Dad's Oatmeal Cake

If nostalgia has a taste for me, this is it. Not only is this cake as healthy as you can get (and still be cake), it's totally delicious. We never ate it with frosting. My dad could whip this up in a few minutes, and it makes your whole house smell amazing while its baking.

I think I need to go make some right now . . .

Also, I entered this cake into a cake recipe contest sponsored by Hobby Farm Home, one of my favorite magazines.  And it won!  The category was . . . ahem . . . Best Animal-friendly Cake. Go ahead and laugh.  I promise you can't derive more glee out of this admission than my five sisters already have.

I knew my dad's oatmeal cake recipe would win, because it is delicious (when I called to tell him about my glory, his response was "You prostituted my recipe!").  Plus, I knew that perhaps not that many people would enter this shameful unique category.  And seventy-five bucks is seventy-five bucks, people.  (Plus I got three copies of the July issue, and my choice of two books published by HFH.  I chose Less is More: Embracing Simplicity for a healthy planet, a caring economy, and lasting happiness, and Backyard Bounty: the complete guide to year-round gardening in the Pacific Northwest.)

However, I do take issue with the picture that the folks at HFH put with my prize-winner. I picture oatmeal cake being eaten by people, and perhaps shared with horses, goats, chickens, maybe even cows or pigs. But not with DOGS. Who gives cake to a dog??? You can have a dog and still not have a farm or even a hobby farm, so I don't know why Hobby Farm Home didn't create a photo-op for some goats.