Pumpkin Cake

Well, it's that time of year when I truly enjoy cooking and baking with pumpkin! Below is one of my favorite recipes for my Pumpkin Cake that I made over the weekend. Cinnamon and spice add a treasure of goodness to this harvest treat!!! Enjoy :o)













Pumpkin Cake

Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup oil
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup of raisins
1 cup of walnuts, chopped

Frosting:

2 cups powder sugar
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Handful of chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 15x10-inch pan. In large bowl, blend all cake ingredients (except the raisins and walnuts) at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Add raisins and walnuts and gently fold into cake batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. In small bowl, combine frosting ingredients; beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cake. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts. Refrigerate leftover.

More cards

As I was going through my pictures of cards that I made, I found these two that I truly enjoyed making.

The card below is the Christmas card I made last year. I used Stampin Up's "Sassy & Seasonal" stamp set. It's such a diva card!!!


The card below is one that I made for my friend Margaret's birthday. Take a close look at the purse. Margaret's favorite purse is Dooney & Burke!!! I used Stampin Up's "Totally Cool" stamp set for this card.

September 2007 - Office Swap

Sorry it's been so long that I've blogged. I'm finally back to work after 6 long weeks of recuperating after my surgery. I am so glad to be back at work with my lovely staff. The first week back, we scheduled a card making session during our lunch break, at which point we decided to do another swap. Below is a picture of the card I made for the swap.

Caribbean Cruise, 2007

Marty and I had the pleasure of cruising with our dearest friends, Tom, Pam, and Peter in the Caribbean this past February. We were fortunate to meet new friends on this cruise, Dan and Laura from Jersey, as well as Chad and Karen from Valley Forge, PA. Can I say ... FUN! We had such a blast enjoying the sun, food, drinks, dancing, musicals, drinks (can we say "Mojitooooos!!"), laughing, sightseeing, meeting new friends, drinking (only the best of wines), and just letting loose and relaxing. It was so enjoyable, that we have already booked another Alaskan cruise with our cruising buddies coming up in August 2008. Here are a few photos of our fun-filled Caribbean cruise.

Our cruise liner, Celebrity's' "Millennium."

Marty and I sunning by the pool on the Promenade Deck.

Me, tendering out to one of our outings.

Me posing from one of the forts in San Juan.

A scenic view of San Juan.

A gorgeous view of the waters of San Juan.

A beautiful view of the walls surrounding old San Juan.

A lookout over the beautiful waters of San Juan.

Of course, as you all know, I always find my Starbucks ...

no matter where I go!!!

Marty and Tom, playing with their cannons!

Tom, enjoying this photo shoot!

Downtown Nassau.

Marty posing with his new girlfriend!

Me getting a little frisky with my new friend (and he likes it -- thumbs up!).

A lighthouse sitting across from a restaurant's outside dining deck in Nassau.

America's Cup Racing yacht passing through as we were dinning at a restaurant's deck in Nassau.

Marty (the Marine) enjoying target shooting in the Dominican Republic.

Me learning the target shooting game.

Tom reloading to continue his target shooting.

Dan (Army man) taking his target shooting very serious.

Laura, the Jersey Gal, learning the target shooting game, as well.

Marty posing with the 1907 bottle of Champagne found on the Olympic (the Titanic's sister ship) in the Baltic sea.

Peter posing with a 1954 Petrus wine valued at $7,000.00.

Peter posing with one of his favorite bottles of wine.

Ding, ding, ding ... time for this princess to go "dancing" ... yup, had a bit too many glasses of wine with the devine dinner in the Wine Room.

Sedona, Arizona, 2006

Last September, my husband and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary in Sedona, Arizona. We truly enjoyed our little getaway. Arizona is, by far, one of my favorite states. We met the most amazing people in downtown Sedona. Marty and I actually met with a real estate agent, Herb, and went housing/land hunting. We are planning on retiring in Sedona. We would like to buy something now and rent it out until we're ready to retire. Below are some photos I'd like to share with you all.