My first carrot cake!

Because I've been so tired when I get home from school everyday, I am not much fun. I crash on the couch, and I feel bad because Jonathan doesn't get much time to talk to me. Since he's been so kind and patient, I told him I would make him whatever sweet treat he wanted this weekend. Expecting the "chocolate chip cookies" response, I was surprised (and a little nervous) when he asked me to make him a carrot cake. Now, Jonathan LOVES carrot cake, and I've never made carrot cake before. I had always imagined it being a difficult process, so I didn't want my first one to be a disaster. Fortunately, I was surprised by how simple it was. Here's the recipe I used (modified from Sam's Famous Carrot Cake on allrecipes.com):

3 eggs
3/4 cup light buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
3/4 cup raisins

For the cream cheese frosting:
1 package light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13" pan. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture, and mix well. Fold in the carrots, pineapple, coconut, walnuts, and raisins. Pour into pan and bake for 45-50 minutes. Check with a toothpick. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, beat together the cream cheese and butter. Mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread over the cooled cake.

The result...moist, delicious carrot cake! Here's a slice to make your mouth water :)

By the way, you could make this a layered cake by splitting the batter between two 8" round cake pans, and reducing the baking time to around 30 minutes. Make sure to double the frosting, though, if you want to ice the whole cake.

In other news, we're looking forward to all that this fall has in store for us. Jonathan is itching for football season to start, and we're both looking forward to some cooler weather :) We're also really excited about starting a new small group with our church in September. We're praying that we can make some genuine, Godly friendships, so say a prayer for us!

Nacho Stars

Last night, we had planned a game night with another married couple, so I decided to make a snack for everyone to much on. My friend, Ashley, from school makes this awesome treat called Nacho Stars. I forgot to snap a picture, and before I knew it, they were devoured! So, I borrowed this picture from the internet. It doesn't have the same filling, but you can get the idea. I like how versatile this could be. You could do a spicy filling, a chicken salad-type filling, a crab/cream cheese-type filling, etc. The possibilities are endless. Here's the recipe I used:

1 package wonton wrappers
3/4 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 lb. sausage
1 jar jalapeno slices

Directions: Spray a cupcake tin with non-stick cooking spray. Place wonton wrappers in the tin, and bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 6 minutes. Meanwhile, brown the sausage in a skillet. Drain, and add the ranch and cheese. Spoon into pre-baked wonton shells. Add a little more cheese, and top with a jalapeno slice. Place back into the oven for 6 more minutes. Enjoy!

Suturing!

Today was a very big day for me. I've spent all week rotating through our Oral Surgery clinic. I've pulled nine teeth by myself so far and assisted seniors in pulling countless others, My patient today had badly broken down teeth, so I had to use a surgical approach. For the very first time EVER today, I used a scalpel to cut back a tissue flap, extracted the broken-off teeth, and sutured the patient up when I was through. There aren't many things in dental school that have come completely natural to me, but I felt that suturing came so naturally to me. I was good at it, and that put me on cloud 9. Yay for God reaffirming that you've made the right career choice! Here's a illustration of the suture technique I used: