a piece of cake...for 200 people

I needed a lot of this...

 and a bunch of this...

The girls had been laying up a storm, good thing since I needed about 20 eggs for the cake.

Everyone always wants to know what my secret recipe is for my Chocolate cake.  It isn't such a big secret...

I use the Hershey's 'Perfectly Chocolate' Chocolate Cake recipe.  I do tweak it a little, but this is one of the best cakes I have ever made. It bakes nice and level, is dense and very moist.

After all the baking was done it was time to get down to decorating.  This cake was for the Cub Scout Banquet for the boys who were crossing over to become Boy Scouts.

    

I put a crumb coat on it and carved the trail to go up the mountain.

Here it is frosted and I put chocolate chip cookie crumbs down for the mountain trail.

Fondant canoe for the water.

Setting up camp on the top with fire, marshmallows and sleeping bag.

adding some of the water

adding trees, grass and rocks along the trail.

everything was edible except for the string for the fish, the bridge

and the sticks for the marshmallows. 

It was a great celebration for the boys and everyone loved the cake

(which made all of the hours I put into it worth while)

Next year my youngest crosses over and the cake will need

to be just that much more special..

time to get planning...

 

Blue and Gold

It is that time of year again for me.  It is Blue and Gold time aka banquet for

Cub Scouts and the boys moving up to Boy Scouts. 

I am a Cubmaster of our pack, yes it has taken me a few years to say

'I am a Cubmaster' with a

straight face.  My friends totally bust me for it,

but hey someone had to do it and I was tired of

it being done sub par.

We have a HUGE pack.  There are 84 boys and organizing 84 boys and families can be exhausting.
Thankfully we have a really good team in place that works really hard, but when things go bad
everyone always looks to the leadership.  So much to do to get ready but my big job is the cake. 
We have about 200 people in attendance so that is a lot of cake.

Last year I had a clear vision and was happy how I executed it.  I had just gotten back from vacation and had 2 days to put it together.  On top of that my MIL was here and y'all know how that can put me over the edge.

This is what I made last year:

It was all chocolate. I smelled like chocolate cake for days.  I couldn't get the smell out of my hair. 
I need to start baking tomorrow night.  I have so much to do, with just a sketch and 'kind of a vision' for the cake for this year.  I am nervous...

the welcome wagon

I remember when I was a kid my friend moved to a quaint New Hampshire town.
I had gone to stay with them for a few weeks right after their move and what do you know?
The welcome wagon showed up.  It was the first and last encounter I ever had with a welcome wagon.  I remember my friend's mother giving some, shall we say "nonfactual information" to said welcome wagoner.  You know, to give appearances that they were keeping up with the Jones.  Truth be told they had moved from a very small house in MA to a much bigger one in NH and did not have furniture to fill it up.
She made up a story about all the 'things' that they were waiting to arrive from MA. 
My friend and I giggled around the corner as we new that this was not true.
I will admit it, kids can be real tools and we were. 
Now that I am grown, the lady from the welcome wagon who visited my friend's mother
seemed more like trying to get the low down on the family than
actually welcoming them to the town,
but anywho I can be a little jaded at times....

I have my own welcome wagon.

Every time they see any human activity they gather and welcome.  

Some act happy to see us.

Some squawk like they have something to take up with the landlord,

but most of all they want to know what is in it for them...

some old bread, or other yummy kitchen scraps.  

No pretense and I love them for it.

I did partake in some post game misery.  I didn't shower, I'm not exactly sure when the last time I brushed my teeth and I have eaten more chips and cookies today than I care to truthfully disclose. 

I am dedicating this year to my year of health.  Last week I learned of a woman who was 5 years older than me and dropped dead from a heart attack.  I have to get my shit together here people.  I have to get and feel healthy.  I am going to take a shower and brush my teeth now, detox from cookies and chocolate tomorrow and develop my plan.  I am so happy I have picked this week as a I will be making a chocolate cake big enough to feed 200 people frosted with my delish butter cream frosting.  I can do this...I will keep you posted.

No yo soy fiesta...

I am no party... I am sad.
My Patriots lost.  And when I say they lost, I mean they lost. No bad calls, just bad plays and missed opportunities.
I will not dwell... I am a New Englander.  We roll with it and deal. 

This is my Super Bowl as I wish to remember it:

- I wore my Gronkowski shirt all day and loved it!
- My 9 year old actually watched some of the game with us.
- My mom, dad and sister joined us for a pregame feast of steaks, roasted potatoes and blue cheese wedge salads.
- My sister made hoodie cup cakes. They looked so good and tasted so good too.

- The Doritos commercial with the dog with the note "You didn't see nuthin" was my favorite. Though the "Here we go" Bud and the Ferris Bueller commercials ran a close second.
- I will not be a hater, Madonna rocked the half time show!
- The Patriots lost because they lost. The safety, Welker's missed reception, 57 seconds left and 2 incomplete passes.  WTF you can't win with that.

It was a fun season.  I love the Patriots and watching all of the games.  Truth be told, unless my Pat's are in the super bowl I don't watch it, could really care less about it.  Until next year boys!

I have a good buzz...time for nun nights and to dream happy thoughts...

t'was the night before the super bowl...

When all through the house, not an electronic was buzzing not even the TV.

The penalty flags were snug with all of the other party favors,

With the hopes of touchdowns buzzing in the air.

The jerseys were hung in the closet with care...

with visions of game day that is on its' way.

With a quick stop to the stadium to enjoy the excitement of the day...

Now Brady, now Gronk, now Welker and Light! 

Now Hernadez, now Wilfork, now Woodhead and Faulk!

Now Chung, now Green-Ellis, now Branch and even Ochocinco ! 

Bring that title home, Patriots' Nation is waiting!

Where on earth....

has this chick been?

Things have been busy...

We attended the Northeast Poultry Congress Show in Springfield, MA on January 26th.  Chicken stuff like this is usually reserved for just Pappa Chick and I, however we decided to make it a family day so I also dragged my husband and my 14 year old. I did have to bribe my 14 year old with the promise of Chicken and Dumplins at Cracker Barrel on the way home.

Let me just say, there were A LOT of chickens in da house! My little Pappa Chick wanted to go up and down every row of poultry.  Now I enjoy chickens just as much as the next chick, however I also have a very short attention span.

Being the bad mother that I am and seeing my husband and 14 year old's eyes completely glazed over.  I tried to move things along. I told PC that some of the rows were closed for judging and we had to skip them.

There were some really nice chickens...

there were these cuties, I just love any buff chicken.

Then the traditional Reds...  

and who doesn't just love a prize winning turkey?

This chick has also been cheering for the AFC champion Patriots.  Go Pats! In honor of the AFC game and the party we had, I tried my hand at a little chalk art(mind you on a good day I can't draw a stick figure)



I was pretty happy how it came out and super excited to be able to leave it up for a

couple more weeks while we await the SUPER BOWL!

Being the Cub Scout mom that I am, there was scouting involved as well.  Our Cub Scout pack always has a museum 'camp in' every January.  This year we camp in at Old Sturbridge Village. We had 84 scouts and parents attend.  We slept in different areas throughout there educational building. 

The educational building is a really fun building. 

They have all different areas for hands on activities from

cooking on an open hearth to weaving, games of the day, printing and art. 

We explored the village in the dark by candle light. 

The boys made cookies for their evening snack. 

Lights out for the boys was 10pm and then the staff let us use their lounge for a late night trivial pursuit game.

It has been a busy few weeks in my neck of the woods.  Hope things have been good in yours'.

Go Pats!