I’m baking a cake today.

Actually I baked the cake part last night and later today I’ll frost.  This one’s a little different.  Dark chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream frosting and then dark chocolate ganache poured over the top just until it cascades down the sides.  It looks beautiful in the picture.

Remains to be seen if I can pull it off.

I chose this cake because it’s a little something extra.  I wouldn’t normally do the ganache, there are a lot of ways this could go wrong, it’s an extravagance.  Cake and frosting are always a good idea, but the ganache is extra.

Extra is nice sometimes, but it can be a little scary.  You’re messing with what you already have, taking it a step further.

Extra whipped cream, extra sprinkles, extra long nap, extra sweaty workout, free samples, I like them all.  Surprise extras are fun too.  I was once in Starbucks and the barista man ask if I’d ever tried my tea with a pump of vanilla syrup.  I tried it and it was yummy.  A surprise extra, although that one didn’t last because have you seen the crap they put in Starbuck’s syrups?

Extra is the little bit more, maybe even the thing you never knew you needed.  The cherry on top of an already great sundae.  Extras bring the unexpected, they make life fun until you’re sort of overflowing with…more.

Fourteen years ago today, I had two children.  They were the joy of my crazy life, complete handfuls.  A boy and a girl, the yummy cake and the creamy frosting.  Life seemed complete and then I had one more, our last child.

I had no idea what I was missing.

Today’s cake is for my Maggie.  She’s the ultimate extra.

My thoughts from the laundry room.  I’m Going to Bed Now.

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