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jennsmidlifecrisis

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Tag Archives: birthday party

Chocolate EB Tea

29 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by jennsmidlifecrisis in Food, Foolishness

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

birthday, birthday party, cake, family, food, humour, tea, tea addict, tea lover, tea time


What goes best with tea?

Well, scones obviously.

Or cookies.

But the answer I was looking for was cake.

Little Guy celebrated his sweet 16 this weekend, and I have been informed that since he nearly towers over every member of our immediate family, (and has long objected to the nickname “Little Guy”), I have to come up with a new nickname here. Tall and short are out as that offends the older the brother, who is shorter than Little Guy, but obviously, still towers over me. Beard and No Beard may only work for a couple more years. Dumb and Dumber doesn’t work because sometimes it’s hard to tell them apart. Also, as a Mom, I should be more sensitive. No.1 and No.2 makes me think of bathroom jokes, which I’m sorry, work at any age (can you tell I live with men?). Finally, first initial works is kinda boring (I was not dumb goofy enough to do the same). I’m open to suggestions!

Since “formerly named Little Guy” expressed NO opinion on the flavour of his cake (obviously he inherited defective genes from the other side), I chose one of my favourites, chocolate (I got good genes from my Dad!) And what better way to celebrate chocolate than by adding tea, English Breakfast tea. I first used this recipe for Chocolate Tea cake for my own birthday cake in 2019 and immediately fell in love. Even though, let’s be honest, it’s hard not to love ANY chocolate cake. For starters, it was simple to put together, and after my plethora of baking disasters, easy is greatly appreciated! Richly dark in colour, the texture was moist and light with a decadent chocolate flavour.

C grade for decorating but A for effort and lack of tears!

There are a few theories about how the English Breakfast tea blend came to be (and yes, it differs from Irish Breakfast and Scottish Breakfast blends). One theory involves Queen Anne; the other theory, trade embargos during the Opium Wars (1839-1860). However it came to be, English Breakfast tea is a strong and bold tea mostly composed of Assam and Ceylon tea leaves. Both are classified as black teas, and certainly provide lots of caffeine to help kick-start the day.

Or in our case, keep the party going all evening! And the next day….and the day after that. Yum!

A party without a cake is just a meeting!

Julia Child

I’m a Lumberjack

30 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by jennsmidlifecrisis in Family, Foolishness

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

baking, birthday, birthday party, cake


I’m not a lumberjack, and I’m not OK.

If stupidity is doing the same mistake over and over again, then I’m not stupid. But mistakes were made. A lot of them. Just not the same ones.

I wanted to bake a “lumberjack” cake for my lumberjack, who turned 30 on Sunday (Now who’s feeling “old”!) Simple, right?

lumberjack cake

http://www.sugargeekshow.com

Knowing that I wasn’t quite up to this masterpiece, I elected to do a simple checkered cake instead. Baked goods like these sunglasses cookies are the height of my sophistication.sunglasses

Last Thursday, I purchased a red velvet cupcake mix – pretty standard. Just add water, oil and eggs. I wanted to wait until the middle of the day when hydro is less expensive, so I went on and measured my oil and water, and left it by the mixer. After lunch, I put it all together. I even added red food colouring, but the batter was all wrong! It was thin and soupy. I had no idea what I did wrong, or how to fix it. I popped it in the oven anyway.

It wasn’t until I was cleaning up that I solved the mystery. The box said 3/4 cup of water, but I had used a 2 cup measuring cup and had added 1-3/4 cups.

The cake didn’t rise very much. It was very dense and even though it was dry to the touch, it also felt like I could wring it out like a dish rag.

On Friday, I popped into the grocery store early in the morning to purchase a white and a chocolate cake mix. I baked the chocolate one first, measuring multiple times before adding anything. Success! I then baked the white cake, which was now hot pink after adding a whole jar of red food colouring to the mix. So it’s a little weird – just go with it! I started humming “I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay….”

