The Cole-inary Artists: August 2006

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Mount Crumble

Well, I decided to share a little story of a culinary flop lest you think I am a flawless chef.

When I was in Illinois, Joanna and I decided to bake a carrot cake for dinner. I was supposed to be imparting my great culinary wisdom to her. I had visions of a three-layer cake perfectly covered in cream cheese frosting and garnished with pecans. We were going to pipe a little trim at the base of the cake and we were going to hear great words of deepest admiration and praise as we brought the cake to the dinner table to rounds of applause.

Ummm…yeah…that’s not quite how it turned out.

I hadn’t made this recipe before, but Janessa warned me that I might have trouble getting it out of the pans if I didn’t use parchment or flour the pan or both. Well, I thought I could get away with just greasing the pan – after all, most cakes I make I only grease the pan, I don’t usually flour or use parchment unless I’m doing a wedding cake or something.

We took the cakes out of the oven and I told Joanna to invert them on a cooling rack. After all, that’s what you’re supposed to do with most cakes, and that’s what I usually do. Of course, if I had stopped to really think about it I would have remembered that I normally invert sponge cakes, not moist carrot/pineapple cakes. When I lifted a pan a few minutes later I discovered to my horror that only part of the cake had fallen out of the pan. I suddenly realized that
Janessa was right, but I had to prove her wrong. So, I turned the oven back on and replaced the part of the cake that had fallen out and put everything back in hoping I could bake it back into a more cohesive cake.

I took them out and let them cool. The first one came out mostly ok so I thought I was safe. But the second one – well, that was another matter. Joanna and I tried to glue it together, but I finally had to admit that this was one major cake flop! At that point I just had to laugh. We managed to glue it together with frosting somewhat, but in the end it was just pathetic. Janessa, of course, deeply enjoyed the fact that she was right and I had to admit it.

We took some pictures of our disaster, and I'll post them when the crew sends them to me. In the meantime, Joanna has promised me that next time I'm home, perhaps she will have to be giving me lessons. :)

Monday, August 21, 2006

Friends..........

For Judith......

Today is a very special day in our household. Today our dearest Judah-bean turns 12! I can't believe my second "little" sister is already twelve years old. Although, my little sister is rapidly becoming my "big" sister, in terms of height.
Where would I be without my dear sister Judy. She is continually making me laugh at myself through my blunderings. Judy is great at making me realize how to enjoy every minute of every day. She also helps me see the limitless possibilities that God gives us in life, and how we should enjoy them to the full.
I must confess that I haven't always had the best attitude about sharing a bedroom with my two sisters. I also have to admit, it's been one of the best things that could have happened to me. Life is full of opportunities to learn selfless love. Let me tell ya, sharing a room gives a person great and limitless opportunities to put selfless love into practice. I can safely say, that my dearest friends and pals, are my sisters. We learn from one another, grow with one another, and learn to appreciate and respect each others tastes and differences.
Judy is a sweet little taste of Heaven in my mind. Yes, we all have moments when we can be quite testy (ask anyone else who lives with us). Judy and I are two very different individauls. Maybe that's why we're learning to get along so well.
Judy, I love you very much, and I can't wait to see what God is going to do with my dear little sister(and yes, I called you little, because you will always be a little sister to me).
Life will bring many changes in the coming years, as we all grow up and move on with our God-given roles in life. I know, though, that I can always count on having my sister Judith as a very dear friend and comrade in life.

Here's to Heaven blessed sisterhood!