Classic Lasagna: A McElroy Christmas Eve Tradition

In my family, we often have pasta on Christmas Eve.  I'm not sure when we started this tradition--maybe sometime in my early teen years? Or a bit earlier, when we moved to North Carolina?--but it was quite sometime ago.  My parents usually make lasagna, though when Christmas Eve has been at my house, I have made other pasta bakes.  One year it was a fancy macaroni and cheese.  Another year it was a tomato-sauce, penne-type thing with veggies.  Pasta is very practical meal for around the holidays: hearty, serves a crowd, it can be customized to be meat-free, and it goes well with salad, etc.  It is also really nice to have leftovers that aren't traditional Christmas-meal food.  I like ham and scalloped potatoes as much as the next girl, but not for every meal. 

This year, I was in southern Missouri for the holidays and we renewed the lasagna tradition at my Grandma's house.  The one we made was based on the "Best Lasagna Recipe" from Taste of Home magazine online.  A few changes made for an easier one (no mincing of garlic, no need to chop fresh parsley, no adding fennel).  It was quite yummy, and possibly even better the second day when we warmed it up in the oven.  This'll definitely be my go-to classic lasagna recipe!   

Ingredients:

• 9 lasagna noodles 
• 1 1/4 pounds Italian sausage (or enough for a total of 2 pounds, when added to beef)
• 3/4 pound ground beef
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced (I used pre-minced, jarred garlic, so 3 to 4 1/2 tsp.)
• 43 oz. canned crushed tomatoes (1 28-ounce can and 1 15-ounce can)
• 12 ounces tomato paste (2 6-ounce cans)
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 to 3 Tbsp. sugar 
• 2 Tbsp dried parsley
• 2 tsp. dried basil
• 3/4 tsp. salt, divided
• 1/4 tsp. coarsely ground pepper
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 15-ounce ricotta cheese
• 4 cups part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook noodles according to directions on package
2. Cook sausage, beef, and onion in a pot over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes (or until no longer pink), breaking up meat into crumbles
3. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.  
4. Drain
5. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, basil, 1/2 tsp. salt, and pepper.
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. In a bowl, mix ricotta, egg, parsley, and remaining salt
8. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
9. Spray a 9x13 deep dish with nonstick spray (even with a deep lasagna dish, this will be quite full)
10. Spread 2 cups of sauce mixture on the bottom, layer 3 noodles on top and then spread 1/3 of ricotta cheese mixture. 
11. Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 2 Tbsp of Parmesan cheese
12. Repeat layers twice
13. Top with remaining sauce and cheeses.
14. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes
15. Uncover and bake 25 minutes, or until bubbly
16. Let stand 15 minutes before serving

Serve with bread and salad, and enjoy!

Reading Challenge 2017

This year I started the PopSugar Reading Challenge right in January and worked pretty well on it for a while.  I didn't finish, but I did get 25 categories of the 50 covered.  I only allowed myself to count a book in one category, even if it would fit in more than one.  I also didn't count anything that I didn't finish...ooops!  And things like articles didn't count.  

Total for the year: I finished 43 books (low for me) with over 16500 pages read (low for me), but I feel pretty good about it.  The oldest book I read was published in 1939 (And Then There Were None) and the newest were published this year. The longest book was 662 pages (The Name of the Wind).  

REGULAR (24 of 40 finished!)

