I have not seen my son, daughter-in-law and their three grown daughters since Thanksgiving of 2019. I missed another Thanksgiving, Christmases, Greek Easters and many birthdays.

But Sydney, my second oldest granddaughter, will celebrate her March 16 birthday with her nuclear family and me in Newburyport, Mass. I will bring dinner, probably pasta Bolognese, a big salad, lots of garlic bread and dessert.

That dessert will be red velvet cake.

The day Sydney was born, we drove from Old Lyme to the hospital in Beverly, Mass. I had been eating clementines. When I held her in my arms, she sucked my orange-scented finger. From that day, I was hers forever. Maybe I will take her a bottle of Grand Marnier!

Red Velvet Cake

Adapted from “The Confetti Cakes Cookbook” by Elisa Strauss (Harper Row, New York, 2007)

Serves at least 12

3½ cups cake flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)

1½ teaspoons salt

2 cups canola oil

2¼ cups sugar

3 large eggs (extra large is fine)

6 tablespoons red food color (3 ounces!)

1½ teaspoons vanilla

1¼ cups buttermilk

2 teaspoons baking soda

2½ teaspoons white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter each pan, line bottoms with parchment, then butter parchment. Set aside.

Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium-speed until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food color; be careful, it can splatter. Add vanilla. Add flour mix alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds. Divide batter among pans, place in oven and cake until cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pans 20 minutes, then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel parchment. Cool completely.

Cook’s Tip: To make cupcakes: use cooking spray to muffin cups or use cupcake liners, add batter and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, checking for doneness with a toothpick.

Red Velvet Cake Icing

Adapted from “The Waldorf-Astoria Cookbook” by John Doherty with John Harrison (Bulfinch, 2006)

Makes enough for a three-layer cake

2 cups heavy cream, cold

16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature (reduced-fat is fine)

8 ounces mascarpone (available in most supermarkets in the fancy cheese section)

½ teaspoon vanilla

1½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Softly whip cream by hand in electric mixer. Cover in bowl and refrigerate.

Blend cream cheese and mascarpone in bowl of stand mixer or in large bowl with electric hand mixer until smooth. Add vanilla, pulse briefly and add confectioners’ sugar. Blend well. Fold in whipped cream. Refrigerate until needed.

Place first layer cake on wide plate. Place pieces of waxed paper under each quadrant, about 2 or 3 inches in. Place lots of icing on top of layer and spread about half an inch to the end. Add second layer and do that again. Place the top layer on top and frost the entire cake around the sides. Add lots more to the top and spread. (I had enough left over for one one-layer cake). Refrigerate until ready to serve.

On the Side

It took me at least 10 visits to understand Costco. They were short visits because I hadn't had my second hip replacement. Now I go there to buy my gas, and recently I went there just to buy quart-sized plastic bags. I reuse them, so I now have enough for a decade.

I now stroll the aisles. They had those gorgeous apple pies that will feed 25 for $9.99, but I didn't need it. Or Kleenex, toilet paper or paper towels.

So I bought a small jar of olive oil (not everything is in gallons.) And I decided I needed some snacks. I found a canister of salted chocolate caramels which I might chew one a day. But the 4-pound package of Kirkland Trail Mix (11.99) is actually healthy. Cashews, almonds, raisins, peanuts: low in salt and fat, high in fiber. This was fun.

Lee White lives in Groton. She can be reached at leeawhite@aol.com.