Saturday, August 11, 2012

Banana Nut Cake Take 2



My first attempt at my Grandma Sharon's "Best Banana Nut Cake Ever" was a disaster. I didn't realize that I'd forgotten to add baking soda until it was too late.

The result was a very flat cake. It turned out to be the "Worst Ever Banana Nut Cake Ever," but, we still ate it.

Now, my second attempt at making this cake from scratch was going to work. It had to. I was baking it to celebrate our twelfth wedding anniversary. 

I can hardly believe that it's been twelve years! And, we dated for five years. We only waited that long to get married because we met when we were seventeen.

The night we got engaged, Billy, with his blazing red-orange hair played his guitar and sang a song he wrote just for me. The night was dark and clear and high above us the moon gave us its perfect light. The river lapped against the dock as we sat under the wooden gazebo.

"It would be perfect if this was the night you asked me to marry you, " I said half-jokingly. 

The whole evening was especially romantic, but I didn't think this would be the night.

He smiled and with a twinkle in his moonlit eyes, he got down on one knee, and fished something out of his pocket.

I placed my hand over my mouth, in shock. It really was the night. He had a little black velvet box.

Looking into my eyes he whispered, "Chanda, will you be my wife?"

And, the rest is history. Well, at least for our family.

I wanted to bake this special cake for our special day, and things were just not working out. But, as the saying goes, try, try again.

Enlisting the help of my two precious girls, we attempted culinary perfection once again.


This time, I remembered to add the missing ingredient. The girls licked the batters clean and the bowl clean--their payment for helping their mama make this tasty cake.



And, what a difference a little teaspoon of baking soda made!  The cake was fluffy this time, and the delicious banana nutish aroma emanating from the kitchen was heavenly.

After everything was said and done, it was a delightful evening. We weren't able to get a sitter this year, but I got an idea from Petunia June, another mommy blogger, to feed our children and put them to bed before eating our own quiet dinner alone...a la date night at home.

My high school sweetheart, the love of my life, gave me these:




And, the cake was oh, so good, this time!


And, I think I appreciated it even more because the first one was a flop. Not our marriage, but the cake! We have had our share of some really good times, some desperately bad times, and some sweet times in between. This is one of those times. The sweet ones. 

In all those times I can thank the Lord that He is so good to us. He helps us to love each other and stay in love, and fulfill those marriage vows we promised before Him all those twelve years ago. He is the missing ingredient we all need to be able to love each other unconditionally.

"And these three remain, faith, hope, and love.  But, the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 1:13, NIV)."

1 comment:

  1. This is so sweet, Chanda -- I love your engagement story. Happy Anniversary! (And thanks for sharing my link, too!)

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