Recently, a few friends of mine have been impacted by the loss of a parent. It has made me think a lot about the legacy I leave for my little girl; how I will know I’ve done a “good job”; how I can know that she will navigate her world with grace when my time with her is over.
Let’s get one thing straight: I’d rather live forever. Or at least, a really long time.
But, remembering my own mortality, may I live out my wildest dreams so that my girl can know what that looks like. May she know love, communication, and support from my relationship with her daddy. I hope that she says “yes” to life more often than “no.”
I hope I can show her the compassion that comes with travel to faraway places, and the wonder of camping in the back yard. May she learn how to cook healthy meals, and know that the nerds of high school are the cool kids of The Rest Of Life. I hope she walks boldly into failure and comes out the other side with battle scars and wisdom.
I hope she knows that the solution to most of life’s problems starts with a deep breath, a cup of tea, and a little treat perched on the side of the saucer. I hope we get lots of practice with tiny little tea sets and tiny little tables, and I’ll make cookies, or pound cake.
And I hope that if she’d rather chase a remote control car around in the street, that I’ll be out there chasing it with her. And may I have the wisdom to know that these things will one day be impossible, and that there is nothing more important to do than to be here, be with her, be her mama. May I live up to that most honourable title, every day.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 eggs
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. orange juice
- 2 tsp. orange zest
- 1 tsp. lime zest
- 1 cup pistachios, shelled and coarsely chopped
- Preheat your oven to 325F. Butter a bundt pan. (This can be made in a loaf pan as well - up to you).
- Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter until fluffy - about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until incorporated, then add the eggs, one at a time, continuing to beat the mixture between additions. Add the citrus juices and zests.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat until just incorporated. Stir in the pistachios.
- Pour the batter into the bundt pan bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean - about 45 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely before removing from the pan to serve.
