Yesterday on facebook I mentioned that we were picking up the ingredients for Thunder Cake. Later on (at like 9:30 at night) I mentioned that the thunder had finally shown up and I was debating being "cool mom" and making "real" Thunder Cake with the kids. Both of these caused many people to ask the question "What is thunder cake?" I was a bit surprised that no one had heard of it and so I will educate you. Thunder Cake
is a book written by Patricia Polacco. In the book Patricia is a young child visiting her grandmother out in the midwest somewhere (I would tell you exactly where but our copy of the book is in the car and I'm too lazy to go get it right now). It starts thundering and the girl hides under the bed. Her grandmother, Babushka, comes and says "It looks like thunder cake baking weather to me. Come out from under that bed and help me make it." The girl comes out and they proceed to do LOTS of things around the farm (get milk from the cow, eggs from the hen, walk through the woods to the dry shed, etc.) all the while counting the seconds between the lightning and the thunder. In the end the cake is ready just as the storms rattles the house because it is so close. The grandmother tells the girl she cannot be afraid of a sound because she is too brave - look at everything she already did. And the little girl is never again afraid of a storm.
is a book written by Patricia Polacco. In the book Patricia is a young child visiting her grandmother out in the midwest somewhere (I would tell you exactly where but our copy of the book is in the car and I'm too lazy to go get it right now). It starts thundering and the girl hides under the bed. Her grandmother, Babushka, comes and says "It looks like thunder cake baking weather to me. Come out from under that bed and help me make it." The girl comes out and they proceed to do LOTS of things around the farm (get milk from the cow, eggs from the hen, walk through the woods to the dry shed, etc.) all the while counting the seconds between the lightning and the thunder. In the end the cake is ready just as the storms rattles the house because it is so close. The grandmother tells the girl she cannot be afraid of a sound because she is too brave - look at everything she already did. And the little girl is never again afraid of a storm.
I first read the book when I was working as a nanny and I instantly fell in love with all of her books (Chicken Sunday
and The Keeping Quilt
are also favorites of mine). Big Brother got this book when he was around three. He liked it a lot and asked to read it often. We made Thunder Cake a few times that summer.
and The Keeping Quilt
are also favorites of mine). Big Brother got this book when he was around three. He liked it a lot and asked to read it often. We made Thunder Cake a few times that summer.
By the next summer he had other books that were his favorites and we made thunder cake once, maybe, but we really did not think about it much after the summer he was three.
Until this year. This year Big Sister found the book on our bookshelf and she asked us to read it to her.
As soon as she read it Big Sister started hoping for a big thunder storm. She knew this thunder cake idea seemed like a good one.
So, when the weather was predicting thunder storms yesterday I figured we'd better go out and pick up the ingredients (the recipe is in the back of the book). Of course, at the grocery store we had to pretend we were getting like from the cow, eggs from the hen and so forth.
And then we waited for the storm. We waited. And waited. And waited. But the storm never came. All day yesterday was sunny. :(
Until around 9:30 at night when I was putting Tiny Sister to sleep. JUST as she conked out I heard the distant thunder. Hmmmm.... "Do I do the cool mom thing and make thunder cake or do I sleep?"
We don't get really good thunder storms here so, of course, we made cake last night at ten o'clock. :) We did wait until the morning to eat it since Tiny Sister was already asleep and if we waited we could all have some.
So, it was Thunder Cake for breakfast this morning. :)
