Archive for the ‘me me me’ Category

Birthday Carrot Cake Recipe

birthday cupcakePerhaps some of you thought I was off tending puppies yesterday or maybe even early birthday celebrating. Don’t I wish.

What I was really doing was nearly pulling my hair out over the inexplicable continued crap Internet connection I have. Ever since it went out about 10 days ago, it’s been on and off — and yesterday was completely off. Right now it’s touch and go (can’t access many pages), but I’m keeping positive.

And aside from causing me stress regarding work, it’s *completely* thrown off my blogging schedule. Argh.

Guess you’ll have to wait another year for today’s originally planned post. Or I’ll just save it for NaBloPoMo . . . with which I sincerely hope Telecom Italia cooperates.

So here is What’s Cooking Wednesday: the Birthday Edition — a day late for Wednesday, but just in time for my birthday! Woohoo!

For anyone who’s curious, I’m 31 today. So send any e-cards in large font please. Hah!

Now, back to the originally scheduled post:

For my birthday, I always have this chocolate cake. It’s my absolute favorite cake in the whole world — especially when my mom makes it.

But I’ve been feeling a little daring lately, in the mood for something different. And that, for me, means carrot cake.

I love carrot cake, haven’t had it in at least four years, and besides, isn’t it just a great autumn cake, spicy and orange and brown and cream cheese icing and yum?

I have never made a carrot cake before, and I’m not entirely sure why not. Probably because my mom isn’t particularly fond of it, so she never passed on a recipe, and goodness knows I stick to the recipes of experts around these parts.

So I turned to these Internets and went for the first recipe that came up. I know. Really selective right? Well you see, I had been going over what I thought would go into a carrot cake in my head, and this recipe fit that, especially with the adjustments listed in the comments. So I made my own tweaks, and below is what I came up with.

This cake is delicious. It’s a subtle carrot cake, and by that I mean it’s not at all like some store- or restaurant-produced cakes that make me feel like I’m eating a scented candle. I like my spices subtle, so if you like them stronger, you might want to adjust. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if you think you don’t like carrot cake, you should give this one a go.

Also, the original recipe had pecans. Some people in the comment section switched to walnuts, but I didn’t add any nuts at all; I’m not a fan of nuts in my cakes in general. But this would’ve been *fabulous* with raisins so I’ll make an effort to find them before I make this again.

My Birthday Carrot Cake

carrot cake4 eggs
1 c white sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 ¼ c vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla 2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp nutmeg
3 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt

 3 c grated carrots

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). Grease and flour 9 x 13 inch pan (or, as I did a 6 muffin/cupcake pan and a small loaf pan).

2. Blend together eggs, sugars, oil, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt and add to mixing bowl a little at a time. At this point, the mixture will be really thick, almost pasty. Now you’re ready to stir in the carrots.

4. Pour into pan(s), and put in the oven. The original recipe says 40-50 minutes for a full-sized cake. My muffins took about 20 minutes, and the loaf pan about 40. Just make sure to always test with a toothpick in the center—if it comes out with no batter, you’re good.

For amateur bakers, the other trick is the “spring back to the touch test,” which says, not surprisingly, that the cake should spring back to your touch. I find this one a big dangerous though as you can sink the top of your cakes and muffins/cupcakes pretty easily, so I always use a toothpick.

5. Remove from oven and let cool before icing.

Cream Cheese Icing

The measurements in the original recipe looked really off to me so I used a tried and true cream cheese icing recipe that I’ve made before. You might want to play with this too according to your tastes and how much icing you like (I don’t use much). In fact, on the cake, I just sprinkled some confectioner’s sugar on top. Look it’s snowing in October in southern Italy!

8 oz softened cream cheese
4 tbl butter
1 ½ c powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla

Beat everything together until smooth and to your desired consistency.

Grating the carrots makes this one a little labor intensive, but it’s worth it, especially if you’re making it for someone special — like for yourself. Come on, show yourself a little love this Love Thursday!

Happy Love Thursday and buon appetito!

