Some Memories…

Mum and Dad used to travel a lot, and they’d leave me at my grandparents’ house. We used to live right across the street from them. Mama taught me things like how to pray the rosary, and she let me help with stuff that she was doing, like when she taught me to sew and we made stuffed cats together. Once, we were baking a cake, and it was time to measure the vanilla. Well, vanilla smells so good… so we each got a teaspoon and she poured a few drops in each spoon, and we tasted it at the same time. We hated it!!! But it’s one of my favorite baking memories, because I can look back and laugh about it.

Mom usually makes our birthday cakes, and besides the usual awesome Black Forest Cake, we would ask her to try other stuff here and there… and here are a couple:

First was Paco’s dinosaur cake. Paco was really into dinosaurs at the time, and he asked for a dinosaur cake. There was some debate over whether it should have dinosaurs on it, or if it should be shaped like a dinosaur. The latter won, but Mom (if I remember correctly) didn’t like buying shaped baking tins because of adjusting time, so on. So, instead (and it was a good idea and saved money ), she simply made two round cakes, cut them up, and put them together in the shape of a dinosaur. How she decided how to cut it up so that it would turn out the way it did, I don’t know. But it turned out GREAT!!! Then the whole thing was covered in chocolate frosting. Mom made meringue letters for Paco’s name, and a few other meringue shapes. She let me make a few… I think mine all turned out to be a bunch of blobs. LOL! Anyway, when the cake was cut up… Paco was more interested in the meringue than the cake. Hahaha.

Second was my pink cake. And let me tell you, it was PINK. Not a light, pastel, Easter-type color pink. It was PINK and that was crazy. There was this cake that I’d seen that was just totally amazing, and I asked mom to try it for my 9th birthday. It was this smooth, light pink cake with a sort of lacy, very thin-lined pattern on it; very dainty and feminine. Well, it was the first time she’d made fondant, I think, so it turned out rather heavy, and also too pink. Because it was heavy, it really kind of squashed the layers of cake and filling together. I had some during the party, of course… but I think afterwards, I kinda got tired of it. Heh. Too sweet, I guess…

Aisa’s birthday cake, circa 2001

Third, we were in PA, and I asked mom to make Boca Negra. (Not sure if it was for my birthday or what.) Ehm… I liked it… what’s funny is that I said in my blog post that I didn’t like the bourbon cream very much. How unusual! If mom made it now, I’m pretty sure I’d describe it as heavenly…

So while we’re on the subject of PA… Mom used to make pizza all the time. She’d make the dough, and then all of us kids got a piece, and we’d roll it and stretch it and have fun trying to throw it around and catch it… and not make holes in it… ahem, and (try to) make it round… and then we’d all get to put what we liked on top if it. I know we did it when Mama and Papa were there to visit us… and I think it was ninong who piled so much on top of it that it couldn’t slide off of the board, even with the semolina flour underneath it… hahahahaha. Good times…