I knew we shouldn’t have driven around this early in the Christmas season looking at the lights of the season. Frosty came home from our ride through decorated neighborhoods a couple of nights ago and now has decided that the few thousand lights we had up is not enough. So back to Santa’s workshop (aka Wallyworld) he went yesterday and is now taking down his first attempt at lighting up our small abode like an airport and is back up the ladder with several more (actually a lot more than several) strands which is going up as I type. I need to get this posted before he blows a fuse and we have no electricity so will close for now and help hold the ladder so we don’t have to make an emergency run to the ER…….or guess they could send the ambulance. for sure they would be able to spot the correct house tonight.

We are alone for the first time in 5 days. It was time to send Jodi and Noah home to Eric, Jaden and Caleb.  Since we knew she was leaving today, we held off cooking the collard greens and deviled eggs for dinner, after loading her up with triple berry shake for breakfast. We figured that she would never again see the people who sat by her on the plane, so we decided to save ourselves and serve  some of her favorite dishes right before she flew home.

Randy has spent the afternoon in the garage (while it is 40 degrees outside) shampooing some of our rugs that had just a tiny bit of smashed M&M’s, Honey Nut Cherrios, dried apple juice and stains from the pitcher of tea that a set of little sweet hands pulled off the counter. We have dusted today, found a stuffed Nemo under the bed, one little sock and put all the Fall décor back to where it was before Noah visited. We have to admit that we were getting use to the glass bowls void of any candles, but filled with water from Noah thinking that it was fun to pour water in them. We miss finding candy between the couch cushions, as it gave us snacks without even having to leave the couch. Hearing that cute little sound at 5 a.m. really got us up and running for the day.

Just like labor pains, we tend to forget all the above mentioned things as soon as they walk onto the plane, already wanting them to turn around and come back. We would gladly give up our vacation monies to  fund Noah’s carousel addiction.  Times like these make us wish so much that we could be around all of our grandchildren all the time, not just a few times a year. But….we will make sure the rugs are covered by plastic and the furniture is wrapped in bubble wrap before the next set of them come for a visit…

So sorry, Please correct the amount of pumpkin to 1 cup of pumpkin. Didn’t realize I had accidently typed 12…thank you Rose for letting me know…think 12 would have been a little heavy on the pumpkin flavor….

The Fall weather just keeps me in the baking mood. Yesterday caught me making a strawberry Italian Cream Cake for our DIL birthday and the fresh apple cake is for a party we are going to tonight. When Mandy ask that I make either a strawberry cake or an Italian Cream cake, I went looking for either of these recipes and found a great recipe for a strawberry cake which had coconut and chopped pecans, which in my mind said, “wow, this is like a strawberry Italian cake” so I thought I would bake it. I ended up making the layers in 3 pans instead of two, which made them a little thin for my liking, so I went ahead and baked a two layer French vanilla cake mix and combined the two cakes, put together with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting with chopped pecans and coconut. Turned out so good, I wanted to share.

Strawberry Cake

1 package plain white cake mix

1 ( 3 oz) package strawberry gelatin

1 cup mashed fresh strawberries with juice (I used frozen)

1 cup veggie oil

1/2 cup whole milk

4 large eggs, room temp

1 cup frozen unsweetened grated coconut, thawed (I find this by the frozen fruit)

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package ( 8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (1 box)

3/4 cup fresh ripe strawberries, rinsed and mashed to make 1/2 cup, then drained well. (I just used the left over mashed strawberries that I didn’t use in the cake mix)

1/2 cup frozen unsweetened coconut, thawed

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Lightly grease 3 9″ round cake pans. Preheat oven to 350 (unless your cake pans are dark coated, then bake at 325)

Place cake mix, strawberry gelatin, mashed strawberries and juice, oil, milk and eggs in large mixing bowl. Blend together on low for 1 min, then scraping sides, increase speed to medium and beat for 2 more min. Fold in the coconut and nuts. Divide mixture between the 3 pans and bake until cake tests done. Cool completely.

At this point, I made a Duncan Hines French Vanilla cake, according to directions on box, except that I always substitute milk for the water. Make in 2 9″ round pans.

For Frosting:

Mix the cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar until well blended and no lumps remain. Stir in the coconut and pecans.

To assemble cake:

Place a white cake layer on the bottom of a serving platter. Frost the top. Place a strawberry cake layer on top and frost. Repeat with another white cake layer and frost, then end with another of the strawberry layers. Frost top and sides, using the rest of the frosting. *Also would be good to completely wrap the entire cake, after frosting, with a layer of fresh whipped cream, heh, just sayin). Store in fridge. Keep the 3rd cake layer for another time, wrapped in foil, zip lock bag in freezer.

BOO! today is not only Halloween, but our first grandson, Jaden’s, birthday and one of our daughter-in-laws, Mandy. I love it when the streets are full of children walking around with their parents, going door to door, asking for candy. It just makes life seem so normal, like we should look up and down the street and see “the Beav” and Wally. Although today, the costumes are a little different from when our kids grew up, I do love all the fluorescent necklaces and bracelets that you can see from 4 doors down. In fact, I will go ahead and admit that I love to wear those myself. When we lived in California, I used the excuse that I bought them to keep in the night stand so in case of an earthquake, I could put one on  to assure the rescue team would find me, as I would light up like an airport with all the necklaces I would be wearing. In fact, when we would be watching the fireworks at the Rose Bowl July 4th, I was probably the only one over the age of 12 wearing the bright glowing necklaces. Randy would just sit on the other side of the blanket and pretend I was a alien who had just obtained their citizenship and was still so excited about being an American. But here in Texas I don’t have an excuse. I just have to come forward and admit that I am a “glow in the dark” necklace junkie. Since our grandkids who are of trick or treat age live in other states…well that’s not true. We do have a 10 year old grandson that lives here, but his idea of dressing up for Halloween is putting on a suit and claiming to work as a financial advisor for American Express. He wouldn’t be caught dead in a glow in the dark anything. Our other grandchild who lives here is only 4 months old, so I have some time before I can go with her. I only hope that they make glow in the dark tennis balls that will fit on the wheels of my walker so I can still “party down” in a few years when Payton is old enough to go trick or treating.

So today I am baking birthday cake. Preparing to bring out the Christmas music (hello, tomorrow is Nov 1st), remembering the Halloween goodies we use to make when our kids were little, like popcorn balls, caramel apples, I will be having a grand time in the kitchen. You can’t miss me if you drive down our street. You will be able to see the glowing green necklace in the windows, baking pumpkin cupcakes and singing “O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree.”