Cake-day!

Howdy!

Well, the day has arrived.  It is now 4:41am on Friday, September 24, 2010 and I'm currently waiting for my first two cakes to come out of the oven!  Today is my husband's 26th birthday and as I mentioned before, he wanted a big chocolate cake for his special day.  About 7 months ago, I happened to find a chocolate raspberry cake recipe online and I saved it.  Hoping to either make it for my mother-in-law's cake-day or perhaps our wedding anniversary.  But as the saying goes, "if you want to hear God laugh, tell him  your plans". And that is exactly what happened. 

Our first Valentine's Day and Wedding Anniversary fell between hospital visits, stays and it just got worse from there.  This birthday will be especially hard for my husband.  His mother passed away in May.  To make matters worse, he is an only child with only "wedding and funeral" relatives left.  You know, those relatives you only happen to see and hear from during weddings and funerals.  The only thing you ever know about them is whether they are getting married or dying.  So I intend to make this birthday as special as possible. 

Since I first met my husband it was clear that birthdays and Christmas are a big deal in his family.  Not because there are extravagant celebrations planned, but rather, because it's all about the birthday boy/girl.  The weekend closest to the birthday, the birthday boy/girl gets to choose a restaurant, we go there to eat, come back to my husband's childhood home, open gifts, sing Happy Birthday, eat cake and watch our favorite movies or TV shoes (hahaha I meant shows, not shoes).  The birthday celebration starts around lunch time and ends after 10pm.  An average of 10 hrs of laid back birthday celebration filled with good food, and greater company.

This year, for the most part, will be no different.  My husband's all time favorite birthday restaurant, Joe's Crab Shack, will be our destination tomorrow, Saturday, September 25th around lunch time.  I'm hoping that all my efforts are enough to make this birthday just, if not, even more special than before, but it's definitely going to be hard.  Just writing about it makes me sad.  I have even taken the role of buying my husband his US 2010 Mint Proof Set of coins.  It's another one of my husband's birthday traditions.  Every year, regardless of what he gets for his birthday, his mom always bought him the year's proof set, and I will continue to do so for him. 

But for now, at 4:58am, all I'm worried about is the first two cakes that are in the oven...  Later today, I will worry about keeping it fresh over night, since I'm decorating it tomorrow morning, and around 2:15pm I'll be worrying about my husband's job interview.  That's right, he landed a job interview for a better paying job and perhaps a bit easier of a job.  We're really hoping he gets the job offer.  I think that after everything that has happened during the first 5 months of 2010 and the aftermath of the events, he deserves some good news and a good change in his routine. 

Did I mentioned that I only have two 9 inch round cake pans and that because each boxed cake mix only makes two, very skinny 9 inch cakes, that I will be baking around 4 of the boxes?!?  But as cliches go, it is very true what they say, "the best way to get a a man's heart is through his stomach". 

I mean, sure I could have called the best bakery in town and ordered an extremely elaborate cake that will definitely put my Betty Crocker cakes to shame, but there is nothing more my husband appreciates more than coming home to find me in the kitchen cooking him an awesome dinner.  And please, don't go labeling him as a sexist, gender-role advocate.  He really loves it when I cook for him, because he knows that, that is how I show him that I love him.  I'm definitely far from those cheesy, PDA gals.  I rather show him I love him by doing something special for him than by saying cheesy things.  And, it's always nice when he tells me that his co-workers complimented the lunch I packed for him in the morning.  And I know he would do the same for me, if he stayed home and I worked. 

On to my next batch! Toodles!

"Just because" Cake, April 2010