Had a Heart-Warming L'il Experience Today...

I've shared before that in my family I'm kinda known as the cake-maker. No cook-out, pot-luck, or chili-dog supper is complete without one of my Tupperware containers containing a tall layer cake, a naked bundt, or a simple frosted sheet cake of some sort.

Well, normally after we eat a meal, there's always tons of leftovers and we usually end up preparing plates of food to take to neighbors- incuding the cake.

This afternoon the l'il grandson of the elderly couple across the way was playing out in the yard when I pulled up carrying a large box that contained a macaroni salad, a bag of chips and a chocolate-zucchini bundt. I waved, then went on into sis's house.

Within minutes we were out back on the patio stoking-up the grill and laying out the grub. Soon we heard the doorbell ring inside. My 9 yr. old nephew ran around front to see who it was. He returned minutes later w/ l'il Caleb, the grandson from across the street. Layne was holding his hand as he guided him through the gate into the back yard. We all greeted Caleb who shyly glanced to the ground. We welcomed him in, offered him a cup of kool-aid and then he shyly looked up and asked "I just wanted to know what kind of cake you made today?"

Sis called his grandparents and asked if it was okay if Caleb stayed to play with Layne, and had supper with us. Then after he had his fill of chicken and corn on the cob, Layne and my Sis carried a Tupperware container of leftovers- including three large wedges of the bundt- with one hand- and with the other, held Caleb's, as they walked him back home.

As Sis handed the food to the smiling Grandma- Caleb raced past to his Grandpa in his recliner and said "You're gonna love this one, Gramps- it's CHOCOLATE!"

Way too cool Kev! You're like my Cuban Abuela when I was growing up in Miami, she gave me life-long great memories I shall never forget. And now you're doing that for little Caleb!!!

Oh That's so cute! Cookie

AWWW ! How sweet Kev ! Why not bake one special for little Caleb ? It would make his day !

Yeah Kev that's a great idea!!! You'll go down in history with that little one!

By the way Caleb is my all time favorite boys name, so when my son's little one was on his way I kept making little hints as to what a cool name it is and lo and behold they named him Caleb and he is adorible in every way possible!!! My 1st grandson of 3 so far!

It would be awesome if you made the little guy a special cake. He is obviously a fan already lol.

Nice, Cathy! (And thanks for the idea Cathy and Francie- of making somethin' special for l'il neighbor Caleb!)

For a long time I wanted to be a Dad. My favortie names were 'Lincoln Price' for a boy and 'Clara-Grace' for a l'il girl- both combined names of long-gone fav family-members...

One of my best friends up in Cooper Landing, Alaska has twin boys named "Salmon' and 'Trout'- and a l'il girl named 'Caribou' (Their last name is 'Rivers'!)

He seriously named his children Salmon, Trout & Caribou?

True story, janie! Scott married Julie who already had a l'il girl named 'Caribou', so when the twins came along, I guess they felt the need to sort of give them similarly-themed wilderness names! (BTW, Scott & Julie's nicknames for each other are 'Squirrel' & 'Loon'! Hee-Hee!)It's all SO fitting too- they live in a beautiful log home situated on 'Hidden Lake' and the whole family are quite the adventurous outdoorsmen, always camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, kayaking, mountain-biking, etc. I can't visit them for long 'cause they're so active, they always wear me out!

Wow...I hope the kids are home schooled with those names they would get picked on for sure lol.

I agree, janie! Ha! (BTW- they're not home-schooled!) But, a lot of Alaskan kids are given "alternative" names, usually inspired by people, places and things of the north-country. I doubt they're the only kids up there named after animals!

Another Alaskan friend's l'il girl has a name I love 'London' after wilderness author Jack London.

The one serious disagreement Friend Wife have ever had was over baby names.

If we'd been blessed with a girl, I wanted to name her Valeria Victrix.

I'm a big believer in nymic magic (i.e., the name contains the attributes of the thing ). Valeria Victrix was the last Roman Legion in Britain---the one that stood against chaos.

I figure in today's world a girl needs all the help she can get.

Cool name, Brook.

