CAKE as a rite of passage

Cobbo has officially reached "la tercera edad." That's the Mexican way of referring to people 60 and over. You see centros de la tercera edad -- senior citizens centers -- but rarely have I seen anyone in them. It looks like all the senior citizens are still out on the job! See Jeanette's blog for moreabout this and some rather poignant pictures.

Actually Larry and I have never made a big deal about birthdays, but since his "special day" falls so close to my mom's, and since Mom was right here with us, it was a good excuse to have several parties and invite new neighbors and friends over. So that's what we did -- and it was a lot of fun.

But Larry also had another milestone going on his life. He was saying goodbye to his beloved surf mobile the very same day his personal odometer was rolling over two digits. I suggested to our neighbors, Jeanette and Bruce, that we take a lunch up to the petroglyphs and do some sort of rite of passage in the presence of VERY OLD stones to usher Cobbo into a new phase. They had a better idea, and it involved good food and cake. Sweet inspiration!

So last night, after we got back from taking Mom and Teresa to the airport, Jeanette came over to invite us to watch the sunset from their beach area. Little did Larry know what a great FEAST awaited him. Jeanette had asked about his favorite foods, and then improvised from there. We had heartbreakingly tender steak which didn't challenge Larry's dental work in progress, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli with "special sauce" like his mother used to make (a combo of catsup and mayonnaise -- that's all), corn pudding, finely chopped cole slaw, and really soft bread. And for dessert white cake with white frosting crowned with six candles.

But this was not just any white cake. This was a tres leches cake, a many-layered confection more than a foot in diameter. The four of us barely made a dent in it. So early this morning, Bruce and Jeanette arrived on the front doorstep, with the cake cut in huge pieces, frozen, ready to transfer to our freezer in the basement. It's there ready for the onslaught of houseguests we're preparing for over the next several weeks.

Tres leches para la tercera edad: A three milk cake to celebrate passage to "the third age." There's nothing like white cake to mark life's important moments!