Simple moments: Angel food cake with strawberries and cream

Days start at about 5 in the morning here, and from then until bedtime, it feels pretty nonstop. There’s breakfast to make, a toddler to entertain, a baby to change and a puppy to feed — all before 7 a.m. I know this isn’t unusual for parents with young kids. Or any kids for that matter. I spend the day racing the clock, juggling nap time and work time, proofing a magazine while bouncing a baby on my knee. It’s amazingly wonderful in so many ways, though I’d be lying if I said I don’t have those moments when I wonder how on earth I’ll make it to bedtime. A life spent with small children by its very nature is always a bit out of control, and no matter how organized and enthusiastic I try to be, things usually hit the fan somewhere between 5 and 7 p.m. It’s an inevitable scramble, and it can certainly wear you down. But then there’s always that time at the end of the day, when I’m snuggling Beany on the couch or rocking Bear in my arms, when I think to myself, “I could live in the moment forever.”

Long days, short years. That’s what they say, isn’t it? I’m learning more and more, with every new morning I wake up as a mom, how important it is to grasp the simple moments when I can. Kids are only little for so long. You know this. I know this. But you know what? They don’t know this. At least not in the same way we do. So it’s our job to help them make the most of this time and make the most of being little, when the world is big and everything is new and picking a strawberry straight from the ground makes them prouder than their tiny bodies can even express. So this summer, despite any busyness from home, work or life in a big city, we’re going to try our best at keeping things simple. Because it turns out that the simple memories, the simple adventures and the simple recipes are the ones we keep coming back to.

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Angel Food Cake
Adapted just slightly from The Essential New York Times Cookbook (Hesser, p. 742)

• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 10 large egg whites
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar.

In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt until the mixture is foamy. Add the remaining 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar a few tablespoons at a time, and continue beating until the mixture holds soft peaks. Fold in half the dry ingredients until the mixture is smooth. Then fold in the remaining dry ingredients. Fold in the vanilla.

Pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, and bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven, and invert it immediately, either on the feet of the pan (if the pan has feet) or resting on an empty bottle. Let the cake cool completely.

Once the cake is cool, run a long thin knife around the sides to loosen the edges, and invert the cake onto a plate. Serve with fresh whipped cream and strawberries.

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XO,
Katrina