After I read Emily's post about what she would be doing today it challenged me to pay attention to things around me and especially moments shared with my 3 year old. I knew that today I would be at work and be busy from the moment I hit the door so my moment actually happened yesterday.
I told my Sweet Girl we were going to make one of her Daddy's favorite cakes (Lemon Poppyseed) for him. I explained to her as we were making it that it was not his birthday or any other special day ... we were doing it "just because".Over the years when I've slowed down and thought about it, I've talked to her and told her how thankful we should be for Daddy and I point out all the things that he does for us. He works hard to provide for us, he protects us, he is not lazy, he keeps the grass cut, the cars running, he plays with her and so on.
Yesterday I did that again and called our cake a "thankful cake" and we talked about all that Daddy does for us. When I got done, I asked her why we made the cake and she said "because it's not his birthday and he tickles us". I thought she caught on rather well for 3 years old! :)
You see, to my Sweet Girl the fact that he plays with her and tickles her IS the most important thing in her world right now and that's why she was making the cake. I thought it was precious and I was so glad that I took the time to slow down and enjoy the process with her! It also reminded me to be thankful for "Daddy" and all he does for us and that's always a good thing.
My sister Beth always has dessert, whether it's cookies, cake or something else, under her pretty glass cake dome at her house and she is the one that shared this recipe with me. I LOVE cakes that use a cake mix and additional ingredients. They seem so much easier than scratch and taste so yummy.
Here's the recipe in case you want to make someone a cake today for no reason at all!
Lemon Poppyseed Cake
1 package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1 cup plain or vanilla nonfat yogurt
3 eggs
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Combine cake mix and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add vegetable oil and next four ingredients and beat on medium speed for six minutes. Stir in poppyseeds. Pour into well greased bundt pan and bake for 40 min at 350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 10 min. Remove from pan and drizzle with lemon glaze.
Lemon Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Lemon juice
Sift powdered sugar into bowl. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice and stir. Add enough lemon juice until glaze if of drizzling consistency.
I encourage you to take a moment today and enjoy the small things around you. Put the laundry aside and go cuddle with the little one or call someone just to say "hi". Oh and in case you are wondering, Sweet Girl DID dress herself. ;)
~Victoria~
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13 comments:
Oh, my. What a sweet post. Thanks for sharing this!
She's such a sweetie! I have a great cookbook that has nothing but doctored up cake mix recipes - it's called the Cake Doctor. Check it out from the library if you haven't seen it yet.
About growing cilantro, it's almost like growing lettuce in Georgia. Cilantro will bolt when it gets too hot. So what I do is plant it in spot where it gets morning sun and light shade the rest of the day. That's how I grow lettuce in the heat of the summer also. So give that a try. It's easy to grow from seed.
Manuela
Victoria~
What a thoughtful idea and what good things you are teaching her in those little moments. I love her outfit, and yes, there are many days where I feel like I should put a sign around my kids' necks that says "I picked out my own outfit today" :)
I love this, Victoria. She certainly does get it, doesn't she? What a sweet thing to celebrate and to pass that spirit on to your little one. Thank you for sharing this sweet moment with us.
First, I have to say that cake looks DEE-LISH! And your daughter's perspective was just as sweet. What a great idea to teach her a spirit of thankfulness, even at the age of 3
What a sweet post and a sweet thing to do.
P.S. I love all of your linens on your bed! Great finds!
Vic--your post made me tear up. You are teaching little sweetie such a valuable lesson and it gets you in the right frame of mind also!! I know how much you said Michael loves that cake---he will be very happy. I want to make this cake too. I'll have to pick up a cake mix sometime. I love cake mix/w additional ingredients recipes too!
I'm hungry right now and that looks wonderful! She is such a little cutie and I know she had such fun making that cake. She'll be grown before you know it so treasure those times. Jackie
there are some very sweet girls roaming around in your house!!!
Wonderful that you are building those memories with sweet girl. As I have posted before she is such a cutie.
omigoodness...since I was a little girl...my MOM always bakes me a lemon poppyseed cake with glaze for my birthday....I always wanted one of those over the fancy store bought cakes. cherry
Love, love, love this. Nothing like a little savor time and thankfulness to bring joy to your heart! Think I might have to make a Thankful cake for my hubby! (in our case, a Weight Watchers Banana Pudding!)
Thanks for sharing that recipe. Sounds (and looks) amazing!
Did I ever tell you about THE cattle cake??? When I was in high school me and Christy U. mixed up just about everything in the kitchen at about 3am and it actually baked into the form of a cake. Just to name a few of the ingredients... soy sauce, mustard, cake mix. We set it out on the counter where the coffee maker was so my mom would be sure to see it and wrote a note on it that said "just because". When we got up the next morning keeping a straight face we asked her how she liked her cake we made for her and she was like "oh, it was good". lol! Your post made me think of it because you said "just because" and it was cake related.
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