Poem A Day for April 13, 2009

I'm still on my daughter's computer and I miss my MAC soooo much!!!! There's nothing like having eight windows open at once and being able to go to each one without having to click off the others. I know PC users will say it's the same as having tabs open, but it isn't. :)

Anyway, today's prompt asked us to talk about our hobbies. I was going to write about my Betty Boop collection, which is pretty extensive - not taking up a whole room, but I have stuff all over the house including a Betty Boop clock. Her legs move in time to the seconds, very cool. You hear them go back and forth like a grandfather clock.:) But I decided against this, because though I love her, what else is there to say?:) Instead I thought of another hobby of mine, which is baking. I love to bake and according to my daughter, I bake some things better than others. She's not thrilled about my chocolate cake, probably because I always ice it too soon and the icing melts. But we eat all of it anyway. I wish I could wait for it to cool, but the smell drives us all crazy. So I have to ice it warm. But the taste is always great!:) She's a very picky eater. (I can rationalize to make myself feel better.:)


Here is my poem for today:

Baking a chocolate cake

It starts with a mere whisper of thought
How the kitchen smells when the cake
is in the oven. The taste of freshly baked
chocolate cake, moist and sweet in my
mouth. Sliding over my tongue as it reaches
to catch more flavor.

Two round eight inch cake pans receive
the butter pat I rub against the bottom
and sides until both pans wear the butter
Like a coat.

Melt the chocolate
Glass bowl over boiling water
Mix with butter and the aroma
overpowers the kitchen
I want to dip my finger into the
steaming hot melted mass and it
Tantalizes my senses creeping
through nostrils and into my
Stomache begging me to taste

Organic brown eggs at
room temperature are best
Measure the flour, sift til it’s soft as silk
Some falls like indoor snow onto the floor
and clings to my hands and apron
Add measured spoonfuls of baking powder and salt
Wooden spoon, worn smooth from years of stirring
mixes the separate into the whole.

Mixer whirrs with eggs and sugar
Turning them lemon-colored
Add the vanilla, just a teaspoon
Smell entices me closer to the
liquid but the taste is bitter
Cooled rich chocolate creates
a marble finish until the beater
Turns it dark brown

Add the flour mixture alternate
with fresh cold milk –flour, milk
Flour, milk until the batter is thick
yet pourable ready for the pans
Watch as the ribbons of mahogany
fill the space in the pans. Tap once
or twice to settle the contents.
Place in the oven until done
Remember the timer. Wait
for the aroma to overtake
the kitchen as my tastebuds
await the moment.
copyright 2009 by Barbara Ehrentreu

I tried to get a picture of a piece of chocolate cake that I could have gotten easily with my MAC, but can't seem to grab it. So you have to imagine it yourself. I hope the poem does that for you.:)

Until the next time, please let me know your comments about the poem. I've already posted it on Poetic Asides with Robert Brewer, but didn't include the prompt today. Anyone who is interested can go to the website and see it.:)

Hope I'll be back on my own computer tomorrow.