I Don't Normally Do This

But I have to post pics of the cake and cupcakes I did for the Howler's birthday party. I got lots of compliments (and comments like "you're so creative" and "you must really enjoy this"). The reality of it is that I can do this sort of thing ONCE a year, and I choose to do it for the Howler.

Yeah. She's that important.

Every year, though, in the midst of being overwhelmed with things like frosting and keeping OPK busy, I regret it and wonder what I was thinking. But every year, I also know that in the long run (or, at least I hope that someday) she will remember and appreciate my stepping outside my lazy comfort zone and see it as proof that I love her immensely.

When I frost a cake, the cake rolls up and into the frosting. No matter what trick or treat I ply it with, this happens. The person in our household who never (or at least rarely) has this occur was an hour away during the frosting process. I don't fault him for working (and I knew it was inevitable) but it did not lessen the Yosemite Sam-like cursing that took place during the frosting.

The bunny cake idea was shared by a co-worker, and my biggest problem (other than the frosting) was underestimating the size of the thing--It's actually sitting on a stove top griddle covered in aluminum foil. Twizzlers for the mouth and whiskers, Hershey's kisses for eyes and nose and jelly beans for the polka dots on the tie. Delitefully edible bunny. Everyone wanted a piece of the ears, so if I had to do it again, I'd make a small head and bow tie, and much longer ears. (The idea of ears alone sounds good, but when you're dealing with 6 year olds, the imagination limits itself, believe it or not.)

The cupcake idea was found on the front of our local paper's Sunday edition at the beginning of the month, and while mine are obviously not professionally done, they are a reasonable facsimilie. Tips, recipes, and instructions could be located at http://www.brightideas.com/ Since I married the "we don't need no stinking instructions" king, I didn't go to the website for instructions on how, exactly, to get the handles (red Twizzlers) into the cupcakes. We muddled through, using toothpicks inserted into the ends of the Twizzlers. The eggs in the baskets are more jelly beans, set on top of light green frosting. I would have made them more green, but the Howler was insistant on light green (apparently the "green food is gross" mentality is starting to kick in.)

So, there you have it. The fully expended culinary creativity of my year.