ice cream and raspberries

yummmm, he had his first taste of ice cream (just a tiny bit on the end of a spoon) and a raspberry. you should have seen his face. priceless. the ice cream was one of those situations, where, as soon as the spoon left his mouth he jumped for it and grabbed on to it and refused to let go. as if the spoon itself seeped the sugary goodness. it kept him occupied for at least ten minutes. and then he finally figured it out, i think. the ice cream experience was followed closely by a raspberry. and that was an entirely different ball game. there was a yelp, a shrug and then, just as the final sour and juicy taste reached the back of his throat, he sort of trembled with his entire body and his face contorted in a weird grin... but he kept sucking on it (making these funny faces all the time) and finally swallowed it. as soon as his mouth was empty, he reached for the next one. we gave him two. two raspberries. it's awesome watching a child experience all these new tastes! at some point, a very long time ago, we all did the same thing... i can sort of remember it. i can sort of remember my first experience with gooseberries. and i can clearly remember my first taste of a banana. but that's a whole other story.

i'm baking two cakes, as we speak. we have two parties to attend tomorrow, a 60th and a 40th birthdays. and i'm baking a cake for each. it's a chocolate & rum & raspberry cake and i got the recipe (who am i kidding - i actually spent a day learning how to make it!) from a lady, who was marvelous at everything she touched. she was this absolutely amazing eighty year old (i believe she was 80 when i met her). she cooked, baked, sewed, knitted, kept herself in shape, kept her house freshly painted, helped families, children and women everywhere, did charity work for countless hours of the week, hung out with her grandchildren and if i was a family member, i could probably list a few dozen other things she accomplished. but most of all, she had this youthful way about her... she could relate to me, she did not judge, she was just a spectacular human being. and amidst all that, she still had time to spend a whole afternoon teaching me how to make a cake (i can cook, but i'm miserable at anything baked!). and she was only someone, who attended the same church i did. go figure! today i'm baking her cake and feeling like i owe her one. unfortunately, she passed away a couple of years ago, before i had a chance to tell her how much i admired her. but every time i bake this cake, i feel like i need to do something to keep her memory alive. in fact, i miss her! here is a toast to people like her. i hope that if i ever manage to reach 80+, i can do it as graciously and wonderfully as her!