Let’s pretend that my last post didn’t happen. Okay?
Which is to say that if you’ve arrived here expecting to see a post about me having lunch, I deleted it. The post, not lunch.
I didn’t delete the post because I said anything bad, but because the photos, which made the post interesting, looked hazy. Not pretty.
In fact, when I uploaded them yesterday the WP system wouldn’t let me upload them in the normal way. I had to revert to an older way of uploading photos to get them here.
And once here, not so clear.
So now, today, this very morning, I decided to upload a test photo to see how the WP system is working today and to see how my photo looked.
And wouldn’t you know it, today’s photo, of two of my mother’s old recipe booklets that I keep in one of my desk drawers, is the epitome of clarity. And coconut.
Thus proving that I’m tenacious, I can upload photos, I can write a post of the fly, and that I’ve kept some rather unique items that belonged to my mother.
For no discernible reason. Which seems to be the theme of this post.
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 
Those cakes take me back to being a little girl, and flipping through my mother’s collection of French cookbooks. They looked so good – the shapes, the colours, the characters. 🙂 That’s a really happy memory I wouldn’t have had if you hadn’t played with your photos. So, thank you!
Catherine
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Catherine, I’m so pleased to know that this post, which is sort of a test post, could bring back happy memories for you. I think that I keep these recipe booklets around for the same reason: they remind me of the good times of being a little girl.
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I still have those Baker cut up cake books only mine are full of icing and 30 year old coconut bits.
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kate, were these books free? With a purchase, maybe? Everyone seems to know about them. I’ve never made any of the cakes in them, but they do look like fun.
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I think you have to send a label or something in for them through the mail (remember that?) We used to make the rocking horse for the nieces and nephews.
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That makes sense. I do remember doing things like that. I know that my mother made the snowman cake but I hated it… because it had coconut on it! 😉
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Coconut was the best part!
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Back then I had a different opinion about coconut. 😉
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I enjoy my mother’s cookbooks. I’m not sure she ever cooked anything out of them, but they’re stuffed full of handwritten recipes and recipes cut out from newspapers and magazines. Some tucked in, some stapled or taped.
As for coconut, Mom had a lamb mold and she covered the cake with coconut for many of my birthdays.
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Zazzy, I’ve some of my mother’s cookbooks and they’re just the same as yours. Kind of fun to see what caught her fancy.
As for coconut, I didn’t become a fan of it until I was older. Back then I was a child who stood proudly and loudly in the anti-coconut camp.
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I used to have that bunny one! Mom would never buy coconut. Not the same without coconut.
(and something was definitely odd about uploading pix on WP – snarl, try this – then this – OK THIS)
Quietly smoothing shirt…
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philmouse, the bunny cake is cute. Someday I’ll have to try some of these cakes, which don’t look tricky to make. And I’ll use coconut, of course.
And yes, the photo uploading was off. Not easy and not fast. Me? Or them? Probably never know for sure.
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I love that photo and those cakes. It takes me back to what life used to be like before all the glitz. My girls helped make many of their birthday cakes and they were not stylish or perfect, but we had wonderful memories from the experience.
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Margaret, I know what you mean. Cakes used to be birthday cakes merely because we got one with candles on it. No bakery cakes. No fancy icing on the cake. Just a cake, of some shape, made with love and anticipation of fun. Happy Birthday, kid.
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Who knew your test post would bring back so many happy memories for so many people? Keep up the good work!…….And so glad you like coconut now. I LOVE coconut…and marshmallows….and caramels…..
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Beth, I was thinking the same thing. I chose this photo because it was colorful, so I thought that when I published it I’d know for sure whether or not the WP system was working properly. And it was.
But like you mentioned, these booklets have been a catalyst for so many good memories. Who knew, indeed?
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Hey guys – no mention of macaroons? Not that I ate them 38 years ago in the dorm room . . . well, maybe I did.
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Zen-Den, so your guilty conscious is finally catching up with you, eh? As if we didn’t know that already! 😉
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I used to bed my mother to make those things for me. Now that I’m grown, I know why she didn’t.
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Andra, the instructions for these cute cakes look easy enough at first glance, but I have to wonder how long it’d take to put one together. If I ever make one I’ll be sure and tell the world here on my sweet little bloggy. Emphasis on the word “if.”
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I have pictures of several of those cakes from various birthdays but I think my favorite was always the money cake. Such a wonderful memory!
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belle, funny how everyone has his or her favorite birthday cake memory. Someday you need to post some of your photos for the world to see! That’d be cool.
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