Making Cake (and Kindness) Out of Lemons

I recently had a great idea that I still haven't followed through on. It's a service project that really is a general idea. I wanted to take my kids and give something to our neighbors just to show them some kindness or bring a smile to their day. What prompted this idea was a contest I won. On another blog, I won five of those Hickory Farms gift boxes that have smoked sausage and cheese and crackers in them. I thought it was great, but felt a bit selfish keeping all five to myself. Then, the idea hit me to give away the extras to our neighbors. They're all good country folks who I knew would appreciate the gesture. And what a great way to teach the kids a lesson in kindness. So......... that was a few weeks ago, I know I'm a slacker. Yeah, yeah, paved with good intentions, I know. But that's not the point.

This is a great activity that any one of us can do. Show kindness to our neighbors and teach the kids some morals at the same time. Since most of you probably don't have boxes of smoked sausage and cheese laying around, I've added a great cake recipe that can be substituted. Of course, anything could be substituted. It's all about paying it forward. Coincidentally, kindness was the lesson for my Bible class this week, and that is actually where this recipe came from:

Lemonade Cake

Combine 1 BOX OF LEMON CAKE MIX, 1 SMALL BOX OF JELLO BRAND LEMON FLAVOR INSTANT PUDDING AND PIE FILLING, 4 EGGS, 1 CUP WATER, and 1/4 CUP OIL in large bowl. Blend well, then beat a med. speed for 4 minutes. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes. (don't underbake) Cool for 5 min. Prick cake with a pick completely through to the bottom all over the cake. Spoon lemony glaze (see below) over cake until completely absorbed. Cool 15 min. Remove from pan and sprinkle with confectioners sugar if desired.

Lemony glaze

Mix 2 SCOOPS COUNTRY TIME LEMONADE FLAVOR DRINK MIX, 1/2 CUP WATER, and 2 TB MELTED BUTTER. Add 2 CUPS CONFECTIONER'S SUGAR and blend well.

Now, that's the original recipe, but for this project, I would use small loaf pans and fill them 3/4 full with the cake batter, using as many as will hold the batter. And you probably won't have to cook them for as long, so keep an eye on them and test them at increments to see if they're done. Or you could actually use empty vegetable cans (the short squatty kind) and fill them the same as you would the loaf pans. These two methods would make many cakes for many people.