The Recipe

Culinary masters are known for their "secret sauce." It's their unique combination of high-quality ingredients, refined techniques, and deep understanding of flavor layering.

Chocolate Cake

Growing up, I frequently indulged in “Currey Cake.” I wanted seconds and thirds every time cupcakes popped out of the oven, wafting their sweet aroma. They were delectable – even without frosting! As a family, we guarded my Grandmother Currey’s recipe, never sharing it with others. We especially kept secret the ingredient that made the chocolate dessert so deliciously moist and dense. No one could ever guess what it was!

Or so I believed until my brother posted a question on Facebook about vintage recipes. I was horrified to learn that someone else had what looked like Grandma’s "receipt"* – in her handwriting!

Others revealed that they had the recipe, too. I noticed, however, that there were subtle variations in proportions and even in ingredients in the different versions. Each added a subtle twist, creating a slightly different flavor.

Chocolate Composition

Master writers have a "secret sauce" too. It involves a unique combination of well-chosen words, elegantly styled expressions, and deft layering of imagination. Tiny but mighty details give writing its spark, its unique voice. Voice mixes the magic in.

Though I’ve taught writing for many years, I’ve seldom shared the voice of my own creative work. I’m starting this blog to publicize my compositions – mostly poems, some memoir entries, random ramblings about the charm of words. Dear readers, I hope you will return the favor (if you regard it as such) and let me know what you think.

This is a free-verse poem inspired by my grandmother’s chocolate cake recipe card.

• "Receipt" is the old-fashioned term for "recipe" – both derive from the same Latin word, and in early use 'receipt' was the word for written cooking instructions.

The Recipe

Titled “Chocolate Cake,”

the card’s yellowed with age,

inked in blurred cursive,

splattered and stained

with brown batter.

Just so, my words are scribed –

sweet-smudged images –

delicious favorites like frabjous

on a faded scrap of paper

tucked in an old journal,

waiting to be stirred to life.

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Let me know what you think. Please comment below.