Thanksgiving Reflection

Yesterday as I was baking my annual pumpkin cake, I heard a loud popping sound. Otis jumped and looked worriedly out the back window. I saw a wisp of smoke coming out of the neighbor's chimney and chuckled to myself about what he must have had in the fireplace to make that noise. A few minutes later I noticed another neighbor going around the house, knocking on all the windows and yelling, "Steve, are you there? ...is anyone home?" A small stream of smoke was now coming out of the back bedroom window. The vertical blinds over the sliding glass window had melted and were in a pile on the floor.
An hour and two broken windows later, the fire department and my neighbor were picking through the burnt items on the back bedroom floor by lantern light. Something had exploded in that room--his computer, I think. So today, Steve is thankful that he still has a house and that he just has smoke damage, not a total loss.
Snug in my own smoke free house this morning, snuggling Otis and inhaling the warm smells of good things in the oven, I am grateful for many, many things. May all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and bask in all that you are privileged to enjoy.

Incidentally, you might enjoy this cake. I can't make a crust to save my life, so a pumpkin pie is an ordeal in my book. But this cake is like a custard with a lovely crust below and above. It's from my friend, Martha and it has no calories:

Mix 1/2 cup melted butter and 1 egg with 1 package of dry yellow cake mix. Set aside 1 cup of this mixture. Press the rest into the bottom of a 9X13 glass baking dish.

Mix 1 large (29 oz.) can of pumpkin with 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 2/3 cup milk, and 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice. Add a dash of salt. Pour into baking dish over the cake mix crust.

Mix 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 cup of saved cake mix mixture. Crumble over top of cake. (optional: pour 1/4 cup melted butter over the top of the cake and swirl around--this really adds to calories and doesn't appreciably improve the cake, so I'm not sure why it's recommended).
Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, or until the cake doesn't jiggle in the middle when gently shaken. Serve warm with non-dairy topping or whipped cream.

This cake can be frozen or will store in your refrigerator for 2 weeks. Enjoy!