Saturday morning, I set about making shortbread moose cookies, but I used 2 different brands of butter, and the dough was behaving more like puffed pastry. I finally managed to cut out 4 moose with spindly legs intact. It required 2 people and an odd assortment of kitchen utensils to transfer them from the counter to the baking tray. I watched them like a hawk. Sadly, while 4 made it safely from the oven, only 2 made it to cake decorating day.

Saturday night, I poured a tiny glass of wine and went about cutting the cakes to form the checkerboard pattern. I’d love to blame the wine, but I can’t. I’m responsible for cutting the cake wrong. I cut it into tiny cubes and tried to layer them. After an hour, and mucking up 4 cutting boards, I realized that even though I got the pattern right, it would fall apart the moment we cut into it.

I was also starting to fall apart. I would have to start again.

Sunday morning, I hit the showers early and drove bleary-eyed to the grocery store for a chocolate cake mix and a red velvet cupcake mix. I didn’t have any red food colouring left in the house. I carefully laid everything out and memorized my instructions. I also warned my family that as soon as the church service was over, I was leaving! If they wanted a ride home, they’d best be on my heels. Big Guy was due to arrive in the afternoon and we were only going to have a very short time with him before he went out with his friends. My birthday boy was going to have cake!

I didn’t even take time to change my clothes, but jumped right to my task. I was an athlete running a race and the clock stopped for no one. My family fended for themselves…I ate a half-cooked hot dog over the stove, vigilantly guarding my precious cakes.

While they cooled, I tried to temper chocolate. Tempering chocolate gives it a snap and glossy sheen. It’s accomplished by heating, cooling and reheating to specific temperatures, dependent on the type of chocolate you have. Normally it’s done over a double-boiler. I do not have a double boiler. I have a pot, a bowl and a very thick oven mitt, which made it awkward to hold the candy thermometer…which I later discovered, only starts measuring at 200F, a full 95 degrees higher than I needed. I think I successfully melted and smeared chocolate to make shards in an overly-complicated way, but I got it done and without injury. Just in time for Big Guy to arrive.

He was here 15 minutes. Long enough to open gifts, question the assorted piles of cake littering the counter, and give his mama a big hug.

leftover cake

After he left, slightly discouraged and incredibly weary, I poured a hot cup of tea and sat down to watch a video on how to cut this pointless cake.

They should have been round.

So I watched a video on how to make a minecraft checkered cake. At least it’s square. Defeated, I asked Hubby to help cut it. He was “happy” to help. We didn’t have toothpicks, so we had to use bamboo skewers. We managed to use them only on the cake, not each other. I ended up with something resembling finished product in the video, just fewer layers and wider borders. Who was I to complain? My kitchen was covered in red, pink and brown crumbs, and my kids’ birthday was over. I tossed the cake in the freezer and curled up in the fetal position on the couch.

Monday.

A day late.

I slathered homemade chocolate icing on my frozen brick and did my best to decorate it.

moose cake

cake inside

I NEVER want to look at cake again.

 

Something…Deadly…?

03 Friday May 2019

Posted by jennsmidlifecrisis in Family

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

birthday, birthday party, family


Something old. Something new. Something deadly? Something blue.

Monday was my birthday, and I discovered something exciting! Math has never been my strong suit, so ahem…imagine my delight when I discovered I was actually turning a year younger than I thought!

My parents drove 4 hours ( or so, round trip) to spend it with me. Big Guy also had the day off. And a friend joined the rest of us ( Hubby and Little Guy too) for dinner. How blessed am I?

We feasted on pizza, because nothing says celebrate getting older like bacon and cheese, and the homemade cake I baked (& will talk about next Monday)!

So what’s old, new, deadly and blue? Some of my birthday presents, of course!

OLD

photos2

My aunt gave me this watch and photos, as well as its story.