1. A book recommended by a Librarian
2. A book that's been on your To Be Read list for way to long
   City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (452 pages, read in hard copy in April 2017, published in 2014, fiction--fantasy) How it fits the category? Three years isn't ALL that long, but I got this book for free when it was featured by its publisher at the ALA conference in 2014.  There was actually a really cool display/advertisement on a staircase...*so* clever!  It is a pretty neat book, with a setting that is kind of an alternate, fantastical future in India, Russia, and Asia.  
3. A book of letters
4. An audiobook
   Born a Crime:Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (304 pages--8 hours and 50 minutes, published in 2016, narrated by the author, non-fiction--memoir) How it fits the category?  It is an audio book and I would recommend listening to this one instead of reading it.  It is like the author really is telling you stories.  Plus, the language, voices, and accents make it worth it.  
5. A book by a person of color
6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title
   Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman (444 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1984, fiction--fantasy)  How it fits the category?  "Well," says Captain Obvious, "It has the word 'autumn' in the title, there."
7. A book that is a story within a story
   The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (662 pages, read in hard copy, published in 2007, in April 2017, fiction--fantasy) How it fits the category? The whole book is a story being told over two days/nights in the main character's pub in an out-of-the-way town.  Sometimes it is actually a story within a story within a story! 
8. A book with multiple authors
   Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews (260 pages, read on kindle and phone, published in 2007, read in December 2017, fiction--urban fantasy) How it fits the category? Written by a husband-wife team Ilona and Andrew Gordon.  
9. An espionage thriller
10. A book with a cat on the cover
    In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce (264 pages, read in hardcopy, published in 1984, read in August 2017, fiction--fantasy, YA/middle grade) How it fits the category?  It has Faithful, Alana's magical cat on the cover, complete with violet eyes.  This is a re-read and an old favorite, but I had a hard time finding books featuring illustrations of cats...
    
11. A book by an author that uses a pseudonym
    Melusine by Sarah Monette (477 pages, read in hard copy in June 2017, published in 2006, fiction--high fantasy) How it fits the category? So....this book was written under the author's real name, but she also has written under the pseudonym Katherine Addison.  
12. A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read
13. A book by or about someone with a disability
14. A book involving travel
    The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (273 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1955, read in June/July 2017, fiction-mystery/literature)  How it fits the category? The titular Tom Ripley travels to Italy on Mr. Greenleaf's dime, to get Greenleaf's wayward son Dickie to come home.  Tom travels to the small village in Italy, then around Italy with Dickie, then kills Dickie, then travels around pretending to BE Dickie, and finally leaves Italy for Greece under his own identity.  
15. A book with a subtitle
16. A book published in 2017
    Etched in Bone (#5 in The Others series) by Anne Bishop (397 pages, read in hard copy, published in 2017, read in March 2017, fiction-urban fantasy) How it fits the category? Erm...it was published in 2017.
17. A book involving a mythical creature
    Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (314 pages, read in hard copy in February 2017, published in 2016, fiction-fantasy) How it fits the category? This is a fantasy novel--that has guns in it--set in a a desert.  There are mythical beasts roaming around, including djinn (genies!).
18. A book that you've read before that never fails to make you smile
    One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (320 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1994, read in July 2017, fiction--mystery) How it fits the category?  I first read this book the first time I worked at the bookstore--between 2003 and 2005.  The series was quite popular and I wondered what all the fuss was about.  I think these are pretty funny books, though this one had more violence than I remember from before.  I sort of love that cars keep blowing up, that she has a pet hamster, and that the hot private security guy keeps saving her.    
19. A book about food
20. A book with career advice
21. A book from a nonhuman perspective
    Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs (371 pages, read in hard copy and read in April 2017, published in 2017, fiction--urban fantasy) How it fits the category? The main character is a non-human, a coyote shapeshifter.   
22. A steampunk novel
    Mission Impossible (London Steampunk: The Blue Blood Conspiracy #1) by Bec McMaster (380 pages, read on phone in November 2017, published 2016, fiction--steampunk urban fantasy?)How it fits the category? This is a bit of a silly book that is very cross-genre.  Sort of a procedural, steampunk, werewolf/vampire, romance book. 
23. A book with a red spine
    A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (416 pages, read in hard copy, published in 2015, read in February 2017, fiction--YA, fantasy)  How it fits the category?  Well, the spine of the book is red, like the cover :)
    
