Happy 60th Dad!

July 12, 1949 was a day in history - the birth of my father. I probably know more of his childhood than i do of moms. I remember some of his stories - running through the thunderstorm holding his belt buckle, watching the same movie ALL DAY LONG for only a nickle, going off into the navy, having mom pull his shorts down at a basketball game before they started dating...so many funny things.

We were so excited to be able to celebrate with him this year, as he turned 60. Madeline, Jeff, Grace and Sarah all came into town....and so did my friend Kimberly! So, all 16 of us headed to the Cracker Barrel for dinner on the Friday before his birthday, then came back to our house for desserts and gifts.

One of Dad's favorite cakes is carrot cake - mom used to make it for him for special things. I knew that I wanted to have one for this celebration, so I thought I'd buy one. In talking with my sister one evening before she said this "No offense to mom, but if she could make one, you DEFINITELY can!" So with that encouragement, and a little help from Kimberly (and Mrs. Kelso), I was the most domestic I've been in a while - down to grating the carrots with the food processor, using the stick of butter to "grease" the pans, and making the cream cheese icing from scratch...this is how it came out:The best two-layer carrot cake I've ever tasted - and apparently one of the best for the family. There were only 2 slices left! Here is the best recipe - enjoy!

Preheat oven to 325* and grease and 'lightly' flour cake pan - I used 2 8" round pans.

Mix the following together in a large mixing bowl:

2 cups cake (or all purpose) flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon (or more if you like)

1 tsp salt

Then add 1 cup veg. oil and mix well.

Add 4 eggs (one at a time) and mix after each.

Stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract and 3 cups of finely shredded carrots (you MUST shred them from whole carrots - pre-shredded will make your cake flop - thankfully I knew this and didn't learn from experience:)).

Pour even amounts into pans and bake fro 35-45 minutes until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Cool on wire rackes for 10 min, then remove from pans and cool thoroughly.

After cakes comeout of oven, make the frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 to 2 sticks of butter, softenend

1 box or 5-6 cups of powdered sugar (confectioners sugar)

1 tsp of vanilla

Mix well together, frost cakes and taste a bite of paradise:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!