Margarita Monday Leap Year

This isn't totally appropriate since the 29th isn't until Friday, but for your Margarita Monday treat, I found some Leap Year suggestions.

First of all, if you are feeling daring, you can try to make this Leap Year Cake. The recipe came from a 1906 cookbook. I think the frosting sounds kind of disgusting, but the cake is probably fine. I may even try to make the cake this afternoon. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Leap Year Cake

Take 1 cup of white sugar, 1/2 cup of butter, whites of 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of sweet milk, 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder, and 1 teaspoonful of vanilla.

Frosting: Beat the yolks with 15 teaspoons of pulverized sugar. Ice while the cake is hot.



Leap Year must have been a big deal in the early part of the 20th century because I also found a drink recipe from that era.

To wash down your cake, you can mix this traditional Leap Year Cocktail, which was supposedly invented in 1928 by a bartender at the Savoy Bar in London.

2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
Twist of lemon peel

Shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with the lemon twist.

Finally, tradition has it that Leap Year is the one day on which women are allowed to propose to men. Supposedly, St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick about women having to wait too long for men to propose. St Patty fixed this by stating that women were allowed to propose on Feb. 29. This was even made into law in Scotland, along with the addition that any man who refused the marriage proposal had to pay a fine. What do you want to bet that Scottish men were nowhere to be found on Feb. 29?

So, ladies, if you aren't married and want to be, Friday's your chance!