New beginnings

One of the beautiful things about Easter is it is all about a fresh start, whether you look at it spiritually or religiously. The snow has melted, the trees and flowers are budding, and it's ready for the earth to being anew. If you celebrate protestant Easter, you have renewed faith that your maker sent someone to let you know that shit happens, and you can learn and grow from life's mishaps. I also learned recently that the first day of Spring (March 20) is also the Iranian/Persian new year. I LOVE this concept of tradition and welcoming earth's coming beauty and bounty instead of Ryan Seacrest and the next Bieber. The moment  the sun crosses the celestial equinox, rituals dating back to at least the third century begin and do not end for 13 days.

For the sake of new beginnings, on Good Friday, after a lifetime of long blonde hair, I got myself a pixie cut. I couldn't be happier.

The before picture is top right of course. I went in pretty fearless because my hair grows quickly, but this haircut was symbolic for me. It means overcoming my own insecurities and stripping away the conventional ideas of what beauty is. 

I am also extremely pleased to mention that this haircut was brought to you by Heather at The Studio in Harrisonburg. I have a lot of friends and coworkers who ask me where I get my hair done, and I ALWAYS tell people that The Studio is the only place to go. Khanda and B have also done wonderful work for me, but Heather is the bomb dot com. She is a great listener and always gives me what I want (even if I don't know exactly what I want).

In other news, today was a big culinary day for me. Mister does not like desserts, especially cake. This is a problem, because I love the challenge and the beauty of baking. He does, however, like carrot cake. A couple months back I made a carrot cake that included coconut flakes and he hated it, but I would not be deterred. Today I made my first 3-layer cake, and the best damn carrot cake in the world.

This, my lovelies, is Pecan Bourbon Carrot Cake; the recipe is too divine not to share.

Ingredients:

4 C grated carrots

3/4 C golden raisins

1/3 C bourbon, rum or orange juice

2 C coarsely chopped pecans or almonds

2 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

1 1/2 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

1/2 t allspice

1 C vegetable oil

1 1/2 C brown sugar

4 eggs

2 t vanilla

Cream Cheese Icing:

2 packages cream cheese at room temp

3/4 C butter at room temp

2 T bourbon, rum, or orange juice

1 t vanilla

2 1/2 C powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray 3 cake pans

2. Grate carrots by hand or food processor. Soak raisins in bourbon and stir occasionally. Chop nuts and toast in the oven or over medium-low heat on the stove with no oil for 5 minutes. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice into a large mixing bowl. Stir to blend and make a well in the center.

3. Combine oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape into dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until just combined. Fold in carrots, raisins and remaining bourbon, and nuts. The batter will be very thick.

4. Divide batter into pans evenly; there should just enough for 2 cups per pan. Spread evenly in pans and bake for 30 minutes. 

5. Beat the butter until very creamy. Add the bourbon, vanilla. Over low speed, add the cream cheese in chunks, one at a time, but avoid over-beating the mixture. Add the powdered sugar in three portions. The icing can be refrigerated for up to one day.

6. Before icing cakes, brush cakes with bourbon. Garnish with pecan halves

Tips from Lauren!

- A cup at a time, wring out grated carrots to avoid batter being too wet. 

- T= tbsp, t=tsp

- No matter what the baked good, it is always important that your eggs are at room temp. When I forget, I run them under warm (not hot!) water for a couple minutes.

Happy Spring, and don't forget that every day brings another opportunity to renew ourselves.

Mwah!