After my chemotheraphy, I ventured into activities that require some "Me" time. It was what the doctor ordered to help me deal with all the losses that came with cancer. I joined a book club, made new friends and read lots of books! With the help of a friend, I learned to make strawberry jam. It was such a successful endeavor that I started making other fruit jams. The domestic goddess in me was set free! Soon I was canning vegetables, making bread and butter pickles, fresh applesauce and cranberry sauce! My husband was ecstatic with all the wonderful smells coming from our kitchen. But most of all, he was relieved to see me bounce back into my old self.
Empowered, I started delving into baking as well. I've always found this task daunting. I was not one to follow recipes very well, hence my constant failure in past attempts at cake-making. I made my first cake for a college reunion two years ago. Red Velvet cake with white buttercream frosting, decorated with fresh petite red roses. It was not perfect but it was a hit. Cupcakes were next in the natural progression of things. A perfect bite in a lovely little package. Who could resist cupcakes? I became infatuated with this little cup of cake. I started making cupcakes for every occasion and every fundraiser event. It was a lot of fun, as was the cake-making. The time I have spent poring over cake and cup cake recipes, measuring flour, sugar or spices and every whisk of my wrist were all fruitful exercises into finding myself again. Just as the doctor ordered! As each layer of sadness, bitterness, loss and regret peeled away, I had begun to understand and appreciate more of the intricacies of life. Most especially mine. Life is but borrowed time, meant to be lived without regrets, only love, faith and cupcakes.
