Mother's Day Brunch Part Two: Desserts and Sides

Some may have considered my mother a chocoholic.  There wasn't a piece of chocolate she didn't like. She was tiny and only weighed some 83 pounds. Her all time favorite chocolate dessert was French Silk Pie from Bakers Square . She may have not had much food in the refrigerator but you could count on Dove Bars squirreled away in the freezer.  A close second to anything chocolate was carrot cake. She did like my recipe and frequently requested it. 

She passed away in 2007 but still Happy Mother's Day Mom to you!

Carrot Cake
Cook's notes: A very moist cake made with part whole wheat and white flour. It gives the cake a nice texture.
Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs beaten
• 2 tsp. soda
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1-cup brown sugar
• 2 TB. Saigon cinnamon
• 1-1/3 cups oil
• 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained and patted dry with a paper towel
• 1-3/4-2 cups grated carrots (use food processor)
• 1-1/2 cups  crushed nuts
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup toasted coconut
• 1 cup walnuts, diced and toasted, reserve some for topping

Directions:

• Grease a 13 x 9 pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
• Beat eggs and add in rest of ingredients mixing 2-3 minutes,
• Bake for 25 minutes and cool completely before frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients and Directions:

• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 TB. vanilla
• 1- 3-oz. package softened cream cheese
• Add milk as needed to get right consistency
• Frost cake and sprinkle crushed nuts on top,refrigerate.
• Remove from refrigerator about ½ hour before serving

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie 
http://sockfairies.blogspot.com/2015/06/strawberry-rhubarb-pie-and-raspberry.html


Mixed Berry Trifle with Almond Cream

sockfairies.blogspot.com/search?q=+mixed+berry+trifle

Lime Mousse Tartlets

http://sockfairies.blogspot.com/2014/04/stories-to-tell.html

Blueberry Corn Salad

http://sockfairies.blogspot.com/2013/07/summer-salad.html

Apple Spinach Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

http://sockfairies.blogspot.com/2014/01/pecan-crusted-pork-tenderloin-and.html

No song or poem will bear my mother's name.
Yet so many of the stories I write,
that we all write, are my mother's stories.
by Alice Walker

Listen carefully to what country people
call motherhood. In these homely sayings
are couched the collective wisdom of generations.
by Maya Angelou