Last week, Iris, my next-door neighbor, asked if I could help her bake a cake.

She wanted to take something homemade to a family gathering and knew I always baked something for our monthly building-association meetings. I said I’d be happy to lend her a hand.

I told her I’d get what we needed from the store and that she could come by on Friday evening. I thought brownies would be easiest for her first try. If she wasn’t happy with the way they turned out, we’d still have time to bake something else on Saturday morning.

On Friday night, Iris came over with a bottle of wine. I’d told her to wear something cool since we’d have the oven on. She had on a t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops, and I was dressed just as comfortably, but barefoot. I put on some music, and we had... Read More