Saturday was baking day with my sourdough starter and here are the results. The cake is carrot cake with the infamous cream cheese icing. I am not a big cake person because many times the frosting etc, is just TOO sweet for me but this turned out excellent I must say! It was Julie's (Willowcreek) recipe from Mary Jane's farm blog on "Bread, the Mary Jane Way" . It called for raisins but I don't care for them so I left them out and instead of walnuts I used pecans. I didn't want to eat the whole thing (and I very well could have it was THAT good!) so I took 2 pieces to each of 3 neighbors....I keep telling myself "be the change you want to see in the world" so that's a start!

The pizza was also great. I had Italian sausage, red onion, tomato sauce, fresh mushrooms, red pepper (on sale! and cheaper than the green can you believe it?) and Provolone cheese and Italian 5 cheese blend on it. I used my parents old stone for baking it but the bottom was a little too soft for my taste (I like crispy crust) so next time I think I will just put it directly on the oven rack without the stone. It's the best pizza I have ever made so I think my Italian relatives were helping me from above!

One question...does anyone know how I could "dress up" the cake a little for company? Like should I sprinkle some grated carrot on top? Cooked or raw? It looks a little plain and I know sometimes chefs put something on items to tell the "eater" what is on the inside. Any ideas would be appreciated to "gussy up" my food....they say you eat with your eyes first but personally....my food goes straight to the mouth!