Cake.

There was a time when those who knew me reallllly well could gauge how stressed out I was based on how clean my kitchen was. Something about wiping down counters........I dunno.......it's just very Zen........back and forth........back and forth.

I still do the counter thing. But...........in the last couple of years I seem to have added a new means of staying sane in the face of stress. A not-so-Zen mechanism.

Baking.

Yes. I bake. When Mom is on her second and third streak through the living room; when I've emptied the commode more times than I care to count; when Dad has stuck his finger in my yogurt one too many times because he wants to see what it tastes like (god forbid he asks); when Dad tries one more time to sing the aria from Pagliacci and is STILL three half-steps away from being on pitch........I bake. I bake like there's no tomorrow. Last week for example, I whipped up a luscious Hummingbird Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (the Magnolia Bakery recipe). The week before, I baked four dozen of my Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. The week before, it was a sheet of Toffee Bars.

Thankfully, Dad eats whatever I bake. Thankfully, I don't. (Thank god there are some benefits to being depressed.)

I'd go into more detail but........I have a Banana Layer Cake that needs to be frosted.