Column from December 9, 2010

Making your family feel special

As always, we really enjoyed the cantata this past weekend. I’ve gone for many years and it’s truly a treat.

The cantata is Othello’s way of ringing in the holiday season.

There are a lot of events that take place this time of year. Next weekend, The Old Hotel will host a Christmas get-together with plenty of activities for the entire family. That should be fun, too.

Christmas is a busy time, but families need to remember loved ones who have birthdays this month. Mine was last weekend and my younger sister’s was five days before that.

I always appreciated the fact that my parents always kept our birthdays separate from Christmas. We were treated special for our birthdays each year and they were never combined with the other or with the holiday.

To me, that’s very important. Children’s feelings are easily hurt, especially when they misinterpret adult motives. They want to feel appreciated and their birthdays are the perfect time to do just that … no matter what time of year they take place.

I always let my kids choose what they wanted for dinner on their special days. I also made sure they got their favorite cake for dessert.

Whether you make a birthday cake yourself or purchase one at a local bakery or store, there is sure to be one that will please your special little person.

My favorite cake is chocolate. Add chocolate frosting and there’s nothing that can beat it.

I have a variety of recipes for all sorts of different cakes. As I was going through my recipe box for this week’s column, I found a recipe for a chocolate mocha cake I used to make quite often.

It even has a star in the corner to remind me everyone liked it.

That’s just one of the many ways recipes can be marked to remember whether your family enjoyed them or not. A notation in the margin can help, too. If you look through my cookbooks, you can sometimes find little notes about certain recipes – such as add more seasoning, cook a bit longer, really tasty or don’t make this again!

Those notes are very helpful for me or for anyone who might borrow the book.

So, next time you try a new recipe, add a message to yourself. You’ll be glad you did.

Chocolate mocha cake

2-1/2 cups sifted cake flour

1-2/3 cup sugar

3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1-1/4 cup milk, divided

2/3 cup shortening

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in ¾ cup milk and shortening. Beat at medium speed for two minutes.

Add eggs, ½ cup milk and vanilla. Beat two minutes more.

Bake in prepared 9-inch round cake pans for 35 to 40 minutes.

Frosting

¾ cup shortening

1 tablespoon vanilla

½ cup baking cocoa

½ teaspoon salt

4-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

½ cup strong coffee (or use 1 tablespoon instant coffee mixed with ½ cup hot water)

Cream together shortening, vanilla, cocoa and salt. Add confectioner’s sugar and coffee.

Beat until smooth.