Good Intentions

I hope the saying holds true today that "it's the thought that counts". My little sister's favorite dessert is marble cheesecake. I was really wanting to do something nice for Erika and make the cheesecake myself for her instead of doing the store bought thing, so yesterday I began baking. I found a recipe and purchased all the ingredients I didn't already have and began making the entire thing from scratch, crust and all. I had also never "marbled" a cheesecake, but I was rather pleased with how it turned out. It was very messy and rather time consuming, but I truly did enjoy doing it, especially for her. After beating, mixing, adding, and layering, the cocoa vanilla wafer crust and cheesecake filling looked wonderful in the spring form pan and I gently placed it in the oven. If you've ever made a cheesecake, you know they can be hard to get right, so you have to watch them closely. Well...that was the beginning of the end.

We had a couple of guys over here doing handy-man type work and one of the faux plantation shutters they were installing turned out to be cracked when they pulled it out of the box. I had to quickly run to Lowe's to exchange it and the Lowe's closest to our house was out of them. Once I realized I had to go to a different Lowe's I called Matt to ask him to call the workers (I didn't have their phone #) and to ask them to take the cake out when the oven alarm went off. Of course he said he would and I began my drive to the other Lowe's.

When I came in the front door that unmistakable smell of "burnt" met my nostrils and I ran to the oven to find my cheesecake a crispy burnt mess. The oven was off, but obviously too late. The workers had been drilling and didn't hear it when it began alarming. By the time they stopped drilling and heard it, it was too late. I was obviously upset because I don't have much confidence in the kitchen to begin with and I really was proud of my efforts and emotions behind this dessert.

I stared at my ugly cake of good intentions and pondered if there was any way to salvage it and I began to get a little teary (couldn't possibly have been pregnancy hormones). When I spoke to my wonderful husband I even choked as I explained what I found upon arrival. It was then that I learned he never called the workers to let them know about the oven. It was very apparent how bad he felt and he apologized and apologized and and asked me to email him the recipe so he could bake another one when he got home that night, knowing I didn't have time to make another before a baby shower I had that evening.

Of course I didn't let him bake another one, but I did greatly appreciate the gesture. I was a little hurt and a little upset, but for just a little while. I quickly realized that at the end of the day, it's just a cake and has no real bearing on our lives. It's silly to stay upset anyway, it doesn't get anyone anywhere. Matt picked up a beautiful, perfect looking marble cheesecake from the store this morning and I'm sure it will taste better than mine would have anyway. My sister knows I love her regardless and she'll still have a cake and candles to blow out. Despite how the cake turned out in the end, I really did learn from it and had tried something new, which is never a waste.