Receta Pumpkin Skillet Cake with Caramel Crackle Icing (and 17 Things People with Mental Illness Wish You Knew)
cakes
Pumpkin Skillet Cake with Caramel Crackle Icing
Maybe it's you: maybe managing your mental illness makes you feel alone even when you're surrounded by other people. Nobody's experience is quite like yours. Maybe it's your friend or family member: maybe from your point of view, they never seem to get it together.
According to the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 1 out of every 5 adults has a mental illness and 1 out of every 24 adults has a serious mental illness (i.e., one that significantly interferes with one or more major life activities). Personally, I deal with a fun confluence of several mental illnesses and I wish people understood that my daily life and experiences are different from theirs. People tend to evaluate things through their own personal lens without realizing they're doing so, which is dangerous in all kinds of ways. Pondering this made me want to ask you all on Facebook what you wish people knew about mental illness, and here's what was said:
"I wish people understood that mental illness is physical illness. There's no magical difference that makes something purely mental. Your brain is a physical thing." - Me
"The stigma is and always has been that mental illness can be 'cured' with old fashioned self control And even though I know that mental illness is a physical illness, I fall prey to that assumption, too." - Terlingua
"I wish people understood how much work it can take to have a 'normal' day." - Jamie
"I wish people knew how common mental illness is and how many people deal with them, so they knew they were not alone." - Me
"I wish people knew that even if I look okay on the outside, I may not feel okay mentally or physically on the inside. Please don't make assumptions. (This goes both for mental illness and other invisible illnesses I deal with - I've gotten good at hiding the fact that I'm feeling sick!)" - Julie
"I work in a mental health facility and I wish that people realized that mental illness has no type. Rich, poor, black, white: everyone struggles. There are so many resources out there to help; they just need to be utilized." - Jenn
"I wish people understood that my life is variable from day to day, sometimes even from hour to hour. Sometimes I am running free, wildly productive and outgoing, and other times leaving my flat, my bedroom, is far beyond my capacity. One does not invalidate the reality of the other." - Charlotte
"I wish people understood how much work it can take to have a 'normal' day." - Jamie
"I wish people realized that 'just do it!' is great as a Nike slogan and not so great as something to say to someone with an eating disorder struggling to eat healthily, someone with depression struggling to get out of bed, someone with ADHD struggling to meet deadlines, someone with anxiety struggling to make a phone call. There ARE coping mechanisms and tools and ways to manage problems, but 'just do it!' isn't one of them." - Me
"I wish that people realized that mental illness effects entire families not just the individual with the illness." - Jenn
"[I wish people understood] that it isn't something you choose, so you can't just 'decide' to not have it." - Diane Margaret
"I wish people realized that people with mental illnesses can have a wide range of functionality, so knowing my mental illness doesn't mean you know ME." - Me
"I wish people knew that even if I look okay on the outside, I may not feel okay mentally or physically on the inside." - Julie
"I can't just shut it off or calm down on cue." - Sabrina
"People tend to believe that people who suffer with depression are just lazy or that they can just snap out of it or get over it." - Sandra
"Sometimes we need space/time/freedom/understanding to NOT be fine as we work through things without being judged or pitied." - April
"I wish people would understand when I can't do something, […] I'm not being rude, or ignorant, or 'picky' or any of the million and one other assumptions people make about me. I just wish people wouldn't blindly judge." - Hannah
"The stigma is and always has been that mental illness can be 'cured' with old fashioned self control." - Terlingua
"Just because it's 'all in my head' doesn't mean it's not a real struggle." - Jessi
"Something that people may not know is that most cities have contracts with organizations to provide 'crisis' services. People can walk in and be seen in a crisis. For some a crisis may be that they can't pay their bills, or they've lost a loved one, or they are struggling with addiction, or just simply that they need someone to talk to. All they have to do is walk in; 90% of the people that the organization I am working for services are eligible for free or reduced fee services." - Jenn
I hope you're settling comfortably into cooler weather with lots of coffee and coziness. Here's a moist, delicious pumpkin cake to add to the autumn mix. While we're snuggling in, I'd love to hear your thoughts. What would you add to our list? What do you wish people knew about mental illness?
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- Pumpkin Skillet Cake with Caramel Crackle Icing (and 17 Things People with Mental Illness Wish You Knew) Author: Willow Bird Baking
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter 1/4 cup vegetable oil 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 1 cup pureed pumpkin 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ginger 1/4 teaspoon allspice 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter, cut into chunks 1/3 cup evaporated milk pinch of salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract vanilla bean ice cream (optional, for serving) caramel sauce (option, for serving)
Make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 10-inch cast iron skillet with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, vegetable oil, sugars, and vanilla extract. Make sure the butter has cooled off a bit and then whisk in the eggs and then the pumpkin. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. Whisk these into your wet ingredients to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared skillet and smooth out the top. Bake for 15-25 minutes (skillet cooking times can be widely variable, so check early and often with a toothpick. When inserted into the middle of the cake, it should come out with just a few moist crumbs). Make the icing: When the cake comes out of the oven, while it's still hot, prepare the icing. Bring the sugar, butter, evaporated milk, and salt to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, whisking constantly, for 10 minutes. The frosting will bubble like caramel most of the time and you'll notice it start to pull away from the sides of the pan as it nears the 10 minute mark. Remove the icing from the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Pour the icing over the hot cake and spread quickly, because it begins to set immediately. Top the cake with a few scoops of vanilla bean ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce and serve immediately. 3.2.2925