Kevin J. Hayes, "The Mind of a Patriot: Patrick Henry and the World of Ideas" (University of Virginia Press 2008)

When I was last in Washington, D.C., I visited the Library of Congress. There, in a dimly lit room was an exhibition of Thomas Jefferson's books. It was fascinating to look at these old books, especially the law books with titles and authors I recognized. Patrick Henry had no such collection. This lack of a personal library has led some to believe that Henry was not a well-read man. Indeed, he wasn't educated in the same way as many founding fathers such as Jefferson or John Adams were. However, Henry did become a lawyer and a celebrated orator, uttering the famous lines, "Give me liberty or give me death!"

With this book, author Kevin J. Hayes purports abolish the idea that Henry was not well-read simply because he didn't have an extensive library.  At the time of Henry's death, an inventory of his books was taken.  This list of 188 books is reproduced in the appendix to this book.  Jefferson's personal library, by contrast, measured in the thousands.  So what does Henry's library say about him?

Hayes points out that while Henry read many books, he did not feel compelled to retain them once he absorbed the contents.  He would generally give books away once he was done with them, rather than keep them to accumulate dust on a shelf.  However, the books Henry does have tell us a lot about him.  One thing that jumped out at me was the similarity between the famous quote listed above to lines in Joseph Addison's Cato:  It is not now a time to talk of aught/But chains, or conquest; liberty or death." (p. 73)  Hayes makes it clear that Henry pulled much from written sources.

It was also interesting to see the number of English spelling and usage books Henry had in his library.  He was always interested in improving his speaking skills. Finally, as a lawyer he possessed all the important books that lawyers of the day typically read. 

I really enjoyed this book that showed an example of how the books people read in the Revolutionary era shaped the times.  This was a unique perspective and one that I appreciated as a book lover and history buff.  It made me think about what my library says about me. 

National Book Festival

The National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. starts tomorrow, and alas I will not be there.  We found a decent airfare out of Milwaukee and our usual hotel in Alexandria had a good rate; however, logistics dictated that we couldn't take advantage of it.  It was a close call though!  If I were there, the History & Biography tent is where I would have spent most of my time.  Fortunately, C-Span2 has live coverage of the History & Biography tent, so I can still get my book festival fix remotely.  Believe me, I will be tuning in!

How my Ipad is ruining my life (sort of)

Just last night, I started reading a new book about Patrick Henry.  Before that, I was reading a book about U.S. Grant.  However, I only got about half way through the Grant book, which I started fairly early in the summer.  It's not that it was a bad book at all.  It's just that I have an Ipad, and I'm addicted to it.  I love to read, but the next round of Words With Friends or Song Pop keeps calling me.  Or I might miss some very important new announcement on Facebook or Twitter.  Somehow, I keep choosing to do all of that before reading.

This is a new experience for me.  As a kid, I had video games on the Commodore 64 and later Atari (yes, I am fully aware that this dates me), and I don't recall those games ever coming before reading.  I don't think my parents had to put any kind of computer time limit on me to drag me away from hour upon hour of Donkey Kong, Q-Bert, or Summer Games.  But it appears I need something like that now.

So, it's time to turn a new leaf.  I didn't really want to start the Grant book over again, and didn't want to continue from the middle when I don't much remember what I read in the first half.  So I thought the best way to start fresh was to just pick a new book and start again from there.  Hence the Patrick Henry book.  Now I just need to come up with some new rules regarding my Ipad use so that I don't find myself half-way through this book three months from now.

Oh, and there's also the cat in the library cross-stitch I've been neglecting.  In the language of Twitter, #firstworldproblems. 

National Book Festival

The National Book Festival in Washington, DC is coming up on September 22-23.  After going last year, I'm really sad to not be going this year.  My husband has been checking for cheap airfares to DC but so far there's nothing low enough to justify us going.  Luckily, there aren't any authors I'm dying to see, as was the case last year with David McCullough.  Regardless, it's such a great atmosphere that I still wish I was going.  So here's hoping for a miracle cheap airfare!

Please see the Library of Congress website (http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/) for information on the festival if you are lucky enough to be able to attend.  It's a wonderful experience for any book lover. 

