Sheepie Takes The Cake

One of my greatest delights is visiting the "Oops We Over-Baked" rack at the local bakery/superstore/giant conglomerate. It's in the back and generally not very well stocked, but sometimes you can find real gems if you travel out that way. Of course, this is not always the case. Sometimes there is nothing. Other times there is something you think is something but it ends up being nothing more than a stale disappointment. Yet it's always an adventure. And I find the hunt exhilarating.

If you are really, really lucky, you find the holy grail of baked goods: extra birthday cakes! Don't get me wrong. Cake, in general, is a good thing no matter why it exists. But there is something sort of special about birthday cakes and you can taste the happy in there. They tend to be kind of big, though. You have to really commit if you are going to get an "Oops" cake. They come with an expiration date and you have to set aside the time to eat cake if you want to beat the "best by" clock.

With my birthday looming, I found myself in need of a cake as I will simply not celebrate the day without one. It is wrong to not eat cake on your birthday. That is a rule. However, having gifted myself a great deal of late, (upgraded the TV, replaced my dying cell phone, bought those language CD ROM programs I'd been wanting for a while...) it made sense to check out the rack in the back before buying a full-priced cake. I hit the store on Friday afternoon and hoped for the best.

Score!!!!!!!!!

There was one cake. And it was a doozy! I don't suppose it is the kind of cake that most people in their mid-forties would choose, but it suited me just fine. And yes, it was of the gi-normous variety and required that I cancel any and all plans for the weekend.

Wanna see it? I took a picture before diving in. Just be prepared. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Oh, shut up. I can hear you laughing back here. It's cake. With butter cream frosting. Don't tell me you haven't thought of picking up the exact same one at least once in your adult life.

Of course, it had its downside. It is a white cake which, as we all know is fourth on the list of desirable cakes. First is chocolate. Second is yellow. Third is marble, but only if it is a combination of the first two. Then there's white. But it was 40% off and the only cake on the rack so I found myself more than able to live with white cake. Put butter cream frosting on it and it's fine. And if it's the blue and green frosting that stains everything including your teeth and tongue, then so much the better!

This is the point where some smart aleck always asks where carrot cake falls on the Cake List. As you very well know, carrot cake does not belong on the list at all. Carrot cake is nothing more than a conspiracy to get people to eat vegetables. Every time I see a carrot cake, I want to stage a rescue mission on behalf of the cream cheese frosting which is good and doesn't deserve to be on something so vile and insidious as a cake made of carrots.

I began noshing on this monstrosity Friday night, well in advance of my actual birth date. It's a big cake and it has an expiration date. I had no choice. I ate cake for breakfast on Saturday and with every meal since then. As of this morning, my true natal day, I have to admit I'm a little caked-out. It's become something of a mission with me to see how much of this cake I can eat before tomorrow morning when I can say that the birthday weekend is over. I don't know how much more I can eat, though. The cake may beat me.

But it was 40% off so I win no matter what happens. And I had cake for my birthday. I have caked to a degree that no one has ever caked before. Even if I have to go to bed tonight with cake still sitting under that plastic dome, I can say that I took the cake leap and that is sometimes enough.

Oh, yeah...I also knit a whole bunch of sleeve today, but I'm too bloated to get the camera right now. The only reason you are getting a picture at all today is because I took that one on Friday before my body mass was 85% butter and sugar. It will be a miracle if I can get my Another Year Older And Another Size Bigger Body out of bed tomorrow to go make some money for more cake.

For next year. I think I am done with cake for now. Well...maybe one more piece after dinner. And maybe one before bed since it is my birthday, after all. I suppose I could freeze one piece for later. You know. Just in case...

SA