Let Me Eat Cake

Thanks for all of the positive feedback on my last post. I have come to grips with it.

What is so surprising is how positively powerless I felt. When we came home from the hospital, I really believed we'd have to supplement with formula even though I really wanted to try breast feeding.

But after the first week and working with the world's most amazing lactation consultant, I came to believe that YES, I CAN DO THIS! I can feed these babies with my own body and it became my ultimate quest. To have that taken away...it stripped me of my power.

Last night I went to pump and found that the pump hadn't been plugged in and wasn't charged. This has never happened before and I was stumped what I could do for the next 20-25 minutes while plugged in. I'm used to pumping and being mobile. The only outlet by the sofa has the A/C plugged in and if I unplugged that, I'd just be sitting in a hot living room.

So, I did the only logical thing I could think of. I took one look at the very ripe bananas sitting in the basket on the counter beside the breast pump (your breast pump is on your kitchen counter, right? And your bustier hands free bra? No? If not, do tell me where you keep such items, I'm curious to know because before I came home with these babies, I could not have dreamed a bra would become part of my kitchen counter items) and decided to bake a banana cake.

It was 7:30, the kids were in bed (Kids! We have Kids! It's still crazy to me) and I had to do something while pumping.

I have been baking this cake since I was in middle school and it's still one of my favorites. It rarely makes it from the pan to a plate as I very much like to stand over the cake pan and just cut long, skinny slices--all the way across the row--and eat it straight from the pan over the kitchen counter. I lick the knife off and do it all over again. Tiny row by tiny row. Then I drink a glass of ice cold milk. Sometimes straight from the jug. I have done it this way for as long as I can remember. I do not eat any other cake this way. I have no idea why.

Oh and ladies, don't bend over to get that bowl from the bottom shelf while pumping. Never, ever bend over while pumping or else the milk will spill out and all that precious, liquid gold will run down your legs and into your slippers and make you want to cry. Always, always squat.

Here's the recipe, straight from my grandma:

Banana Crush Cake

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, very soft or slightly melted

2 eggs, separated with the whites added last

3 ripe bananas, crushed

1 1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sour milk (milk with 2 Tablespoons white vinegar added to it)

Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg yolks then crushed bananas. Beat well.

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.

Add to first mixture alternately with sour milk.

In separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.

Add to cake batter.

Stir.

Pour into lightly greased cake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until knife in center is clean.

You can also add a frosting to this cake (melted butter, milk and powdered sugar) and/or nuts.

I prefer it plain.

To the anonymous commenter who asked if I was eating/drinking enough. I assure you that I am. I have eaten almost 1/2 of this cake in less than 24 hours. I have never been so hungry in my entire life. I eat around the clock--and not just salads!

In Argentina, I had filet mignon every stinking day. Because it's the beef capital of the world and it's $10 and grass fed and incredibly delicious and so, why wouldn't you? After that, we'd go for ice cream, because you should know Argentinians are all about their ice cream. What I didn't know was that it was the country of pastries. We had pastries every morning without fail. The most delicious pastries I've ever had. They put the French pastries to shame.

I have no idea how many calories I consume. I never have counted calories and I'm not starting now. I'm hungry, I eat. I want it, I eat it.

Chicken is great about always making and bringing me food all day long.

In fact, I eat a lot of snacks while I'm tandem breast feeding. That's the great thing about the EZ 2 Nurse Twin Breast Feeding pillow, you can be hands free while feeding your babies. I can eat a meal, blog on my iPhone, take photos and videos, file baby nails, pet the cat, make a phone call, pay bills, read the NYTimes, read a book/magazine, catch up on blogs and plan a vacation ALL while breast feeding twins. That pillow rocks.

If you are expecting twins, get this pillow. And an iPhone.

Thank me later.