Porter's Primary: COOKING/BOOK REVIEWS ~ "Amelia Bedelia Bakes Off" ~ With Recipe For Amelia Bedelia's Sheet Cake

I remember laughing and enjoying books about "Amelia Bedelia" when I was a youngster, so we picked up a couple titles featuring this confused housekeeper/maid when we were at the main library last week. In "Amelia Bedelia Bakes Off" the heroine runs a bakery for a friend. At the back of the book a recipe for "Amelia Bedelia's Sheet Cake" is provided. Of course the children wanted to try making the recipe! It called for just nine simple ingredients (that we already had on hand) -- so we made some cake on Saturday afternoon.

The verdict? Delicious and super easy. Probably easier than using a packaged cake mix and an electric mixer. It definitely tasted better than a mix! Why so easy? All the ingredients were dumped directly into a 9 x 13 cake pan and then mixed together with a fork! Couldn't be simpler!

AMELIA BEDELIA'S SHEET CAKE

3 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cocoa
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups water

Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa directly into an ungreased 9" x 13" pan. Add oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Pour water over all ingredients. Mix with a fork until smooth. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool the cake and ice it in the pan with your favourite frosting (we used a purchased container of prepared icing).

While we were at the library, we also borrowed "Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping." The poor woman had never been camping before and "pitched the tent" by throwing the bag with the tent inside into the bushes! She certainly has a lot to learn.

According to the list on the back of "Amelia Bedelia Bakes Off," there are 23 different "Amelia Bedelia" adventures. Two down ... and 21 to go ... that's some serious reading still to do!