With freshly painted hues flanking northern and eastern facing windows, our kitchen sings the blues while most who live here slumber deeply into the inky early morning hours. As we wake one bear at a time and trudge through our early morning routine with a steaming mug of cacao to get us through until mid-afternoon nourishment, the gathering darkness of the previous night breaks when that special morning star wants to shine through.Approaching Storm, by Glidden has a dramatic, reflective quality that defuses all forms and shapes that secretly emerge in the morning light. It’s quite comforting and I am loving it as I wiggle my naked toes in my fuzzy slippers. And yet while I can’t tame an approaching winter storm, I am bewitched by it from my pacifying blue walls. They lusciously cocoon me from the extreme elements while looking so sumptuous.

The heart of the nest, the kitchen is where we spend a lot of time so what we have been missing the most the intriguing ocean was coated over our walls to subconsciously transport us there. Everyone thought of it as dangerous and unmastered…“the trim too please, just paint it all to blend, I don’t want to see any white!” I repeated numerous times to the aghast-faced listeners. “You need to unify the house with the white trim,” they barked back. “No I need to remove boundaries and create the illusion of the infinite ocean,” I pleaded. The afternoon light is my favorite, it’s when I scrape together hot meals or in this case a birthday cake.

I’m singing to another kind of blues as my oldest bear is approaching my height, which scratching at 5’3” (I’ll round up to feel taller) isn’t too difficult. By end of the summer, he will no doubt surpass me and I will no longer be able to kiss him on top of his sweetly-scented head unless I’m sporting heels. Even little bear has sprouted up after turning another year older. The painting project came just in time for her small but oh so sweet celebration…cheers to the terrifically fabulous two’s, even if her burst of independence has me singing more blues. It’s okay for now, I am enveloped in the depth of my redolent marine walls and irretrievably blissful that I dared to cross over to the dark side. I also dared to put tahini in my cake and it was the most delicious treat I have ever made…all bears agreed as their little paws were all over the prize even before I finished it off with tahini butter cream and “sprinkles” black sesame seeds.

The recipe is from tahini charmer, Molly Yeh and look at her infectious smile…her space is always so festive and fun and she’s got lots more ideas with those tiny cream sesames. The buttercream topping is a surprising marriage of butter and tahini, I introduced a touch of maple syrup to swirl and dance in the velvety smooth texture and to intensify the sweet side. It is a special birthday cake after all. What’s especially wrong, eating one or more? Give it a go and decide for yourself. Same applies for your next painting project, try a bolder look and blend the hue to master an infinity look. Try a wall first and live with it for a day or two before committing. Happy creating! Also, a note to finicky eaters, don’t mention that you slipped tahini in the mix and frosting. I didn’t but middle bear kept asking if there was peanut butter in it and when he scraped his last bite off his plate and only when he asked for more is when I dropped the bomb. I told him his taste buds were almost right that they were seeds I stirred and whipped into the cake, but not peanuts, the mysterious ingredient was a velvety tahini or sesame seeds…more aghast looks from my bears, but they carried on to finished their second pieces and we ate Cake by the Ocean!