Library of Congress Names Books that Shaped America

I am a huge fan of the Library of Congress (who'd have guessed!?!).  I had the good fortune to make my first trip to their National Book Festival last year and can't wait to go again some time.  The reading room in the Thomas Jefferson building in DC might be one of my favorite rooms in the world.  Tomorrow (June 25, 2012) they open an exhibit entitled "Books that Shaped America."  This is not intended to be a list of the best books in America, but those that have been influential in one way or another.  Therefore, you see books you probably wouldn't otherwise see on a "best of" list.  Examples include cookbooks, children's books and even a childcare book by Dr. Spock.  The Library is also taking suggestions for other books to add to the list.  Unfortunately, it's unlikely I will make it to DC before the exhibit closes on September 29.  :(

You can find information about the exhibit and the list of the books chosen at http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2012/12-123.html.  I have read only eighteen of the books listed so I have a lot of reading to do!  How many have you read?

"Ellen and Edith: Woodrow Wilson's First Ladies" by Kristie Miller (University Press of Kansas 2012)

Wow!  I can't believe how fast time flies.  This is my first post of 2012, which is terrible, but better late than never I suppose!  So here's my first book review of the year.

I read a lot of history and biography books, but my focus tends to be pre-1900.  However, when I was at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. last fall, I had the opportunity to see Kristie Miller discuss this book.  I was intrigued and purchased the book as soon as I returned home.

The first thing you notice about this book is its feel.  It's narrower than the average book and is wrapped in something more leather-like than usual.  I always take the dust jacket off when I read a book, so it was nicer to hold than other books.

Prior to seeing Ms. Miller speak, I knew very little about President Wilson other than that he was President during WWI.  I wasn't aware he had two wives during his term, and while this book focuses on them, I learned a lot about President Wilson as well.  He was a man who needed a woman by his side, and he married his second wife (Edith) not too long after the death of his first wife (Ellen). 

Wilson married Ellen well before he got into politics.  Ellen could have had a career of her own as an artist, but she chose to give that up to support her husband, first as a professor at and president of Princeton and then as a politician.  She raised the couple's children and probably was a more astute politician than her husband.  She also looked the other way when Wilson had a close, if not adulterous, relationship with another woman.  Unfortunately, Ellen died during Wilson's first term.

Seventeen months after Ellen's death, Wilson married Edith.  This might have been considered too soon, but even Wilson's daughters acknowleged that he needed female companionship.  Edith was a controversial figure.  Some time into Wilson's second term, he suffered a series of strokes that left him largely incpacitated.  Rather than turn power over to the Vice Presdient, Edith essentially took over.  The French Ambassabor even referred to her as "Mme. President" when Edith rather than Wilson met with him to dicuss terms of the treaty that would end WWI.  Edith determined who could see the President and which issues would be brought to him and which wouldn't.  Wilson died in 1924, just three years after leaving office in 1921.  Edith survived him by nearly 40 years and spent much of that time rehabilitating what was a fairly negative impression of Wilson's predidency.

One thing that really struck me while reading this book was how much time President Wilson spent golfing.  It seemed the more stressful the times, the more he golfed to relieve that stress.  We hear a lot of negative comments today about the amount of time President Obama spends on the golf course, as if it affects his ability to govern.  I think Wilson's example shows that he was a better President when he took that time away from the job, and we should possibly be less critical of modern Presidents doing the same.

I enjoyed this book and found it easy to read.  Sometimes biographies can get read like history textbooks and this definitely reads as a story.  I would recommend this book for the following audiences: anyone who thinks they don't like reading history or biographies or is new to this era of history, as I was; those who enjoy reading about Presidents or First Ladies; and those who enjoy WWI-era history.


Book cover image courtesy of http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/milell.html

I've got to get better at this...

I'm beginning to think my New Years resolution needs to be to blog more regularly!  Truth is, I have been swamped at school lately (it's that time of the semester!) and I've done very little leisure reading.  I read lots of student assignments though!  But somehow I don't think you want to hear about that.  Never fear!  The semester is over soon, and with a three-week break I'm sure to get a lot of reading in.  Lord knows I have tons of book I need to get to!  So please don't abandon the blog yet -- better times are coming!

National Book Festival -- Washington, DC, Sept. 24-25

I'm finally getting around to blogging about my trip to the National Book Festival in DC.  What a wonderful event!  It is put on by the Library of Congress and is very well run.  It takes place on the National Mall, and there are tents set up for the different genres of books that are represented.  There is also a Barnes and Noble tent to purchase books from the authors who are speaking, and a book signing area.  Let's talk about what we did at the festival.