Edited to add a request:
If you leave birthday wishes for me,
please leave the date of your birthday too (no year required!)
so I can return the wish.

 


excuse me, you’re in my light

A little over a month ago, Frances, mastermind of She Who Blogs (insert evil laugh here), wrote that she was like a modern day cave dweller who prefers the dark to the light. And it got me thinking about how I feel on the subject.

And this photo came to mind.

three trees in calabria(check out more great photos for Phoctober at The Moon Topples!)

Aren’t these trees spectacular? I’ve never seen others like them around here–just these three standing tall, together, meters above their closest rivals. It’s hard to tell from this shot, but this is actually very high up, and the trees below these must’ve been here a mighty long time–so imagine how old “We Three” (as I call them) have been around.

I love the way the light streams through the tallest one, as if he’s protecting his smaller companions behind. Don’t worry lads, I’ll take the sunshine! I like it best anyway! Or is he selfishly hogging all the light? Hmm….

Frances’s post has been resonating with me since then, and I’m sure the change in season has something to do with that. I don’t know about where you are, but here in southern Italy, the weather can change quite quickly. One moment sunny, bright, and cloudless, the next dark, grey, and threatening.

Don’t you just love that?

I do. Except when I have laundry hanging out.

But I find that the autumn weather seems to somehow know what I need. Just when I’ve had too much sun, too many sunny days in a row, I wake up to a foggy, cloudy, dull morning–and yet gleaming with possibilities because I know it’s going to be a good writing day.

I have to admit that I easily tire of the sun, which can make a day at the beach sheer torture for me.

And yet I also love waking up to a sunny morning–works better than caffeine!–and for my working area, it *must* be well-lit. My mother wouldn’t have it any other way. Ah, and no fluorescent!

But when it’s time to wind down, I and my eyes are relieved to see the moon rising higher in the sky and the sun resting for the evening, exhausted after all that shining. And then a candle flickering or a fireplace glowing is the best lighting imaginable.

After the sun disappears and the fires are out, I love to sleep in pitch black, where even an innocent goodnight kiss can be exciting because of the sheer surprise of it. If it’s a little cool so I need a warm blanket and a willing cuddling partner, all the better.

I used to be afraid of complete darkness, but thank goodness I’ve gotten over that because now it’s one of my favorite parts of the day, er, night.

Tell me, what is your relationship with the light…and dark?

Buon weekend!

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[tags]light, dark, light and dark, black and white photos[/tags]


I’m So Vain I Probably Think This Post Is About Me

Last Friday, I was in the Marina thinking about how long I’d have to wait for a bus to get back up the mountain when I wandered by a hair salon run by the wife of one of P’s friends. I’ve never gone to her and, in fact, always felt a little guilty whenever I saw her because of it.

It so happened that two young guys from the village were getting haircuts there, and one offered me a ride if I wanted to wait. So I waited for them, figuring the bus would take much longer to arrive.

And then I felt guiltier and guiltier about never going there for my haircuts the longer I sat there.

So at the last snip, I worked up all the nerve I had and asked Giovanna if I could make an appointment with her and made a decision on the spot to not only cut, but color. I’ve never colored my hair before (some highlights, yes, but not in years–and not in Italy), but the little white ones were really just starting to annoy me far too much.

Plus my birthday’s coming up, so I thought I’d treat myself to some “me” time and count this as my present to myself.

Now you’re all dying to know how it turned out, right? Well humor me anyway.

Yesterday morning I looked like this:

me (before)

Now I look like this:

me (after)I love the color, love the cut, and now I even have some private English lessons lined up as a result of finally going to see Giovanna. Turns out she wanted to ask me about them the previous day I was there but was too shy to ask. Seems we have at least one thing in common.

And? You want to know how much it set me back? Wash, cut, color, and style (including blowing out my not-so-straight-hair)?

Come on.

Guess.

Thirty euros ($42).

Happy early birthday to me!


5 Strengths as a Writer

Writers aren’t accustomed to singing our own praises, but it’s good to look at the positive now and again. Here are what I consider my strengths as a writer.

