CREATIVE THINKING: Mixing families leads to mixing batter
Driving down the bumpy road of life, we come upon things that we excel at and other things, well, not so much.
I've learned to avoid anything mechanical! Nuts, bolts and all things that make computers work hate me. In fact, I feel so inadequate where these are concerned that it's like someone has handed me a book written in a foreign language.
But one thing I understood early on is how to bake a cake. Perhaps it's because I watched my mother and grandmother whip one up in a moment's notice. However, while in California recently to meet our son's fiance's family, I realized that the cake baking that is so easy for me is not everyone's forte.
Debra and I were carefully instructed to be on our best behavior during the visit. "You only get one chance to make a first impression," Blake reminded us.
Diane's family was welcoming and very friendly. We liked them immediately. After our first lunch together, I asked them if I could bake a cake for dessert.
"If you could have any cake you desired, what would it be?" I asked, feeling confident. "Carrot Cake!" her father exclaimed as if he was trying to be the first to answer on a game show.
After talking with them for a few minutes, I realized a trip to the grocery store was definitely in our future to purchase all the ingredients. We even had to make a stop to buy a hand-held mixer and disposable cake pans after Diane's mother, Gloria, pulled out her prehistoric, wooden-handled, hand-cranked mixer buried deep in a drawer.
"Do Diane's people ever bake?" I asked Blake on one aisle. "Apparently not," he replied.
Returning to their house, we unloaded the groceries. I'll admit I was a little nervous. It's awkward to cook anything in someone else's kitchen -- especially a "from scratch" cake. It never occurred to me that I needed to buy a mixing bowl.
Yes, you read that right -- a mixing bowl! All she had to offer was a cut crystal punch bowl, so I took it!
After clinking and clanking the beaters against the glass bowl for what seemed like forever, I finally finished the batter, spooned it into the three tinfoil pans and placed them in the oven. Using the same punch bowl, I began the icing. I was scared to even ask for a cake plate but luckily Gloria found one tucked away that had never been used.
I will have to admit I was stunned when I asked for cooling racks and Gloria indicated "maybe." She began another seek-and-find mission. After hearing a lengthy battle with metal items in a cabinet, I had almost given up when she finally produced them. Although they were a variety of sizes, they served the purpose of allowing the cake layers to cool.
I centered the first layer on the plate and plopped a heaping amount of icing in the middle of it and began to spread it. By this time I had an audience of the entire family -- including Blake who was making sure I was doing everything perfectly!
"Why is he making three cakes?" I heard one of them ask. I opted not to respond and placed the second layer on top of the first. "Oh, my God! Look," someone else exclaimed. "Look at him. He's stacking them up!"
That's when I knew. These people had never seen a cake being made. We all had a good chuckle.
Long after the cake had been devoured, I was still amazed. Then I realized that, to them, baking cakes is like using a computer is to me.
On their journeys through life, they had never been exposed to what happens when butter, flour, eggs and sugar unite in a heavenly confection -- and that's OK!
Since returning home, Gloria has asked for my carrot cake recipe. After all, she does have a new mixer. I decided that I'll mail her one of my cookbooks and possibly a set of mixing bowls. Her newfound interest in baking doesn't surprise me a bit. As all Southerners know, once you have witnessed a "from scratch" cake appearing before your eyes, your life is never the same!
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This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 8:09 PM with the headline "CREATIVE THINKING: Mixing families leads to mixing batter ."