At Least There Will Be Cake!

Yes, in life and at our book club, there will be cake!
Today my friends and I are embarking on a journey through literacy. I’ve never really thought about starting a book club until I realized that I did have a steady set of 3 girl friends that I enjoyed spending time with. Then I starting figuring out more exciting ways we could spend time together…instead of lunch dates with the four of us sitting around talking about our husbands, boyfriends, lack there of, etc. (You get where I’m going with this). So, We decided to start a book club.
Meanwhile, all I can think about is my mother’s impeccable taste in reading material. Yes, books included, but she picks the best magazines to read, the best parts of the paper to read, even the most excited and practical cookbooks to “read.” I can only hope to instill this knowledge on my friends when we’re picking out our books.
I currently have 6 books on my nightstand, 4 from my mother, one from a history professor, and one from my brother. Which leads me to my second rather insignificant point, my brother has gained this impeccable taste in books also. And though I am not lacking in the ability to judge a book by it’s cover, I do gain all my reading material from either my mother or Will, my aforementioned brother.
In fact, it is his quote that we are using to name our book club, “At Least There will be Cake!” Mentioned by him to my other brother, Evan, during a letter of congratulations for achieving Eagle Scout. Of course, this applies in life as some deep and meaningful quote about seeing the brighter side of life and taking the good out of the bad. As my friend Sara (also in the book club) said, “My grandmother’s funeral will be hard, but they’ll have cake!” So, this quote carries deep significance. However, it applies to the book club also. If you don’t like the book we’re reading, come anyway, At Least There Will Be Cake!

Lesson 1: Llama Cakes and Secret Rolls.

It is essential in my family that you know how to cook. Now, this isn’t “know how to cook” to please your man, your father, or anyone else (women’s lib-at ease). This is “know how to cook” to please your palette. The Boggs women are famous for their biscuits, pot roasts, creative pies and oh yes, our rolls. Now, this is the family secret. No, you won’t find the recipe here, or anywhere else. My mother barely let me have it! But, these are the crowning piece to our cooking success. Found at as many functions as possible, these rolls are the purpose of a family secret society of cooks.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t the day I went away to college that I realized my mom was a genius in the kitchen. It had to be the day my youngest brother, 5 years younger than me and my best friend, came home from kindergarten and said, “Mom, I want a llama on my birthday cake.” Now, my mom being the creative baker she is, looked at him and said, “You want a Llama cake?” “No! I want a llama ON my cake,” Evan replied. And what did he get? A Llama on his cake.

Now, if that wasn’t enough, weeks later he came home from the same kindergarten and said, “Mom, we need a cake for class.”
“And what kind of cake do you need?” My mother replied.
“A cake for the ocean.”
And so was born….The Yellow Submarine cake. Yes, periscope and all.

Lesson 1: Learn to cook and bake and please your palette.