I didn’t think these were unreasonable requirements. I just wanted a clean place that I could be healthy and happy in.

I was kind of excited about house hunting at first. I thought it would be fun to choose where to live. But then I started, and realized that most of the options out there were nothing like what I was looking for.

After House #15, I was getting really stressed. I started re-evaluating my priorities. I would definitely have to give up the cat, and also probably the woods, the porch, and the fireplace. I did find one house I could imagine myself living in, but the location was no good – 20 minutes away. If I wanted to be closer, I’d have to give up some of my other Must Haves. As the end of my trip approached, compromise appeared inevitable.

But then, the night before the last day of house hunting, we found it: The Ski Chalet.

Four bedrooms.

Walking distance from Southern.

Tons of kitchen counter space.

The cheapest rent I found.

And a fireplace, a huge porch, in the middle of the woods.

There were even cool things I didn’t know I wanted, like a spiral staircase.

And I can have a CAT!

Why was I so worried about finding the right house? I should have known God already had it picked out for me.

Read More 15 comments | Posted by Miss Jehle

While it probably won’t be fancy or extravagant, I think Jamie and Daniel’s wedding is going to be beautiful. Their love and commitment won’t be buried underneath tulle and tuxes; it’s going to be the focal point of the wedding. So they've cut out some of the things that are traditionally found in weddings.

Unfortunately, everyone has an opinion about what her wedding has to include. And even though it’s Jamie and Daniel’s day, these other people seem to think their opinion matters. And apparently one of the things that you can’t have a wedding without is cake.

Now neither the bride nor the groom particularly enjoy cake; they decided they would like to eat a dessert they actually like at their wedding. But when two of the seminary secretaries found out Jamie was not going to have cake at her wedding, they were appalled. One of them told Jamie she at least needed to have cupcakes and brought her a cupcake cookbook the next day. The other thought Jamie would start loving cake if she just tasted the right vegan frosting. So she took it upon herself to go home that night, make a batch of frosting and a cake to put it on. And she brought it to work the next morning for Jamie to sample.

Sounds considerate and thoughtful, right? Except she forgot Jamie is highly allergic to cashews. And guess what the primary ingredient in the frosting was?

Cashews.

So my poor roommate had an allergic reaction to the frosting made by a co-worker who wanted to force Jamie's wedding into a cookie cutter...or cake pan.

***

I don’t really like eating cake either, but I like baking cakes because they’re so pretty and fun to decorate. There are a few untraditional cakes that I like eating though. My favorite is medovnik, which means “honey cake” in Czech. It’s made of lots of thin honey flavored wafers interspersed with cream filling, which soaks into the layers and makes the whole thing moist and rich and delicious. And there’s no real frosting, which of course is the worst part of cake.

So Dylan is coming to visit next weekend, and he suggested we make some Czech food, possibly including a honey cake. But then I found out Elisa is coming too, and baking for Elisa is like preaching a sermon in front of Dwight Nelson or John Nixon. So I decided I should bake a practice cake before they got here.

I’ve made a honey cake once before in Prague with Emily. It didn’t look that pretty, but it was pretty tasty. Unfortunately, I lost the recipe. So I scoured the internet for recipes and picked the one that was written in the best English. Here is the finished product:

Looks pretty good, eh?

The problem is…it doesn’t taste very good. Not only is it dry, it also doesn’t have much flavor. I even tried drizzling caramel sauce on top, but it still felt like I was eating spoonfuls of flour and sweetened condensed milk. Gross.

***

I tried another recipe tonight. This one was written in Czech, so I thought it might be more legit.

Oh, how I love Google Translate! Check out these gems from the recipe:

If you looked very thin, just let him rest a little longer.

Cream download sites for painting the top of the dough, but do not care!

If-because of the children you give rum flavor, be sure to put more water.

We will fight pancakes with syrup.

We will be with him, then well handled. Thus all bake cakes.

That's how prepared we can eat honey cake in 24 hours, but of course you can have longer to ripen.

The cake doesn’t look as pretty as the last one, but I think it’s going to taste better. And making it was such an adventure!

***

Lessons Learned from Cake:

1. When your opinions cause allergic reactions in others, maybe you should keep them to yourself.

2. Looking good is no good unless you taste good too.

3. Some Instructions are hard to understand, but following them is worth it.

Read More 15 comments | Posted by Miss Jehle