... is something I thought of when I was at work today. A long day, going in early to be there when they first fire up the ovens in the bakery and begin to heat up the oil in the cooker for having hot fried chicken for Sunday lunch customers. The earliest arrivals in the produce department look at dates on all the fresh prep. stuff, discard those that must go away, and refill with fresh cut fruit, salads, and yogurt parfaits for shoppers as they prepare for a busy week ahead.
One of the people who was supposed to arrive at 5 a.m., failed to show up. She called to talk to department manager at a little after 6:00, and provided a lame excuse as her best offer. Reporting she spent the night at the ER with a friend, she could not get to work at all today. I asked why he did not tell her to go take a nap and come in late? But I've heard him say he knows people will call and say they are sick when they would rather miss a whole day than show up late: how that is advantageous I cannot fathom. As a part time worker I get no sick days or vacation time, so none of it makes sense to me.
The young man who was working in the prep. area with me had not expected to spend his day cutting fresh fruit, but willingly jumped into the position. I told him I would wrap, with the very thin plastic/shrink wrap, if he would cut watermelon just to speed things along. As I was getting the slices and quartered melons ready to price and put out in the cooler on the sales floor, I thought about watermelon cake.
You would laugh heartily if you could see a picture. Especially if I could find the photo I ripped out of a magazine years ago along with a recipe for making a cake that looked just like a slice of watermelon. I have amused myself all day thinking about it, and wondering who I made that hilarious cake for 'way back when. It really did look just like a wedge/slice of juicy red ripe watermelon.
Since I cannot find the original, I have tried to remember how the thing went together: starts a large bowl, that you put some tinted cake batter in, the vilest shade of green you can make with food coloring. I think you bake it to keep it in place, so the colors don't run together. Then you added a layer inside that of a lighter shade of green, to mimic the inner part of the rind that is nearly white. I guess you have to bake that as well. Then you tint the rest of the cake batter a heart-stopping red, add a few chocolate chips to represent the seeds, and put it back in the oven.
When it comes out, you flip the bowl over, and ice it with butter cream, tinted a dark green, adding stripes if you are truly ambitious. When you cut it half, then quarters, and serve smaller slices on plates, with a vivid imagination, it really does resemble wedges of fresh cut watermelon. Pretty funny. I remember my aunt was there when it was served, and talked for many years after the birthday about that unique cake. Wish I could find that page from the magazine, but I think I must have given it to some one who thought they would try to duplicate and make that amusing cake for a birthday.
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