My Grandmother’s sweetheart (or friend) gave her this watch. He worked in the local bank, but it couldn’t hold on during the depression. The bank closed,  and he moved home to his family’s farm. They kept in touch, but on the night before my Grandmother’s wedding, she sent him a letter telling him that as a married woman, she could no longer correspond. She sometimes wondered what her life might have been like as a banker’s wife?

Watch_ed

The time changes, it’s just not the correct time. I still think it’s a really cool piece of history, and I will wear it often.

NEW

Who doesn’t love a new pair of shoes?

shoes_ed

Little Guy gave me a new chair for my back porch, and I already have a stack of books for my summer reading.

DEADLY

Big Guy was the most creative this year, and has his Mama’s security and health at heart. When the zombie apocalypse hits, I’m ready!

zombie killer

BLUE

I have to give Hubby credit. He patiently trailed me through the mall for 2 hours on a Friday night, so I could look for “something special” for my birthday. It wasn’t easy, but in the end I chose a blue striped nightshirt from Victoria Secret.

Victoria_ed

This summer, I’m going to relax on my back porch in my comfortable chair, wearing my oversized nightshirt and my sexy shoes. My watch won’t tell me the time so I legitimately lose track of it…and if anyone messes with me, I can flash them a smile…and my zombie killer blade.

Welcome year 46!

We Fight as a Family

01 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by jennsmidlifecrisis in Family, Foolishness

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

birthday, birthday party, family, humour, laser tag


I stood before the doors dressed in black, with a gun in my right hand and my finger on the trigger. I was prepared to do battle for my family – I would make my guys proud of me. The doors opened and we all surged forward, and into the fray.

Big Guy (aka Blue) was our point person – we were to follow him. His friend, Red, would bring up the rear. The rest of us, Little Guy (aka Black Ninja) and his friend, Racequit, Hubby (aka K) and I were supposed to stay in the middle. But when we moved out, Hubby was not behind me. He got caught in the base so we waited for him because we would never leave a man behind.

The “enemy” swarmed through the door, many stopping as soon as they entered the arena to look around, while others shot at anything that breathed. I told them to keep moving and most listened; maybe they recognized my commanding “Mom” voice?

Once K. arrived, Blue started forward and up a ramp to the left, but there was a group of ankle-biters waiting to ambush us, so he turned and headed to the centre ring. In those first few seconds, despite our careful plans, we managed to get separated. Blue and I looked for the others but we were in a hot zone and had to keep moving. We hoped Red was with them and we’d meet again soon.

I followed Blue, closely guarding his back and watching for snipers. “1:00 o’clock” I yelled, and Blue swung around in time to nail a stunned father in a white tee. Light clothing is a big mistake when there’s black lighting. We quickly inched our way forward, moving as a single unit.

We set stationed ourselves at a half-way point on a series of ramps. I watched Blue’s back and the right flank, which included 2 winding pathways and the ramp leading up. Blue guarded the left flank and fired across the room. Before long the others found us and we set up our home base. I continued to guard the right flank while K, being taller than me, could watch Blue’s back and shoot across the room as well. Red took the left flank, and we stationed the boys in the middle. At one point, Black Ninja was being targeted by 2 girls up close, and I went to his rescue. Nobody messes with my boy.

Before long we had acquired new recruits. While the youngest in our motley crew was 6 and liked to wander away, he always returned and looking into my eyes with his baby blues, would remind me with a gentle lisp, that he was on my team.

Blue got restless and went on a tour of duty so I took his place at the front, shooting across the way while still watching my right flank. I found out later that Black Ninja and Racequit also went on unannounced tours and may have suffered friendly fire as a result!

I shot Old Grandma and Old Grandma2, two little girls, coming up the ramp. They stood in front of me shaking their laser guns, trying to make them reset faster so they could shoot me (or so they told me). I said “like this” and shot their guns again. They whined in their high-pitched girly voices, and I suggested they “keep moving”. They did   but they didn’t get far. It turned out that they were the same girls that had ganged up on Little Guy, and now he was settling the score. When I recounted this story later over gingerale and potato chips, someone suggested I was “heartless”. What can I say? War is hell!

