Worth (five minute friday)

We have a lot of recipes posted here on the blog.  This week, a friend asked for egg-free cookie recipes, and I was able to pull several posts from here and say "This one, this one, this one if you use applesauce, and this one."   I think I had about eight or so cookie recipes.

All but one had no wheat, and several of them were re-imagined from other recipes so that they were safe for a different kid.  When I think about it, it's a lot of work to constantly be adjusting and re-adjusting recipes. But it's worth it.

This week, Celia turned 13 and I was up frosting cupcakes until an hour I haven't seen since she was a colicky newborn.  As I finished them, I got teary, for several reasons.

Frosting cupcakes for "School birthday." It's probably the last time I'll be doing this -- Celia will graduate before her next birthday rolls around.

12 years ago, we were just beginning to realize the tip of the allergy iceberg. When Celia started school, she was going on year three of nothing but plain table sugar and tube-fed formula that was safe for her to eat. Her first (and second and third) "school birthday" treat for her friends was cotton candy. She has taken homemade lollipops and marshmallows; one year she finally could bring strawberry flavored marshmallows. Last year, she had enough foods to magic up cupcakes, and this year she's picked up another food - the frosting has Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) instead of coconut oil.

I'm not going to complain about being up late, waiting for the cake to cool enough to frost. Tonight, I'm grateful there's a reason to stay up making something other than cotton candy.

She took them to school, shared them with her friends and brought them home.  Damien snagged one of the leftovers, took a huge bite, and said, "This is the most delicious birthday Celia has ever had."

Was it the most delicious?
Was it amazing to realize that on her 3rd birthday, after one failed trial after another the doctor said, "No more.  Tube only, no foods until she's bigger," and ten years later she a handful of hard-won foods that I can turn into normal-looking cupcakes?
Was it worth the thinking and tinkering and lack of sleep?

Absolutely.


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Five Minute Friday is a weekly event. Our hostess, Kate chooses a single word to start the free-writing process - this week, it's Worth. It's not about revising your thoughts to perfection, it's about taking 5 minutes to just put it all out there. New writers and readers are always welcome.

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