24. A book set in the wilderness
25. A book you loved as a child 
    The Woman Who Rides Like a Man - Song of the Lionness Quartet #3 by Tamora Pierce (253 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1986, read in July 2017, fiction--young adult, fantasy) How it fits the category?  I read this series when I was a kid and loved the girl-disguises-herself-as-a-boy story.  This and the Robin McKinley books (Blue Sword and Hero & the Crown) were favorites in childhood. The women were women that embraced all aspects of themselves, their strength, smarts, abilities, and ultimately their femininity, as well.  
26. A book by an author from a country you've never visited 
    The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood (308 pages , read on phone, published 2015, read January 2017, fiction--sci-fi, literature)  How it fits the category? Margaret Atwood is Canadian...and it sometimes shows through in this book.  Occasionally someone will say something that is much more Canadian than American, even though the book is set in the U.S.
27. A book with a title that's a character's name
    Alanna: The First Adventure - Song of the Lionness Quartet #1 by Tamora Pierce (274 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1983, read in July 2017, fiction--young adult, fantasy) How it fits the category?  Duh.
28. A novel set during wartime
29. A book with an unreliable narrator 
30. A book with pictures
     The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume 1 by Alan Moore (192 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1999, read in July 2017, graphic novel)  How it fits the category?  It's a graphic novel.  I'm still not a graphic novel fan, but I keep trying to find one that I enjoy.  This, at least, only took an hour to read.  It was a Amazing Book Club of Doom selection for the movie/book meeting month (where we traditionally eat pie!).  
31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than youSmilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg (469 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1995, read in February 2017, fiction--mystery) How it fits the category? The main character, Smilla Jasperson, is half Danish and half indigenous-Greenlander.  Raised in Greenland by her mother--mostly in a traditional, in-nature sense--she is a unique character...torn between the two very different parts of her.  The mystery involves the death of her neighbor, a little boy who is also part-Greenlander.  
32. A book about an interesting woman
    Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman (339 pages, read in hard copy, published 2009, read September 2017, fiction--urban fantasy) How it fits the category?  The main character, Trixa, is interesting in a number of ways: she owns a dive bar that she lives above, has a pet crow, has a semi-reformed-from-really-bad best friend, took in two "stray" teens who have psychic abilities and are now in their 20s, has an ongoing battle-flirtation with a vampire, etc.  And then there's the ending, which I won't spoil here.  
33. A book set in two different time periods:
    Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs (272 pages, read in hard copy, published 2016, read January 2017, fiction--YA). How it fits the category? A group of teenagers are recruited to travel to the future in a type of corporate espionage.  They were supposed to be sent 10 years forward, but end up 30 years in the future and they discover that someone is going to kill them upon their return to the present. 
34. A book with a month or a day of the week in the title
35. A book set in a hotel
    And then there were None by Agatha Christie (264 pages, published in 1939, Read in December 2017 in hard copy, fiction--mystery)  How it fits the category?  I mean, technically the plot follows 10 guests at a private island house...but it is like a hotel, complete with staff. Read the book and saw the play for December bookclub and they varied quite a bit, including the ending.  
36. A book written by someone you admire
37. A book that's becoming a movie in 2017
    The Circle by Dave Eggers (493 pages, read on my phone, published 2013, Read in July 2017, fiction--maybe sci-fi?)  How it fits the category?  It was made into an Emma Watson/Tom Hanks movie this year.  Haven't watched it yet, but I will.  This story is pretty scary because it was written over 4 years ago and the way social media works has followed the path in this book.  :(
38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas
39. The first book in a series you haven't read before: 
    Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (465 pages, read in hard copy, published 2015, read January-February 2017, fiction--YA, fantasy) How it fits the category?  This is the first of a duology that is actually set in the same world as a previous trilogy.  (But this is a separate book that can be read individually.) I've been meaning to read it since it came out.  In fact, I got it the week it came out because I stumbled upon it on Amazon.com and thought, "Awesome!"  It is a combo of fantasy and a heist story.  And certainly more of a book for teens than for younger readers--all characters are flawed, there is a certain amount of violence, and adult themes like abuse and prostitution that are handled in not-graphic, but effective ways.  I was lucky to get the sequel from a vendor for only $5 at ALA Midwinter this year.  
40. A book you bought on a trip
    

ADVANCED (1 of 12 finished)

1. A book recommended by an author you love
2. A bestseller from 2016
3. A book with a family-member name in the title
4. A book that takes place over a character's life span
5. A book about an immigrant or a refugee
6. A book from a genre/subgenre that you've never heard of
7. A book with an eccentric character
8. A book that's more than 800 pages
9. A book you got from a used book sale
    Ghosts in the Snow by Tamara Siler Jones (488 pages, read in hard copy, published in 2004, read Feb. to March 2017, fiction--fantasy, mystery) How it fits the category? I purchased this from a used book sale in Chapel Hill back when I was in grad school.  Turns out it is a cool blend of mystery, fantasy, and historical novel.   
10. A book that's been mentioned in another book
11. A book about a difficult topic
12. A book based on mythology

Hungarian Mushroom Soup: First New Recipe of 2018

When I was in my sophomore year in college, a friend made the Hungarian Mushroom Soup recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook.  I remember it fondly and--with the new year here and the idea that I should cook more--I decided to give it a try. 

