“Can I help?”  

Almost every time I am in the kitchen preparing a meal, Vivi rushes in and asks that sweet question.  This morning I was simply heating up a can of split pea & ham soup in the microwave for breakfast (yes, breakfast), so there really wasn’t much she could do to help.  Instead, I promised her that we’d make a treat together later.

When I said, “later,” I was thinking maybe 5 hours later.  Well, 5 hours must seem like an eternity to a 2 3/4 year old.  

SIDE NOTE: The sentence above got me curious, so I did a little math to put things in perspective.  According to my calculations, 5 hours to 2 3/4 year-old Vivi is actually a whopping .02% of her life thus far.  That’s 1000% more than what the same 5 hours represents for me.  So, it’s reasonable to assume that 5 hours “feels” 1000% longer to her than to me.  Hmm . . . 

Anyway, back to the story.  Even though it was 8 in the morning and only 10 minutes since I promised Vivi that we would bake something “later,” her little internal clock chimed that later had long since come and gone, and she was getting agitated.

Setting my uneaten pea soup aside, I hoisted Vivi up on the counter, and we proceeded to spend the most delightful thirty minutes together making ‘ooey gooey cake.”  And as absolutely wonderful as the time was for me, I have a sneaking suspicion that it was 1000% more enjoyable for her.

Ooey Gooey Cake (Eva Tolbert)

1 yellow cake mix

1 stick butter, melted

1 egg

1 cup chopped pecans

MIX ingredients until moist and press into a greased 9 x 13 pan.

1 block cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1 box powdered sugar

Cream together until smooth and pour over crust.  Bake for 35 minutes at 325 degrees.  The cream cheese layer will still be gooey (not brown), but the cake is done.