Black and White and Red all over

Today I attended a sales meeting at a Real Estate agency with which I may potentially become affiliated. The topic of discussion today was farming your own business. It was very interesting and I think it will be helpful in starting to generate my own book of business here in my home state. It also gave me a chance to see a Maryland contract of sale as well as several different types of listing papers. It is so fascinating to me to be able to compare real estate markets. I am most familiar with New Jersey Real Estate, which is divided into the North and South, each with their own practices. Then I dabbled with the Philly market and now I get to know it all about Maryland... and each of them is so different from the next it just amazes me. For the first time in my real estate career I am excited to start selling. In the past I have been a real estate photographer and a processor, but I haven't sold a home in over three years. I can't wait to get my feet wet.

At the meeting the new girl forgot to turn off the ring on her cell phone... hence the red all over. It was such a rookie mistake... I so know better than that.

Last night after making dinner I carried out my days old desire to make a carrot cake. The recipe, courtesy of my girl Martha Stewart, calls for unsweetened apple sauce. I didn't have applesauce, but I what I did have was an excess of apples. So I also made the applesauce which went into said carrot cake. I ended up baking until after nine, which wouldn't have been bad if I hadn't started working in the kitchen a little before 4. I'm not complaining, I enjoyed it, but after 5 hours on my feet I was in no shape to make cream cheese frosting from scratch. So I went to sleep lacking the satisfaction of tasting my homemade morsel, only able to dream of the spiced orange sweetness on my tastebuds. Today I happily intended to rectify this.

Cream Cheese Frosting

The finished product

Most Delicious Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

Makes 2 eight-inch layers.
Butter, for pans
4 medium carrots
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 2 eight-by-two-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment; butter, and dust with flour. Grate carrots in food processor; measure 2 cups, and transfer to medium bowl. Add raisins, walnuts, applesauce, and lemon juice and zest to carrots.

2. Wipe food processor bowl; fit with blade. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice; pulse to mix. With motor running, pour in oil and eggs; process until smooth, scraping sides. Add carrot mixture; pulse. Pour into pans; bake about 40 minutes, until tester inserted in middle comes out clean.

3. Cool in pans on rack for 20 minutes. Remove; cool completely, right side up.

Super Easy Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

Makes 3 cups
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and vanilla until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. With mixer on medium speed, gradually add butter, beating until incorporated.
2. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually add sugar, beating until incorporated. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before using.

Today's Useless Trivia:

"In the Middle Ages in Europe, when sweeteners were scarce and expensive, carrots were used in sweet cakes and desserts. In Britain...carrot puddings...often appeared in recipe books in the 18th and 19th centuries. Such uses were revived in Britain during the second World War, when the Ministry of Food disseminated recipes for carrot Christmas pudding, carrot cake, and so on and survive in a small way to the present day. Indeed, carrot cakes have enjoyed a revival in Britain in the last quarter of the 20th century. They are perceived as 'healthy' cakes, a perception fortified by the use of brown sugar and wholemeal flour and the inclusion of chopped nuts, and only slightly compromised by the cream cheese and sugar icing whcih appears on some versions."---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 141)