I'll be honest: I was too lazy to go find my copy of the book, so I found a version online that may or may not be just like the one in the book. And then I changed it just a bit.  It was a really good, hearty meal-soup, extra mushroom-y.  Also tasted good warmed up the next day.  Yay for a successful first new recipe of 2018!!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp margarine (or, I suppose, one could use butter)
• 2 small to medium onions, chopped (I used sweet yellow ones)
• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. mushrooms, sliced (I used one pound of baby 'bellas and half a pound of white button)
• 2 to 3 tsp. dried dill (I used 2 slightly heaping tsp, but I think that less would be better)
• 1 Tbsp mild paprika
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup milk (I used skim milk and it worked fine)
• 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt (I used non-fat, plain, Fage-brand Greek yogurt)
• black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Melt margarine in a soup pot
2. Add onions and saute over medium heat for 5 minutes
3. Add mushrooms, salt, dill, and paprika
4. Stir well and cover, the let cook for about 15 more minutes
5. Stir in lemon juice
6. Gradually sprinkle in flour and stir in, one Tbsp at a time
7. Cook for 5 more minutes over medium-low heat, stirring regularly
8. Stir in water
9. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often
10. Stir in milk and black pepper to taste
11. Turn down heat, whisk in yogurt and heat gently (don't boil at/after this point)
12. Serve hot

Yellow Squash, Zucchini, and Tomato Gratin

This year on Amazon Prime Day I bought a mandolin; not the musical instrument, but the thing that cuts food into evenly-sized slices.  It was on sale for something like only $11, which meant that I basically needed to get it.  And once I have a new kitchen gadget, I obviously have to use it.  

Since the season for all three main ingredients is upon us, I decided to try a version of this.  Yeah, it looks all fancy, and it would be a great side-dish for company.  But when I made it, I ate it as a main part of my meal and I had some pretty yummy leftovers for other lunches and dinners. It doesn't have to be fussy and the mandolin made my slices quickly, easily, and uniformly!  

In fact, the mandolin worked so well, that I'm psyched to try it with apples for fancy pies/tarts this Fall.    

Ingredients:

• 2 onions, sliced
• sliced mushrooms (1/2 or more of a package)
• 1 medium green pepper (optional)
• 4 cloves garlic minced or 2+ tsp already-minced garlic
• 2 zucchini, cut into slices
• 2 summer squash, cut into slices
• 4+ small tomatoes, cut into ¼" slices
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• Italian seasoning
• 2.5+ ounces goat cheese, crumbled (I used an herbed chevre from Trader Joe's)
• grated Parmesan cheese
• Panko breadcrumbs
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (I actually used a rosemary-infused olive oil, because that's what I had.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Spray bottom of 13x9x2 inch casserole dish with nonstick spray
3. Heat large skillet. Add onions and peppers, and saute.  After a few minutes, add mushrooms and cook until onions are translucent and peppers are soft
    
4. Add garlic and saute another minute
   
5. Transfer onion/mushroom/pepper/garlic mixture to casserole dish and spread to cover the bottom of the dish. 
6. Slice other veggies.
   
7. On top of bottom veggies, layer in zucchini, summer squash and tomato.  The original recipe called for one slice of each, but that is pretty darned fussy.  Go with a few and make it uneven. It'll still look great and it'll taste fine!  
8. Drizzle olive oil on top and season with salt, ground black pepper, and Italian seasoning.
     
9. Cover dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes
10. Uncover dish, sprinkle goat cheese, Panko crumbs, and Parmesan cheese on top and continue baking, for another 30-35 minutes, until browned.
       
