Cake # 16 Applesauce Cake

What a day! It is 9:30pm and I have just finished baking my cake. I know that I had all of your buttocks at the edge of your seats waiting in anticipation for this week's cakeabration! But, as someone always said (because someone always has to say something, don't they?) good things come to those who wait. The story: When Ted and I got our rebate check this year we had a plan. First, one thousand towards our discover card. Second, one thousand in savings for Evalyn's daycare, prom dress, college, wedding, you name it fund. Third, one thousand to pay off our new bedroom furniture. Fourth, one thousand to paint my mustang purple, fix the dent, and get a new stereo (turns out we had no idea how much that would cost). Finally, one thousand for new carpet in both our bedroom and our computer room. (If you've been calculating you will have discovered that we received five thousand in tax returns this year). The discover card, Evalyn's savings, and our bedroom furniture was easy, check, check, and check. (Please tell my I'm not the only one that finds that punny.) My 'stang, well that is another story, turns out a paint job is triple the amount we want to spend, so we haven't moved forward in that purchase, but we are considering getting a new stereo and maybe fixing the dent at least. In the meantime, my scheming mind had no trouble deciding where the left over money from the foiled car plan would go. Naturally, if you get new carpet, you should paint.

So for the past three weeks Ted and I have been painting our bedroom and the computer room. Do not put a paint brush in my hands. Once I paint one room, though I hate painting, I want to paint every room. I begin to analyze every scuff and dent and chip and I decide that it too must be fixed. (I think Ted is about to blow his brains out.) And of course if you get new paint you need new light fixtures, and curtains, and well you get the picture. I am my own version of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," it is called "If You Give Laura a Paintbrush" subtitled "Watching Too Much of HGTV". Possibly what has me on this home remodel high, (as I write this the word "BATHROOM" is flashing in neon over and over in my brain) is the fact that Easter dinner is at my house next week, yikes. My sister's house is immaculate, and my mother's house is amazing, and my aunt's house is charming, (all places where Easter has been held in the past) and I would just like it if my house didn't reek of "kid out of college trying to play house".

Skip ahead to 9:00am this morning. Both rooms have been painted, though touch ups around the house are still continuing, and the carpet people are here. By 3:00pm the carpet is complete are rooms are back in order, cleaned, and dusted, and now I want to leave the house to buy a new comforter to match our new bedroom. Long story short, our two rooms look great, and now I want more! Remodeling, painting, furnishing, carpeting, it is a drug for a woman, and I'm not even a housewife! It wasn't until 8:00 that I began baking my Applesauce cake - sorry Mom C, I know you wanted to try a piece today, come over tomorrow and have some with us, we are thinking it will make an excellent breakfast.

This cake called for butter, flour, cornstarch, baking powder, sugar, eggs, vanilla, applesauce, one apple, and lemon juice. I don't eat applesauce, but the cake looked and smelled good, and my daughter's primary food group right now is applesauce, so I am happy to make something that I know she and her father will love.

Here is the book's cake:

Here is my cake:

Not too shabby! Next week in celebration of Easter I am going to make a very difficult Easter cake, entitled . . . Easter Cake! Be prepared to be stupefied by its marvelousness! Until then, eat cake and be merry.