BTW- I'm into historical fiction and non-fiction too- we discussed the Alexander Thom books once. Have you read one of last year's Oprah picks "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follet? A fantastic thousand-pager English family saga that encompasses the building of Cathederals. It's got war/torture, love/betrayal, murder/mayhem, evil monks and adultering wenches, and every kind of twist and turn imagineable! Quite the page-turning, believable tale!

Also, my two all-time fav works of historical fiction are Gore Vidal's "Lincoln" and James Michener's "Alaska".

Speaking of authors and Alaska, up north, among the finest interesting privileges I enjoyed was to live for a period in buildings that were once temporary homes of both Jack London (Dutch Harbor) and James Michener (Sitka) where they wrote famous tales. In fact, just for the pure sake of amazing interest (something to tell my niece and nephew one day) I penned the first 2 pages of my cookbook in an out-building at the OSI Bunkhouse that was part of the building that Jack London stayed in all those years ago.

>It's got war/torture, betrayal, murder/mayhem, evil monks and adultering wenches, <

It's a love story, right?

I think Friend Wife read it. I just don't have much time for fiction, lately. Certainly not those thousand-pager tales.

I used to read fiction incessently. Fooled around with "creative" writing for awhile, too. But there's no money in it.

The two biggest influences on my life were my fifth grade teacher and a friend of the family we called Aunt, even though she wasn't.

Mr. Urgo would let you take any book out of the library you wished. But you had to finish it. He forced me to complete Ivanhoe, for instance. With the result that there was never a book that was too dry for me to finish.

Aunt Hortie was ahead of her time. When women were supposed to have babies and take care of their men, she thought they should be using the brains and talents God gave them. In many respects whe was an Auntie Mame type.

Anyway, at Christmas and for birthdays she had a cute trick. She'd give books, of course. But they'd always be volume 1 or a trilogy or quartet. For instance, one birthday she gave me Zane Gray's Spirit of the Border, and I had to find The Last Trail and Betty Zane for myself.

My first book was dedicated to her. The dedication reads: "To HD, in partial payment of the debt."

Cool dedication, Brook! VERY nice, indeed.

Your Zane Gray books remind me of A Louis La'Mour I read last winter and loved, his autobiographical: "Education of a Wandering Man".

I always have two marked books at my bedside table- always a cookbook and something else. Right now they are Edna Lewis's "A Taste of Country Cooking" and Armistead Maupin's comedic serial "Twenty-Eight Barbury Lane", which I'm re-reading for the up-teenth time.

OK KEV what are you doing in this Avatar? Like you I keep books beside the bed! LOL

Cathy, this photo was taken in about '93 aboard the "Pacific Princess" which was the same boat used in the old "Love Boat" series! The vessel crusied Mexican waters in winter, and Alaska in the summer...

Anyone who grew up watching The Love Boat should never take a cruise; particularly not on Holland-America Lines.

What a disappointment!!!

I have friends who love cruising, Brook. But me? humpff! If one loves drinking, shopping and dressing-up, then they'll love ocean-liners. But that's not my particular style of travel at all. Not knocking those who enjoy it- it's just not for me.

And for what it's worth- working aboard a cruise ship is worse. Bottom line for an employee of a crusie ship? There's only limited space on a boat, so the company's goal is to have you as a staffer either in your sleep-cabin, or at your work-space all hours you're aboard the vessel... so you work long hours an then are so exhausted sometimes you don't even have the energy to shower before collapsing into your berth! I worked aboard three ships for 2 summers and literally the only time I was aboard deck to see beautiful ocean or land was when I was on the gang-plank using a hand-truck to unload groceries from a fork-lift in the final hours before we set sail.

I loved my 25 year career in kitchens but of all the diverse types of places I've cooked in, I would never work on a cruise ship again. That said- working at Alaskan resorts operated by P&O (Peninsular & Oriental Steam Ships- British parent company of Princess Cruiselines) were my all-time FAV career years!

Hey Brook there was a teller at the bank with the name Valeria. I told Jon the other day I thought it was a lovely name. If my little sister has more kids Im def gonna vote for Valeria if its another girl.
You never hear my first name often..Gwendolyn.