I was looking for a cookie to make for the kids lunches and found this one on the King Arthur Flour blog (if you don’t read this one go there NOW and add it to your list of subscriptions on Google Reader (and you already have mine tagged, right?)). Waffle cookies, and they are good!

I am not going to go through a whole description of making the cookies because the good people at King Arthur Flour did such a great job, so enjoy their blog, but I will say that I do not have a fancy waffle maker like they used, I used an indoor grill and it worked fine.

For the cookies you use a scant half-cup of batter but I found for the bowls using closer to a cup worked better.

The next part is the tricky part as you have to take a hot, soft waffle off the grill and put it onto a bowl. I used two different sized bowls, a rice bowl and a soup bowl, but I found the rice bowl worked better, the soup bowl was too deep.

Place the waffle across the bowl (I used the soup bowl here, but you get the idea)

You can use the deeper bowl but you need to kind of fold the edges in and wedge it down to create the bowl and it rips easily which is why I found the shallow rice bowl better for a mold.

To make the bowl shape I forced the waffle into the rice bowl using a larger bowl.

You can trim the edges of using scissors

This is what two styles of bowls look like, the deeper soup bowl and the rice bowl

I also made a waffle cone by wrapping the large waffle around a styrofoam cone, but I did not get any pics of that, and I am kicking myself because it is HARD to do as evidenced by the scraps from all the waffles that ripped trying to form the cone

and the nice thing about messing up with this kind of recipe is you can eat your mistakes! A pizza cutter works great for cutting up the scraps.

Now all you need to do is find your favorite ice cream and toppings and go to town. Enjoy!

December ended up being a big month (other than the obvious big day, Christmas). Supergirl and Z-man welcomed a baby brother Adam with their Mom and Step-Dad Paddy, and one of Supergirl’s best friend’s welcomed a baby sister (the youngest of FIVE girls in that family!), Olive. What better way to say congratulations than cake! Supergirl really enjoyed helping with these cakes, so much in fact that I was relegated to observer for the most part!

There are a lot of different elements to this cake, some take longer than others. The first thing we did was to make the teddy bear topper for the cake. This is a candy mold I purchased at a local bulk food store. Hard to see here, sorry. You try taking a picture of something that is totally transparent!

A little easier to see here when you fill it up with melted chocolate. Lightly bang the mold against the counter to dislodge any bubbles (otherwise you will have a deformed teddy bear) and then pop it into the fridge for 15 – 20 minutes. Once the chocolate has set it should pop out of the mold easily. You can trim the excess chocolate with an X-acto knife.

While the molds are setting you can get the colored chocolate ready to paint the bow tie on the bear. This is molding chocolate that I picked up at the same bulk food store. I put a few discs into a glass dish which is placed on a rack in a pan full of water. Bring the water to a boil and the chocoalte will melt (if you have a microwave it would be easier I am sure to just pop it into the microwave, but I don’t have one!)

This is where Supergirl stepped up and pushed me aside. This is her painting the bow tie on one of the bears. Scroll back to the top and you can see how cute it is when it is done.

One thing I forgot to take pictures of was the process of making the white blanket the teddy bear is on. It is pretty easy though. Roll out a piece of white fondant and cut into the size you need. There is a shaping tool called a ball tool that you can use to press into the edges of the blanket that will give you the frilled look (pause here while you scroll back to the top again to get a look….). I did not have this tool though so I improvised and used a marble, worked pretty well I would say?

So, now that you have the teddy bear and the white blanket done, stick them aside (in a safe place where the dog, kids cats or anyone else will not nibble on them).

I did not take any pictures of the process of making the cake as it is just a cake, nothing special (well, ALL cakes are special I would say, but the process of baking a cake can get kind of boring to look at).

Supergirl jumped in here again(in her nice Christmas PJ’s) as it was her first opportunity to use a cake leveler.

The cake was then iced with a dark chocolate ganache (we were in a bit of a rush at this point so it is kind of messy here, sorry!)

Next step was to make some modeling chocolate to form the large blanket that would cover the entire cake. Melt your chocolate in a double boiler and then add clear corn syrup to the chocolate. Stir it until it is well incorporated and has a grainy texture to it, then set aside for three hours to cool.

