Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Racing to make the perfect cake

By Sherry Nelson / Community columnist

My daughter turns 8 this month, and I have a dilemma. Well, it’s not life-shattering in the least, but it is a teensy problem until I make up my mind to do something about it.

What goes on the birthday cake this year?

It might sound trivial to you, but I live for birthdays and holidays. It’s so much fun to go shopping for gifts, to plan menus and to bake extra goodies. From special plates to special tablecloths, the planning is a joy. However, finding or building the perfect cake is always the centerpiece of the celebration.

So, the cake is pretty important in our home.

Just like her dad, Cecilia enjoys video games. Consequently, she likes Mario Brothers, and she would like a Mario Brothers cake. What bakery is going to decorate a birthday cake with Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool? I have been looking into this. I can’t find any.

Perhaps, I am not looking in the right places.

I asked Cecilia what else she wanted on her cake.

She could not think of anything. My first born is set on Mario. I’m not creative enough to draw with droopy frosting the image of that pudgy little Italian guy on a cake surface.

She’s getting a Bugville butterfly pavilion for her birthday. She doesn’t know that yet, of course. I am thinking I can finesse interest in a butterfly cake. Cecilia is not into “girly” things such as Barbies or Hannah Montana, so those are not cake options.

She’s into bugs, video games, superheroes and ocean life. I’m serious. Try decorating a cake with those options. She’s already had a “Finding Nemo” cake and a Batman cake.

You know what the kicker is? Cecilia doesn’t really like cake at all. I asked her if I could frost a cardboard box because it’s the frosting that is the main attraction. She gave me an emphatic “no.” At least we have taught her the spirit of generosity, for she reasoned that just because she didn’t like cake doesn’t mean that everyone else should go without.

It makes it all worth the celebrating.

So, I will continue my pursuit of the decorated birthday cake. I’m not complaining. I really do live for this stuff. It keeps me going. There isn’t anything I won’t do for my daughters and my husband. I just might cave and design my own Mario cake because I know it would make her happy.

If a decorated cake brings them even a smidgeon of happiness, then mine in tenfold.

Sherry Nelson is joyfully married and mother of two little girls. When it comes to spewing political views, the former DFLer claims to be a victim of Stockholm Syndrome, and her husband Tony is just fine with that. Of course, Sherry is able to bite her tongue from time to time.