Aunt Gwen's Lemon Cake

My Grandma Edith on my Mom's side was one of ten children. They were kind and generous farm people who lived off the land and frequently welcomed guests into their home. My Grandma's Mother was known to make 19 cherry pies for a single Sunday. They frequently made enormous meals to feed the threshing gangs that came through to help take off the harvest as well as their large family.

My Grandma is 4th from the right and her brother George is the smallest. Two more boys came later. I just love this photo and wish they would have lined up in the same manner when they were older.

Anyway, hope you can follow this. George married Gwen and moved to California so we didn't know their branch of the family well but always tried to see them when they came back to visit. This is Gwen's recipe for Lemon Cake.

I just recently got this recipe (here's where it gets confusing but interesting). George's son Harold is married to Mary Hunt who is the Everyday Cheapskate. She is a nationally syndicated author and writes regularly in Women's Day. Many years ago she got into a lot of debt and has since made a living with her tips for saving money. You can google her and check it out. She would be my 2nd cousin, I believe. She was given Aunt Gwen's recipe collection and recently posted this one on her website.
This cake is delicious. So moist and so much lemony goodness. Try it, you'll like it.

Aunt Gwen's Lemon Cake
1 box Lemon Cake mix
1- 3 ounce lemon gelatin like Jell-O
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
4 eggs
Preheat oven to 350F. Place all ingredients in mixing bowl and mix with electric beater. Pour into greases 9x13 pan. Bake approx. 35 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, make the glaze.

Glaze
Juice of 2 lemons
Zest of 2 lemons
2 cups icing sugar
Place all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well by hand with a whisk until sugar is fully incorporated
Using a fork or wooden skewer, punch holes all over warm cake. Pour lemon glaze mixture over top of cake and allow it to soak in. No need for further icing. Go ahead and have a piece now, even if its not completely cool. You know you want to.

Twelve in Twelve

In January, Corrina and I came up with a scheme to set some goals for the coming 12 months and decided to call it Twelve in Twelve. We both made a list of 12 things that we would like to accomplish. I made mine mostly about scrapbooking and crafting but since then I have heard of many friends who have embraced this idea and made it their own.

Some chose to do their 12 in 12 focusing on household maintenance and upkeep, some wanted to accomplish some athletic goals like running a half marathon and trying a new sport, some wanted to achieve some personal goals like sending more cards and re-connecting with old friends. It's a really neat idea but now that half the year has come and gone, it's time to re-evaluate my progress. Between working full-time, raising a litter of 9 pups and preparing for the fund-raiser, I didn't have too much time left to work on these tasks. I AM reading more, I have started the Disney albums, I'm "thinking" about my heritage albums and I have bought the yarn for an afghan (does that count?). I have taken a couple classes but there is still plenty of room for improvement. It will be interesting to see what the next 6 months hold in store.

Where are they now?

Three of Lindor's E puppies have been recalled for Advanced Training. They will have several months of intensive training at which time they will be declared suitable as a full service dog or have a career change as a companion animal or for the Post-Traumatic Stress program.So far they are doing really well. They are almost 2 years old now.

Eli and Ember

Epcot

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

Since Reese's Peanut Butter cups are my favourite candy (and believe me, I like a LOT of candy!) I knew when I saw this recipe that I had to make them. The recipe starts with a full size Peanut butter cup in the bottom of your muffin liner. It doesn't get any better then that.

The sour cream and just a hint of peanut butter in the cupcakes do not overpower and the marshmallow fluff in the icing makes the dense buttercream a little lighter. I have already passed this recipe on once and the recipient said they turned out very well. Give it a whirl...

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

1 white cake mix

¾ cup water

1/3 cup oil

4 eggs

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup sour cream

24 peanut butter cups

Marshmallow Butter cream

1 cup butter

1 (7oz) jar marshmallow fluff

3 cups icing sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/8 tsp. salt

Place unwrapped peanut butter cup in the bottom of each lined muffin cup. Mix together cupcake ingredients. Fill ¾ full and bake at 350F for 18 minutes. Cool and frost.

FInal wrap-up of the Fundraiser

The afternoon of the fundraiser featured the raffle draws, a bake sale and cake auction.

As you can see, there were many delicious items to choose from.

The Cake and Pie Auction allowed people to bid on their favourite choices.

Lindor made a guest appearance and our wonderful day of scrapbooking, eating and visiting with friends drew to a close. With our fundraising endeavours, we have been able to sponsor Chester, Epcot, Kingsley, Krosby, Kasper and Khloe and 3 more puppies in the future. Thanks everyone for a great day!

More reflections on the Crop

We had a delicious lunch of salads; Greek Pasta, Caesar, Napa Cabbage and Mandarin spinach, along with lots of veggies, snacks, pickle tray, egg salad and cold meats.

Followed by an array of home-made baked goods for dessert....

The strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting were so light and delicious along with Mennonite shortbread and lemon cracks.

Keri made these adorable pretzels dipped in chocolate to look like ladybugs. Everyone got a package of these in their goodie bag.

Lindor is on the Facebook section of the National Service Dog website with an announcement of the results of our fund-raising. Check it out! 

A look back at this year's Crop

Our day kicked off with a yummy mid-morning snack of fruit and freshly baked muffins and loaves.

There were many fabulous raffle prizes, mostly donated by some very generous friends.

The blankets and quilts were fantastic items. Anyone who is a crafter will know how much work and love went into these items.

Robin and her mentor Keri, made this warm and cozy fleece throw.

Corrina made this bright and vibrant quilt.

And Jody created this fabulous and intricately quilted creation.

There were some very happy raffle item winners. ALL of the prizes donated were much appreciated and made our day so much fun. Stay tuned for more reflections on the day.