My Next Food Challenge

My cousin Aly got married last Friday, at a beautiful wedding with amazing food.  The salad course was scrumptious, and my brother in law asked me if I could replicate it at some point.

The apple was stuffed with chicken sausage, and then baked with a cinnamon stick stuck in it.  It sat on a field of baby greens, with candied walnuts, craisins, and gorgonzola.  

Stay tuned... I will see if I can make a yummy recipe to give you all!  

A Million Dresses, and Nothing to Wear

Last Friday, my friends Zack and Marisa got married.  It was a beautiful outdoor wedding on the water at The Inn at Longshore - stunning setting.  I wore a super cute blue dress with a scalloped top, it was the perfect dress for the occasion.

This Friday night, my cousin Aly is getting married at Elizabeth Park in Hartford, CT, and I have a super cute coral-pink dress with one shoulder and roses on the left sleeve.  So excited.  Blue last Friday, coral-pink this Friday, and now the big issue.

This Friday, after leaving Aly's wedding, Gimpy and I will be driving the 9 hours to Virginia for a wedding that he is in.  We'll sleep about 2 hours, shower, and get ready for a Saturday 2pm wedding that's at an outdoor gazebo.  Trouble is, I am out of colorful dresses with the exception of the one I am loaning my sister... so I don't know what to wear!  Right now I am leaning toward borrowing B's dress (far right above)...

No, a 9" Round Cake is Not Big Enough for a Smirnoff Ice...

This past weekend, Gimpy's old roommate celebrated his 30th birthday, and so Gimpy and I threw him a party at his place for Greg.  I prepared a bunch of food, but the crowning glory of the weekend was the chocolate cake with an Icy Surprise.

If you don't have a group of immature guy friends, you may not know about Bros Icing Bros, but it's been a huge thing around Stamford this year.  Basically what happens is that you are supposed to come up with a creative and unique way to "Ice" your bro.  You give him a Smirnoff Ice, and he has to get on one knee and chug it.  If they have another Smirnoff Ice, they can block you, and you have to drink two.  Needless to say, I have drank more Smirnoff Ice this year than ever before.

So!  I asked Gimpy, "Hunny, do you want me to make a cake and put a Smirnoff Ice inside it?"  Obviously the answer was yes.

I made 4- 9" round cakes, and tried to go out the Ice in, only to discover that it wasn't long enough!  So I had to get a little creative.

It wasn't my ideal, but I carved two of the cakes into a rectangle, and put the Raspberry Smirnoff Ice into the middle of it.  I had originally planned to put posts in to the bottom three layers of cake, carve the space, and then put a very, very thin layer of the cake on top.

So anyway, I put the cake in the center, and carved out a piece of the top section.  I figured I would put it toward the top, and start to bury the bottle.

So!  The next few steps included some serious frosting action to bury the bottle fully.  I didn't want him to have any clue what the "raspberry filling" was in his chocolate cake.  Little did I know that by the time we got there, Greg would be so wasted he would have no idea what to expect!


So, the cake came to the party, and people kept asking what kind it was.  Chocolate with Raspberry filling was our standard response.  When the time came, one of our friends hit the lights, we grabbed a lighter, lit the candles, and started to sing happy birthday.  Greg blew out the candles, made a wish, Betsey handed him a knife, and he went to slice.  When he started to slice... there was a bottle of Smirnoff Ice!

My Best Icing Ever!