Read on...

what’s in a (middle) name?

Right at the beginning of my blogging break, new friend Sparky Duck of Philly Transplant fame *almost* tagged me with a meme. You see, he wanted to, but thought I wouldn’t get around to it since I was resting on my laurels (which sounds more flower-scented than it really is, by the way).

So he pseudo-tagged–he threw my name out there during the fateful virtual-finger-pointing moment to get my guilt going. And then Laura from Blame it on Paris thought I might enjoy this one, as did a chap named HART who selected me randomly from the list of 2k bloggers.

So here’s my Middle Name Meme, starting with the rules:

You have to post these rules before you give the facts. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and to read your blog.

A is for Aware

I like to know what’s going on, although not necessarily in a gossipy way. I don’t watch the TV news very often, though, because I usually don’t like its slant on things—always tragedy after tragedy, and let’s put aside any political leanings.

Yes, I know bad things happen all the time, but I’m not sure how it helps me to be a better person to know just how many people are murdered or in car accidents, etc. Don’t good things happen every day too? Yeah, I know that’s not news, but too much of the bad stuff brings me down.

In fact, I finally convinced P of this a little while back, and out of the blue the other day, he thanked me because he’s a much calmer person since we’ve rejected Telegiornale. I’ll take my news via word-of-mouth at the bar, newspaper, or on the Internet, thankyouverymuch, where I can click off (or just stop listening) when something is too disturbing–and I can also seek out feel good stories on my own.

Yeah, I’m one of those.

N is for Nerdy

In a good way, of course. I like to know things, which of course ties into the A above.

If curiosity killed the cat, well, let’s just say I’m happy I’m not a cat. I’m a big ball of “why?” and yes, that annoys some people, but I’ve learned that if you ask questions the right way, people often enjoy giving you the answers–the trick is to phrase things so you don’t appear to be challenging them, only curious.

It’s a tough line to walk, but I do it often. I’m a risk-taker that way.

And I’ll read just about anything I get my hands on, which was true even before getting English reading material wasn’t so easy. I only wish I had a better memory for things, because then I could actually use whatever knowledge I ingest.

I’ve noticed though, that the older I get, the harder it is to remember even the basics sometimes. I mean, I still remember what I had for breakfast and stuff, so I’m not going senile yet, but there’s definitely a change in fact retention.

*sigh*

Ooh, and have I mentioned my addictions to the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic….

N is for Nifty

OK, well *I* think I’m nifty. Besides, this is one of my all-time favorite words. Say it enough and it just starts to sound wrong, like something Suessical, which pretty much explains why I love it. I’m a big fan of fun-sounding words–hi David!

It also reminds me of something one of my grandmother’s friends would say, and I was never sure if she was trying to be hip or just so far out of word fashion that she came back in.

Plus, come on, there aren’t a lot of great words starting with N out there, are there?

So now I must tag. Mwahahhahahaaa!

I’m going to tag the three lovely women who promoted my Bella Bags E-Party and Contest on their site–do be sure and visit them!

1. Amanda: a stay at home mom’s point of view

 

2. Lizza: I am Woman, See Me Blog!

 

3. Janet: Life In Westcliffe

Some thanks that is, huh ladies?!

By the way, if anyone else mentioned it on their blog, please let me know, and I’ll give you some extra special linky love here soon.

And if you weren’t tagged, please don’t take this to mean you can’t still do this meme–meme away!

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[tags]middle name meme, memes[/tags]


Michelle KaminskyMichelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived. 

Calabria Guidebook

Calabria travel guide by Michelle Fabio

Recipes

 

Homemade apple butter
Green beans, potatoes, and pancetta
Glazed Apple Oatmeal Cinnamon Muffins
Pasta with snails alla calabrese
Onion, Oregano, and Thyme Focaccia
Oatmeal Banana Craisin Muffins
Prosciutto wrapped watermelon with bel paese cheese
Fried eggs with red onion and cheese
Calabrian sausage and fava beans
Ricotta Pound Cake