It’s come to this?

Like any self-respecting, self-professed food fanatic, I swore I’d never turn to bakery cakes after I met my future husband. Our happy little home would be filled only with cakes made from my sweat and grit, mixed by hand, baked in the oven, cooled, iced and lovingly decorated. No matter how busy life got, I wouldn’t take short cuts in the birthday cake department.

Hmmm. This week was my husband John’s birthday, and my nine-inch cake pans and favorite devil’s food recipe didn’t see the light of day. Life crowded them out—just like everyone told me it eventually would. Now with three children, two careers and a mountain of daily obligations, I was never more relieved to pick up a bakery carrot cake and have someone else write a sweet message on top. Of course, no one in our house cared, nor did they ask where my homemade birthday cake was. We were just happy to sing loudly and out of tune and dive into its tender slices.

It’s not that I don’t take time in the kitchen. I still cook dinner most nights and I make homemade cakes when I can. But so many of us are living in a period when our days seem wired for failure, at least in our ability to get everything done. That’s why “fast and easy” are the dominant recipe categories on major culinary websites, and why sales of prepared items are one of the strongest sectors in food retail.

The key, I think, is aiming for balance over the long-term. Some days you feel like a culinary layabout, giving in and letting someone else do the work. But that just gives you a breather so you can make something extra wonderful when the window of free time opens again.