We brought an interesting new cake recipe to a gathering this morning, one that someone on "Christmas to the Max" had posted. You take a chocolate cake mix, add a can of pureed pumpkin, put in a greased pan (actually, the original recipe was for muffins), and bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes. That's right, no eggs, no oil. We had no idea how it would turn out.

Remarkably, since the mixture was so thick, the resultant cake was light and fluffy. Everyone enjoyed it.

I would like to try it with spice cake (and have bought a spice cake mix to do so). I suspect it will come out tasting a lot like pumpkin bread, but hopefully lighter.

James had his IPMS meeting today, and since we had things to do in that direction anyway, we swapped vehicles and while he was nattering on about plastic models, I went to Harry's Farmers Market. We needed nuts—it's not really Thanksgiving without a big bowl of filberts, almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts and pecans—plus vegetables including a cucumber which we had for salad tonight and some baby greens for tomorrow when James is at work. They also have soup bars and hot bars, so I bought some dark-meat turkey, which was providential since we had nothing planned for supper.

I also went to Rowan's, a used media (books, DVDs, VHS, records, CDs) store and found to my dismay that they are going out of business in February. The discount is at 20 percent right now. One less used bookstore, dammit. And this one used to have deals: I could always find the book-club editions of the newest Amelia Peabody mystery a month or so after it came out. I got two WWII books for James, and for me, the companion book to the 1776 miniseries The Adams Chronicles (which apparently is finally coming to DVD next May) and also an anthropology book, The Neanderthal Enigma. Haven't read a good anthropology book in a dog's age.

A nip-in at Big Lots: they had my oatmeal for only $2 box. So I got more. :-)

Then we went out to Merchant's Walk. Good visit, too; found a Christmas present we had been agonizing over (someone rather hard to buy for). James purchased enough to get me the cute stuffed polar bear that Borders is using for advertising this year; its name is "Marshmallow" and I'm wondering if this is just polar bear year or it's playing off the upcoming release of Golden Compass, which features a definitely not cuddly polar bear.

We also stopped at Trader Joe's to get James a supper for tomorrow and me some more popcorn; we found a pumpkin tart which we had part of for dessert. Superb...nice spicy pumpkin in a firm shell, great accompaniment to turkey with cucumber salad.

By the time we were heading home it was twilight. We had the Scary Car Thing, then saw a couple of homes with Christmas lights (one was an illuminated palm tree!) just before we made the last turn for home, and someone in our own neighborhood with the inside of their house decorated.

Labels: books, Christmas, events, food, shopping

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