When a Man Loves A Carrot Cake

The other day I got a call from my friend Pat, who said "I want to order a birthday cake."  I said, "OK, who's it for?"  "It's for me!  I love your carrot cake, and I want to order my own birthday cake."

First of all, I think it's the coolest thing when someone goes ahead and orders their own birthday cake.  No waiting around wondering, hoping someone will provide the cake on your big day.  You know you'll have your birthday cake, and eat it too, because you've taken care of it!  It's proactive and shows self-respect and confidence.  I love that!

I dropped Pat's cake off at 7:45 this morning.  He was all ready to go.  He's meeting his wife and daughters up at Gore Mountain for a little ski get-away, and he told his wife Beth, "Don't worry about my birthday cake.  I took care of it!"

Because I AM the cake baker, I usually don't bake my own birthday cakes.  My big day is next week, the "Ides of March" will be upon us and my odometer will turn over from 57 to 58.  Henry's been trying to tell me something all week.  I walk in their house and he says "Grandma, I have a surprise..." and goes running to reveal it, only to have his mother remind him, "Not yet, Henry!"  Then he just has the hugest grin on his face and looks at me like he can't wait to share the surprise.  So far, he's kept the lid on it.  Let's hope he can hold out for the next five days!

I always think about what peoples' favorites are when it comes to their birthday cakes.  It's usually a very specific, if not personal, preference.  Any Eddy relative usually requires chocolate in some form.  My neice Lauren usually likes strawberries and cream.  My nephew-in-law (is that a bonafide status?) Bob loves lemon anything, as does my best bud Sue.  The O'Farrell side of my family often likes the classic yellow birthday cake with white frosting (which I love too).  And then there's my friend Pat, who got just what he wanted, his own carrot cake, for his birthday today.

I've posted about my carrot cake recipe before.  It's a bit of a short-cut, for which I'm forgiven because it is just so good.  It's lighter (less oil) than many from-scratch recipes, and the addition of crushed pineapple and pineapple juice, along with raisins and walnuts, makes it a taste and texture extravaganza.  Add the cream cheese frosting (posted with the linked recipe), and, all I can say is, MORE PLEASE!

Happy birthday to you, Pat.  I hope you order your own cake from me for many years to come!  And I'll close with a collage of "my boys" on this beautiful Saturday morning...

Saturday morning with my boys!