On Saturday, we arrived at the festival around 10am. The first place we went was the C-Span bus.  As dorky as it sounds, I was really excited about this because I'm a big fan of C-Span.  They were handing out free cloth bags which was convenient for carrying things around of course; but it's also a great souvenir.  The bus was located right next to the History & Biography tent, and C-Span had its own little tent to interview the authors after they got done speaking.


We didn't really visit any tents in particular on Saturday, although we did stop to watch a few minutes of a presentation by Edmund Morris, who wrote a book several years ago that my husband likes about Ronald Reagan ("Dutch").  His current book is about Theodore Roosevelt.  We then went to the Barnes and Noble tent and I bought an autographed copy of a book about Lincoln and slavery ("The Fiery Trial") by Eric Foner.  I could have bought lots of books, but I kept in mind that I had to transport them all back to Green Bay, and I could always buy them there.  But Foner's book was a trade paperback and signed, so a good candidate to purchase and bring back. We then proceeded  to the Pavilion of the States tent, where there were tables to showcase local authors.  It was pretty crowded so we just checked out the Wisconsin tent.

In all, we didn't spend a lot of time at the festival on Saturday as I was most interested in seeing David McCullough speak on Sunday.  So we spent the rest of the day at the Air and Space Museum.  I'm always amazed at the quantity and quality of FREE things to do in DC.


Then came Sunday, the big day and the reason we came to the festival.  On arriving at the Mall, we first checked out the line for David McCullough's book signing.  I had my copy of "The Greater Journey" with me for him to sign if I got a chance.  It was over an hour before it began and the line was really long already.  This was a problem for me.  As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I tore my Achilles tendon this summer.  I had worn my boot most of the time in DC, but I was having heel problems so I just wore tennis shoes on Sunday.  There was pretty much no way I was going to be able to stand in line for what could have amounted to two hours.  We looked in the B&N tent several times during the day to see if they were selling autographed copies of the book, but if they had them I never saw them.  So I had to pass on getting my book signed.  There was just no way I could have done it.
 
For the same reasons, I was really concerned about getting a seat in the History & Biography tent for McCullough's speech.  I did not want to have to stand for that either.  Therefore, I went to the tent two authors early to make sure I got a seat.  I saw Kristie Miller talk about her book "Ellen and Edith: Woodrow Wilson's First Ladies" and Carla Peterson talk about her book "Black Gotham: A History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City".  They were both really interesting and I'm definitely going to read both.

Then it was time for David McCullough's speech.  I was in the third row, and turned around to see an absolutely packed tent, with rows of people standing in the back.  There were also people sitting on the ground in front and to the sides.  He was introduced by the Librarian of Congress, which I think is one of the coolest job titles around. When McCullough came onto the stage, he got a standing ovation.  His talk focused on a couple of things.  First, he talked about the importance of libraries and teachers, which drew shouts of support from the crowd.  Then he talked some about his book.  In reality, it wasn't anything I hadn't heard him say before; but seeing it in person made it all seem new.  He's a very good speaker and seems passionate about what he does.  After his 40-minute speech, C-Span did a live interview with him.  Unfortunately, I had to go meet some friends and couldn't stay for that so I'll have to check C-Span's website for the video.
 

I really enjoyed the festival.  We were lucky to have great weather (after there had been pouring rain on Friday) and the Library of Congress does a great job.  I will continue to keep an eye out each year for who is speaking, and will definitely go again.  It was a great experience, and I recommend that anyone interested in books and reading go at least once, or if nothing else, watch it live on C-Span.

New Posts Coming Soon!

I apologize for the lack of blogging this summer.  I tore my achilles tendon, and that has thrown my whole summer off kilter.  However, I'm on the road to recovery, and classes have started again, so I will be back to blogging soon!

Starting "The Greater Journey"

Yes, I know my posts have had a definite theme lately; but it's not too often that I get this excited about a particular book.  I'm about two chapters into "The Greater Journey" and I'm hooked already.  If this keeps up, it will definitely become one of my favorite books.  I wish I had more time to read but summer classes keep me pretty busy.  I have the week of the 4th of July off, so I anticipate getting through it then.

