The Amish Cook - White Texas Sheet Cake

By Gloria Yoder

“Mom, it landed in the wrong spot. I thought it was going in this row.”

It seemed a bit strange; I kept watching Hosanna as she played Connect Four with her brother. I few minutes later it happened again. “It landed in the wrong row.”

Having dealt with double vision myself, I wondered about it. Connect Four tiles were not that little at all and the rows not that long... I hadn’t noticed before that she could be dealing with a similar situation that I’ve had for as long as I can remember.

Long after the game my mind kept returning to her exasperation of having the tiles not landing in the correct hole. I held up a finger and asked her if she sees a single distinct finger or if it looks more like a double one. She didn’t hesitate, “It’s more like two.”

“That’s okay, that’s how it is for me too,” I assured her. I wondered if she too, would need to live life from a platform of seeing extra shadows and outlines. Part of me was sad for her, on the other hand there was that ray of hope within. Perhaps we were just coming across an answer that would boost her with her schoolwork. She loved school, yet it took extra effort to stick with it.

When I told Julia about it, she wondered if Hosanna has any headaches. Why yes! Why didn’t I catch on sooner? The next day I called for an appointment with a local eye doctor.

As we waited for the appointment the following week, I couldn’t help but think of my girlhood days and the times I saw the eye doctor with no answers in sight. I wondered what Hosanna’s verdict would be and prayed to the God who does all things well.

She was filled with nervous excitement and thought the appointment would not come soon enough. On Tuesday afternoon we picked her up at school and headed for the optometrist’s office. My mother also needed to have her eyes checked, so we decided to do it together. I was most grateful to have her with us.

Upon our arrival Hosanna took her seat on the big chair. The nurse asked a list of questions and briefly evaluated her eyesight then told us Doctor will be in soon.

It didn’t take Hosanna long to like her doctor. She was a kind individual who was clear with her explanations and confident in what she did.

She explained that with Hosanna being far sighted her eyes are straining to do the up-close stuff and went on to tell that glasses will help correct the problem and making reading easier.

“So are you suggesting that this may help her with her at school?” I asked.

Nodding her head she explained how her eye strain was taking much of her energy. “These children are usually the ones chosen as not paying attention, due to all the effort it takes to stay focused on what they are seeing,” she explained.

Gratitude to God welled up within me, how could I tell this lady how much this meant to me? What if we did not have people trained to help with situations like this? I asked for a tissue and told her how it means so much to see a step in the right direction for my daughter. I lightly touched on the fact that, as a single mom with six children, every bit makes a huge difference. 

There were several last tests for Hosanna before the final prescription was determined. “What picture do you see?” she was asked.

“A cake.”

“What’s your favorite kind?”

I smiled at Hosanna’s response, “Chocolate.”  She’s my chocolate girl, to her everything’s better with chocolate.

“My favorite is white with white icing,” commented the eye doctor.

Today in honor of the kindness shown to Hosanna we’ll do her eye doctor's favorite- white cake with white icing. Maybe next week Hosanna can help me bake one and drop it off for her at the office.

White Texas Sheet Cake
2 1⁄4 cups flour
2 cups white sugar
2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup margarine
1 cup water
3 eggs
1⁄2 cup butter milk
1 tsp vanilla
Measure flour, sugar, soda, and salt into a bowl. Bring margarine and water to a boil, add to dry
ingredients. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Bake at 350* for 25 minutes or until done. Batter will be
thin.

Fluffy White Icing
3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup Crisco
1⁄2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup boiling water
2 drops butter flavored
Combine everything in a bowl and beat very well