Taters has no idea what PMS is much less a warrior for the cause. However last night, she made me proud and most importantly, satisified my inner raging PMS'y beast; she baked her first chocolate cake.

Several weeks ago, Taters had informed me that she had checked out a Hershey's baking cookbook from her library. Each week, she'd remind me she had recipes she wanted to try and she'd again, renew the book because I'd either flake on getting the ingredients or would have other excuses to prevent her from traumatizing my kitchen.

Then, the Gluten issue hit and I completely put a foot down on her cake making wishes. Taters was insistant and kept leaving the book in places I'd notice it. She'd drop hints about her love of baking and offered to help me grocery shop. I began to realize that for her, it wasn't the process of eating the cake and savoring it's chocolately goodness. It was the whole issue of making and baking it, so I finally gave in.

Taters tackled the cake last night while I made dinner. I assisted with the heavy lifting and the reaching of bowls too far above her head; but other than that, she did it all herself. I also loaded the dishwasher and washed an additional two sinkfuls of dishes, all the while wondering how one cake could take so many dishes. It was great watching her try to figure out tablespoons and teaspoons, cups and quarter cups, but she did it and did it well. Her cake was delicious and she relished in the fact that she could lick the frosting bowl out as it cooperated with her diet plan.

I am so proud of the little lady she's becoming and I'm especially happy that she's taking on my abilities in the kitchen rather than Hubby's. If he would have cooked this cake, there would have certainly been at least a can of beer added to the batter (for moisture of course - I can just hear his excuse) and he probably would have greased the bowls with bacon fat because bacon makes everything better - usually.

Here's the finished product: