Papa's Birthday Weekend

My dad's birthday is September 3rd, which means that we get the whole Labor Day weekend to celebrate! This year we drove to the lake and so did Emily and Todd and the soon-to-be-baby Duncan. We took a morning boat ride and did a little swimming, a little fishing, and a lot of eating!



On Thursday, before the big weekend started, my mom and dad went to the Panther's game. Not a great showing by the home team, but the birthday boy did get his face on the big screen! Dad answered a trivia question correctly and won a prize!

Nothing makes my dad happier than being with his family, so the get-together was the perfect present for him. He did request a coconut cake, which my mom happily made. This cake is so yummy, even those of us who don't like coconut think it's worth picking through the flakes to get to the cake! I'm not a fan of packaged coconut, but I have tasted real coconut when I taught my preschool students about Hawaii. We hammered it open and cut slices for everyone to try. It's very good and the consistency is more appealing to me than frozen coconut. So here is the recipe, and if you have the energy, try picking up a fresh coconut. It would be worth the effort...

Coconut Cake

1 package yellow cake mix
1 package frozen fresh coconut
2 tsp coconut flavoring (so yum)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 large carton cool whip

Use 1 tsp coconut flavoring in cake batter. Bake in greased and floured pans according to package directions. Mix evaporated milk, powdered sugar, coconut flavoring and wather to make 2 cups. While cake is hot, punch holes in top with a skewer and pour mixture over. Cool and cover with cool whip. Pat cocout into cool whip.

Amazing every time!