Bagpipe Cake

Bagpipe Cake comes to Manhattan!

Living in Gotham with skyscrapers and the UN and the mighty Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty all "right there" is wonderful, but it is a package from a friend that can stop you in your tracks.

I got home and there was a box from my friend Jill in California and it said "Perishable" on it. I KNEW immediately what it was. And I just could not believe it. In fact I mist up as I write this! It was that amazing.

Jill and I have not talked a lot in recent years and kind of got reacquainted on Facebook - the great "reacquainter." We grew up playing bagpipes together. We were very close childhood friends. Jill's parents' house in Marin County, California was the hub of our teenage bagpiping life. We had slumber parties and many great times over there from spin the bottle to late night chats. That house was always magical to me. In fact my whole family looked forward to going to their Christmas party every year. It was the most beautiful Christmas party I ever saw.

I will never forget Jill's wonderful parents or that wonderful house (now torn down) or the lane where she lived. I can feel the stairs under my feet even now. It is part of my childhood lore and happily.

This cake I received in the post her mom used to make and I guess because we would all love it and eat it she called it Bagpipe Cake. There may be a better origin story than that, but I don't recall. Jill "recreated" it beautifully and I am eating Bagpipe Cake as a middle-aged man in New York City and, with each bite, remembering so powerfully my glorious past.



Thank you, Jill. You gave me a terrific gift. xo