Before the Bake

~2 Large Eggs

"Alfred! The rooster's gotten out again!"

“Come on Sultan, you have a job to do" Alfred whispers as he bends down and picks up the runaway rooster, then puts him back in the pen.

“You know Netti…” He says as he walks up behind his wife while she is collecting eggs. He wraps his arms around her waist and says “He is old and tired. It’s not like he is faithful to his one and only, like me.” Then kisses her neck. "How's about making me a chocolate cake?"

“Oh Alfie!” she said, shrugging him off her body. “Better mind your pants. That’s how we had them, seven children.” He laughs, pats her on the bottom, starts to walk out, then turns back. “I’m going to get the truck ready. You wash them eggs and I’ll take them on over to the market.”

~1 ¾ Cup Flour

Greg and Nicole are walking in the park when he steps in front of her and takes her other hand. “Babe, I got the loan for the wheat farm!” She smiles and hugs him tightly. “This is wonderful news. I’m so happy for you. It’s everything you ever dreamed of!”

“Not everything.” He says as he drops one hand and takes a knee. Nicole gasps and covers her mouth with her free hand as he withdraws a little blue velvet box from his pocket. “None of this matters without you by my side. You have encouraged me and supported me through all of this. I’m asking you to be my partner, my lover, my best friend, and my wife. You and me, for the rest of our lives. Nicole St. James, will you marry me?” Nicole reaches down and pulls him up to face her. “If we are going to be partners, then we need to stand together. Sometimes in front of one another. Sometimes behind one another, but forever, beside one another. Yes, Greg Mosely, I will marry you.” They kiss passionately, then embrace one another. He lifts her into the air and happily swings her around before gently setting her down. They smile at one another then leisurely continue to walk hand in hand with Nicole leaning into her new fiancé. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and asks “So, what do you think we should call the farm?” She thinks for a moment, then says “Wheat dreams.”

~2 Cups Sugar

Francisco sat in the back seat of his limo. He was deep in thought as he was being driven through the country roads of Cuba where he lived in as a young boy. His silence was broken by the sounds of several children running alongside the car, which has now slowed down. He heard them shouting. “Amador! He is coming!” He wondered if it was a welcome or a warning.

Amador opened his door, then turned and sat in his old and worn leather wing-back chair. He picked up his cigar and the cutter then snipped off the tip and lit it as Francisco entered the room. Amador’s maid comes into the room drying her hands with the apron she is wearing around her waist. “Then it is true. He does know you. He always said he did, but I never….” Amador cute her off, “Juanita, my friend has come a long way. Perhaps he wants to quench his thirst.”

“Water is fine.” Francisco smiled took off his hat and walked apprehensively into the room. He gestured towards the sofa. “May I?” Amador raised his brow and nodded his head yes as he chewed in his cigar.

“Those your kids out there?”

"No!” He said, stamping out his cigar “It’s been 30 years since I’ve seen you, Francisco.”

"I know. I'm sorry Amador!" he said taking a deep breath. "My wife died. We had no children. I have amassed a vast fortune and, I have no one to leave it to.” Juanita walked with the drinks sat them down on the table, then quickly left. Amador stood up, walked over to the louver doors, and pulled them shut. Bowing his head to the door.

“Your fortune?” Amador asked without turning towards his old friend. “You mean the one you took for yourself when you ran away to Brazil.”

“Amador!” Francisco walked over and stood intimately close to him, and softly pleaded for Amador to understand. “They would have killed me had I stayed.”

Amador turns his body towards him. “You stole something more valuable than our business. You stole my heart.”

Francisco touched Amador’s face. “You can accuse me of taking your heart with me, but I left mine here with you.” He pushed himself off the door and walked over to the satchel he brought with him and pulled out a large manilla envelope, then handed it to Amador. “It’s all there. Your share and mine. You own the company.”

Amador looks at the envelope. It read “Amador Sugar Corp” He doesn’t open it and says “Where are you going?”

“I’m not going anywhere. Castro is dead. My life is here with you.”

~¾ Cup Cocoa

Crowds of people were laughing and talking at the 1892 exhibition. But the one that caught the eye of Jabby’s Taffee, was the dark pieces of rock that laid in baskets on a table no one was visiting. What was this mysterious thing? He walked over and asked the little boy at the table if he might have a taste. An older man roughly pushed the child out of the way. He gave Jabby a piece from a different plate.

