Had it not been for this global pandemic, my daughter Molly would be headed to Paris this weekend for culinary school. As it is, she is home with me, which is not the worst thing in the world…for me.
While she has been admirably upbeat about this indefinite pause in her life, she is also determined to maintain a close connection with her friends, and to exercise her brain.
So she eagerly agreed to attend a PowerPoint party, organized by her friend the Other Molly, and looked forward to enlightening them all about one of her pet rants — fake cakes.
I wondered, as I watched her happily put together her presentation, whether the rest of the crew would be equally enthused. Turns out, they were. Eight of them gathered with her in a raucous virtual par-tay, presenting on a diverse range of topics from Paul’s eloquent overview of Myles v. Myles, Augusta Georgia (a free speech case involving Blackie the talking cat), to Kaia’s talk on Why You Shouldn’t Wash Your Hair Every Day. Nine PowerPoint presentations and a good two hours of late night fun.
I appreciated the sound of their laughter wafting up from the family room and lifting my corona-heavy thoughts.
COVID-19 is a scary virus and it worries me every day. I applaud my home town and the serious effort everyone I know is making to keep themselves and the world around them safe.
But, it is also creating healthy pockets of unity, creativity and love. I look forward to the art that this period of confinement will inspire. In addition to baking, defending her cake position, and “pretzelifying” as many food items she can, Molly has been writing a journal to document this extraordinary time in history.
I, too, feel compelled to record these frightening, inspirational, confounding and critical time in our lives.
I got a big kick out of Molly’s PowerPoint, so I asked her if I could share it with you. She spent the latter part of her stint at Patisserie 46, a Minneapolis bakery, baking and decorating cakes on the 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. shift. I imagine she had some good thinking time as she made her way to work on those empty winter streets. Apparently, she developed some strong opinions about desserts masquerading as cake.
We could all use a little distraction as we make our way through these next critical weeks. A healthy debate about the merits of red velvet cake might be just the thing.
Though I am not a cake person (growing up we only had cake on our birthdays: two kids, two cakes in a yer. A variety of helthyfresffruits for desserts, otherwise), I enjoyed Molly’s PP presentation. Thanks, ladies.
That’s probably why you look so good!
I hope your are cataloging all of your writings. It will be a best seller once you publish. JT
Thank you very much!
So many plans cancelled and dreams postponed. But I’m hopeful we will get back to “normal.” Even though I know it’s so disappointing, as I’ve had some important plans change, too. Lucky you to have a baker around. One of the things my husband and I miss most right now are our weekend trips to a restaurant about 25 mins away. We go and have cake and coffee every Saturday. The owner was Martha Stewart’s catering chef years ago, so you know it’s tasty. Not as good as your chef, I bet! Take good care.
That sounds like a really lovely way to spend a Saturday. We’re all going to appreciate our favorite days even more when all this is over. I hope we can all get back to them soon. Stay safe Cheryl!