birthday cake in a jar for my marine

my sweet friend jen discovered this awesome idea: sending real home-baked birthday cake in a jar to your GI Joe. i was all stressed about it not working but honestly it couldn't have been easier. i followed this post at "loving a soldier blog".  they claim these will stay good 2-3 weeks and since the mail is only taking a week it works out perfectly! the process, in a nutshell, is this.  mix up cake batter (i used betty crocker rainbow confetti cake as is reid's annual request). spray non-stick generously inside each jar (grandma, i used the PAM baking spray and it is the same as the regular except i think it is scented to smell like cookies, not joking). fill each jar ONLY 1/2 way. your brain will want to fill it more than 1/2 way but don't do it: these things rise up in the baking process so actually err on the side of less than 1/2 because i had to cut the top of some of my cakes off to get the lids to go on (you should get six jars per box of cake mix). wipe the top of the jars clear of any non-stick spray and batter, you'll need this surface to be clean to receive the lids at the end to allow them to seal properly.  bake at 400 degrees for 33 minutes (that's what it took in my oven, note this is a hotter temp than what is listed on the cake package). i baked 6 jars of cake at a time on a cookie sheet for easy removal and to help them ot top on the baking rack in the oven. while you are baking, boil the lids. have a space ready for your hot jars, i just laid out some kitchen towels in a non-busy corner of the counter. place the jars on the towels, remove the hot lids one at a time from the boiling water, dab dry of water and place on top of lid with seal meeting up with the top of the jar and loosely screw on the canning ring just enough to keep the lid in place.  repeat for the next batch. i made 21. so this was an all evening affair waiting for each batch to bake up. while i waited i whipped up some simple little notes for the top so everyone knew who to "pay extra attention to" that day (yes, its true, the marines may not show their love the same way we ladies do...but i'm sure he enjoyed the extra attention nonetheless).  let them sit until they are cool and sealed (listen for the lids to pop, they say). you can tighten up the rings a bit more when they are cool if you are crazy like me, although i do believe real canners remove them entirely. you have to trust your equipment. i guess i trust that my rock climbing harness will work when i am dangling from the side of a rock face but i do not trust that my canning seal will hold. all in good time, young grasshopper. :)

the final step is delivering 4 flat-rate shipping boxes to the post office WITH your two children in two. and these boxes are heavy. my solution? wore betsy in the ergo carrier. put petey in one side of the wagon, stacked the three heavier boxes on the other end of the wagon and made him hold the light one (the 4th was not for reid, it was a return item). people always look at us like we are the circus come to town when we go to the post office. the look is a mix of shock and entertainment. if only that extra attention translated to someone opening the door for us. if you ever see a mom pulling a wagon full of kids and boxes and wearing a baby on her front, please open the door for her and smile when you do it! we moms really love that!