It still happens.  I learn stuff.
Here are some of the things that I've learned this week:
1.  If I boil old, nasty smelling kitchen wipe rags then they're good to go and they won't smell.  Very Handy.
2.  Don't go food shopping when you have a head cold and are craving comfort food.  Very Bad.
3.  Doing a long run when you think you might be getting a cold might just bring it on.
4.  I can make my own saline solution to spray up my nose so that my head cold feels a little less wretched.
5.  Sometimes it can be 26 degrees on October 8th in Toronto but if you have a nasty sinus cold then you might not enjoy it as much as you wish you could.

As you might have been able to deduce by now... I HAVE A COLD... and it BITES.
So, yeah, I had all these plans for my Thanksgiving weekend and the only thing that I'll really be digging into is doing a whole lot of nothing and spraying crap up my nose, praying that by tomorrow I won't feel like every crevice above my teeth has been stuffed with socks (I don't know why socks... it just makes sense to me right now).  This truly bites because it is uncommonly warm here.  I'm not going to go into how it makes me feel about the state of our climate these days because it makes the knot in my stomach a little tighter.  I'm going to do my best to live in the moment and stare at the sun through my bedroom window, feeling just a little bit sorry for myself.


However, doing nothing isn't all bad, I caught up on some movie watching that had been badly ignored over the last few weeks.   Secondly, I had to make this cake.  I had to make it because we were having dinner with my parents.  It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada.  That means dinner with family and I had to make stuff to take.  I can't show up at someone's house (even my own parents place) without something in my hand to give them.  I volunteered to make a dessert and a veggie dish.  I still haven't figured out the veggie dish yet but I'll be sure to take pics and get it up here when I do.
This cake has been sitting in my 'must try' bookmark for a long time and for some reason I just haven't gotten around to it.  It sounds easy and looks great in the blog picture.  As usual, I don't have the exact ingredients but I figure that anything with honeyed pecans and glaze on the top will be pretty forgiving, so I'm forging ahead.



The cake rises beautifully, this tempting, bubbly brownness that makes you want to put your finger into it.  Once you add the stuff on the top... it's a beautiful thing.
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves...
except for kid #1 who declared that he doesn't like nuts... so he got gross rolo ice cream instead because apparently that's what kids get when they are at their grandparents place on Thanksgiving.  Another thing that I learned this week.


Pear and Apple Cake adapted from 'In Praise of Leftovers'
makes 1 9x13'' cake

2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 med apples (or pears or mixed), cored and sliced thin
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
3 cups all purpose flour

Glaze:
1/2 - 3/4 cup candied pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
4 tbsp melted butter
1 cup icing sugar
2 - 4 tbsp milk or cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Lightly butter or grease a 9x13'' cake pan.
In a large bowl combine the sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla together.  Mix until well combined.  Add in the fruit and mix until the fruit is incorporated well.
Add in the nuts and the flour.  Mix until the flour is completely incorporated.  The batter will be pretty thick.
Pour into the prepared pan.  Bake for about 1 hr 10 min but start checking after an hour.  I gave my cake a quarter turn after about 35 minutes too.  Once the cake looks good and a tester comes out clean (test the cake in the middle of the pan please people) then remove from the oven and cool for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime:
Mix together the butter, icing sugar and 2 tbsp of the milk or cream.  If you need more milk or cream then add it until the glaze is the consistency that you like.
Sprinkle the chopped, candied nuts over the 20 minutes cooled cake and then pour the glaze over top of everything.