Entertaining By Tiki Light

T and I opened our home to host a party for the wedding party on Friday night. Those of you who read about the worst wedding toast ever know that I'm posting some about Alison (my sister) and Sam's wedding this week.

They both live out of town and needed a local spot in the 'Burg for a casual cook out, and I happily volunteered our place. I like any excuse I can get to give the new deck a workout.

The best part was that Alison and Sam wanted to provide everything. All I had to do was bake a cake, which I love doing. I decided on (don't gag, please!) Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake.

I know. It sounds disgusting, doesn't it? The idea of mayonnaise in a cake makes me twitch a little bit, but I promise it's worth it. The recipe, which I found in a Southern Living Cooking School booklet several years ago, is as easy as they come.

The cake was an absolute hit with all the big, towering Army guys that attended the party. To have one guy tell me (when his fianceé wasn't looking) that my cake tasted better than all the frou frou frippy wedding cakes he had to taste test at a French bakery earlier in the day was a huge compliment.

{Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake}

from Southern Living Cooking School, Summer 2004

Ingredients:

1 (17.53 oz.) dark chocolate fudge cake mix

1 cup real mayonnaise (no Miracle Whip, people!)

1 cup water

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cola Frosting (recipe below)

Directions:

Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking dish. (I grabbed something that looked close to that size) Beat the first 4 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer 40 to 45 seconds or until combined. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes or until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides. Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes and then spread Cola frosting over cake.

Cola Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

6 T Cola soft drink (I use Coke)

3 T unsweetened cocoa

1 (16 oz.) package powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until butter melts. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar and vanilla until smooth. **DO NOT substitute Diet cola**

Doesn't that mayo look so appetizing??!

The happy couple.

We had adequate seating for everyone.

One of the guys had a "golf" game in his car...Natalie could hardly wait for her turn to play.

There's not much better than good food, good friends, and family.

The problem with casual parties is that they sometimes turn into a scene from 16 Candles. I was thinking we'd have 15 guests...it ended up being more like 30. Don't worry, there were no Asian foreign exchange students dangling from a tree in our front lawn.

Someone liked my cake!


I caught someone else sneaking a piece the next day. I rounded the corner and found Michaela Byrd on a kitchen chair, frantically stuffing crumbs into her mouth. Natalie was standing there watching her, and waited until I walked in to say, "Mommy, Michaela's eating your cake!" Tattletale!

It had to be good if it was worth getting a spanking for!

I'm linking this post to Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. She hosts a wonderful Tasty Tuesday party each week with great recipes and tips!

On another note: My next Decorating Dilemmas Party will be up TONIGHT (Tuesday) night after 10 pm.

The last one was a blast with a very good turn out. There will be another giveaway for participants!
If you didn't have a chance to stop by the first time, this is a party for bloggers to link up with any challenges they have in or around their homes (decorating, crafts, organizing, gardening, construction). Your dilemma can be anything from "Help! My son drew on my walls in permanent marker and I don't know how to cover it up" to "What color should I paint my coffee table?" I also love it when people have great solutions to share. This party is all about being real and helping out our bloggy friends. We're going to have a blast. Anyone planning on coming?

You can click here to see the entries from the last party. Hope to see you there!