Men ♥ Lemon; Women ♥ Chocolate

I'm a little behind on posting anything.  Had a fine Christmas and New Year's - how about you?

In preparing for an Occasion tomorrow, we decided to make two desserts.  Claire chose chocolate cake "with thick frosting," which totally reminded me of one of my very favorite books, Gone-Away Lake, by Elizabeth Enright.  Doesn't this sound scrumptious?:

“On the table, where four places were set, there was a chocolate cake under a glass bell.  Julian noted with pleasure (so did Portia) that it was a triple decker, with the frosting laid on one inch thick.
‘It is my belief that a fudge cake should be built,’ Mrs. Cheever said, ‘strong and thick, the way the Mexicans build adobe houses.’”

-”Gone Away Lake” p. 82

Mmm mm.  I'm with Mrs. Cheever, who, by the way, is the sweetest old lady in all of literature.  When we first listened to our audio of Gone-Away Lake, I had to stop the tape to ask Claire, who had already read the book, if anything bad happens to Mrs. Cheever (or "Minnie" as she is also known, short for Minnehaha.)  I adored her and I simply could not continue the story if she came to a sad end.  Happily, she doesn't.  And yes, absolutely everything reminds me of a book.

Hailey's choice for dessert was lemon bars.  She wrote to her Nana for the best lemon bar recipe ever and is busy baking them as we speak.  

We had a talk the other day about lemon and chocolate.  I explained, as every mother should, that women love chocolate and men love lemon.  This is true!  Okay, I could not find any evidence on the internet to support this (though I did look), but many years of anecdotal experience have taught me this.  I told Hailey that the true way to a man's heart was lemon bars, but that she should save this knowledge until the right time, or the right man, comes along, because it's powerful stuff.

Of all the things I don't fully understand about the opposite sex, this is the one that really stumps me.  When you could have a chocolate experience like the one described above, why on earth would you choose lemon?!  I mean, there's nothing wrong with lemon; it has it's place, and I'm not adverse to nibbling a lemon bar, but if chocolate is a possibility, there is simply no contest.  Why would there be?

So girls, save the lemon bars for wooing, but when baking for your friends, go with chocolate!