn and we'd make room for 13 people around our tiny little table and there would be high chairs and booster seats and sippy cups and some frailty on the other end of the spectrum and there would be elaborate meals with homemade and hand decorated cakes and color coordinated EVERYTHING.

And they were the best of times.  I miss those days tremendously.

But this year when we had 3 things on the table and 6 people around it with mismatched and wrinkled napkins and the birthday boy himself did the dishes after supper I just had to think that there is 

real beauty in simplicity.


So, in keeping with the beauty of simple, here's my recipe for Carrot Cake.  If I can brag just a bit (ahem) my carrot cake has raised quite a bit of money on a couple of occasions.  

This baby went for about $175.00 at a dessert auction.
The winners laughed as they ate -
with each slice, they said "well, there goes $25.00!"

This one fetched a whopping
$345.00 from some
VERY DETERMINED
customers at another cake auction

But this one - LOL!
Perfect.


Maureen's Carrot Cake (from the Briercrest cookbook circa 1981)

2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups oil (I usually substitute some of that with applesauce)
4 eggs

3 cups grated carrots

Combine and sift dry ingredients.  Gradually beat in oil, eggs and carrots.

Bake at 350 -
9x13 pan - 40-45 minutes
Bundt pan (my favorite) - 50-55 minutes
Cupcakes - 17-22 minutes

Cream Cheese Icing

1 250 g block of cream cheese
1/2 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups icing sugar

Ice cake when cooled.


Comments

  1. Thanks for posting Maureen! I love everything you write. It's always a joy to read and always brings back memories for me .......no matter what you write.❤

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheryl! It's SO nice to hear from you! Thank you for taking the time to read and to respond. We have such a rich bank of memories - very special to me to have shared many with you.

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  2. Looks so yummy! Love your posts; your authenticity is so appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aiming to have a piece this afternoon with a cup of tea! Thanks for reading, really appreciate that you take the time to stop in!

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