Lesson Learned: Bake It

It was an unconventional request.

January 26 would have been my mother’s 77th birthday. As I was talking with my brother about how we could honor her, the first thing we came up with is baking. Anyone who knew her, or of her, knew that she loved to bake. It was her therapy, it was her gift to anyone who entered her domain, it is her legacy.

What we are asking everyone to do is simple: Bake your favorite item tomorrow, and share it with those you love and care about or those that you just want to share just a little of yourself with. Bake a pie, cake, brownies or cookies, etc. It doesn’t matter as long as its from your heart.

Just thinking of the smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies makes me think of my mother and I smile. Share with us in honoring her and all mothers that made our homes special.

Please take pictures of what you bake and post them to the event page so we can all share in the love of our mothers!

And so I did. To honour the request of a college friend. To honour the memory of his mother, z”l.

In memory...

I chose to bake a pumpkin bread. Not only for its sweet taste, but for the warm, enveloping aroma that would fill my house.

Had this request come a year ago…even six months ago…I don’t know if I would have so readily responded in the positive.

• It takes too much time
• I’m not good at baking
• I’m too busy
• I don’t have the right ingredients

Those would have been my at-the-ready excuses. But no longer.

Because I’ve learned a few things in the past few months. That baking (and cooking for that matter) doesn’t necessarily take too much time. I’m not too busy to respond to a call from a friend. I always have the right ingredients to make something. And, it turns out, I am quite good at it.

I love how my house is filled with the aromatic evidence of my culinary efforts. How the house takes on the feeling of a home. How elated my children are to discover a tasty morsel. How shocked delighted I am to experience a savoury dish, created by my two hands.

So it was with sheer joy that I accepted my friend’s request. Joy at being asked. And joy at being able to fulfill it. Deliciously.