With Thanks for Friends who Bake

I wish I could say I baked this cake, but Santa is watching and listening and it's just not true. 

A colleague and I co-hosted a lunch at work today. Sandy did the menu selection and it was healthy and tasty. She chose fruit with a yogurt dip and cookies for dessert. But our friend, Pat, baker of excellence, brought in one of her specialties, this beautiful pineapple upside-down cake. Even if the end of world hadn't been predicted I would have had to have a slice. Pat being the good friend that she is made sure I got a big piece of pineapple and friends, it was as good as it looks. No, it was better than it looks!

I posted the picture on facebook and one of my friends mentioned that it was one of her mother's favorite Christmas cakes, and I remembered it was a favorite of my mother, too. That thought sparked a lot of happy memories of Christmas time past. The memories were simple ones and home baking and visiting the toy departments at the local department stores were favorites. I also loved when my family would bundle up and we'd drive around looking at the Christmas lights. I loved those evenings, snuggled between my mother and my grandmother, long past my bedtime, enjoying the lights. 

The week has been hectic -- mostly with work -- but I did get to Rockefeller Center yesterday and I'll be sharing photos of the tree tomorrow. On Sunday I'll be posting a Christmas gift about which I am so excited, so please, please stop by. Just one little hint for tonight...holiday movies!   

Wishes for cozy and warm!