MRS. HOGAN'S CARROT CAKE
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour three 8-inch cake pans.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 cups grated carrots
- ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and sugar in medium-bowl. In large mixing bowl, beat 4 eggs til frothy, adding vegetable oil. Beat flour mixture into egg mixture. Add carrots and chopped nuts, mix. Bake 25-30 minutes, til done.
MAPLE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese
- 1 stick margarine
- 1 lb. box confectioner's sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. maple flavoring
INSTRUCTIONS:
Soften cream cheese and margarine to room temperature before mixing together. Beat in confectioner’s sugar, adding vanilla and maple flavoring. Ice all three layers—may need to add toothpicks to layers to stabilize.
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Dear Friends:
With the holidays come such weighty (literally!) issues as these: Pumpkin or pecan? Apple or cherry? Stuffing or dressing? Ham or turkey? I say—why choose? As many of you know, I grew up as part of a large, loud family—five children. At Thanksgiving, and again at Christmas, my mother always served both ham and turkey, and she made regular stuffing, plus her own favorite, oyster dressing, every year. The list of side dishes encompassed everybody's favorites, mashed potatoes, sweet potato souffle, green beans, cole slaw, cranberry sauce, and squash casserole. She always made my personal favorite—roast parsnips. And the dessert table was a sugar overload with at least two each of pecan and pumpkin pies, plus apple, chocolate and lemon meringue. A dear family friend loved mincemeat, so Mom always made Dave his own mincemeat pie. And did I mention there was always a chocolate cake as well as carrot cake? At Mom's funeral five years ago, Dave's wife told us that when their daughter Caitlyn received the news of Mrs. Hogan's death, she tearfully asked "But now who'll make the carrot cake?" It seems the carrot cake baton has been passed to me, so I'd like to pass it to my favorite readers too.
This year, we had Thanksgiving dinner at my sister-in-law's house, but of course I had to tote along the carrot cake and a couple of pies—son Andrew's favorite is pumpkin—to our family gathering. And in between watching football, we managed to slip in a power nap and a little shopping.
As soon as the Thanksgiving leftovers were polished off, I started plotting for Christmas. This will be such a joyous holiday for us this year, with the addition of our first grandchild, Molly, who was born in July. We'll have a big family Christmas here in Atlanta, although on Christmas Day I've graciously agreed to allow Molly to visit her other grandparents in Missouri. Our little town has a tree lighting ceremony the first week of December, so that's my deadline to get my outside decorations completed. Of course, my theme doesn't vary—it's always a BLUE CHRISTMAS at our house.
This year, my very own BLUE CHRISTMAS has been released in mass market paperback for the first time. I think the $7.99 paperback makes it a nifty little item for teacher gifts, book club swaps and stocking stuffers. Or, you could just make it a gift to yourself—I know you've all been very good this year. As always, there are recipes in the back of the book, for Junior League cheese pennies, Chatham Artillery Punch, corned beef dip (yum!) and red rooster cocktails—a very yummy adult beverage, as well as my personal Cool Yule Christmas music playlist.
Once the holidays are over, it'll be back to work on my novel-in-progress, tentatively titled SUMMER RENTAL, with a story about three childhood friends from Savannah who're renting a cottage on North Carolina's Outer Banks. I'll also make time for some appearances. Sun. Feb. 22, I'll be on Hilton Head Island, SC, signing at Cooks and Books, a literacy fundraiser held at The Mall at Shelter Cove, from 12:30-2:30 pm, and on Feb. 26, I'll be the keynote luncheon speaker at the Jacksonville, FL Public Library's Much Ado About Books Festival.
Until then, here's wishing you the warmest, wonderfullest holiday season ever—from my front porch to yours.
All my best,
Mary Kay Andrews
Do you have a book club? If your club is reading one of my books, I would love to call in and join your discussion. You never know, I may even be able to drop by in person if it works out right. E-mail us with your request and we'll see what we can do! Be sure to include a snail mail address and info about the size of your club.
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IN STORES NOW!
ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!
CONTEST!
It's been quite a year for me and I am so looking forward to 2010. Some of my New Year's resolutions in the past have been doozies—some I've stuck to and some were doomed to fail from the start. So let's hear 'em. Send in your New Year's resolutions to meg@marykayandrews.com. I'll publish a few of them on my blog and select a handful of my favorites to win an autographed copy of BLUE CHRISTMAS.
TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THE CONTEST:
LET IT SNOW!
Last winter we were treated to some snow here in Atlanta. Here's hoping for more of the white stuff to romp around in again this year—what better excuse to read by the fire with a glass of wine!
MKA Online
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