Perfect Pairing

When you think of the holidays, your mind automatically goes to gingerbread houses, candy cane hot cocoa, and popcorn-cranberry garlands. Christmas is my absolute favorite season for a lot of different reasons. I can tell you about the crystal clear memory I have of watching “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” so many times in a row, I could recite the whole movie verbatim. But that’s not the only reason I love Christmas! I think there is something so calming to see everything covered in a blanket of snow, with all the different types of Christmas lights twinkling, the faint whisper of car tires driving down the street, and White Christmas by The Drifters playing through my car. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bing Crosby’s version and the actual White Christmas movie, but you have to love the baritone/bass from The Drifters… it’s just something else. And just like Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye make a great duo, so does Wonderful Cake and milk.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Cake is cake. Simple as that. How ‘wonderful’ can it truly be?” Well, that’s because it isn’t actually a cake. It is a special concoction of whipped cream, walnuts, cream cheese, bananas, and chocolate pudding. It is also a family recipe, so whenever I make it, it brings me back to my childhood, being with all my family, and watching White Christmas on Christmas Eve.

But what is Wonderful Cake without milk? Well… still good… but not as good when paired with a cold glass of milk. I myself prefer that instead of pairing it with hot cocoa, eggnog, or even water because you get to cleanse the palate in a way. In my opinion, when you eat or drink two things that are too sweet, it just overwhelms your taste buds and you don’t get to truly taste the details of the delicious food you’re eating. You need a fine balance when it comes to sweets and pastries. Well, you need a balance between everything you eat. If you just plan to devour your food like an animal then you might as well just put it all in the blender and make it a smoothie. I’m sorry if that truth is hard to read but, I said what I said.

Besides the obvious that Wonderful Cake and milk are a good pair, it also just brings back those good ‘ole memories growing up. I know I mentioned it earlier, but isn’t that what Christmas is kind of all about? Being with family and loved ones!

One of my favorite memories growing up was going over to my aunt’s house for Christmas day duh! We all just finished eating dinner and it was time to open gifts! We were all definitely full from this great feast my aunt prepared, but, it was tradition (TRADITION! Tevye is screaming in my head right now) to open gifts while you try to balance your plate of Wonderful Cake and your drink of choice. Clearly, mine was milk.

All I truly remember was being with family, the food, and the games we played. Besides the tradition of multi-tasking, while eating and unwrapping gifts, we always had a taste test. My aunt would pick a theme and we would do a blind taste test to see which one was the group favorite. My favorite taste tests were: bubble gum, hot cocoa, and wine. So you can trust me when I say that milk is best paired with Wonderful Cake. I wish I could show you a clip of what those nights were like. And we are a Mexican family so we would get pretty loud and rambunctious. ‘Laughing out loud’ or ‘lol’ was actually coined by us. So you’re welcome world! I’m just kidding, but it feels true!

But to bring me back to the original point and to close us out: Wonderful Cake + milk = simplicity and deliciousness.