The book has really gotten me thinking and remembering about the time I've spent in Paris.  So, periodically as I read the book, I will be blogging about those experiences as the relate to what is going on in the book.  Hopefully it will be a nice departure from just book blogging, but in a way still related to books.  So look for my first Paris experience post in the next couple of days.

It's Official -- I'm going to the book festival!!!

Last night, prices went down on airfare to DC to a level my husband and I had previously agreed was our purchase price.  So we bought the tickets and are all set to go to DC for a long weekend for the book festival.  I am so excited!  I've been wanting to go for several years, since I first saw portions of the festival broadcast on C-Span.  Also on our itinerary are a visit to the US Supreme Court and Colonial Williamsburg.  We also might take in a Washington Nationals baseball game, as the Sunday we are there is there last home game of the season.  Can't wait!

National Book Festival in DC

As I mentioned earlier, David McCullough (my favorite author of nonfiction books) has a new book out now, about Americans living in Paris in the 1800s.  My copy of the book should arrive today, and I'm very excited to get started reading it.

For several years now, I've wanted to go to the National Book Festival in DC, which is the last weekend in September.  But there haven't been any authors that interested me enough to make the trip out there.  This year, however, I'm hoping to make it as McCullough will be there.  So here's hoping I find a decent airfare.  I really, really want to go!

For information on the festival, go to http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/.

New David McCullough book coming out this month!

As many of you may know, my very favorite author is David McCullough.  I've read many of his books, my favorite being his biography of John Adams.  Later this month, his new book "The Greater Journey:  Americans in Paris" comes out.  What could be better than this?!?  Not only is it exciting to finally have a new McCullough book to add to my collection, but it's about Paris!  More specifically, from a product description on amazon.com, "The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work."

I love Paris and have been there three times.  My favorite spot on Earth is the Trocadero, just across the river from the Eiffel Tower (see my 3 January 2011 blog entry for a picture of me from that spot).  I have Eiffel Towers all over my house.  Now, I realize most of this book takes place pre-Eiffel Tower, but I love the ambience of Paris as well, which I anticipate will be front and center in the book.

Normally when I buy new books, I don't read them right away.  I put them on the shelf and get to them whenever they come up in rotation (see my 30 July 2010 blog entry for an explanation of my book selection method).  However, I will begin reading this book on May 24, the day it comes out.  I have big expectations, and I doubt I will be let down.

Cookbook Sundays -- May 1

Finally, I made a recipe that turned out.  Well, mostly.  Today I just made a dessert because I'm going to my parents' house for dinner.  I made chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting from the cookbook "1001 Cupcakes, Cookies & Other Tempting Treats" (2009, pg. 24).  Before I talk about the recipe specifically, I will comment on the cookbook itself.  It's a great reading cookbook.  It's very colorful, and there are pictures of every recipe.  Therefore, it's fun to read even if you don't really intend to make anything.  I love to sit and page through cookbooks, and this is one of my favorites.

This was actually my first attempt to make something from it.  It's a very easy recipe, with very few ingredients.  I was a little bit concerned with it put the pan in the oven, because the recipe said it would make 18 cupcakes, and I had trouble getting them to fill twelve tins.  It was also a very dense mixture, and didn't spread at all in the pan.  I double-checked the recipe and I did everything properly so I just kept going.  In the end, the cupcakes didn't really rise at all, so they are more the consistency of brownies than cupcakes.

The frosting is also very simple,  It's a combination of cream cheese and melted white chocolate.  I'm usually not a huge fan of homemade frosting for some reason, but prefer the stuff in a can.  But, I decided to make it because it was so easy, and I'm glad I did.  It's very good.

So, while these aren't the prettiest cupcakes I've ever made, they are still tasty,.  In the end, I suppose that's what matters!

#7 -- "American Insurgants, American Patriots: The Revolution of the People" by T.H. Breen (2010)

We all know about the American Revolution from the perspective of the Founding Fathers.  However, this book presented the Revolution from the point of view of the average, everyday American.  This was a viewpoint I'd never read about before, so I really enjoyed this book.  I was completely unaware at how grass-roots the Revolution really was.  People from Maine to Georgia were all intimately involved in supporting our country's bid for independence. 

