From Grammy to Google

When your grandmother dies, especially if she was a baker and a cook and a knitter, you suffer so many kinds of loss. When you can’t remember how to pick up a dropped stitch or how much mayo goes in her chicken divan or how many extra-large eggs you need in a recipe that calls for large (four per five), you get a pang. We used to discuss important matters like these during midnight phone calls.

For my girlfriend’s fortieth birthday party Saturday night, I plan to make Martha Stewart’s Cocoa Buttermilk Cake, but, as she’s not a graduate, and rectangular cakes seem a bit youthful (I’d like to make her feel older, since I’ve got three years on her), I’m trading the two 8x12 pans for two 9-inch rounds. But will it work?

While Google can never replace your grandmother (it doesn’t notice when you’ve gained weight, never tells you it liked your hair better another way, and can’t make chopped liver or love you, for instance), it sure comes in handy when you’re looking for cake pan size conversions. The answer is yes.

But the bigger problem is that this recipe serves just 12-15 (ten, if the guests are all me), and this party has more than twice that. Looks like I'll be making another of Martha's cakes (two layers, though, not three).

Friday and Saturday will be messy days in my kitchen. And I will miss my grandmother a hundred times.