by Chef Randy
That there is an extra day in the month of February may have escaped you. After all, who has time, for crying out loud, to notice that this is Leap Year? Why do we even have a Leap Year anyway, you might ask? Isn’t Daylight Saving Time bad enough? Blame it on Julius Caesar who replaced a totally adequate Roman calendar in 45 BCE adding an extra day to the month of February every four years to balance things out. February, at that time, was the last month of the year.
Then to muddle things a little more, the Gregorian calendar, known today as the Western Calendar, was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1852. It replaced the Julian calendar as a more accurate way to calculate dates for Easter. Don’t ask me why. The answer is tedious.
The good news is that as I was doing research for Leap Year, I saw this Leap Year recipe on a 1908 postcard that was offered on eBay for $24.97 plus $3.95 for shipping. I wondered if shipping meant they placed a 49-cent Forever Stamp on it, mailed it via USPS, and kept the difference. I may be cynical about Leap Year but whoever penned the prose on this postcard was a dyed-in-thewool romantic.
Here’s the recipe taken verbatim from the postcard: Take one armful of pretty girl, 1 lovely face, 2 laughing brown or blue eyes, 2 rosy cheeks and 2 lips like strawberries. Mix well and press to lips. The result will be astonishing.
For frosting take one piece dark piazza and a little moonlight, and press into one large or small hand so as not to attract attention, 2 ounces of romance and 1 or 2 whiskers. Dissolve onehalf a dozen glances into a quantity of hesitation and 2 ounces of yielding. Place kisses on blushing lips or cheeks. Flavor with a slight scream and set aside to cool.