海角大神

Since I鈥檝e started producing Stir It Up! on CSMonitor.com I find that a lot of people share their food-related thoughts with me and sometimes ask me questions. Sometimes I have an answer or an idea, and sometimes I do not. Here are for-real questions that I鈥檝e received in the past two weeks:

鈥淒o you know how to de-bone a duck?鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 throwing an Inuit-themed dinner party for my wife鈥檚 birthday. Have you come across any good northern recipes that maybe Eskimos would serve?鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 going to a Christmas cookie party that is actually quite competitive. Do you have any good ideas for what I could bring?鈥�

The first two drew blank stares from me. For the third question I decided to fake it (I love a good challenge). 鈥淪ure,鈥� I replied, 鈥淚 think you should take snowman cupcakes.鈥�

What? Where did that come from? I鈥檝e never seen or made snowman cupcakes.

Fortunately I was seated at my desk at work and Google was within inches of my fingertips. 鈥淪nowman cupcakes,鈥� I typed in the search engine and with a triumphant grin I swiveled my computer monitor toward my colleague who had asked the question.

鈥淪ee, just look at these cute . Or this by Martha Stewart,鈥� I said confidently. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure you could do this.鈥� She seemed to like the idea, and I did, too.

In fact, I was smitten. I wanted to make cute food like this. I wanted to walk into a crowded room armed with a tray of caroling marshmallow snowmen decked out in festive licorice and have people think, 鈥淲ow, that Kendra, she is really good. Not only does write up her recipes and post them online, she makes adorable food.鈥� It was a fantasy sprinkled with all the magic of the season and I wanted to make it real.

And I had the perfect opportunity to act out my sugar-plum vision 鈥� 鈥榮 annual caroling party was in two days.

Because I figured I would be putting so much effort into the sculptures, I decided to buy boxed cake and icing mix instead of trying to create the cupcakes from scratch. (Leave that cuteness to , no one would know the difference.)

The morning of the party dawned. I was stumbling around my apartment, still tired from staying out too late listening to live jazz two nights prior, and trying to rein in the chaos that was blooming everywhere in order to make room for my snowman-masterpiece assembly line.

And then the phone rang. It was Rebecca.

鈥淥K, so they are trying to break the world record for the most carolers in one place at the mall. Do you wanna go? We have to leave in 15 minutes to get there in time.鈥�

Don鈥檛 you get plaintive Saturday morning phone calls asking you to help break world records? By singing 鈥淛ingle Bells鈥�? How hard could this be? My brother and his high school classmates once leapfrogged their names into the Guinness Book of World Records in 1988. This was my chance. More visions danced through my head. The news team crews would surely be there and we would get interviewed or maybe splashed across the front page of the Boston Globe. What a great start to the holiday season!

And then I remembered my snowmen. Could I participate in a large, corny, cheerful event and still get my cupcakes done on time? Do Santa鈥檚 reindeer know how to fly?? Of course I could!! So off we went.

Although it was fun to sing with and Santa and Mrs. Claus we remained ordinary carolers (the next day鈥檚 headlines read 鈥溾��). And now the party was just a few hours away and the cupcakes still unmade. So like any good race where you suddenly realize you are behind, I simply sped up.

This does not 鈥� let me repeat, does not 鈥� translate well in the baking world. First of all, I messed up the boxed mix, if you can believe that, by adding too much milk. The icing turned out to be off-white. Then the cupcakes didn鈥檛 cool fast enough resulting in melting, smudged, depressed snowmen. My sugar-laced dreams dissolved before my eyes.

So I did the only thing left to do. I swallowed my pride and picked up the phone a half hour before the party. Rebecca鈥檚 mom, Janell, answered. 鈥淚 am in the middle of a baking disaster,鈥� I reported truthfully. 鈥淚 simply cannot offer what I have created. I鈥檓 sorry. Is there anything you need that I could 鈥� (gulp) pick up from the store?鈥�

There was a pause, and then a laugh. 鈥淜endra,鈥� Janell said, 鈥渨e have everything we need. We just need Kendra. These things happen. Just bring yourself.鈥� Janell is good like this. She knows when to laugh away our worries.

So I took my patience, self-forgiveness, and good cheer to the party instead. We had a great time, of course, and did some of the best singing we鈥檝e ever done.

And then the next day I took my unfinished snowman tray to an expert: my 鈥�4-and-three-quarters years old鈥� niece, Riley. We had a fine time assembling our 鈥渟nowman family,鈥� mostly eating the snowman accessories but still, Riley didn鈥檛 judge. And I didn鈥檛 either.

This is a good lesson.

Because if you stay a child at heart, and keep the wonder of all those hopes and dreams alive despite the circumstances, it鈥檚 OK if things come out wobbly from time to time. The people who love you will never even notice.

And you鈥檒l still get to lick the frosting bowl.

Kendra Nordin blogs at .

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