A Turtle Is A Mom’s Best Friend

For some reason, this turtle cake evoked memories of my childhood. My siblings and I were very well-behaved kids. I can remember being punished just once my entire childhood and that was for eating forbidden candy. (My mother served candy for dinner for a week in an attempt to cure us of our sweet tooths (teeth?). Don’t even ask.)

However, when it came to gift-giving we repeatedly and reliably dropped the ball. Every time. It’s not that we were cheap. We simply weren’t skilled or imaginative shoppers. My mother had a fondness for chocolate-covered nutty caramel turtle-shaped candy….

Well, if it worked last Mother’s Day and the birthday prior to that, it couldn’t fail us this year, could it? You’d think her growing incredulity and disgust year after year would have given us a clue to try some – any – kind of other gift. (Although as I recall, she liked them enough to refuse to share the birthday Turtles with us.) I think I was at least 12 before we finally moved on to housewares and books.

I’d like to end this little anecdote by telling you that the turtle cake pictured above was in honour of her latest birthday. It wasn’t. However, in the intervening years I may have redeemed myself with other pretty decent gifts. In fact, after the last one, my mother told me I need never get her anything again as I’d never top it.

Which is a relief since they don’t even sell Turtles in Israel.