Angel Food Crunch for My Angel: Happy Birthday, Amy!

Today is my daughter’s birthday. She’s 27. (She says she’s starting to feel old; imagine how I feel!)

I have to step back now and again to realize that she is indeed a grown woman. She owns her own house, has a thriving career as a real estate agent, a nice IRA growing, a happy circle of friends, a love life with its ups and downs, a Miata I’d trade my beloved VW for, and an adorable Yorkshire terrier named Ollie. And parents who love her to pieces. The only trouble is, she lives in Florida, and we’re in Pennsylvania, and there’s just no way that I can see her enough. Thank god for phone and e-mail and cheap flights (now and again.)

I hope she’s having a great birthday, that her Facebook friends are showering her with messages today, that she gets flowers and has the perfect dinner date. Can’t wait to hear all about it.

To celebrate her birthday at home, I made her favorite cake. She’s loved this fun cake ever since she tasted it probably 15 years ago or more. And Aunt Liz was kind enough to share the recipe with me. I’m the first to admit I’m no baker, so I’m always a little hesitant to say, “I’ll make a cake (or cookies or bread.)” But this one is pretty easy; it can still fall or get heavy, but it has so many goodies in it, even if it’s dense, it’s tasty.

The grandkids visited over the weekend, so everyone got a piece, everyone but Amy. We sang a little Happy Birthday to Amy and took a picture. (Just didn’t have any candles.)

Have a great birthday, Amy! I love you, all the way to the ends of the earth and back again. And back again, and back again . . . . .

Angel Food Crunch Cake

1 box angel food cake mix
1 4 ounce jar maraschino cherries
1 jar colored sprinkles (save ¼ cup for topping)
¾ cup chopped pecans
1 12 ounce container Cool Whip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use the juice from the cherries and enough water to make 1 1/3 cups. Blend with dry cake mix. Beat 1 minute. Add chopped cherries, nuts and sprinkles to batter. Gently fold with spatula to incorporate. Pour into greased tube pan. Gently cut through batter to remove air bubbles. Bake 45 to 50 minutes. Immediately invert pan on rack. Cool completely. Use Cool Whip to ice cake. Sprinkle with reserved sprinkles. Keep refrigerated.