Birthdays, Baking & Bowling

Can you tell I like alliteration?

Last week was Steve's 28th birthday (not that we're counting!) and per his request I baked him a carrot cake from scratch. It was my first time baking a cake with vegetables in it...and I have to say it was fun to grate 2 cups of carrots into the batter and feel good about creating a semi-healthy birthday cake. I used this carrot cake recipe from Allrecipes complete with homemade orange-zest cream cheese frosting and it turned out DELICIOUS! The cake was dense and moist and lasted us the better part of a week (sometimes eating two pieces a day...should I admit that??)

Carrot Cake - Before

...and after!

Enthusiastic cake-eaters

To celebrate Steve's day, we hit the town that night with Abby & Cameron to experience the thrill of Candlepin Bowling. For those unfamiliar with this unique variety of bowling, it's a New England tradition that features smaller, more narrow pins and hand-sized balls that you hurl down the alley at the pins. We managed to find a place that offered "glow bowling" and had the whole place to ourselves decked out with black lights and great dance music. We played two games and had so much fun, we are considering going back REALLY soon to try to improve our candlepin skills.

Here's a shot of Steve taking his turn bowling, in all his blacklight-glowing glory: