Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 19:18:41 -0500 
From: "Mary A. Mark" <mmbt+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Black Death Birthdays (Recipe Included)

Callahan's is fairly crowded, and a number of people about the place
are indulging in servings of the Black Death, John and Chris's birthday cake.
Merrigold is still quite busy, handing out pieces of chocolate cake
and servings of whipped cream. 

However, she has finally managed to take the time to remove
her cook's apron and hat, and John Ockerbloom has kindly pointed out 
the chocolate smear on her face and helped to remove it (thank you, John).

Liralen Li and Danger Mouse have tried the cake, and seemed pleased with it.  
P'relan is looking satiated, and watching Birith, who is *still* indulging 
in a dragon-sized serving. Good thing Mary made *lots* of cake...

>P'relan says, "Ummmm...Mary, didn't you forget to put the proper
>warnings on the recipe?"

Merry looks a bit puzzled.  "I *thought* I'd mentioned all the relevant points.
Which one(s) did I miss?"

Into the breach steps Montemplar, who declaims:
>"M'lud, honourable members of the jury, I put it to you that the defendant is
>guilty of intent to cause grievous culinary and dietary harm by means of a
>cocoa-based confectionary of extreme proportions. I further propose that the
>only possible conclusion is that the aforementioned confection be removed
>from this place and disposed of without further delay!" ...

Merrigold, recovering from her initial horror at being arraigned on
suspicion of dangerous culinary activities, starts to smile, and then to
chuckle, at the sight of Montemplar in full legal regalia.  "Now,
Montemplar, I've heard of people practicing at the bar, but I didn't
know until now that they meant callahans!  Don't think I'll let you get
away with confiscating the rest of this cake in the name of justice! 
You'd have to prove *harmful* intent to make your charges stick, and I
doubt that any jury in callahans would convict me!  However, after that
oration, I'll certainly give you a slice."  

"Bribery! Corruption! I love it." mutters Montemplar, accepting his
piece of cake with a liberal dose of whipped cream, and a hug.

>The Urban Spaceman shimmers in to existence, virtual chocolate smeared
>around his mouth.

>"Thanks for the cake, Merry, I've never had one turn up on my terminal 
> before. The Gardener is going to put it together for the weekend, since 
> you were thoughtful enough to send the recipe. If only we knew what a
> bundt tin is (hint, hint.). Anyway, I reckon you deserve a hug for that.
> Here."

Merry emerges from the hug with yet another smear of chocolate on her cheek.
There seem to be some eternals in the universe... "Thanks for the hug, Urban
Spaceman. Please give my regards to the Gardener.  I'm glad you're going
to try the recipe.  I pretty much guarantee you'll enjoy it - though you
may need to invite friends over to help finish it off! Just a note: I
have now and again tried flavouring it with liqueurs... Very tasty.  As
for the bundt pan..."

Speaker to Minerals speaks up:
>A bundt pan is like a tube pan (you know, the kind you make angels-food cake
>in, except instead of being smooth, the sides are scalloped.  An ordinary tube
>pan should make an acceptable substitute.

"What he said!" says Merry. "Basically, any pan that's shaped sort of like
a doughnut (ie. ring-shaped with a hole in the centre) should be ok. 
The Bundt pans just look a little fancier than an angel-cake pan does. 
I'd guess that the pan should be about 12 or 14 inches across, and the
sides of the pan should be fairly high, maybe six inches.  It is a
fairly large recipe, and it does rise quite a bit, so you may want to
put a cookie sheet on a lower rack in the oven, in case of spillovers. 
I sometimes do that, just to be safe, if I'm not sure how well a recipe
will fit the pan I'm using... If you don't have a ring shaped cake pan,
a more normal cake pan will work, but I'd be careful to check it while
it's cooking, in case differences in thickness affect cooking time."

The Urban Spaceman continues...
>"On a side issue, the choco-mail that you sent me arrived Monday 16th, whil
> the cake, at least from my perspective, only appeared in Callahan's today,
> Wednesday 18th. This confirms my suspicion about periodic cyberlag in the
> networks.

"Yes, I suspected that might happen - that's why I take the liberty of using
email as well as posting.  Just be glad it's not snail-mail - I sent a couple
of books off to Simon last week, and they told me that surface mail
would take about two months to get to the UK!" (Don't worry, Ignatz - I
used the faster method, NOT the surface mail, after they told me that!)

The Urban Spaceman offers to buy the drinks, and makes a toast.  Mary joins
him, ordering a glass of Blueberry tea (hot tea flavoured with Amaretto
liqueur) from Mike.  A pleasant cold-weather drink...

> "To Friends, Chocolate, Birthdays, and Whisky, but not necessarily in that
>  order."

"Agreed!"

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Mary Mark                    email: mmbt+@andrew.cmu.edu
Department of Psychology    "I want to lie shipwrecked and comatose,   
Carnegie Mellon University   drinking fresh mango juice.
Pittsburgh,PA                Goldfish shoals nibbling at my toes"
U.S.A.                       
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Newsgroups: alt.callahans