It has been such fun to bake some cakes for friends who ordered either a chocolate or pumpkin Bundt cake these last two weeks. Not only has it given me the fun of baking for others but it has also been such a blessing to see some friends I had not seen in quite a while when they came to pick the cake up!

The holidays can get so hectic and in the process of doing all the things on our “to do” list, we sometimes miss out on what truly gives us pleasure. Of course that is different for everyone! But one of my greatest joys is baking for people and visiting with others. I can’t wait to get to Heaven and have millions of folks from every background and language to get to know and talk to! Can’t you just imagine walking down the streets of gold and meet someone who you might not know but as soon as you make eye contact you begin to visit and you possibly hear their story of how they came to Jesus, or how they might have been praying for me or you or a relative for years! Every story will be fascinating! We might be gathered around a table listening and sharing our stories while eating a chocolate cake! Of course Heaven will have chocolate cake or it wouldn’t be Heaven!! But until that day I pray I will have the strength and ability to bake for others. It just adds to the blessing of the greatest reason to celebrate Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years….Jesus Christ! After all, that is what our lives, as Christian’s should be about! No matter the holiday, no matter the day! To glorify His Name!

Both recipes for the cakes will be on Chocolatecastles.com today. (After I get thru baking I’ll post them)

John 10:10b

“I came that they may have life; and may have it abundantly”

Last Thursday we ventured into Trader Joe’s to see if their wonderful cranberry sauce was in stock! On the way to the back of the store (which I never saw the chilled cranberry sauce) I passed a bag of fresh cranberries and grabbed a bag! Immediately thought of this cake that we now make every year quite often. It is one of those recipes that seems to appeal to everyone and always turns out beautifully. Tonight is the first cranberry cake of the season and I can’t wait for it to cool down a little so we can have a piece (or 2) with a little whipped cream.

Next trip to the store, grab a bag of cranberries and begin a new tradition of making this every Fall and Winter!

If you have Tis So Sweet cookbook it is on page 229. If not, it is still available on Amazon or you can simply use the recipe below! If you have not voted….please go vote! We are a blessed country to have the privilege of doing so!

This past week we had two celebration of Life’s for some very special people from our class at church. One service was Wednesday for our most loved teacher, Charles Hebert! What a special person he was! After the second service on Friday, for a dear lady in our class, we sat and talked about what a shame it is that we always seem to find out so many things about people at their funeral services. It made us stop and think about all the things we didn’t know about them and why does that happen? Are we just so caught up in our own lives that we don’t notice others like we should? It made me think about that driving home and I want to try harder to be more invested in others. To truly stop and share more of my self and also ask questions to the people who might just need a listening ear or need to know someone is interested in them!

May that be one of my new years goals; to be a better friend! And speaking of friends, there is a lady who I have known since 2006 who used to live down the street from us. We are in the same class at church and she and I have a Love/hate relationship! We kid each other like we don’t even like each other but in reality, I love her like a sister! She is fun to kid and gives it right back to me! Jerry is a lady with a servants heart. She serves sometimes from the background and is not interested in being recognized. We have a team of ladies who serve the families who are gathered to mourn the passing of a family member! Jerry has offered to help us, so this week she had the opportunity to do so. She brought this amazing pecan cake to serve to the family on Wednesday! It was so good, we all ask her for the recipe! she was very gracious to share it. I made it Friday night and everyone I shared it with, loved it!!! So here is the recipe and I know I’ll be making many more of these. Thank you Jerry McGraw!!! It is a winner!

Also I substituted the chopped pecans for the Praline pecans from Costco . Loved the flavor!