Unchartered territory

I am getting the baking itch. I know, those of you who know me in real life are probably speechless by that comment. I have baked in the past. The results of which are quite embarrassing and could be used against me in the court of law.

Notwithstanding potential failure and possible food poisoning, I ventured on to *try* to make strawberry cheesecake a few days ago. But it was, you should know, at the behest of Farah. She thinks baking is a piece of cake, pun fully intended. And she can't understand why this household has no oven or mixer. Stuff she could easily access when she's doing her baking and cooking class at school.

I have to constantly remind her that my mother was passive aggressive and decided that I should be learning how to make a wooden door wedge and drill holes in metal sheets instead of learning how to bake and sew, when I was her age.

I digress, so back to that cheesecake story now. I've tried making it before - actually many years ago, from *don't laugh* a recipe I found on the internet *I said don't laugh!*. And it turned out oookaaay... edible at least. My kids, being easily impressed thought I was rocking it as a cheesecake maker and so Farah was pining for one.

We went to the supermarket to get the ingredients. It was funny because I have forgotten half the ingredients and so was guided by my erm gut. I forgot what biscuits I needed for the base, but heck, thought Digestives might do the trick. Halfway through shopping at the supermarket, I showed the kids Sara Lee's ready made cheesecake and tempted them with it. No go, the kids were adamant about seeing me repeat the miraculous feat I showcased years ago. Sigh.

We got home with everything that I *think* we needed. We made the base although we didnt have enough butter. Farah said she wanted to do the jelly topping, so she cooked the jelly but forgot to add sugar. Sara and Danial got more cream cheese on the floor than in the bowl. You see where I'm heading with this?

Long story short, we completed it anyways. It looked really good because of the fresh strawberry lined up on top of the cake, covered by clear jelly. The husband was suitably impressed by the looks of it. He didn't want to be the first to try it though.

The kids were so psyched about having it. They couldn't wait long enough. Farah had two helpings (although she couldn't finish her seconds) and everyone else cleaned their plate. The husband had a polite serving - on the pretext of watching his diet, yeah right mister - and reserved comments. I praised the kids for their help and for their wonderful creation. That was the trick I think. Get them involved, get them to own the whole process. Only then will they eat anything that I would ever bake or make.

And of course, I am now very encouraged to try OTHER recipes that are oh-so-easily found on the wonderful world of web. But I think I might need to get that oven and mixer...