Best Carrot Cake Ever

BEST CARROT CAKE EVER
Added by JANE LOUISE [lovinspoonful] on Jan 31, 2011

JANE from CLARKSTON, MI (pop. 42,991) says:
Again, going back to my vintage recipes that have been in my family for years, I spotted an old recipe from the 40's for carrot cake. It was titled THE BEST CARROT CAKE. Well, I figured it was now the 90's at the time and was sure someone probably had come up with a better recipe since then. I was wrong. To date, I have not tasted better carrot cake ever. It's easy and the outcome is amazing. A great spring cake for Easter dinner and a tradition around here...hide it from the Easter Bunny though.

Cook time:	1 Hr 10 Min		Difficulty:	EASY
Prep time:	30 Min		Serves:	15

Ingredients

- 2 c sugar - 1 1/4 c oil - 4 large eggs - 2 c flour - 2 tsp baking soda - 1 Tbsp cinnamon - 1 tsp salt - 3 c grated carrots

- 1 c chopped walnuts - frosting - 12 oz powdered sugar - 2 3 oz. cream cheese room temp - 1 tsp vanilla extract - 2 Tbsp butter - 2 Tbsp milk

Directions

1.   1.In large bowl, beat sugar and oil. Add eggs and beat well. Sift together flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt into egg mixture. Mix well. Fold in carrots and nuts. 2. Place batter in greased 9x13 pan. Bake 350 degrees. 3. Bake 1 hour and 10 miniutes. (check once because of oven variances) FROSTING: Beat together powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla, butter and milk. Spread on cooled carrot cake.

The Original Rope-Tow | Flathead Beacon

The Original Rope-Tow | Flathead Beacon
Skijoring’s history, in Whitefish and beyond
Gripping the rope tightly, a skier airs off the third and final jump being pulled by a horse and rider during the Winter Carnival's skijoring event last year in Whitefish.

Fun Monday - Ari asks us to tell our favorite sound - and our least-favorite sound.

Topic for Jan. 24: What is the most beautiful sound in the whole world? Once you've told us that, give us the flip side, too: What is the sound you dislike the most?

Babies laughing with each other:
I love to watch the two or three toddlers who attend my local Friends Meeting (Quakers). They are able to watch the silence pretty attentively, but then begin echoing each other's comments and hooting back and forth at each other, until their mom or dad takes them down to the playroom. Here's some prime baby-watching video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a2DAkhZaZY


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSfi8OU4m3I

with a cute dog - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KTLKyXnBR4&feature=bf_prev&list=PLC6AD00F07FEB3692&index=29

laughing toddler:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXXm696UbKY


My least-liked sound:  retching and throwing up.
Here, I'll reference Tosh.O, since he regularly features throw-up segments on his show on the Comedy Channel. However, most of those kids are so drunk that the agony and effort of a real throw-up scene aren't really seen. (I'm sure we all have our own examples of grownup throw-up . . . when's the last time you had the flu . . . or food poisoning? . . . or . . .

Big country, no? If you're like me, you know the states closest to your own state

http://www.history.com/shows/only-in-america-with-larry-the-cable-guy/interactives/place-the-state-game

Fun Monday - Let's get up and dance

Ari's topics for this month have been totally absorbing and inventive. How about this one for today:  "I asked everyone to post a link to a music video or song that specifically makes you want to get up and dance. I did say a, as in singular. But I couldn't settle on just one."
I had the same problem, after rambling through YouTube's offerings from MoTown and from classic rock. Good times!
I did get stuck listening to Punjabi sad songs when I was looking for the perfect dance tune (Punjabi). That beat always gets me up and dancing.
And here's another infectious song: Tightrope by Janelle Monae. It's at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwnefUaKCbc
But because my favorite was embargoed from embedding, I fell back to this good ol' country dance hall favorite:  Boot Scootin' Boogie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvZjkYdza8o

Take a look at The Simple Dollar blog to get direction on financial matters.

I've been reacquainting myself with The Simple Dollar, which I often read in RSS when I was newly-retired. The author of the blog is a level-headed family man who relocated to Iowa after he had come through financial ruin and financial meltdown. He has pledged his talents to help out other financially-struggling folks -- especially the very young consumer. And he's not a bad family cook, either. Much of what he writes about is beyond me and, thankfully, not pertinent to me -- the strategies of getting out of debt, the sicknesses that develop out of a debt-ridden life, etc. But I find his contributions and his readers'  letters absorbing anyway.
www.thesimpledollar.com

Hallelujah. it's Spring!

