The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Betty Crocker is perfect. She bakes flawless pies and gives sage advice, such as: "A fricasse without dumplings is like a wedding without a bride." Also, unlike another domestic goddess that we know of, she's never been in the slammer. It's easy to be the perfect woman, though, when you don't actually exist. An invention of General Mills, Crocker was created to sell flour and serve as the company's face.

One of life’s great truths—one that we desperately seek to avoid with proverbs and catechisms and even magazine articles—is that beneath its surface lies complexity. Our beloved fictions of heroes and villains crumble with scrutiny, leaving only convolution, shifting meanings, and unstable realities. The same is true of things. Even the simplest object has its hidden history of longing, love, and despair. Take, for example, cake. Chiffon cake.