One thing I had never heard about before was something called "The Association."  This was an act by the Continental Congress calling on municipalities to form committees to spread the revolutionary agenda.  In many towns, all citizens had to sign petitions stating they were on the American side of the cause.  Anyone who supported the British was ostracized from the community, and would have to go in front of the committee and recant their views in order to be accepted again.  The book goes into a lot of detail about how different communities enforced the Association.

People also were really prepared to take up arms if necessary to support people in other parts of the country.   For example, at one point before any of the fighting actually began, there was a report that Boston was being attacked by the British.  People from other New England colonies immediately organized and began a march towards Boston to support those living there.  Even people in the southern states, too far away to send militia, sent money and other items to support those in Boston who were in need during the British occupation of the city.  This is all especially amazing when you consider the fact that people in that time very rarely left the colony in which they lived, yet they were quick to come to the defense of others. 

I really enjoyed this book because it gave me a new perspective of that time in our country's history.  When you think about it, it really wouldn't have mattered what our Founding Fathers did or said if the ordinary people living in America hadn't also supported the cause of revolution.

Rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars.

Cookbook Sundays Comes to Wednesday, Revolutionary Style!

One of my favorite restaurants anywhere is City Tavern in Philadelphia.  It is where our Founding Fathers met and ate, and they still serve all the traditional foods of the era.  It's a really fun place to eat because it feels like you're stepping back in time, and the food is wonderful.  Recently, my husband bought The City Tavern Cookbook (2009), and tonight he surprised me with a meal almost entirely from that book.  I had to blog about it, as it proves who the real cook in the family is.

First, we had Traditional Beef Stew (pg. 190).  The meat was marinated in red wine overnight, and the wine was used for the sauce.  I think that really was the key to the stew's success.  Unfortunately, he left out the carrots, because he forgot to get them at the store. The recipe also called for bacon, which he forgot as well.  The stew was good without them, but the added color and flavor of the carrots and bacon would have made it even better.  The stew was served with smashed potatoes and dinner rolls. 

Then, for dessert we had Blueberry Cobbler (pg. 253).  This dessert was not difficult to make, and tasted amazing.  The crumble topping is the best part!  It was served warm with ice cream on top.  A perfect end to our Revolutionary meal.  Maybe the leftovers will be breakfast tomorrow!

I don't normally rate cookbook recipes, but I've been asked to do so for this one.  I rate it a 4.87 out of 5 stars.  Had there been carrots in the stew, it might have ranked a 4.92 with carrots and a 5.0 with carrots and bacon.  My husband's an accountant/baker, so you know I had to use odd numbers!

Cookbook Sundays -- April 17

This week's meal wasn't so great, but I think it was mostly my fault rather than the recipe's fault.  First, I made Basic Butter Cake for Every Day, from the "Dinner Against the Clock" cookbook (1973, pg. 309).  Rather than make a cake, I made it into cupcakes.  It's a small recipe, designed to make on layer of a layer cake; it made 8 cupcakes.  I put them in the oven, went to do some grading, and promptly forgot about them.  They sat in the oven about 10 minutes too long.  But it wasn't a total loss.  They're a little dark and crispy on the outside, but when covered with chocolate frosting it's not so bad.  I'll eat them.  Calling it butter cake is definitely a correct description.  There were 10 tablespoons of butter in this recipe!  I think I'll try it again sometime, as it seems like, properly cooked, it would be really moist and delicious.

Incidentally, I love some of these old cookbooks from the 70s and earlier.  Lots of great homey recipes and direction for the housewife on how to elegantly host a dinner party.  Fun stuff.

My entree was Tuna and Corn Fish Cakes from the cookbook "Potato" (1999, pg. 202).  It combines mashed potatoes, tuna and corn into a patty which is then covered in breadcrumbs.  Part of my problem was in reading the recipe.  To begin, it talks about preheating a grill and then cooking the fish cakes under the grill.  I didn't know if that meant it should be broiled or what.  I've never heard of cooking "under" a grill before.  So I decided to just bake them.  Second, the recipe called for 300g/11oz of mashed potatoes.  I don't have a scale and couldn't figure out how to convert that to cups, so I just guessed.  I also used instant mashed potatoes instead of homemade, which the recipe said you could do.  But I think I made the potatoes too thin and used to much of them, because the mixture was too loose to form into patties.  In the end, they tasted pretty bland, and because there were too many potatoes I couldn't really taste anything else.  I ate them because it wasn't terrible-tasting, but I threw away what was left.  It's not something I'd bother to reheat and eat again.