Jabby’s face contorted and he spat it out immediately. “Why does it tastes like burnt dirt!” The old man laughed “I know who you are. You won’t be taking my recipe and making your taffy with it. This is my invention. I found it. I alone will sell it.” The little boy, tugged at Jabby’s coat under the table and handed him another piece, and whispered “It’s called cacao it’s from Africa. You have to mix milk and sugar with it and then it tastes like happiness in your mouth. Taste this.” He decided to trust the boy with the sunken-in eyes and bruised face and took another bite. Jabby loved it and took the recipe, and the little boy, named Hershel, back to the New World with him.

~1 ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda

David was a mischievous, gangly young boy. He was nothing like his twin brothers, Bo and Brice, who were star athletes in their high school years. His brothers protected him from bullies but teased him relentlessly at home, calling him the runt of the litter, because he was so small.

David and his best friends Earl, and Manny often found adventures in the hills, but they were told to stay away from the mines. But they knew their way around them, due to the times they didn’t obey their elders.

The foreboding that had steeped its emotional tentacles into the town of Green River, had finally come to fruition when an explosion rocked the small mining town.

David's brothers were in that mine. He and his friends rushed to the hills and pushed through the people who had gathered at the roadside. They overheard that the mine had collapsed over 3 miles down.

David heard all the complications of rescuing his brothers. But he wasn’t afraid and neither were his friends. They devised their own plan. They went to an abandoned part of the mine, that had been covered by shrubs decades earlier. They filled a small backpack with masks, a couple of flashlights, extra batteries, chalk, water, food, a pick hammer, and a small bundle of rope. David knew he was small enough to fit through most of the openings. His friends stayed up top to guard the opening.

After twelve hours, moving through small dense spaces, David found an empty refuge chamber. His heart fell, but his faith made him continue forward. Three more hours went by before he heard a clacking on the walls. The faint sound of voices drew him closer until he recognized the voices of his brothers. All eight men were dirty but very much alive. They tied themselves together and David led them to the refuge chamber where they found water and food before heading on their twelve-hour trek home.

Bo and Brice found a new respect for their younger brother. He was no longer called the Runt of the litter, but rather the Titan.

~A Pinch of Salt

“What did you find?” Seth asks Darby.

“I think it’s a part of a skeleton.”

“We better call the local Sheriff. Don’t dig anymore.”

“Wait. Look.” She says as she brushes away the debris around the skeleton. “There are two of them. Oh my God, they are holding one another!”

“We can’t touch them. They could be Chisca people. We will cause ourselves problems we don’t need. I knew this quick stop was a bad idea.”

“I don’t want you to call the Sheriff or anyone else. They will just dig them up and put them on display somewhere.”

“Then let’s just cover them back up and leave!”

“OK, but we can’t leave them like this. They will be found. They are not meant to be torn apart and dissected.“

“Darby, I think they're far beyond dissection here.”

“Seth! The salt marshes have dried up and made them vulnerable." She says wringing her hands “Let’s just dig deeper. We will bury them so deep no one will ever find them!”

“I’m pretty sure that is a crime and I am not about to...”

The sun hides beyond the mountain range. Darby and Seth are covered in dirt standing with their shovels next to the new grave.

“See, that wasn’t that hard. Only a few hours of time and we have buried their secrets forever.”

The Paleontologists, put their shovels in the SUV, and drive far away from the town called Saltville.

~1 Cup Milk

When Mildred was born into the Brown family, they had no idea she would be used as the famous painter, Requeforts muse. She was a silly little heifer who jumped and played all day long. She was nothing like all the other dairy cows. She was full-grown and yet to have a calf of her own.

Requefort found himself on a drive through the country when he saw Mildred prancing about the grass as if she were dancing. He was so amused he decided to set up his easel. He painted her eating, drinking, dancing, walking, kicking up her back hoofs, and jumping back and forth over a small hay bale. When he finished his last stroke, he hurriedly took his paintings to his editor and writer friend, Muriel, and together they wrote a children’s book about Mildred.

The day came that Mildred could no longer stay at the farm for she had no calf and no milk. She only cost the Browns money. They were just about to load her up onto the back of the truck when Requefort came to them and showed them his children’s book. He paid the Browns very well and had them deliver Mildred to his home where he had lots of land and all kinds of farm animals. Mildred soon had a calf and began to produce milk.

Requefort painted his first self-portrait with Mildred at his side, while he enjoyed a cold glass of milk dripping from his mustache.

~ Splash Vanilla

“Have you heard about the way they make imitation vanilla? It comes from the glands of a rodent's butt. Even that lovely vanilla smell in some perfumes comes from their derriere's. Turns out, we have been consuming it for over 80 years! Annnnd, you arrre welcome! Thank you for listening to "The Things you wish you didn't know" at WKBX. Coming up, “That Smell” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.”

Sean throws his feet up on the desk and enjoys a piece of his grandmother Netti's chocolate cake.