I made some no-bake cookies for Dave yesterday, but the choice to use skim milk instead of whole turned out to be very, very wrong. So, I opted for a "sorry your cookies were gross" carrot cake.

Haven't tried it yet because the birthday boy isn't back from work.
...
Okay, I took a brief hiatus because the birthday boy pulled up in the driveway. But, just like anything else cake/cookie/muffin-like that must be baked, it was just ... dense! Nothing was too terribly wrong with it, and the frosting was AMAZING. But the actual cake was dense. I don't get it. What am i doing wrong?

But here is the recipe.

CARROT CAKE

INGREDIENTS
Cake:
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans
Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.


I've had better carrot cake, to be honest. But I just can't get that recipe (I'd have to talk to my estranged stepmother to do so).

Well, I finished the scarf of experimentation. I took pictures of it, but they're terrible, and you'll just have to wait. I'll post the pattern when I have better pictures.
I also started working on what I will call my family reunion scarf. I took some nice white worsted-weight angora up to Logan, Ut for the James family reunion, intending to continue working on my surrender sweater. Well, I dropped a stitch and lost my temper. I ripped the whole thing (well, I had only finished about half of the front, but still). So, I began the family reunion scarf. It has a couple wandering cables and stripes made of grandma's old acrylic scrap yarn.
I am still working on the ugly blanket, as I suppose I will be doing until the day I die. I had to make a new gigantic ball of yarn, which is always encouraging.
Oh, and today I whipped up some mashed potatoes with cheese and the perfect blend of seasoning. Too bad I didn't take down any ingredients. I remember I put some celery seeds in, which I think made a good bit of taste.