cake points

For this year's Independence Day barbeque, I decided to make Ina Garten's flag cake -- a vanilla sheet cake decorated with (a lot of) buttercream frosting, blueberries and raspberries to resemble the American flag. I was placing the berries on the cake when two kitchen chairs with little girls on them appeared on either side of me. "Wow," Ella said. 

"That is amazing," added Lauren, "You are a good baker." 

"Thanks, girls," I said, continuing with my work.

"No, really, Mom," Ella assured me. "You are a really good baker."

"The best," Lauren beamed. "And you are the best mom!"

They went on, and on, and on until it was finished. And while I ordinarily would have been a bit annoyed trying to work in the midst of their incessant chattering, I have to confess: I loved every minute. 

At the barbeque, I mentioned to Adrienne that the girls really enjoyed watching me make the cake and she said, "Oh, I know. Ella came up to me and said, 'Did you see the cake my mom made? Isn't it extra-ordinary?'" 

A tradition is born.