Hearty Carrot Casserole

<p>I live with my husband of 20 years and two high school teenagers in the rolling hills of East Texas. We have 22 acres outside several small farming/ranching/oil communities, with 1-1/2 acre pond, 5 big dogs that swim the waters (and 1 who's old and sleeps all day inside), and a mama doe who has a set of twins each year. I'm a movie enthusiast and my passion is writing (novels and screenplays). Over the past 2 years I've picked up painting and love it. When my kids are out of college in 6 years, my husband and I plan to travel extensively. I'd love to relocate temporarily to different ares of the USA and world, just so I can absorb the culture (and write about them). My whole life has been centered around food to show love and to socialize, so when I travel I'll search for the best foods and absorb the richness of the people. In the book Beach Music by Pat Conroy, you can taste the foods and drinks of the piazzas in Rome down to the detail of the Southern cuisine in S. Carolina. When I grow up, I want to write as beautifully as Mr. Conroy. My favorite cookbooks are those put together as church or other fundraisers. There's nothing better than a church potluck dinner, so you're almost gauranteed excellent recipes. I love cooking but hate the clean up, so my plans are when I earn the publishing $$big bucks$$, I'll hire a full-time housekeeper so I may cook to my heart's delight and not get frustrated over a messy kitchen. I love experimenting and trying new recipes, but my DH is a meat &amp; potatoes man, thus prefers the basics. One of my children has been a self-professed vegetarian for 11 years, making dinner time a real treat to prepare. I've read somewhere that your pet peeve is usually something of which you're frequently guilty, so I'm a little hesitant to say; however, mine would be inconsiderate people. So, I try on a daily basis to put a smile on someone's face by doing the right thing and setting a good example for children.</p>