Before and After

Bill and Sandy H. got married in August of 1968, and unfortunately for them, the frozen top of their wedding cake was destroyed during Hurricane Camille in August of 1969, so they were unable to enjoy it on their first anniversary.  This fueled Sandy H.'s desire to ensure that Derrick and I did not suffer through the same heartache on our first anniversary.  She had nurtured and cared for our cake top since July of 2009. 

What a beautiful cake in its infancy.  I remember dragging Derrick to a cake-tasting and his face just lit up like a school boy when he tasted it, like the first time I got him tanked and informed him that we would be dating.

Who came up with this tradition? Sandy H. thought that, post-thaw, it smelled like old feet.  And it didn't look much better either.  Sort of like a lopsided donut that had been frosted by blind parakeets using their walking sticks.  Seeing-eye sticks?  And then left to rot all summer on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike.

Luckily for Sandy H., my perpetually cheerful father thought it was the best cake he's ever eaten!  And he intends to eat the whole thing.