Birthdays All Around

I don't know if you remember, but last year I had a friend who had a miscarriage. Well, Thursday she gave birth to her little boy, Luke! I spent about 2 and a half hours visiting with them yesterday. He is so cute and precious! Makes me want one of my own but I'm going to have to wait on that...gotta have a husband first! :-) I told her that she was supposed to wait until today to have him, as it's my birthday today, but I guess I'll let her keep being my friend even though she didn't wait! Anyway, at the end of December I hosted a baby shower for her. It turned out quite well even though we didn't have a big turn out. It is quite difficult to get a lot of fourth year medical students together at one time...except for three days: Match Day (March 19), Long Coat Ceremony (May 21), and graduation (May 22). I decided to serve my Polynesian Chicken because it's easy, yummy, and makes a lot for not a lot of time. For dessert, I pulled out a delicious recipe from Southern Sideboards. It has quite an impressive name...Pineapple Cake...but really is delicious. I decided to decrease the oil in the cake, as I knew that the mandarin oranges would add extra moisture (see the yummy oranges?). The end result was still very moist...not quite as moist as the recipe as written but more moist that a regular cake. It's such a fresh tasting cake and isn't overly sweet. I had some extra "icing" leftover and highly suggest using it for a fruit dip. It's perfect! Pineapple Cake adapted from Southern Sideboards
1 box butter recipe golden cake mix
1-11 oz can mandarin oranges with juice
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups (I used 1 cup) cooking oil
1 (15.5 oz) can crushed pineapple with juice
1 box vanilla instant pudding mix (I used sugar free)
1 (13.5 oz) carton Cool Whip

Beat the cake mix, oranges, eggs, and oil together until well blended. Bake in 3 9-inch cake pans at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely. Meanwhile, mix together pineapple and pudding mix. Fold into Cool Whip. Spread over one cake layer, top with another cake layer. Proceed to top second layer with cool whip mix. Top with the last cake layer. Spread over the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate overnight. Will keep for several days in the refrigerator.