This week my world turned upside down. My little girl went in to surgery on Friday to have a large lump removed from her chest.  To say I was nervous all day is to put it mildly. I grilled her doctor before hand in a way that surely embarrassed the both of us.  “So what about the anesthetic?” and “Have you done this before?” Antibiotics, what about those??”  I was a paternal wreck to say the least.

While she was under, our lives together kept running through my thoughts.  Had I been good to her, given her enough attention, fed her well? Did I discipline her too much . .  too little?  What would she think of me after? What does she think of me now?!  Will I be able to take care of her when she comes home?  Too many hard questions. And those times she ran away just break a father’s heart. I remember when she first came to me. She was only one year old and so delicate.  We had quite a time of it the first couple years.  She would rarely leave me side when I was at home, and the noises she would make when I left each day . . .

I held my breath when I saw the hospital’s caller ID pop up on my phone . . .  “She’s doing great Mr Judt.  She’s waking up right now and everything went extremely well.”  Whew!  To say it was a relief to hear is to not say nearly enough.  My baby girl was alive and well and coming home.

So in honor of my baby girl making it through surgery I dug deep in to my parental trove of recipes for that one thing I know would make me feel better about . . . everything!

Betty Crocker’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake
1/4   cup butter or margarine
2/3   cup packed brown sugar
9   slices pineapple in juice (from 14-oz can), drained
9   maraschino cherries without stems, if desired
1 1/3   cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1   cup granulated sugar
1/3   cup shortening butter
1 1/2    teaspoons baking powder
1/2   teaspoon salt
3/4    cup milk
1  egg

1   Heat oven to 350°F. In 9-inch square a round cast iron pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter. Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice.
2   In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.
3   Bake 50 to 55 30 – 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Serve warm. Store cake loosely covered.

My baby girl feels better, I feel better. Make this and you’ll feel better too!!

Eat Well and Smile Often!

tj

p.s. Upside down, who’s to say what’s impossible and can’t be found?
I don’t want this feeling to go away
Please don’t go away