"Neither power outages, nor firemen can keep me from baking for this contest!"

So now that I don't work at the library, I can compete in the chocolate contest I started there! But I don't bake. I eat. Should I make something super-easy but over-the-top like bacon drizzled with fine chocolate?

After some hand-wringing, and chocolate eating, I decided to do something that requires more skill than frosting an Oreo.

I like dairy products. I love chocolate. I adore coffee. And I found a website called “allrecipes.com” and a recipe called “Chocolate Cappuccino Cheesecake” created by evil genius “Cigdem Buke” (is this a real name?).

I broke out the electric mixer and began talking to myself (because that's what great cooks do before they get their own television shows). And then as if I had crossed over into some forbidden territory, the power went out. Only in the kitchen. Ten minutes after I put my cheesecakes in the oven.

Right now readers may be muttering, “It's a sign from God, stupid”. I began muttering a few words myself. I ran up and down the stairs to the fuse box. I flipped switches off. I flipped switches on. Then all power went out. At this point I thought, “OK! I've learned my lesson! I'll never push cheesecake on people again!” And then I heard a heavy knock at the door.

It was a fireman here to inform me that power in the entire neighborhood would be going down for 1 or 2 hours due to some incident across the street. I threw a couple of cakes in the freezer to chill (yes, they had baked) and I slouched into the couch with a flashlight in my hand.

I could slouch and grumble for only so long before I remembered that I had not even tasted the cheesecakes I had been fighting so hard to make. One chomp into one of those wondercakes and, dear reader, I felt all better, ready to march into the Death by Chocolate Bake Off this Saturday.

Trust me. YOU won't have to fight power outages and flip your fusebox when you make your cakes and cookies. Join me Saturday at the Mount Horeb Public Library at 6:30 PM and I'll share with you what I now call “Electric Cheesecakes”!

Feel free to email Carol at bookluvn at yahoo.com.