Just because the temp. hit 40 today, we shouldn't deceive ourselves. But with all the ice fields running off into the gutters, and paths finally clearing to places I haven't walked my dog in weeks, it's at least a chinook for another couple of days.
www.kpax.com/weather

Thank you, YouTube

I just have to echo others who are grateful for YouTube for saving some great old songs -- and some great new ones. The last 40 years of my life are there on YouTube. I think I was living too earnestly to listen to much music.
GrooveShark has some great music discoveries on it, but no videos of seaside dancing.

Derailing for Dummies: Step-by-step Instructions

How to win arguments, even though from a privileged standpoint.
http://www.derailingfordummies.com/

Friends at Fun Mondays: On the second page of this blog, please scroll down to find my 01/10/11 contribution

And I _will_ find out how to correctly post my contribution before next time!

Why aren't we pursuing and prosecuting these homegrown terrorists and those who water their fields? -- Your silence gives consent.

A progressive Alabaman tells it in:
http://bessemeropinions.blogspot.com/2011/01/peaceful-nation.html

Lots of those rescued llamas bunk at the Missoula Fairgrounds

Llamas move out of closed sanctuary to temporary home at Missoula fairgrounds

  By PERRY BACKUS Ravalli Republic missoulian.com | Posted: Thursday, January 6, 2011

Llamas rescued from the defunct Montana Large Animal Sanctuary at Niarada look around their new temporary home at the Missoula County Fairgrounds on Thursday. Seventeen llamas will be at the fairgrounds long enough for them to be prepared for eventual adoption. Photo by TOM BAUER/Missoulian
 

Call it progress.
This week, two semi-trailer truckloads of hay arrived at the defunct large animal sanctuary at Niarada and 120 llamas left for a new home in Colorado.
Six parrots were adopted out, too.
That leaves upward of 450 llamas, maybe 100 horses, 2 bison, 2 camels and a smattering of emus, sheep, goats and geese.
"You name, we got it," said Kayrn Moltzen, founder of AniMeals, the Missoula-based animal food bank that has taken the lead in caring for hundreds of animals left at the 400-acre Montana Large Animal Sanctuary, located 15 miles north of Hot Springs.
The sanctuary's former owners, Brian and Kathryn Warrington, said they could no longer care for the animals after a funding source dried up.
The couple left the property earlier this week, Moltzen said.
A number of animal rescue organizations have stepped forward to help find new homes for the menagerie. In the meantime, Moltzen is struggling to bring in enough good quality hay to keep them all fed.
On Wednesday, one of the trucks delivering hay slipped off the road into a ditch filled with barbwire and sliced a tire wide open. That slowed the delivery of the second truckload.
"We face Herculean problems here almost every day," Moltzen said. "When we first arrived, there was freezing fog for a week. We couldn't see where everyone was located."
Then temperatures dropped and there was a huge snowstorm.
"We couldn't get a truck in or a truck out," she said. "The equipment we use for doing everything is in an extreme state of disrepair. We're working with minimal resources and questionable machinery."
Horse rescue organizations are working to move some of those animals from the site this week.
"The horses are in bad shape," she said. "I don't think any of those animals have had any veterinarian care for years. We've got a blind horse. We've got a horse with stifles. They are all needing to be moved out of here."
Until that happens, Moltzen said people interested in helping pay for additional hay can donate through the AniMeals website (www.animeals.com). Be sure to mark the donation MLASR.
"All of those donations are going into a separate bank account," she said.
Moltzen said the 50 tons of hay delivered this week will last about two weeks.
"When I run out of money, I'm going to run out of food," she said. "It's just a horrible, horrible situation."
The long-term situation for 17 of the sanctuary's llamas took a big step forward Thursday when the animals were delivered to the Missoula County Fairgrounds.
Jessie Rogers, AniMeals marketing director and new llama coordinator, said the llamas will stay at the fairgrounds long enough for them to be medically checked and prepared for eventual adoption.
"They are as happy as clams right now," Rogers said.
The public will have to wait for a while to take a look. There is no general public access allowed at the fairgrounds.
People interested in adopting one of the animals can find an application on the AniMeals website.
"As soon as they become available for public viewing, we'll let people know," she said. "Right now, we're just getting them ready for the next step of finding them forever homes."

