美夫婦奇葩紀念日傳統:婚禮蛋糕吃60年

For the past 60 years, this Florida couple have been celebrating their anniversary by eating a piece out of their wedding cake – not a replica, the original one!

過去60年裏，這對來自佛羅里達的夫婦每年的結婚紀念日都要吃一塊他們的婚禮蛋糕—不是複製品，而是貨真價實的當年剩下的婚禮蛋糕！

Ann and Ken Fredericks were married on 19 August, 1955 and Ann's grandmother had baked a three-layer fruitcake for the occasion. The top layer of that cake, baked six decades ago, still exists in a metal Maxwell Coffee House can. “Every year, we unwrap it, pour brandy over it – because you need to moisten it – and we break off a piece,” Ann said.

安（Ann）和肯·弗雷德裏克斯（Ken Fredericks）於1955年8月19日結爲連理，當年安的奶奶爲了慶祝這一喜事親自烤了三層的水果蛋糕。這款蛋糕最上面那層現在已經60多“高齡”，但仍然保存在一個麥斯威爾金屬咖啡罐裏。安說：“每年，我們都打開包裝，在蛋糕上面倒滿白蘭地（因爲你得把蛋糕潤溼一點），然後掰下來一小塊。”

“Everybody just looks at us with amazed looks when they hear about it,” she added. “Our children are appalled that we would be eating something that's 60 years old. But believe me, it's quite tasty, as long as it's got enough brandy on it. And it's never made us sick.”

“每個聽到這件事的人都會驚訝地看我們，”她補充道。“我們的孩子們對於我們會吃60年前烤的蛋糕的事也是震驚萬分。但相信我，蛋糕的味道相當不錯，當然前提是你要倒足夠多的白蘭地。我們也從沒因爲吃這個身體不舒服。”

Back in the '50s, it was rather fashionable to have a fruitcake as a wedding cake. Ann's grandmother used the fruit that Ann's grandfather brought home from the docks in New York to bake a three-layer dark fruitcake for the wedding. It was baked a couple of months in advance, so it would have enough time to age and settle. A local bakery even covered it with a hard shell, to stop the fruit from bleeding through. A layer of buttercream frosting was added on the day of the wedding.

時間先撥回50年代，那時很流行用水果蛋糕做婚禮蛋糕。安的奶奶用她爺爺從紐約碼頭帶回家的水果爲她的婚禮烤了一個三層的黑色水果蛋糕。這個蛋糕還是提前了幾個月烤制的，爲的就是能有時間好好熟化。當地一家烘焙店還專門用硬殼將蛋糕包裹起來，以防止水果滲出。在婚禮那天，他們又在蛋糕上面加了一層奶油糖霜。

“When you looked at it, it looked like a three-layer white wedding cake,” Ann recalled. After the wedding, the couple saved whatever was left of the cake, and have savoured it every year since.

“當時它看起來就像個三層的白色婚禮蛋糕，”安回憶道。婚禮宴會過後，這對夫婦將剩下的蛋糕全部保存了下來，從那以後每年都要拿出來“品味”幾口。

Ann and Ken met as students at Syracuse University, and they lived in New York during the first few years of their marriage. But in 1968, they decided to follow Ken's parents to Florida. “Even though we were both from the Northeast, neither one of us liked the cold,” Ann said. “So after those two visits to the in-laws, we said we were going to move to Florida. And we never regretted it.”

安和肯在雪城大學（Syracuse University）讀書時相識，他們婚後前幾年都在紐約生活。但在1968年，他們決定跟肯的父母一樣到佛羅里達生活。安說：“我們兩個雖然來自美國東北部地區，但都不喜歡寒冷的氣候。所以我們在拜訪了兩次公婆後便決定搬去佛羅里達，對此我們從未後悔過。”

Ken, now 85, worked as a music teacher before he retired, while Ann, 81, was a nurse for 27 years. They've lived in their Satellite Beach home since 1971. Because their diamond anniversary happened to be on a weekday, they celebrated it with family and friends over the weekend. They were joined by their daughter Jean, and sons Ken Jr. and David. Nine of their grandchildren and two of Ann's bridesmaids attended the celebrations as well.

肯今年85歲，退休前一直是一位音樂教師，安今年81歲，之前當了27年護士。他們從1971年開始就一直住在衛星海灘（Satellite Beach）的家裏。因爲他們的鑽石婚紀念日恰好是工作日，所以他們就選在週末跟親友一起慶祝。當時他們的女兒簡（Jean）、兒子小肯（Ken Jr.）和大衛（David）、九個孫子還有當年安的兩位伴娘也都來一同慶祝。

The couple like teasing their children about it. Over the years, their kids and grandkids have always refused to take a bite of the ageing cake. “They won't taste it,” Ken said.

這對夫婦很愛用這個蛋糕戲弄他們的孩子。這些年來，他們的孩子和孫輩一直對品嚐這塊蛋糕唯恐避之不及。肯說：“他們都不願嘗上一口。”

“And we tell them, it tastes fine,” said Ann. “They always say, 'Oh, there's not that much. You two keep it for yourself.' I don't know, we may have to be buried with it.”

安說：“我們告訴他們說味道其實挺不錯的。他們總迴應說：'啊，剩下的也不多了，還是留給你們倆自己吃吧。'誰知道呢，我們到時候會帶着這蛋糕入土也說不定呢。”