Once cooled you can work it against the counter until it is pliable and then roll it out into a thin sheet. Supergirl showed her muscles here, hard at work.

Once it is rolled out trim it into a square shape (Supergirl could not resist sneaking into this shot too!)

From here mark out a grid on the square to follow with a pastry wheel

I did not have a pastry wheel so the closest thing I had to do what I wanted was a pasta cutter so Supergirl went to work. This requires a light touch otherwise you will cut right through the rolled out chocolate. Just enough pressure to leave the mark, but not enough to cut.

Here is the finished grid.

Carefully pick up the rolled out chocolate sheet and place it over the cake. On the back of the white blanket put a blob of royal icing to hold it in place, and then put a blob of royal icing on the back of the teddy bear and put that in place.

From there you can pipe into the squares on the blanket hearts and other shapes, and the lettering on the white blanket. I was only allowed to do one little heart on this, then Supergirl said “I can do it!” and did the rest, even the lettering!

Carefully lift the sides of the large blanket and put your finger under it and press down on either side. This will give the sides a slightly frilled look, like a blanket laying on the ground.

These cakes were a lot of fun to make, and not that hard (for me at least, I just stood around and watched Supergirl do all the work.) Welcome to Baby Adam and Baby Olive and congratulations to their parents.

I had full intentions of getting this post up before Christmas but well, life intervened and what can you do? Christmas is a time for baking and a way to say a big thanks for people who are important in your life and for me some of the more important people in my life are the staff at the Carleton Lodge (a long-term care facility in Ottawa) who look after my Mom. My Mom has dementia and so will be at the Lodge for a good many years and the people that work there play a big part in all of our lives right now and they deserve a big thank you for all the hard work that they do.

This cake was a lot of fun to make, and not only because it has rum in it (one shot for the cake, one for me!) but because I got to try out something really cool with chocolate to decorate the top of the cake.

Here is what you need:

250 grams butter, chopped

1/4 cup dark rum

2 tablespoons instant coffee

1 1/4 cups water

200 grams dark chocolate

2 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 eggs

Put the chopped butter, water, rum and coffee into a large saucepan and bring to a boil, then remove from heat, add in the chocolate and sugar and stir until it is mixed completely.

Kind of has a ying yang appearance here doesn’t it? Looks cool I thought. Besides looking cool it smells AWESOME! Let this cool for five minutes. While it is cooling you can sift together in a large bowl the flour, baking powder and cocoa.

Slowly mix in the chocolate mixture and eggs.

Pour the mixture into a prepared 9-inch cake pan and bake at 300 F for 1 hour and 40 minutes, covering halfway through ( I covered it by laying a sheet of aluminum foil across the top of the parchment paper that sticks up above the cake).

It comes out looking like this. Don’t worry about the cracks as it will cool and you will trim off the top anyway to level the cake. Let the cake cool in the pan for five minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling you can start to work on the chocolate decorations for the top of the cake. You will need a dozen candles wrapped in aluminum foil.

You will also need to cut three circles out of parchment paper, one 9-inches in diameter, one 6-inches and one 4-inches. Cut each of the circles into quarters.

In a double boiler melt 400g dark chocolate. You know how they say it is the little things that make you happy? For this next step I got to use my new offset spatula. I was excited. Does that speak volumes about the level of excitement in my life? Anyway, working with chocolate is always fun. Spread the melted chocolate over the quarter-circles of parchment paper and then carefully drape the chocolate quarter-circles over the candles and let them set.

Once your cake is cooled you need to cut it into three equal sized layers (use a large knife or a cake leveler). Sandwich each of the layers with chocolate ganache (1/2 half cup cream brought to a boil and poured over 400g dark chocolate and stirred until chocolate dissolves, cover, refrigerate for approx. 30-minutes until it is a spreadable consistency) and then cover cake with remaining ganache.

The chocolate quarter-circles should be set by now, so very carefully peel the parchment paper and set them aside.

On papered work surfaces place two of each size of chocolate fans on each work surface. I dusted one set with a light cocoa powder and the other with a slightly darker powder to provide a contrast to the finished design.

Supergirl helped with this step and took a quick self-portrait

OK, back to work!

