One- more or less

I was making cupcakes yesterday and the package said it made 24 cupcakes. That was fine since there are only six of us for dinner. However, the batter only made 23 cupcakes. So, ok what if you really needed 24, I thought to myself.
That got me to thinking. You know the box of cake mix makes 24 and then of course, your kid had 25 children in his class so you had to make 48 cupcakes just to get that extra one. Would it kill the cake mix folks to make a mix that makes 30 cupcakes?
When my son was in kindergarten, he wanted to take cupcakes to school for this birthday. What kind did he want? Tom and Jerry--you know, the cartoon characters. There were no Tom and Jerry little toppers so I cut brown and gray construction paper ears and made tan and gray(yes, gray) frosting and used uncooked spaghetti for whiskers. Oh my gosh, I even had a full time job then!
For my daughter's first birthday, I made a Raggedy Ann and Andy cake. It was one of those with a mold and you had to squeeze out the little rosettes to cover it. OHMYGOSH! I nearly sent myself to the loony bin! I had never done such a thing before and it is harder than it looks and takes forever. I will never forget that cake--I just didn't even want to cut it or (especially) eat it after I was done.
I am a real cake hound. I love cake of all kinds. Old fashioned wedding cake, with white frosting and white cake is my favorite. Oh, I miss old Hough bakery. They made the best wedding cake. I love coconut cake too. Oh, and chocolate. I love cake that has lemon filling between the layers or raspberry filling. I love cake with lots of layers or just a flat old picnic cake.
I have made two cakes from scratch in my life. This year. I made a chocolate three layer cake with chocolate ganache frosting for my husband's birthday. Doesn't it sound yummy? I watched some old lady on Martha Stewart make it so I knew I could do it. It was AWFUL!!! Very dry and kind of crooked(the crooked part was all me).
Then I just got a taste for cake and decided to make a 1234 cake like I saw on Paula Deen. I got the recipe from the website and whipped it up one evening. It made three layers too and I didn't really make enough frosting so it was just okay.
My son told me the other day that he thought the second cake was good and I was getting better at cakes. I told him I thought I would stick to the box and he said good. He is right. I think I'd rather have not enough cake than too much!
Remember how Marie Antoinette said Let them eat cake? I'm all for it as long as the group is not any bigger than 24 and there is a box mix in the house!