In the Hive

Karl's turned 13 on June 25th. We made his birthday cake last night. He loves carrot cake! I posted the recipe below, the cake was excellent. Old-Fashioned Carrot Cake with Maple-Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients 2 cups sugar 1 cup canola oil 4 large eggs 2 cups all purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon salt 4 cups finely grated peeled carrots 1 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped Maple-Cream Cheese Icing 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1 ½ cups powdered sugar ½ cup pure maple syrup 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract Method Cake: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, oil and eggs in large bowl until well blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt; beat until blended. Stir in carrots and walnuts. Divide batter betwee...

Michael got me a teacup planter and Andrew made me a treat tower with teas, chocolates, and cookies!

For my birthday dinner this year I have decided to make Citrus Salmon Fillets, Roasted Potato Salad, and snow peas. For dessert, I made a chocolate pistachio and almond tart! Doesn't it look yummy?

Today is Tommy's actually birthday. He asked me to get him donuts to make the number 10 to celebrate! Happy Birthday Thomas!

We had to have Thomas' cake a bit early since Andrew was leaving town today and Daddy is flying back to California this week! This year Thomas asked for a Vanilla Sheet Cake.

Today was Mom's birthday, we miss her deeply.  She passed away 2 years ago and it still seems like yesterday.  We made a sour cream pound cake to mark the day.  It was her favorite flavor cake!

AJ has his cake, and eats it too! We finally got everyone together to have pizza and cake for Andrew!