One of the more infamous stories of our family, this one features Dad, the kids, and a cake mix. Beer may have been involved.
My recollection:
I was small. 5 or 6 maybe? Dad had us kids because mom was at one of her card clubs (she played Canasta with a group of her friends, something she really enjoyed and that was a really big deal).
I remember it being evening, maybe we had gone to LeSourdsville Lake (an amusement park) that night? When we got home, somehow Dad got in his head that he was going to make a pineapple upside down cake.
I remember there being a yellow cake mix, lots of pans, and a very large mess. What emerged (after overflowing the pan into the oven) was a sort of an overly browned gooey, sticky mess that was delicious.
I know that there was a huge mess in the kitchen only from mom telling us the stories afterwards – she was NOT pleased.
Yeah, pretty sure beer was involved.
Okay, older sisters, what happened? Obviously I don’t have the deets…
I have heard you and Jan talking about this baking extravaganza, but I don’t remember anything except what is now the urban legend.
Really? You weren’t there? Jan, was this just another of my hallucinogenic episodes?
My recollection is that Mom was gone to another friend’s house for card club so Dad had free rein. He never would have considered using the stove otherwise. (The grill is another matter… for another post.)
I am sure there was beer involved. It was evening. Stop. He was taking care of three daughters he adored but generally did not care for solo. Stop. He liked himself a beer. Stop.
It was an upside down cake but cherries AND pineapple was too much. So, he dumped a can of cherry pie filling in the bottom of the cake pan and mixed up the boxed cake mix. He poured the entire batter in the pan and sat down with his brood to wait for his triumph.
Probably 30 minutes later, smoke began filling the kitchen as the molten lava of cherry pie filling and the expanding dome of cake began spilling onto the floor of Mom’s pristine oven.
I have blotted out the aftermath to avoid counseling bills…
I must have blotted out the entire incident.
As an aside…this post made me so hungry for pineapple upside down cake, which is a favorite of mine, that I made one last night in my iron skillet. It was a hit and the oven remained clean. I totally skipped the cherries after reading this post.