11.      Serve warm

Rustic Fruits-of-the-Summer Galette

Once a year my book club--The Amazing Book Club of Doom--has a book/movie combo.  We read a book made into a movie (or vice-versa), watch the movie together, and discuss both.  In previous years it was Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express and the classic 1974 film, or Ian Fleming's Casino Royale followed by the 2006 movie.  This year we read the graphic novel of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vol. 1, then watched the 2003 movie.

The other notable thing about this book/movie meeting is that we also usually eat pie.  I'm not sure why or where the pie-thing came from, 'cause it pre-dates my membership in the club.  But it is almost certainly our best meeting of the year.  This year there was pizza and sweet pies.  Someone brought a cherry, another brought blueberry/frangipane, and another was chocolate cream.  Someone else brought peach/cream mini pies made in wonton wrappers. They were all really awesome.

My contribution was a rustic fruit galette--Fruits of the Summer--and it gave me an opportunity to try a new technique.  It was incredibly easy, especially because I used a store-bought crust...and it turned out great!

[Oh, and I based my version on a recipe from a blog called Gimme Some Oven.]  

Ingredients:

• 1 (9 inch) refrigerated pie crust (I used Pillsbury)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar, plus extra for sprinkling on crust
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 3 cups of fresh fruit, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used peaches, strawberries, and blueberries...because that's what I had in my house)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Unroll pie crust and put it out flat on a parchment-lined baking sheet
   
3. In a medium bowl or really big measuring cup, mix together fruit, sugar, and cornstarch. (The recipe I looked at suggested that if there's a lot of extra juice, you should pour the whole fruit mixture into strainer. I didn't have to this time, though.) 
     
   
   
4. Put the mixture in the center of the unfolded pie crust, with a 1 1/2- to 2-inch border.
   
5. Fold up the uncovered border over the edge of the fruit and pinch into pleats.
   
6. Brush the egg onto the crust, and sprinkle crust and top of fruit with sugar.
   
7. Bake in preheated oven until crust is lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes.
   
8. Serve warm or at room temperature (or, if you happen to have left-overs, you could serve it cold from the fridge).
   

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

I've been working on trying new recipes on my days off.  One of the things I've been looking for in particular are relatively healthy recipes that I can make in my Crock Pot.  The one-dish aspect of it is obviously appealing.  As summer approaches, being able to make a full-on meal without turning on the oven or slaving over a hot stove also seems like a great idea.  (Although, to be honest, it snowed today.  One the first day of May.  Because I live in Minnesota.  It could snow at any given moment!)

Due to the nature of slow cookers, almost anything made in one pretty much becomes comfort food.  But in this case, beef stew is already comfort food, so all's well.  Plus, this made my house smell fantastic all day and it's relatively veggie-packed for a beef stew.

This recipe is based on a one from Taste of Home.  Within the framework of their recipe, I changed it quite a bit, with changes based on the ingredients I had, comments people left on the original recipe...and the fact that I wanted it to have mushrooms in it.  Yum!

I think it turned out quite good and it made a completely full Crock Pot's-worth of stew.  I had a generous bowl for dinner, will freeze some, and will put some in the fridge for dinners this week.


Ingredients

• About 1 1/4 lbs. of stew meat (or boneless beef chuck roast) cut into around 1-inch-sized pieces
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used 2 small, 1 medium, and 1 large red potato)
• 3 cups water
• almost an entire 1 lbs. package of baby carrots (I kept out a handful to eat!)
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) Campbell's condensed golden mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 piece celery, chopped (probably don't need this, actually.  But now I have celery for snacks this week)
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• slightly less than 1/3 cup cold water
• 1 16-ounce package of frozen peas, thawed
• 1 larger-sized can of mushrooms

Directions

1. Place the beef, potatoes, water, carrots, soup, onion, celery, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon, garlic, salt, and pepper in slow cooker and stir. 
2. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.  (I cooked it on low for about 3 hours, realized I was never going to eat dinner at this rate, then cooked it on high for nearly 3 more.  My carrots were still a bit less-than-tender, but it was fine.)
3. Combine cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl until smooth; gradually stir into stew. 
4. Stir in peas and canned mushrooms. 
5. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until thickened. 

Cake Batter Cheeseball (covered with Sprinkles!)