Americans Who Tell the Truth: a new book of heroes

http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/ 

 
A collection of portraits & quotes.
Paintings by Robert Shetterly

New book: Heart of the Monster: Why the Pacific Northwest & Northern Rockies Must Not Become an ExxonMobil Conduit to the Alberta Tar Sands

A Pipeline Runs Through It?

by jpassaro - Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 Filed under:Regional Reprints

David James Duncan and Rick Bass, two Montana authors who are practically royalty for their contributions to the Northwest canon, have teamed up with photographer Frederic Ohringer to publish an advocacy book in the mold of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans. The Heart of the Monster: Why the Pacific Northwest & Northern Rockies Must Not Become an ExxonMobil Conduit to the Alberta Tar Sands will be released next week and will be available to brick-and-mortar indie stores only. Proceeds from the book will go to All Against the Haul, a group that works to prevent the construction of a permanent industrial corridor on rural roads in the Northwest and Northern Rockies, stretching to the Tar Sands of Alberta, Canada. The New York Times reported over the weekend that both Duncan and Bass have each set aside a novel to work on the book. Annick Smith, another author whose life and work is rooted in Montana, is involved in the opposition and is quoted in the Times story. She and her companion, William Kittredge, helped Norman Maclean turn A River Runs Through It into a film script and the Blackfoot River into a legend. Smith says the trafficking of megaloads of oil processing equipment along the planned path would “defile” the famed river.
Editors note: We heard from Duncan and Bass yesterday after this post was published. Duncan thanked us “67.8 million times over.” He says that’s the amount Exxon “claims to be paying to terminally screw up three of the most beautiful
highways and five of the most beautiful rivers in the world.”
Tags: All Against the Haul, Annick Smith, David James Duncan, Norman Maclean, permanent industrial corridor, Rick Bass, Tar Sands, The Heart of the Monster, Why the Pacific Northwest & Northern Rockies Must Not Become an ExxonMobil Conduit to the Alberta Tar Sands, William Kittredge

Fun Monday: Topic for 1/10/1

Our host for this week, Ari_1965, suggested this new topic:   
From the mundane to the emotional, from paneling the basement walls to patching it up with the brother in Virginia you haven't spoken to since you voted for Carter and he didn't, unfinished business is something left undone or incomplete. It even can haunt you. What's your unfinished business?
==
My unfinished  business confronts me each time I pull the car into the garage. The back wall still has boxes of books from my earlier years, from my late husband's collection, and from my parents' collections before they passed away. A few people know how many years ago that has been, and it haunts me that I still haven't finished that task.
The season when I most often go out to 'work on' the boxes of books is in the Spring, when it's warm enough to sit in the garage for extended periods of time. Then, shortly, it's too beastly hot to be sitting out there, and then, shortly, it's too cold again. I'm sure that part of my procrastination has to do with seeing those volumes again -- the art books from Daddy, the contemporary literature from Mama, and the books on English history and literature from my late husband. Strong emotions arise from just seeing the covers of these books, to say nothing of reading them.

I don't venture up here myself -- but I enjoy the views

http://montanasnowsports.com/?p=1168

My microwave blew itself up a few days ago -- sigh!

I've been getting back to the 'old ways' of cooking and scrambling to find my few remaining pieces of oven-safe cookwear. I must say, this has been encouraging me to fix my plate with two veg. and maybe some chorizo -- instead of eating out of bowls all the time.
But why is my new wave only in Pennsylvania today? May I ask where it is coming from?

This is a fun thing I've just signed up for, since I know a lot of these blogsters: Fun Mondays cooperative blog site

Fun Monday: Theme and Signup for Jan 3, 2011

Theme for Jan. 3:  I live in a climate with a long, cold winters. Over the years, I've built up a supply of clothing and items to keep warm and dry. I think of them as my arsenal for winter combat. What's in your winter weather arsenal? Or, if you don't have tough winters where you live, tell us about something you own that you wouldn't want to be without.

Please use the Linky Tools signup below if you are participating this week.

 13 entries so far... you're next!

---

ari_1965 faye Sayre joanygee grace Jo The Dust Will Wait Sandy

Life is Not Bubble Wrapped Return of the White Robin Mariposa Anne's 2010/2011 Blog Fun Monday 1/3 You are next... Click here to enter

Triage to save the ruins of Babylon

For the first time since the American invasion in 2003, after years of neglect and violence, archaeologists and preservationists have once again begun working to protect and even restore parts of Babylon and other ancient ruins of Mesopotamia. And there are new sites being excavated for the first time, mostly in secret to avoid attracting the attention of looters, who remain a scourge here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/arts/03babylon.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&ref=todayspaper&adxnnlx=1294063217-ruej8/qzuZc7rBkYa1j79Q

We got New Year's snow, followed by Jan.2 snow .

It's sure a good thing that the seed catalogs also started arriving. My favorite print catalog to browse is Seeds of Change, with Certified Organic seeds. Even though I have a local source for their seeds, I love to page through the print catalog. Vegetable-porn!
www.seedsofchange.com

Cleaning out papers at the end of the year -- found this quote on a concert program

Today like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don't open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
                                Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-1273)