Better luck to me next week!

Textbooks, Part II

Well, I'm back from the conference.  While some sessions weren't that great, others were very interesting and I got a lot of good information from them.  There were three tables with representatives from textbook publishers.  I use books from all three of them, so all have good options.  I was really glad to see that my estate planning textbook is coming out with a new edition this summer, so I signed up to get a copy as soon as it's published.  I really like the book, but it's getting outdated and I was thinking I'd have to change texts altogether.  Thankfully, now I won't have to do that. 

Other than the estates book, I wasn't really thinking about changing the text for any of my classes.  Students don't like it when you change books because current students can't sell theirs back, and new students won't have used copies available.  So changing books isn't something I do lightly. However, I found a really great business orgs book that I think I have to try.  It's a brand new textbook, which is kind of exciting.  What I really like about it is that each chapter has several case studies at the end.  I'm always looking for things to do in the classroom beyond just lecture, but it's sometimes hard to come up with them myself.  With this book, it would be easy!  I also like the way it's written.  There are charts and graphs to help visual learners, and the language level is appropriate. It also pretty much follows the format of the text I use now, so I wouldn't need to adjust the syllabus too much to accommodate it. 

It might be too late to use this book next Fall, but I am definitely going to look to order it for my students in Spring 2012 at the latest.  I think the students will really like it, and I'll like teaching from it.

Checking Out New Textbooks!

This weekend I'm going to a paralegal educators' conference in Chicago.  I know that a lot of people hate conferences; I like them.  First, I think they're valuable and I learn a lot from them.  Second, I get to get out of town for a few days on the school's dime.  There's always time for sightseeing at night or in between sessions.  A couple years ago I went to Portland, OR for a conference and it was great because I'd never been there before and don't know that I would have gone otherwise. 

One of the things I really like about the conferences, though, is looking at new textbooks.  Various texbook vendors set up booths at the conference, and you can order free copies of their books to review.  I don't always decide to switch textbooks, although I have done that from time to time.  But even if I don't officially use them in class, they're great references for supplemental material.  Each book presents the issues in a slightly different way, or has good review questions I can use in class.

This time, there's a new edition of my estate planning text that is supposed to come out this summer.  I'm hoping they have a preview of it at the conference, because I'm really excited about it.  I've used the current edition for three years now, and it's getting out of date.  I was considering changing texts as a result, even though I really like my current book; but now I won't have to with the new addition.

Wish me luck!

Cookbook Sundays -- April 3

I am finally back with another edition of Cookbook Sundays!  There have been a lot of Sundays lately when I haven't cooked anything, and others when I have but just never got around to blogging about it.  But here I am again.  Just to refresh your memory, I make on dessert and one non-dessert item on Sundays.  These are almost always new recipes that I get from my ever-growing collection of cookbooks.

My non-dessert item was Baked Beans Quintent, from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (2002, pg. 86).  Actually, the recipe calls for garbanzo beans, which after some bad experiences with them the semester I spent in Spain, I will never eat again if I can help it.  So I guess I actually make a bean quartet.  The recipe can be baked in the oven, but I chose to use a slow cooker.  I was very happy with the result, and would make them again if I was having a cookout or something like that. 

My dessert was not so successful.  It was Carrot Almond Torte, which is a recipe I printed off the Food Network website when I was in law school.  I have a stack about two inches high of recipe printouts.  You used to be able to go to the website and click on "random recipe" and get whatever came up.  If it sounded interesting, I'd print it.  Last I checked a couple of years ago they no longer have that feature, so all my printouts are about 10 years old.  It looked good coming out of the oven, but when I cut it it was obviously a disaster.  I can't really say what happened, but it was just a gloppy mess inside.  Te recipe called for grated carrots and grated almonds, and I think what I used wasn't fine enough because I used shredded carrots and slivered almonds.  Whatever the reason, the whole thing ended up in the trash along with the recipe itself.  I don't care to try again.  Thankfully, this wasn't a recipe that called for any expensive ingredients, so the loss wasn't too great.  I had Ben and Jerry's Red Velvet Cake ice cream in the freezer, and that was a great dessert.