A busy week, indeed! I got the octopus cake finished and delivered without any problems, despite bouncing the poor thing over crazy frost heaves. I brought back-up fondant supplies in case a tentacle or 2 cracked, but didn't end up needing them. Thankfully! The birthday girl was quite happy with the finished product, as was I!
What else did I cook this week? Quite a bit! I stumbled upon a few Pinterest finds that nicely complemented my plans for fish tacos this weekend. The pickled red onions and the taco sauce from "A Family Feast" were quite delicious. I also tried to clean out the freezer so I could put an ice cream cake in there. So, I had a bag of rhubarb in there that I had diced up this summer and frozen in measured amounts. Perfect for throwing together a quick Rhubarb Coffee Cake or muffins.
Lastly, it was ice cream cake week, so I made a batch of my mother-in-law's fudgy brownies. I poured half the batter in a spring-form pan, the rest went into mini muffin pans for some bite-sized fun for the kiddos. After the brownies cooled, I put the spring-form in the freezer, wrapped. Then I made Carvel knock-off chocolate crunchies...half a package of Oreos crushed and mixed with half a bottle of Magic Shell chocolate ice cream topping. Doesn't look like much in the bowl, but trust me, it works! Soften your favorite ice cream, spread a layer on top of the brownie layer. Spread the cookie crunchies on top and chill. Soften more ice cream and spread another layer on top. Freeze until set. Run a thin metal spatula around the inside of the pan and it should pop loose easily. If not, you can always wrap the pan with a warm damp towel for a few seconds. If you want it to look "finished", feel free to throw some frosting on there, but I just did the top since I had to transport it to work and wanted to leave it in the pan. It wins repeat requests at my work place, so I consider it a winner!
Did I tell you that my husband's family makes maple syrup? He is the 5th generation and the boys are the 6th to do so on the family property. From early on, the boys have been involved in the process. When my oldest was only 5 weeks old, he was in the front pack down at the sap house while I canned syrup and chatted with customers. This year, my oldest got to tap his first tree.
It's a wonderful process and I look forward to the smell of the sap house on a boiling day. Unfortunately, it's been a miserable start to the season since we've had only exceedingly cold days since we tapped. We're crossing our fingers that this weekend brings some perfectly sappy days so we can taste some fresh syrup! If you've never seen how maple syrup is made, and you happen to live in a syrup-producing area, check out the local Maple Producers Association for events and sugar houses you can visit. In NH, Maple Weekend is always the 3rd weekend of March. Consider stopping by a sugar house and see where it all starts!
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