A true Christmas urban legend

[snopes]

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/a...1/1014/OPINION

You've all heard the story of revenge of a woman who asked a Neiman Marcus waiter for the recipe for the delicious chocolate chip cookies. She was told it was "two fifty," only to discover on her credit card bill she was charged $250. Enraged, she then shared the recipe with everyone she knew.

This is considered an urban legend because the name of the restaurant and type of dessert is not consistent. In the 1980s, Mrs. Fields took the blame. The earliest tracing goes back to 1948 when a woman was charged a whopping $25 for a recipe of "red velvet" fudge cake. Although versions of this recipe appear on the Internet, the name of the woman (no matter which version) to which this happened is never revealed. Urban legends are often told as happening to a (no-name) friend of a co-worker, or "someone my cousin knew." Nowadays, "I got it off the Internet" works about the same.

My true Christmas urban legend has to do with me, Sandy Carlson, and a delicious dessert. There. I gave my name; therefore this validates the truth of the story, although by the end of this article you can see how it will sound remarkably like one of those urban legends.