"X"

So the interesting man I met yesterday was named "X" (as in Xavier, but everyone calls him X- well except Glen, who is like the whitest. man. ever. Glen kept getting confused and calling him "Z".) He is currently a youth pastor, but has had many many jobs; bus driver, insurance adjuster, appliance salesman, teacher, cook, cabinet maker, landscaper, etc. He has 8 kids (4 boys, 4 girls) ranging in age from 11 to 25 and has been married for 24 years this month. He is very soft spoken, but a large man. He has diabetes and a pacemaker, but seems to take it all in stride. He has a great sense of humor and really just likes to talk with people. I imagine that he is really good at his current job- he is so good with people, but you can tell, he doesn't put up with any BS either. He's also a registered Republican. (I was shocked I tell you! He was so nice and didn't have fangs or anything! ;) Still, I think I was lucky to meet him. Chatting with him definitely made the hours go by more enjoyably.

Like I mentioned he has 24 flavors of pound cake, and his dream is to open a store or a restaurant someday (apparently his ribs are pretty good too). He doesn't tell anyone how to make all the flavors, but he will tell them how he makes the basic cake.
"It's not good for you, but it will make you feel good."

Here's the recipe:

Pound Cake
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 1/2 cups butter (room temp. is best)
3 cups white sugar
6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour (use cake flour if you have it or want to be fancy)
1-2 teaspoon vanilla extract (to taste. If you are making a plain cake, you want more vanilla, if you are making a lemon cake, keep the vanilla to 1 tsp, and add 1 tsp lemon extract or juice).

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two loaf pans.
In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Add eggs two at a time, beat really well until eggs are completely mixed in before adding more. Add the flour all at once and mix in- only mix the flour until it's incorporated, don't over beat the flour. Add vanilla. Pour into pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Check for doneness at 1 hour, but your cake may need up to 2 hours. (especially if you use a bundt pan instead of two loaves) A toothpick inserted into center of cake will come out clean. If you want a crustier exterior, start with a cold oven.