Cake-baking

My precious daddy's birthday was on Tuesday. So, being the great daughter that I am (not really), we are having my parents and my grandparents over for dinner tonight. I am even baking a cake (right now). This is huge...baking isn't exactly my thing. You can't just halfway measure and then throw everything in the bowl and hope it tastes right. Apparently, there are "mechanics" to baking (this according to my mother, the nutrition major in college/homemaker-extraordinare). Yes, I am a CPA, and I usually like exact amounts, but baking just stresses me out. Rachael Ray's show stresses me out, I'm not going to lie, even though I love her cookbooks. Half a palmful?? What size person is that? I have long skinny hands, so is my half a palmful the same as hers?? Or "twice around the pan"? What about for bigger pans?

I guess the real reason I don't really like baking is that I don't think I'm good at it. I generally avoid doing things I'm not any good at. Who likes to fail? I attempted to make chocolate chip cookies for the office pot-luck Christmas luncheon. Total disaster. They ran all over the pan. Like one big chocolate chip cookie. Jay peeled it up and ate the scraps and declared it "delicious" but these were the early days of our marriage when I didn't cook at all, so he was probably near starvation. Audrea and her boyfriend, Andy, were going to come over the following night for dessert after we went to Julep. I had planned to make Gharadelli brownies and serve with ice cream. In my panic of what-do-I-take-to-the-office-lunch-so-I-don't-look-like-a-total-slacker freakout moment, I made brownies. Then I had to stop at the bakery on the way home that day to pick up iced Christmas cookies to serve for dessert that night.

So, Daddy, if you're reading this, I really love you. I love you enough to bake you a cake. Even though it may be dry and icky or even burned on the bottom, I tried. I promise. :)