I woke up this morning, and must confess…my time in chapel was a little bit distracted by thoughts of cake pan dimensions and quantities of ingredients. However, late this afternoon, having finishing stage one of my project, I had a joyful sense of gratitude for all that had been accomplished. I was thankful that things had gone so well for this amateur baker.

It was interesting that today at Bible study, we discussed the gospel of Martha and Mary. I shared the fact that I have the practice of asking St. Martha for her intercession for my culinary endeavors.

So, why, you might ask, was this ‘amateur baker’ distracted in chapel, rather than listening attentively like Mary? Some explanation will follow.

We are getting ready to celebrate “St. Anne’s Week!” This includes a special party on our patronal feast, July 26th. For the occasion this year, I decided to make ice cream cakes -We do have ice cream on hand from some recent event and no better way to use it.

Ice cream cakes, however, do not make themselves. A little investment of time and thought is required.

I have been juggling ideas around for tasty recipes that will accommodate dietary restrictions of some of our residents. In the end, I should have two lemon raspberry cakes and three brownie peanut butter ones.

I know it is not until next week, but may I explain myself? Rather than leave everything to the last minute, I would rather pace myself and get some work done well in advance. This is especially true this week since I am not certain of what my schedule will be at the reception desk this weekend.

Thus it was that, despite a heat index of around 100, I decided to bake the crusts for my tasty treats this afternoon. This went against what I had always been taught: one should not bake on hot days; it is not energy efficient or comfort-enhancing. The trouble was that the heat is only supposed to increase, and I had to get this done sometime.

Fortunately, I have learned a little trick which nullifies the precept against baking on hot days. That is: do it in the kitchen at home and KEEP THE DOOR CLOSED.

No one is over at the house much during the day and the heat is well-contained within the kitchen when the door is shut. Also, without central air, I’m not wasting energy making a device work extra hard.

So while the jury is still out on how these will turn out in the end, I have my hopes. I would conclude by saying that on a sticky summer day, it’s not too hot for ice cream cake!