For the Food on Fridays carnival, any post remotely related to food is welcome—though we love to try new dishes, your post doesn’t have to be a recipe. We’re pretty relaxed over here, and stories and photos are as welcome as menus and recipes. When your Food on Fridays contribution is ready, just grab the button to include with your post. It ties us together visually. Then fill in the boxes of this linky tool to join the fun!
Food on Fridays with Ann
My son wanted cupcakes at lunch on his birthday. I failed to put it on my calendar and forgot to fix them in time.
Fortunately, he wasn’t upset in the least. In fact, he shooed me when I offered to help, assuring me, “I’ll take care of it.”
He strode to the pantry, pulled out the box of Funfetti cake mix and whirred it together with eggs, oil and water. He confidently dropped paper liners into the muffin tins, plopped batter into them, and baked the entire batch himself.
“It’s fun,” he said.
“A person might as well do fun things on his birthday,” my husband observed.
“Exactly!” the birthday boy exclaimed, grinning big while bits of batter dripped from the edge of the bowl onto the counter.
And just like that, as if his last name was Baker, he made his own wish come true: cupcakes after lunch.
Happy birthday to my capable, confident, 11-year-old son!
* * * * *
Photos by Ann Kroeker. “Pin” these images in a way that links back to this particular page, giving proper credit.
Smaller button for various uses
Happy birthday, indeed!
And yes, a person might as well do fun things on his birthday. Making his own wish come true, at 11? Priceless!
Thanks, Ann, for this terrific snapshot of your wonderful boy.
I don’t deserve these kids…all four are so amazing. I don’t write about them much because so many stories would reveal personal details, but I’m continually amazed.
It’s always so fun to see you here, Sheila. I sure do appreciate you!
I really enjoyed reading this post. Your son’s cupcakes look wonderful, and baking is definitely a fun thing to do on your birthday, as is sharing the results!
Indeed, April! In fact, he loves to give gifts and bless people, so that may be part of his motivation, knowing he is making a sweet treat to share.
This spring, we were the only two in the house and he announced he was going to make brownies. I didn’t know he had never made brownies before, so he went about making them while I was cooking something else. It wasn’t until he asked me a very basic kind of question that I realized it was his first batch of brownies!
How fun! If I have a box mix on hand, he’s super comfortable now. To make them from scratch might generate a few other questions for clarification, but I think he’d even do that without too much fear or trepidation.
Glad you shared that “first” with him! 🙂
I can smell the batter as he pours it into the liners! What a great story, and who knows we may have a future “Gerhard” our favorite bakery/Baker in Chicago. Yum!
It DID smell good! I wonder sometimes if this might become a hobby of his–he just loves bringing things out of the oven with a flourish and “ta-da!” I’m guessing it’ll just be for friends and family, though, because he doesn’t seem to have a drive to learn fancy techniques or start from scratch. But you never know–he’s only 11!
Upon reflection, I realize that I should clarify I DID remember it was his birthday…the only thing I didn’t remember was the cupcakes-at-LUNCH request. I try to put those odd and unexpected requests on my calendar to alert me, and that’s the only part I forgot.
We remembered his birthday. It was a fail on my part, for sure, but not an epic fail.
Being a practicing Christian, I was, nevertheless, reminded of Hamlet, “to thine own self be true…”
Well done, Boy Child!
Yes, my son sees no reason not to do what he enjoys. And shoot, so many famous chefs and bakers are men!
Ann,
What a great post! It brought back such great memories of my oldest son (now 26 and a certified baker/pastry chef!) Even from such the young age of 8 or 9 he loved to bake … specifically bake. I’ve come to find that he loves the precise science of the art. And he loves it and to this day finds joy in baking.
I remember with such joy when he said “It’s FUN!” You’ll find this is a wonderful memory in years to come.
OH and I joined the carnival yesterday … it’s been several months, I think, since I’ve particpated … that too was FUN!
Blessings.
Andrea, this is fun to read about your own son’s success in the field! Like I replied to someone earlier, I think this will be more hobby than career for my son, but you never know!