Food Historian

1 devil's food chocolate cake mix
1 – 3 oz. package chocolate instant pudding mix
1-3/4 c. milk
2 eggs
1 – 12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and pudding mix. If you store your mixing bowls on your lowest shelf and your dry mixes on your highest shelf, count reaching for the bowl as an upper body stretch and count reaching for the bowl - flat back - as a lower body stretch. To lift the bowl, bend your knees, grasp the bowl with your hands, tighten your abs and gluteus maximus, and use your quads to return to a standing position.

2. Add milk and eggs and beat until smooth - about 300 strokes with a hand whisk - count this as a forearm muscle-building activity - or about 2 minutes on medium speed with an electric mixer - sorry, no credit here.

3. Stir the chocolate chips into the batter. Exercise your willpower by not eating any of the chocolate chips. For an additional challenge, drop the chocolate chips into the batter one at a time.

4. Pour the batter into a well-greased and floured bundt or tube pan. If you store your flour on the highest shelf and your pans on the lowest shelf, see Step 1.

5. Bake the cake in a 350-degree oven for about 40-45 minutes. While waiting, exercise along with your favorite Jazzercise DVD and pretend Sam is Judy.

6. Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes, then invert it onto a platter. You may need to loosen it around both the outer and inner edges. If you store your platters, etc., etc.

7. Let the cake cool for another hour, then dust with powdered sugar. If you store your powdered sugar, etc., etc.

8. Serving suggestions: Serve the cake with vanilla ice cream or raspberry or orange sorbet. This Triple Chocolate Cake can easily become a Quadruple Chocolate Cake by drizzling dark chocolate syrup over the slices. Enjoy - after all that work, you deserve it!