Food Friday: Recipe for Lemon Sheet Cake and My 32-year-old GE Handmixer Is Still Going Strong!

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 Today I just want to basically rave about my General Electric hand mixer which has faithfully gone through my married life with me!  32 years old!  I received it as a shower gift!!  You know the old saying, "They don't make 'em like they used to."  Well, that's so true.  They don't make things to last anymore!  I really love my hand mixer, and use it often.  Many times when I am going to bake something, I don't want to dirty my big Bosch mixer, and I choose to use my hand mixer instead.  When I'm finished, I put the bowl in the sink, fill it with soapy water, and drop the beaters, mixing cup(s) and spatulas into it to soak. Sometimes I need a bigger bowl to hold the measuring cups, but basically it's, "No muss, no fuss." Easy!

Last Thursday, my lovely hand mixer helped me make three sheet cakes, including frosting, for a baby shower I was co-hosting, and I couldn't help musing on all the years that it has faithfully served me!  Through the new bride "flops" (not its fault:) and the busy days of cupcakes and specially decorated birthday cakes for my small children, into the season of much hospitality serving many desserts to grateful guests, and finally into a season of potlucks, showers and luncheons, it has served me very well!  I could always count on it.  I always washed it off after using it, and carefully stored it in its original box (which looks a little worse for wear), and my husband did have to mend the cord once, but basically, it has not asked for anything, but just faithfully did everything I asked of it!  By the way, no one's paying me to say this!  I have just been thinking about how important faithful service is, and how rare it is these days!!  It makes me think of the character quality of servanthood, and how I need to work on this character quality more, and be ever grateful for it in others.  It's such an important character quality, that Jesus was willing to be called a Servant.  And to call us to serve one another in love.  I hope I never stop seeing lessons in the little things. So, today I'm grateful for the faithful service of a small appliance, which has reminded me to pray that I might be a better server, and a more faithful one, and stand the test of time, like my little GE Hand mixer.

Lemon Sheet Cake

Serves:  30-35 servings

Ingredients:

1 pkg lemon cake mix

4 eggs

1 can (15-3/4 ounces) lemon pie filling

1 pkg (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

• In a large bowl, beat the cake mix and eggs until well blended.  Fold in pie filling.
• Spread into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.
• In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and confectioners' sugar until smoothe.  Stir in vanilla.  Spread over cake.  Store in the refrigerator.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 piece) equals 171 calories, 6 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 51 mg cholesterol, 145 mg sodium, 28 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 2 g protein.
Enjoy!