Mary and Bob have been back from their honeymoon for two weeks when Bob came home from work saying he’d invited four friends from the office home for dinner on Friday.

Mary is a bit apprehensive as she asks if she must cook a meal for them all. Bob explains that there will actually be eight coming, as each has a spouse or date. Since this is her first party, he consoles her by saying that all she has to do is get some food in and perhaps she can bake a cake.

Friday morning wife calls the office in tears. She explains that the only cake recipe she has will only feed six. Hubby says, “why don’t you just double the recipe?” She decides that is a good idea.

At four, hubby gets another phone call — this time quite frantic. “I just can’t do it,” wifely weeps. “It’s impossible.”

“Now, now, what’s the matter?” “Well, their recipe calls for two eggs…”

“So, you use FOUR eggs. Don’t you have them?”

“Yes — then it needs 4 cups of flour.”

“Well,” Bob says rather testily, “you will have to use 8 cups of flour — what is the problem?”

“It isn’t the ingredients,” Mary cries, “it says that the cake must be baked at 350 degrees and I have checked the oven and I can’t turn the heat up to 700 degrees!”