A few weeks ago I said to some folks at work: "I could solve all the world's problems with enough sprinkles and glitter!"  Did I really mean that?  No.  Obviously I didn't.  Because the world's problems are complicated and involve things like authoritarian regimes, droughts, massive cultural clashes/misunderstandings, greed, hate, etc.

Now, do I think that sprinkles and glitter bring some happiness into my very-definitely-First-World life?  Yes.  Yes, I do.  And do I think that I'm shallow for liking glitter and sprinkles (which are really just the edible equivalent of glitter anyway)?  Why, no.  No, I do not.  But I do know that there are people who do judge me for liking "trivial" things....and I think that is shallow on their part.  Because--and let's be honest here--I'm pretty awesome.  In addition to my love of sparkles and brightly colored bits of sugar, I'm a highly skilled research librarian sharing info with my patrons everyday. I'm an activist working toward improving my community and my country. I'm a caring friend, proud aunt, pretty decent sister and mostly-OK daughter.  I'm a reader, sci-fi fan, Star Wars devotee, kick-ass board game player, namer of houseplants, player of bar trivia, and baker of award-winning cakes.  Like most people, I'm complex.  And my love of parades, balloons, cupcakes, hedgehogs, penguins, sprinkles--and, yes, even glitter--does not make me a foolish little girl or a person who can't grow up.  It means that I like what I like, even though much of society tells me that I'm dumb for doing so.  

Anyway, since I like sprinkles, I decided they needed to be a component for my entry into work's most recent food challenge.  The theme was snack food, so I brought Nilla wafers and pretzels to dip into a sweet cheese ball.  Specifically, I made a sprinkle-covered, cake-batter flavored ball of cream-cheese-based wonder.  The secret ingredient is actually cake mix, so this makes it even more appropriate for me!

The original recipe came from a blog called Like Mother, Like Daughter, and it was really the photos that drew me in.  I'm also pretty certain you could use all kinds of cake mix to make this super-tasty treat.  I think chocolate would be worth a try...but I'm thinking that spice cake and/or carrot cake might be amazing.  Also, this recipe is seriously delicious and a bit addictive...and it won me my second-ever Golden Spatula ("Spatchie") award from co-workers voting it as the best food in the challenge.  I'm honored and also just glad they enjoyed it! :)  

Ingredients:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1½ cups yellow cake mix, dry
• ½+ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• approximately 1 cup sprinkles, optional-but-not-really-optional (don't use the colored sugar or the non-pareils.  The first will disappear and the second are too crunchy.  Use the long-shaped sprinkles.)            

Important directions re: sprinkles
Man!  Sprinkles sure have a bunch of blue in them these days!  (Though Wilton does sell jars of non-blue-containing sprinkles, they are sort of expensive.)  I bought a small shaker of sprinkles so that I wouldn't have to use all my "good" ones, but the bottle was about 1/3 blues.  Blech!  So I decided to remove all the blues and throw those away.  I did this using a plate, small sharp knife, and a bowl, plus a good conversation with a friend on the phone. It was actually kind of relaxing to separate out the good colors from the bad.

At the beginning

Mid-separation

Basically finished

So much better!

 Directions:

1. Stir/whisk/beat your cream cheese until smooth and creamy
   
2. Add butter and stir/whisk/beat until smooth
   
3. Mix in cake mix, vanilla, and powdered sugar.
4. Add half of the sprinkles and stir (optional)
   
5. Place all of mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap in a generally ball-like shape
6. Wrap the plastic wrap around the mixture and roll into a better ball
   
7. Refrigerate for at least an hour (until cheese ball is at least mostly firm)
8. Spread remaining ½ cup sprinkles onto a large flat plate or into the bottom of a large bowl
9. Remove cheese ball from plastic and dab/roll it in the sprinkles, then press sprinkles into an empty spots so that it is even.  Note: I did not put sprinkles on the bottom of the cheeseball.  
10. Cover bowl with cheese ball in it and put in freezer for about 1 hour (or in fridge overnight).  If left in freezer for several hours/overnight, remove to thaw 30 minutes before serving
11. Serve with cookies, graham crackers, pretzels, or whatever

And no, I don't have a photo of the finished product.  People pretty much dug in right away and I didn't have a camera or phone.  But here it is after most of it was eaten: