This weekend, we celebrated Jacob’s second birthday. Jacob is currently obsessed with things that go, mostly trains and airplanes. Because I knew I could easily get Thomas plates and cups, I went the train route. You’d think that making a cake for a kid allergic to dairy, eggs, codfish, peanuts, and tree nuts would be tricky, but at this point, I say, bring it. (Okay, so maybe the codfish part wasn’t really a challenge.)

I used the banana bread recipe—with substitutions—that we make almost every week for the cars and engine. The decorations were all snacks I know Jacob can eat . . . and loves. I made icing with dairy-free margarine and tofu cream cheese, and the cookies are made from the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag, with substitutions made for butter and eggs, and, of course, without chocolate chips. This recipe, even in this form, may be better known as The Greatest Cookie Recipe Known to Man.

 

I asked Jacob what he thought it was. First, he said, “ABCs,” because he likes to point out words when he sees them. When asked again, he said, “Muffins,” which is true because it’s the same recipe we use for banana muffins. And for some reason when he helped me make the cookies, he kept calling them muffins.

 

I finally asked if maybe it looked like a choo-choo train. Pleasant boy that he is, he said yes. The proof that he believed me came after he started to open his gifts. The first was a remote control car. He used the remote on the car for a while, then walked over to the cake and pointed the remote at what was left of the “cake” after we’d all had a piece. It didn’t move, but my heart sure did.

 

 

Mom: 1; Food Allergies: 0.