Many of you know how much I like (well, ok, love) white cake with white icing.
It may not be my reason for living (because that would be kind of sad) but one of my primary reasons for going to any sort of celebration (weddings, graduations, anniversaries, bridal showers, house warmings, goodbye parties, baby showers, etc) is the prospect that there may be white cake with white icing and that I might get to eat a piece...or two...or three (any more than three would be bad cake etiquette).
Please note that I did say "one of my primary reasons" (putting a strong emphasis on the word "one"). For any of you now thinking, "Gosh, was cake the only reason Faith came to my wedding?" - no, of course not. I love you all and value any opportunity to share important moments with my friends.
(I just value those moments a bit MORE when white cake with white icing is involved).
Of course, this love for white cake with white icing has led to disappointment from time to time too because, although I can't quite fathom it, some people don't like white cake with white icing or, even worse, prefer any one of the following: chocolate cake with white icing, chocolate cake with chocolate icing, white cake with chocolate icing, marble cake, white cake with white icing and a layer of chocolate or some kind of fruit, cheesecake or even (brace yourself) pie (which, excuse me, is not even in the cake family!). While I don't pretend to understand, I am generally capable of recovering from the initial "No white cake?" shock and enjoying the festivities of the day....and most people probably wouldn't even be able to sense my disappointment (am I a good sport or what?)
Quick note: Cupcakes are acceptible as long as they are made of white cake and have white icing.
Establishing the depth of my love for white cake with white icing is of high importance to the rest of this blog as, only with a clear understanding of that love, can you begin to fathom the horror of the story I am about to tell.
It's not a huge surprise that one of my jobs at work is ordering the cakes for department birthdays and, as you can imagine, it's a job I take extremely seriously. It's become common practice to order the cakes from a local grocery store which just happens to have a huge number of theme cakes to pick from - we have had Hannah Montana cake, golf cake, a Shrek cake, fisherman cake, Elmo cake, the list goes on (but always white cake with white icing).
One coworker recently suggested that we move to ice cream cake. No comment.
Our last department birthday involved a dinosaur cake...which was not at all a reflection on the person turning another year older (a potential interpretation that was lost on me until the cake actually got here - I just thought dinosaurs would make a cool cake). We ate cake, we talked, we ate more cake and we went back to work. Since we are a small department and can only really handle 2/3 of a cake, the rest went downstairs in the refrigerator - a treat for me (I mean, everyone) to look forward to the next day.
Knowing that there will be cake later in the day is amazing motivation for some of us and I was busily excited all day. Around 3 PM (which is appropriate cake timing - 2 hours after lunch, 2 hours before the end of the day and late enough that the sugar rush will hit about the time you're heading home) I went down to the kitchen, brimming with excitement and ready for a plate full of yumminess. Full of anticipation,I eagerly opened the refrigerator to find, sitting precisely where my (I mean the department's) precious cake had been less than 24 hours earlier...
somebody's sandwich, a bottle of Raspberry Vingerette salad dressing, and some moldy bread.
NO! This can't be happening!
As I stood there, holding the refrigerator door, a look of panic/disbelief on my face, I retraced my steps from the day before:
There was definitely cake left yesterday?
Yes, there was definitely cake left (I know because I briefly considered taking it home for myself but then realized that would be rude).
You put it in the refrigerator, right? Absolutely - I would never leave it sitting out because it loses it's freshness.
It was this refrigerator?
This is the only refrigerator.
You didn't put it in the freezer by mistake?
Frozen cake? Um, no.
(I did check the freezer, though, just to be sure - no cake)
Did somebody else in the department already take it upstairs?
It's possible but nobody else gets this excited about cake.
I tried closing the refrigerator door, counting to 10, and then reopening it (just in case) but the sandwich, raspberry dressing and bread were still there and the dinosaur cake was most definitely not.
Dazed and, understandably I would say, very worried I closed the refrigerator door slowly, and turned towards the counter, preparing to inspect the kitchen further, when I saw something that made my stomache (which was growling because it had been anticipating a piece of cake all day long and was very, very hungry) turn. There, in the kitchen trashcan, looking extremely sad, were both the cardboard cake tray and plastic cake cover.
The truth was shockingly clear - my (I mean the department's) cake had been viciously stolen and eaten...completely eaten...it looked like somebody had licked the icing off of the tray.
I could now go into a long and drawn out spiel about how unbelievably rude it is to eat other people's cake. I could share my thoughts on insensitive and greedy people. I could explore office dynamics and what would lead somebody to believe that food in a community refrigerator was public property - even a dinosaur birthday cake with "Happy Birthday to (somebody in a different department's name)" - written on it in brown icing.
I could write a lot...but I'm not going to.
I'll be honest -
Yes, for the rest of that day I did look at all of my coworkers through suspicious eyes.
Yes, for the rest of that day I did pay especially close attention to who might look a little sick, as though they had, oh say...eaten too much cake!
Yes, for the rest of that day I did plot all of the ways I could somehow set up a secret camera in the kitchen and plant "bait cake" to see which coworkers might have cake-stealing tendencies.
Yes, each of these thoughts did indeed cross my mind but, as the day closed, I decided to be a bigger person and move beyond the cake incident.
I acknowledged that maybe I should have put a note on the cake saying it was for me (I mean our department), because it may have been unclear to some people.
I considered my own selfishness - Cake should have probably been offered to the entire office so somebody wouldn't have been driven to stealing.
I realized that there are bigger issues in the world and a piece of cake is not ultimately all that important.
(I also went to the grocery store that night and bought a white cake mix and white icing, which I made and didn't share with anyone.)
...truly a learning experience.
