Rule Number One

ALWAYS make sure you check the recipe for ingredients BEFORE you start preparing it.

Let's just say my Sunday morning got off to a rough start. I'd come in off of 3 hours of sleep and when I rolled out of bed I knew I had to run to the store to buy some orange rolls for my dads Father's Day breakfast. No big deal right?! (Forget the fact that I just went grocery shopping on Saturday and completely forgot to check the fridge for a package of the sweet goodness.) So, I throw on a hat to cover my unruly hair and dad accompanies me to the store. We make our purchases and are back to the house in no time. As it was still too early to start breakfast I decided to start making the Texas sheet cake for the afternoon get together with all the family. I start pulling out ingredients and soon realize---THERE'S NO COCOA. I was just at the store! What is my problem?! So, as my hair is now wet, I head to the grocery store AGAIN to buy some cocoa.

I finally make it back to the house after standing in the only line open at the grocery store with a wet head. (This is SO not like me.) I take a deep breath and try to relax as I start preparing the cake batter. I get the cake in the oven and the morning brightens as I get to sit with my dad. He and I wind up teasing each other and making one another laugh. A good time, indeed!

After the timer goes off, I get up to go pull the cake out of the oven and start preparing the icing that will top it off. After icing the cakes, I step over to the pantry looking for walnuts to chop and sprinkle over the top, and then I realized---WE DON'T HAVE WALNUTS! I think my dad thought I was going to have a breakdown in the kitchen, hahaha! (Even the woodpecker that was banging his beak on the air conditioner seemed to be laughing at me.) But, being the wonderful dad that he is, he cracks a joke about it and tells me we don't need nuts, it'll be fine the way it is. What a guy. ( I really didn't want to have to go back to the store.) By that time I was just ready to be done with that cake, but mom suggested I just chop up some pecans and sprinkle those on top, as they are a close substitute. Thanks to her quick thinking, the Texas sheet cake had all the nuts it needed and tasted great to boot!

I am really not that bad in the kitchen and I have no idea what my problem was yesterday, but despite all the ups and downs of making that cake, I can safely say---lesson learned.