It was the winter of 1984, I was in an obstetrics and gynecologist residency training program, working sixty to one hundred twenty hours a week at the University Hospital plus moon-lighting on the weekends. When home, I tried to spend as much time as I could being a husband and father, forgoing much needed sleep. Will’s fourth birthday was approaching, and I wanted to do something special with him. I had never baked anything before but decided it would be fun for us to spend time together baking his birthday cake.
Haiku
time spent together
memories for a lifetime
baked with meraki
Food has always been a big part of my family life. Growing up, we grew our own vegetables in a field close to our house. We had fresh veggies in the summer and fall and frozen for the winter and early spring. We fished and hunted wild game to put meat on the table. Everyday mother cooked three meals. We would gather around the table, sit down together to eat, and catch up on each other’s day. If you wanted seconds, you had to eat fast and finish before everyone else to refill your plate. I carry the bad habit of eating too fast to this day. Mother was mother. She was not one to readily give out hugs, but would show her love by always being there for us with a word of encouragement and just being there. She would always have something homemade to eat together as a family.
Back to Will’s birthday cake. When I told my wife that I wanted Will and I to bake his birthday cake she was not very excited, but eventually she capitulated. So, here we were, Will and I, neither one of us knowing what we were doing, but having the time of our life baking together.
It was a near catastrophe, it's a wonder that a cake materialized that day. Several near disasters happened. One of these occurred when we added the dry ingredients into the bowl. I turned the mixer to medium high and flour flew out like a snowstorm. We had flour all over ourselves and the small alley kitchen. The cabinets, counter, and floor looked like a snow covered picture on a Christmas card. We looked like snowmen, but had so much fun.
I’m not sure which recipe we used, that’s irrelevant. I do know the cake was made with meraki, the Greek word for putting all of your love, heart, and soul into whatever you are doing. An afternoon was spent together laughing and learning, enjoying each others presence. Engrossed in the moment together.
The moral of this story is to take time to do things with your children, or someone you love. It doesn’t have to be anything grand, you don’t have to spend a lot of money, just a gift of your time. So, bake with someone you love. The memories will last a lifetime.
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