my second and much more conservative attempt at su-lin's french lemon yoghurt cake was successful up to the point where i made the glaze. too much of it, and the cake was completely drenched. but the people who ate it seemed to have enjoyed it and even had seconds, so i suspect it isn't quite as disastrous after all. i followed up yesterday with a chocolate cake which gave me quite a bit more confidence, although my parents refused to believe it when they rang and asked what i have been up to.

me: oh, i had lots of work, read a first edition milton, bought a children's book, baked two cakes...
father: you what?! baked a cake?
me: i did!
father: hah? i don't believe it. you baking a cake?
me: really pa!
father: you? how could you have made a cake. what, with those prepacked cake mixes?
me: no! with flour and eggs and things!
father: but you don't know anything about baking cakes! did su-lin teach you how to? (su-lin's name, in my family, is synonymous with superior cake)
me: yes! i did what she told me to!
father: i still don't believe it. you?! make a cake?! cannot be lah.
me: yes i did and this really is me! where's charley fishing!

hearing that passphrase he was forced to accept his daughter and not an imposter was on the line. so he put my mother on the phone.

mother: shen me ya? lao ba shuo ni hui hong dang gao?! bu yao pian ren la! (what's this i hear from your pa about you making cakes? stop trying to bluff us!)
me: zhen de la! (it's true!)
mother: oh shi ma? zuo chu lai you mei you ren gan chi? (is that right? did anyone dare try your cake?)
me: you! peng you chi le di yi lun hai you zai yi lun! (yes, my friends had two helpings!)
mother: aiyah, ying chou ni er yi la, pa ci ji ni. (aiyah, they were only trying to appease you, in case they upset you)
me: you yi ge peng you da bao hui jia ne! (but one of them even took some back with her!)
mother: ni zen me zhi dao ta mei ban lu diu diao? (how do you know they didn't throw it away when you're out of sight?


i tell you i need to live in a more affirmative household.