It may not be my reason for living (because that would be kind of sad) but one of my primary reasons for going to any sort of celebration (weddings, graduations, anniversaries, bridal showers, house warmings, goodbye parties, baby showers, etc) is the prospect that there may be white cake with white icing and that I might get to eat a piece...or two...or three (any more than three would be bad cake etiquette).
Please note that I did say "one of my primary reasons" (putting a strong emphasis on the word "one"). For any of you now thinking, "Gosh, was cake the only reason Faith came to my wedding?" - no, of course not. I love you all and value any opportunity to share important moments with my friends.
(I just value those moments a bit MORE when white cake with white icing is involved).
Of course, this love for white cake with white icing has led to disappointment from time to time too because, although I can't quite fathom it, some people don't like white cake with white icing or, even worse, prefer any one of the following: chocolate cake with white icing, chocolate cake with chocolate icing, white cake with chocolate icing, marble cake, white cake with white icing and a layer of chocolate or some kind of fruit, cheesecake or even (brace yourself) pie (which, excuse me, is not even in the cake family!). While I don't pretend to understand, I am generally capable of recovering from the initial "No white cake?" shock and enjoying the festivities of the day....and most people probably wouldn't even be able to sense my disappointment (am I a good sport or what?)
Quick note: Cupcakes are acceptible as long as they are made of white cake and have white icing.
Establishing the depth of my love for white cake with white icing is of high importance to the rest of this blog as, only with a clear understanding of that love, can you begin to fathom the horror of the story I am about to tell.
It's not a huge surprise that one of my jobs at work is ordering the cakes for department birthdays and, as you can imagine, it's a job I take extremely seriously. It's become common practice to order the cakes from a local grocery store which just happens to have a huge number of theme cakes to pick from - we have had Hannah Montana cake, golf cake, a Shrek cake, fisherman cake, Elmo cake, the list goes on (but always white cake with white icing).
One coworker recently suggested that we move to ice cream cake. No comment.
Our last department birthday involved a dinosaur cake...which was not at all a reflection on the person turning another year older (a potential interpretation that was lost on me until the cake actually got here - I just thought dinosaurs would make a cool cake). We ate cake, we talked, we ate more cake and we went back to work. Since we are a small department and can only really handle 2/3 of a cake, the rest went downstairs in the refrigerator - a treat for me (I mean, everyone) to look forward to the next day.
Knowing that there will be cake later in the day is amazing motivation for some of us and I was busily excited all day. Around 3 PM (which is appropriate cake timing - 2 hours after lunch, 2 hours before the end of the day and late enough that the sugar rush will hit about the time you're heading home) I went down to the kitchen, brimming with excitement and ready for a plate full of yumminess. Full of anticipation,I eagerly opened the refrigerator to find, sitting precisely where my (I mean the department's) precious cake had been less than 24 hours earlier...
somebody's sandwich, a bottle of Raspberry Vingerette salad dressing, and some moldy bread.
NO! This can't be happening!
As I stood there, holding the refrigerator door, a look of panic/disbelief on my face, I retraced my steps from the day before:
There was definitely cake left yesterday?
Yes, there was definitely cake left (I know because I briefly considered taking it home for myself but then realized that would be rude).
You put it in the refrigerator, right? Absolutely - I would never leave it sitting out because it loses it's freshness.
It was this refrigerator?
This is the only refrigerator.
You didn't put it in the freezer by mistake?
Frozen cake? Um, no.
(I did check the freezer, though, just to be sure - no cake)
Did somebody else in the department already take it upstairs?
It's possible but nobody else gets this excited about cake.
I tried closing the refrigerator door, counting to 10, and then reopening it (just in case) but the sandwich, raspberry dressing and bread were still there and the dinosaur cake was most definitely not.
Dazed and, understandably I would say, very worried I closed the refrigerator door slowly, and turned towards the counter, preparing to inspect the kitchen further, when I saw something that made my stomache (which was growling because it had been anticipating a piece of cake all day long and was very, very hungry) turn. There, in the kitchen trashcan, looking extremely sad, were both the cardboard cake tray and plastic cake cover.
The truth was shockingly clear - my (I mean the department's) cake had been viciously stolen and eaten...completely eaten...it looked like somebody had licked the icing off of the tray.
I could now go into a long and drawn out spiel about how unbelievably rude it is to eat other people's cake. I could share my thoughts on insensitive and greedy people. I could explore office dynamics and what would lead somebody to believe that food in a community refrigerator was public property - even a dinosaur birthday cake with "Happy Birthday to (somebody in a different department's name)" - written on it in brown icing.
I could write a lot...but I'm not going to.
I'll be honest -
Yes, for the rest of that day I did look at all of my coworkers through suspicious eyes.
Yes, for the rest of that day I did pay especially close attention to who might look a little sick, as though they had, oh say...eaten too much cake!
Yes, for the rest of that day I did plot all of the ways I could somehow set up a secret camera in the kitchen and plant "bait cake" to see which coworkers might have cake-stealing tendencies.
Yes, each of these thoughts did indeed cross my mind but, as the day closed, I decided to be a bigger person and move beyond the cake incident.
I acknowledged that maybe I should have put a note on the cake saying it was for me (I mean our department), because it may have been unclear to some people.
I considered my own selfishness - Cake should have probably been offered to the entire office so somebody wouldn't have been driven to stealing.
I realized that there are bigger issues in the world and a piece of cake is not ultimately all that important.
(I also went to the grocery store that night and bought a white cake mix and white icing, which I made and didn't share with anyone.)
...truly a learning experience.
IMHO, all cake is good cake but my husband definitely falls in the white cake with white frosting ideal model so I know this well. I am very sorry that your cake was pilfered and I hope your personal cake hit the spot. Hmmm, now I want cake!
ReplyDeleteSo you order white cake with white icing for everone's birthday in your department?? As a chocolate cake lover I'm not sure about that Faith!!
ReplyDelete