Before long the adrenaline was fading, my trigger finger was getting sore, and I was hot. I was tired of the slaughter and I knew that soon I was going to get sloppy. This battle felt like it had lasted significantly longer than the first one. And then the buzzer sounded. It was time to disarm, regroup, and call it a day!

When the final tallies were publicized, my moniker “PoisonRose” was in 6th place (out of 33; I placed 8th in the first game out of 22). It was the best of our brigade. My accuracy was lower than the first game but my score (and the number of shots fired) was higher. I had moved around less, which meant fewer ambushes by unruly gangs of mouthy 8 year olds. I confess, the brattier the kid, the more I took great pleasure in firing.

We had played and fought in Laserquest together, not just as a team, but as a family.

Happy Birthday (party) Little Guy!

Birthday Party Pondering

25 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by jennsmidlifecrisis in Family

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birthday, birthday party, children, family, friends, home, humour


We were kids in a candy shop. Little Guy and I spent an hour choosing just the right assortment for decorating cupcakes, and we ended up with 13 bowls of goodies…gumdrops, jelly beans, licorice whips, coloured chocolate chips, sprinkles, Skor bits, M&Ms, coloured marshmallows, gummy bears, and 4 different colours of sugar glass. I baked 4 dozen cupcakes (rainbow chip and chocolate fudge). We invited a couple of families with boys over and stuffed ourselves with pizza and “decorate your own cupcakes”. After everyone was gone, the floor was littered with wrapping paper, Lego and building blocks, candy and crumbs…but our hearts were full.

As great as the party was, I still felt a little like a failure as a parent. Little Guy had really wanted a Laser Quest birthday party, but only part of me wanted to get it for him. Part of me was concerned about the cost (and the noise)…and even some of the lessons. Which brings up the questions that have been nagging me all week: When did kids start expecting large birthday parties on a grandiose scale? When did parties become more about entertainment than about friendship or fellowship? Who is setting up who for disappointment or failure? The parent, if I don’t take out a second mortgage on my house to pay for my 8 year olds’ party? Or the child because we didn’t rent a $1,000 party bus?

We (the adults) talked about our birthday parties when we were kids…bringing friends home after school, playing tag outside long after the sun set, munching on hot dogs or pizza before being serenaded in the glow of birthday candles. Who could forget birthday cake with coins wrapped in plastic wrap (who got the quarter)? Some remembered scavenger hunts, while others recalled decorating cupcakes with lots of pink icing. There were a few sleepover parties (at my last sleepover party, the first person asleep had their bra frozen). My first boy-girl party was my sweet 16 in 1950’s costumes. We played lots of goofy games (none of which involved closets or bottles)…and danced a little to Paul Anka. They were all great memories!

I’m not saying it’s wrong to have a lavish party – for girls to have a mani/pedi or for boys to climb a rock wall. And if I sound judgmental, I don’t mean to… I want Little Guy to feel celebrated and I want him to have fun with his friends. But I also want to teach him that while money can buy popularity, it can’t buy lasting friendship. Life can be a grand adventure, even when you aren’t abundantly blessed financially. You may not always get what you want but you can still make happy memories. But most of all, I want him to know that he is loved…not for the entertainment he provided, but simply because of who he is – a loving, funny Little Guy.

Yesterday afternoon, I wiped the chocolate icing off the wall and swept up the candy sugar, while Hubby washed up the pile of dishes. I asked Little Guy what was his favourite part of the party…he thought for only a second before announcing “playing with my friends”. Not the candy or the pizza…nor the loot bags or the presents – the best part turned out to be something that money can’t buy after all…

Birthday CupcakeA Masterpiece in the Making!

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