Spice Cake

I love when life gets spicy.  I like excitement!  I love to go on adventures and taste new experiences.  I love stepping out into the unknown with nothing but a trust that everything will turn out right.  Sometimes I dive right in before I count the cost because the sheer curiosity and wonder drive me.

My daughter, Nyssa, has inherited the adventurous gene from me.  She loves trying new things, and has no fear that it will turn out less than all she thinks it will be.  In fact, she is so confident at times that it just oozes out her pores.  It shows so clearly that she can talk her brothers into anything...two boys that are very, very wary of trying anything new.  True to form for little boys who idolize their sisters, they hang on her every word.

Monday started out typical, cleaning, washing, checking email, and all that jazz.  I gave them lunch and settled in to give Gabriela her bottle and put her to bed while they sat watching a video.  By time I passed on the baton to Mr. Sandman, Benjamin proudly came to me and announced, "We're making a spice cake!"  I thought, hmm.  That sounds interesting.  And warning sirens sounded off in my head.

I asked him, "Do you mean you want to make spice cake or you are making spice cake?"

With chest puffed out and standing tall, he pronounced, "We're working togever and making it!"

Oh boy, I thought as I headed for the kitchen preparing for the inevitable.  What I saw surprised even me.  There they were, gathered around the table with ingredients poured into a heart shaped silicone baking dish, with spices everywhere.  They had literally emptied the spice cabinet and had all my seasonings spread out.  Measuring spoons and cups were scattered on the table with remnants of whatever spice they had dumped in there.  I could easily see, already in the heart, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, thyme, basil, and parsley.  I smelled the cumin, garlic powder, and cardamon.  I stuck my finger in and tasted sumac, tandoori massalha, fajita seasoning, and pepper.  Also on my finger was the ingredient that held it together.  There was no flour, no butter, no oil, no egg.  The red congealing agent on my index finger was ketchup.

Nyssa was so thrilled that she was actually making spice cake!  Nathaniel was jumping up and down, flapping his hands in excitement, and Benjamin was strutting around like a peacock.  I was caught between being upset that the kitchen was a disaster and pity for the children when they would discover that what they were making was NOT going to taste good at all. 

I found myself at a precipice and knew what I would say next could very well determine their outlook on life for the next few hours and, if negative, possibly had the ability to scar them for life..yes, I can get that melodramatic.  So instead of rolling my eyes and sighing heavily, I took in a deep breath and opened my mouth.

"You're making spice cake?"

"Yes," replied little miss Sara Lee, with a big smile of satisfaction on her face.

"Oh," I said wonderously.  "What recipe did you decide to use?"

The confident look began to fade slowly.  "Um.  We didn't use one.  We wanted to use spices so we decided we would use them all because they are good for cooking."

"Well honey, they are all good spices and can make dishes taste really good.  But does Mommy use all the spices at the same time when she cooks?"

"No," as understanding dawned on her.

Like a light of inspiration, I remembered something they had watched a couple days before.  "What happened in the video when all the little ponies tried to help Sweetie Bell make her cake?  Remember she tried to tell them that they had to follow the directions and they didn't listen and made the cake their own way instead?  How did the cake taste?"

"It tasted yucky,"  my daughter said as she shriveled up her nose.

"That's right.  But then she followed a recipe and it tasted much better, didn't it?"

"Yes." Pause...."So I need to follow the directions, huh?"

DING DING DING! 

My children learned that they couldn't just dive in and do everything the way they wanted just because it sounded good.  They realized that just because something seems good doesn't mean that it will taste good unless they know how to use the ingredients properly.  They tasted their cake and discovered that it was too yucky.  It had too much salt, it was too bitter, it was too dry.  In Nyssa's own words, "That was disgusting!"

Life is a lot like that.  There are so many experiences we want to have, so many opportunities.  Many voices tell us that something is fun, so go out and go crazy with it, go all out!  But there has to be a rhyme and reason to it or it's all discord.  It loses that quality that makes it good.   If we follow the recipes, or if we have a basic knowledge as to how ingredients should fit together, then we can taste and see....that it can be very good.  Yes, it may have some bitter baking soda here and some bland flour there, but when blended with the sugar and the butter, when just the right amount of vanilla flavoring is added, then in the end, it can be a moist delicious spice cake.  But all those ingredients are needed, even the ones that don't taste so great on their own, in order for it to turn out just right.  Try it.  Mix it all up.  Taste and see just how good it can be.