"I must bring an egg at the least, to say nothing of fried ham." ~ Jane Eyre

There is something burning in the kitchen of my life.

Leftover years of teaching darken pots which were once seen as half full; now, they are half empty. There is an unpleasant residue building up of administrative, parental, and student drippings that have hardened, rendering themselves useless to the recipes constituting my daily intake of food for my soul.

These foods were palatable once, however, according to scientific and epicurean studies, taste buds change every seven years, and next year would mark my seventh year as a teacher.

I glance at the pots and the food is as burned out as I feel.

So, it is time to go food shopping. And of course we all know how much food shopping excites me. I am looking forward to traveling down the aisles of classified ads and getting more specials from my cousin off of mediabistro. I need to replenish my professional spices and add more sweets to my work week.

In the meantime, I look for any other ingredients that teaching has left for me in the cold refridgerator. I peer in and see...

LEMONS!

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade layer cake!

I already have the layers - the people in my life who love me and make my life rich and the experiences in my life that make it light and airy. These layers are special and never crumble.

Now, I just need the icing on the cake.

**I made this cake back in 2002 for a supper club meeting that J. Sarah invited me to. I remember it tasting fairly good considering it was from Cooking Light! Still, any dessert with lemons is delicious in my book. The photo above is one of this particular cake recipe.**

Lemonade Layer Cake
Cake:
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
3 tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups fat-free buttermilk
Cooking spray

Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare cake, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.
Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.
To prepare frosting, place 2 tablespoons butter and the next 4 ingredients (2 tablespoons butter through cream cheese) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). Chill 1 hour.
Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator. Yield: 16 servings