A Cup of Sugar

At five minutes before six tonight I saw a note that sent a wave of panic through me.  I was looking at Payson's stack of schoolwork from his backpack. There it was.... a little note that said, "Don't forget to bring cupcakes to school tomorrow!"  Somehow I had missed the memo from last week.  I quickly scoured the pantry and realized I did have a cake mix but I only had three cupcake wrappers.  The clock now read 5:57. I dashed down the block to the tiny store we have here, hoping they'd still be open and hoping they'd have cupcake wrappers. Knowing they close at 6:00, my chances were slim on both counts.  I pulled up and saw the clerk driving away to her house, store all closed up.

Next, I stopped by my grandfolks.  Grandpa sometimes bakes a cake.  Ya never know, maybe they'd have cupcake wrappers.  Nope.  No such luck.  Then I thought of my friend Miriam. She is always baking something yummy from something she grew in her garden.  She is the queen of homemade bread and jams. I knew she'd have cupcake wrappers!  I popped in to find her making dinner in her charming, colorful kitchen.  I apologized for disturbing her and laughed and hugged me. 

I told Miriam of my serious, potential mommy fail and she rescued me!  She had just enough cupcake wrappers in her cupboard.  A few years ago it was all too common to borrow, "a cup of sugar" from our neighbors.  When was the last time you borrowed anything from a neighbor?  It seems much more common to run to Wal-Mart.  Here in Geraldine it still happens quite often.  Miriam said when she is out of something she goes to our other friend Kari's house.  We are happy that we finally have a little store that has some basics on hand.  But the hours are short and supplies are limited.  The next store is in Fort Benton, 26 miles away.  It makes a lot more sense to ask a neighbor than to spend and hour driving for a cup of sugar or cupcake wrappers.

So with Miriam's help I was able to produce two dozen, red velvet cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting.  Payson requested sprinkles and I actually had those in the pantry! The mommy fail was avoided thanks to my sweet neighbor.  Now I just need to remember to put cupcake wrappers on the list for the next trip to town....

'Til next time,

B