Bake Sale

Last Saturday was Sam Houston High Band Booster’s annual Bake Sale and Barbeque. All band parents are expected to bake either a cake or two pies. Or for those not inclined to bake, a $12.00 donation may be made. Last year, I poured my heart into a pretty two-layer cake with colorful sliced gumdrops on white icing. My mother made me this cake when I was maybe 5 or 6 years old. The gumdrops look like jewels on a princess crown. To this day, it’s my favorite birthday cake ever. Anyway, back to last year, when I returned to the school later that afternoon to pick up my BBQ dinners, there was my cake, still sitting on a nearly empty bake sale table. No one had bought it. My heart sank. I told myself it was because I had covered the cake with that plastic wrap that’s kind of opaque, and no one could see how pretty it was. Nevertheless, this year, I considered simply writing the check in lieu of baking. Wouldn’t that be easier? But no, I decided I’d make a Pittsburgh favorite – jello cake. Jello cake, for my readers who don’t live in the ‘burgh, is a white cake with holes poked all over it, and liquid jello poured over so the jello sinks down into the cake and makes a pretty marbled effect. Since this is Mardi Gras season, I decided to make a Mardi Gras Jello Cake. I drizzled grape, lemon, and lime (purple, gold and green are Mardi Gras colors) over the cake and spread the top with Cool Whip. I had planned to decorate with purple, yellow, and green sprinkles, evenly dispersed over the cake, but Bob got to the sprinkles before me. With his hand, he deftly poured the sprinkles over the cake, and after about two minutes, this was the result.


Bob still surprises me. He still makes me laugh. He still knows how to make me smile.

By the way, it’s a bronco, not a horse. And notice I used clear plastic wrap this year. I don’t know if anyone bought it. I did not go back this year to find out.