For the Birds......

My grandmother always tells this funny little story about one of her first attempts at cake baking...

It was early in her marriage to my grandfather, who loved to eat. One of the things he enjoyed as a treat was chocolate cake. Now, my grandmother who was a very good cook thought how hard could this be. She found a recipe for a chocolate cake from a magazine that looked not only good but easy to make. One of the ingredients that the recipe called for was one square of baking chocolate. My grandmother looked at the whole bar and decided that it was one whole square and proceeded to melt it down and stir it into the cake batter. The batter looked smooth and silky as she poured it into the cake pans. It smelled even more delicious as it was baking. Once out of the oven, cooled, layered and iced it was gorgeous. My grandfather couldn't wait for the first slice. My grandmother with great love and pride put a nice big slice on a plate. My grandfather took a big bite.......and his mouth puckered like he had just eaten a lemon. She felt bad, he felt bad. She just couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. When telling my Aunt everything she put in the cake my Aunt just laughed. She said; "Caroline 1 tiny square from the bar, not the whole bar"! They had a good laugh, my Aunt said give the cake to the birds. So my grandmother put the cake outside for the birds, which the birds wouldn't eat either.......

and we've been laughing ever since.