When we were first married, Martha had almost no cooking experience. Her mother did all the cooking, and she was very good at it. However, Martha worked very hard at learning to cook. I was very appreciative of this. Over the years she developed some memorable dishes. Her round steak and goulash were among my favorites.
However, she was always insistent that she would bake the birthday cakes. I gave up and let her have it. She would make any cake you wanted if it was yellow cake with chocolate icing. I was reminded of this at the last family gathering when the grandkids got to talking about past cakes. They were lopsided, or tilted, and sometime looked like they had pieces missing. But we all realized they were made with love by her. The candles were always added, lit and blown out.
I sometimes wonder if they had been perfect, would we remember them with such loving memories.
