The Once-a-Year Citrus Cake

Every year for about ten years I've made a certain "Rainbow Citrus Cake" some time in the spring. I can't really call it a tradition, because it has moved around from one occasion to another over the years. I think the first time I made it was for Mother's Day, and then it stayed as a Memorial Day staple for several years. 2008 saw it grace a PEO luncheon table.
I've been making desserts every week for the Wednesday suppers at our church here in Virginia, and I plan to make the citrus cake for tomorrow. There's nothing special about tomorrow, as compared to any other Wednesday, but I want to get a chance to make it once here.
To describe it as "once-a-year" may be a bit misleading, because I try so many new recipes that very few things are made more than once in any given year. Something that does get made each year is usually a favorite, and those that are several times a year are definite favorites.
The citrus cake is labor-intensive, and the finished product doesn't freeze well, which is why it has to be for a group. A tricy part is dividing the batter into thirds and getting them even! Each third gets a different citrus rind and color to match. The filling between layers is lemon, and the frosting is orange.

I think I'll make up some part of it this afternoon.

Anniversary

Before Nabby beat me to it, I ought to say that today is my husband's and my fifth anniversary. That seems startling, in one sense, but not so surprising in others. He's missed a few years for deployments or training, so our anniversary isn't that big a deal in truth. I have written small "updates" each year in the section of the book that was our wedding guest book, an idea that I think L. decided she'd adopt too.
That brings me to another point- it's really not needed to have something that's sold as a guest book for that purpose. Any nice book will do, but I think it's important to have that. Unless you have a very small wedding, you won't remember all of the people who were there. Guests often have something special to say. And it's a wonderful way to remember people who are gone. Alas, in only five years gone there are at least four lovely people who have died, including the Epples, whose messages are there in our guest book.

L. also had the Epples' favorite flower, daffodils, on the guest book table at her wedding, in their memory. I think that was very special.

Gumdrop Cookies

It has long been something of a family joke that I love traditions. They're all quite correct in their accusations! Perhaps this comes naturally with a love of history, for that means that the things you do have a history of their own. I'm not quite as bad as my mother makes it out; she always says that if we've done something twice, it's a tradition, and if we've done it three times, "we've always done it". Well...maybe she's more right than I want to admit; I was pursuing the possibility of doing something again this year that we'd done last year at Christmas (and let's admit it, a ton of traditions surround Christmas!)

Of all the traditions we keep, not very many of them come from my father's side of the family, and consequently those are some of the ones I'm more tenacious about keeping. One of those is an old Christmas cookie recipe. I don't know how long my grandmother has made Gumdrop Cookies, but my father grew up with them. They're extremely easy- really just an oatmeal cookie with gumdrops, and they don't make a lot. They must, however, be quite unusual because they always seem to get people's attention. Bluebonnet and I just finished making a batch for this year. She helped by stirring the oats and gumdrops together, but decided that she didn't especailly care for the yellow gumdrops.

Oh, and you must use spice gumdrops, not fruit flavored ones.