Your Kitchen

Carrot Cake – A Delicious Sweet Treat T his recipe is a traditional take on a timeless classic and uses everyday Heat oven to 350 F. ingredients. Find more dessert inspiration In large bowl, sift flour, at Culinary.net. baking soda, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. Carrot Cake In mixing bowl, cream together oil and sugar. Add eggs 2 1/4 cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 cup vegetable oil 1 1/4 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 1/2 cups carrots, shredded 1 cup crushed pineapple with juice 2/3 cup walnuts one at a time. Gradually add in carrots and crushed pineapple.

Add dry mixture to wet ingredients and beat until smooth. Fold in walnuts.

Pour batter into two lightly greased 8-inch round cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool completely. Remove cakes from pans and slice off tops to level cakes.

To make frosting: In mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese, butter and remaining frosting. ❚ (Source: Family Features and Culinary.net) Watch this video for tips on making your recipe easy!

Frosting:

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese 3/4 cup butter, softened 1 tsp. vanilla extract 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar vanilla. Gradually add in powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

Spread two large spoonfuls frosting over top of one cake and stack second cake on top. Frost entire cake with To view this video, simply: 1) Download the Blippar App on the App Store or Google Play 2) Open Blippar App (Hold Phone over Page) And Press ‘Tap to Scan’ Button to View.

Now is the Moment. We Can Do It!

B y P e g g y W e r n e r a n d J a n i n e P u m i l i a T here’s probably never been a moment ing frenzy of activity. Some took advanin our region’s history when locally tage of the rare break to upgrade facilities owned businesses needed us all more. and make service to customers safer. The impressive rebound of local business For all of them, one truth is constant: ownership that we experienced over the The more we support them, the better off past decade is under a triple threat from all of us will be. the pandemic, the economic shutdown it Businesses with fewer than 20 peocaused and now social unrest. ple provide 98 percent of American jobs.

If we want to hold on to a thriving Saving those jobs is as easy as choosing local identity, we need to get behind our a store, garage, salon, greenhouse, restaulocal businesses now and reduce the perrant or hardware store that’s owned by a centage of dollars we spend online or neighbor instead of a corporate chain. at big-box stores and chain restaurants. If you feel uncomfortable going out Sure, times like these can make us feel because of the virus, you have options. helpless. But we are not helpless. There “Many of our products are on our are ways each of us can help to preserve website and we can deliver all of our our community’s vitality. products,” says Andrew Benson, presi

Local businesses have experienced dent of Benson Stone Co., 1100 11 th St., the COVID-19 economic shutdown in Rockford. “And our store is very large, so wildly different ways. Many are fi nansocial distancing is defi nitely not a probcially devastated. Others saw an exhaustlem. Our staff members wear masks when

working with customers.”

The store was only partially shut down, since it carries many products deemed by the state as “essential.” Benson took full advantage of the low-traffi c interlude to improve the showroom. “We created a bunch of new bathroo m tile mock-ups, fi nished a new fi replace display, updated our landscape displays and brought out some new furniture,” he says.

The furniture department fully reopened in mid-May and is doing a brisk business, as are most departments.

“It looks like people are more than ready to tackle those home improvement projects,” says Benson.

Tim Kinney, general manager of Lincoln Rent-All, makes a similar observation.

“With the food shortages, it seems

like everyone has decided to put in a home garden,” he says. “And with people stuck at home, they’re fi nding there’s a lot they can do to have control over their lives and be productive.”

The 15 rototillers he rents out have been in high demand as have other tools for home and garden improvement projects. Lincoln Rent-All has locations at 6625 E. Riverside Blvd. and 3110 Auburn St.

Leila MacQueen, owner of Circle of Wellness, 3626 E. State St., a chiropractic wellness center, says she was in a state

of shock right after her business temporarily shut down due to the pandemic, but she decided to use the quiet time productively. She installed new computer software, purchased a core-strengthening machine and added an infusion center for high-grade supplements. She also opened her rehab center to the public and implemented stricter guidelines for cleanliness for staff.

“As we begin to see the economy reopen, Circle of Wellness is making great efforts to assure patient and staff safety,” she says. “We all move too fast anyway, and sheltering in place was a good time to slow down, think about how to make use of the time, plan for the future and realize what’s really important in life.”

As grocery store shelves emptied, lines formed outside Countryside Meats & Deli, 781 Highgrove Place. Owner Jarrod Bush says he welcomes a return to more normal behavior. “People are going crazy,” says Bush. “They go into stores and see empty shelves and they freak out. I made a lot of money, but it was at the expense of putting in a lot of long days and weeks that were very stressful. Enough is enough.”

For every store that experienced an uptick in business, many more faced hardship. This is where we come in as a supportive community. It’s all about math.

According to the Small Business Council, for every $100 spent locally, about $70 of local economic activity is returned, compared with $40 when we shop at a big-box or online store. Why? Because local businesses hire each other for services like accounting, web development, professional cleaning, legal help, marketing and more. Chain stores don’t.

Shifting a higher percentage of our shopping and dining dollars to locally owned businesses is a sure way to “pull ourselves up by the bootstraps” – and no one else is going to do that for us. ❚