SPICY ROOTBEER CAKE, SPRING THAW AND A TOUR OF OUR LITTLE TOWN, A LA LESLIE!

Today, it officially arrived. Spring. Well, not officially, like "on the calendar" officially, but I can feel it in me bones. That's right--I said, in "ME" bones. 40 degree temperatures, and the snow is melting fast. Which around here means a few weeks of super slippery driveways and roads as we wait for the last of the ice to melt. And don't worry--it'll snow again, but usually it won't add up to much or stick around for very long.

Days like these, I like to get in my car and take a drive--maybe even live a little and crack the sunroof (even though there's no sun)! Our little town in the Adirondacks, Old Forge, has some very pretty old architecture, so I thought I'd share. Here's our school, which is one big building with grades K-12 packed inside. All 300 of 'em!:

And here's our awesome movie theatre, The Strand. Built in 1922, it was:

Also built in 1922, our Hardware Store--there truly is a little bit of EVERYTHING in this place--it's famous!:

Here's my friend Kate's cute-as-a-button flower shop:

And the house next door, which is also on Main Street, is FOR SALE!! A steal at only around $300k. Why don't you buy it, and open a shop downstairs / live upstairs? I will only ask you for a finder's fee:

Here's our little coffee shop, Ozzie's. ALSO for sale:

And lastly, my girlfriend Patty's house, that's she's lived in almost her whole life. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?:

All right, enough touring for today--time to go home and bake a cake! I must tell you that my cake posts on this blog are absolutely the most popular posts--y'all are a bunch of sugar addicts!

This is yet another bundt cake--I'm kinda into those lately. Super easy to make, and get this: you use ROOT BEER in it, and rum extract! Moist and delicious--I used a Duncan Hines cake mix, but you can use whichever brand you want:

Mix all ingredients together, just like you would a normal cake mix, but substitute root beer for water, and add rum extract, vanilla and cinnamon:

And look at the finished product--DELIGHTFULLY FUN!

Can I have a piece, aw please?:

Here's the recipe:

SPICY ROOT BEER CAKE

1 box Spice Cake mix

1 tsp. rum extract

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

Root beer

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray and flour a bundt pan. Make cake according to package directions, except substitute root beer for the water. Add remaining ingredients. Bake according to package directions, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cake cool, then invert onto a plate. Dust with powdered sugar.

TOP 3 THINGS I'M GRATEFUL FOR TODAY:

1. I'm extremely grateful to whoever invented Prednisone.

2. I'm extremely grateful for my willpower; Prednisone makes you hungry, so I'm sending that cake OUTA HERE, pronto!

3. I'm grateful for the dinner and movie night with my husband tonite. I love Fridays!