Recipe for Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake
Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake was a tradition in my family. We always made it for my father’s birthday. My father doesn’t care for crowds, and I never remember going out for his birthday celebrations. Once, we threw him a party when he turned 40. But otherwise, his birthdays were a stay at home affair.

My mother would also make this carrot cake. Which was odd given on everyone else’s birthdays, we ate a lot of store-bought cakes (especially ice cream cakes) or my maternal grandma, the family cake baker and decorator, would make them.

Food processors are genius when making this cake. I have memories of using a cheese grater to grate carrots. Now, I just throw all those carrots in my food processor, and wham, they’re shredded.

This cake stood the test of time with my taste buds. It’s delicious.

Carrot Cake
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Homemade Naan

I love naan, but I never thought I’d be able to make it at home. Naan is traditionally made in a clay oven called a tandor, which would never fit in my condo’s kitchen. Plus, it would be a rather expensive investment.

Then I saw this recipe by Chef Henry. Instead of a tandor oven, it uses a pizza stone, and a pizza stone fits much better with both my kitchen and my wallet. Plus, this recipe is really tasty too.

Naan
Naan fresh off the pizza stone

Homemade Naan
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Pie Mania: Blackberry Rhubarb and Raspberry Rhubarb Pies

I went a little nuts making pies. I blame two things: 1) my love of it and 2) Twin Peaks. Jason and I had a little bit of a marathon, which included a lot of baking.

Twin Peaks loves pie
Twin Peaks and David Lynch loves pie

For the pie crust, I used my grandma’s flour crust recipe. Which is great as it makes 4 to 5 pie crusts and is easy to refrigerate or freeze if you need to use the rest another day. And if you have some extra, as I did, you can make flaky cookies.
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Tofu Pad Thai

This was a failed experience of sorts. I’ve tried in the past to make Pad Thai, and there was just something missing. So when my friend B tried the following recipe with a good review, I figured that I try it myself. Part of the problem, for me, was the fish oil. I figured that maybe fish oil was as essential to Pad Thai as beef broth is to French Onion Soup. Instead, I just made myself sick from smelling fish oil and remembering every reason why I don’t eat fish and protest fellow “vegetarians” who do.

Jason, being the omnivore in the house, did like this recipe. Which is good as he had to finish cooking it and eat it.

Pad Thai

Tofu Pad Thai
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Sunshine Cookies

When we go grocery shopping, Jason always tries to buy cookies. Usually, I tell him no and he puts them back. Of course, then I bake him cookies as it’s cheaper, they taste better, and they tend to have less sugar so I can enjoy them too.

In our Halloween card, my maternal grandma included $5, saying to use the money to buy Jason cookies. Apparently, she was very offended on Jason’s behalf that I didn’t indulge his cookie-buying whim.

Grandma, here are some cookies I made for Jason. He is not deprived of delicious cookies.

Sunshine Cookie

The original recipe is from Melissa.

Sunshine Cookies
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