Arrange the chocolate fans on the top of the cake starting with the largest. Alternate the light and dark cocoa. Do the same with the middle layer and the top. It should look like this when you are done.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all the staff at the Carleton Lodge that help with my Mom, I hope you enjoyed the cake!

I had never had a financier before making this recipe but I read about it in the New Yorker and it just sounded so good that I had to give it a try. The financier is a french pastry that according to legend has its origins in the bakeries surrounding the financial district in Paris. The financial workers would all run out and eat these on their breaks. The traditional mold for a financier is a rectangle, said to resemble a bar of gold. Who knew history could be so tasty?

Here is what you need to start

One of the key elements of a financier is beurre noisette (brown butter). Again, doing some reading on this it was a little scary  that most people were saying how tricky it was to do this because if you go too far you get burnt butter (yuck) and if you do not go far enough, you do not get the characteristic nutty taste, so you have to do it just right. That being said, it was not too hard  ; )

In a small pan, over a low to medium heat, melt 1/2 cup of butter (make sure to use unsalted). The gentle melting will separate the butter into milk solids and butterfat.

The milk solids will sink to the bottom and gradually brown and the liquid will turn a light brown color.

This part takes a bit so while it is melting you can get started on the flour mixture. In a large bowl put 3/4 cup of almond flour and sift 1 1/4 cup of confectioner’s sugar over top and then mix in 1/4 cup of all purpose flour and three tablespoons of cake flour, one teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Whisk everything together to combine.

Next is four egg whites at room temperature. If you are like me and you start everything well before you read that you need room temperature (eggs, butter, whatever) you can quickly get eggs to room temperature by submerging them in warm tap water for about ten minutes. Add the egg whites one at a time and whisk them in. Do not overwork batter.

By this time your beurre noisette should be ready

add 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the butter and add this into the mix and whisk it all together. Cover it with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for at least three hours.

Doesn’t look much different here I know, but it is a lot firmer then when it went in

Lightly grease the molds that you will be using. In this case I decided to use a mini-muffin pan as I was going to a potluck and needed lots. The best way to fill the molds is to pipe the batter in, about 3/4 full for each mold. You can make a piping bag easily by using a large Ziploc bag and snipping off one of the bottom corners.

Bake for 18 – 20 minutes at 375 Fahrenheit or until the cakes are lightly browned and spongy. Cool in the pan for two minutes and then remove to cool completly on a wire rack.

Mix up some whipped cream and put a dollop on top of each little cake.

Top each with a berry, whatever is in season,  I used raspberries (sorry, this post is WAY delayed – they were in season when I made them!). You can add chocolate liqueur to the whipped cream for an extra kick.

‘Tis the season…… for chocolate mud cake. That’s right – wrapped up like a present is a delicious chocolate mud cake. This was SO fun to make (I know, my idea of fun is kind of twisted). I brought this to a potluck and people were reluctant to touch it! HAHA

This post is a little longer than most, but well worth it for the ooh’s and aah’s you will get when you show up with this cake.

First off of course is the cast of characters for what you will need to make the cake (the edible parts, not the decorations!)

Quite the motley assortment, eh?

Now, before we go any further it is important to get your cake pan ready, and this requires a little more work than simply greasing it up. Get a 9-inch pan with straight sides. Liberally grease the sides and bottom. Cut out a circle of parchment paper and stick it to the bottom. Next cut out a long strip of parchment paper to wrap around the inner diameter of the pan, and make sure it is at least 5 cm above the rim of the pan (this is important for later). The butter that you greased the pan with earlier will act as glue for the parchment paper to stick it to the pan. It will look like this

This is honestly the most work that I have EVER put into a pan.

Fill a large saucepan with water and set it to a low boil on the oven and then find a BIG!!!! mixing bowl, and I mean BIG.

Into this BIG mixing bowl put:

840 g (1.85 lbs) dark chocolate

525 g (1.15 lbs) butter

2 tbs dry instant coffee

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups brown sugar (firmly packed)

See why I said you need a BIG bowl?!

Put this bowl on top of the boiling water and start everything melting. CAUTION – USE AN OVEN MITT, OK? the bowl will get HOT!! I know common sense, right? Sadly though common sense is sadly lacking today… so USE AN OVEN MITT!! ‘Nuff said?  :  )

Chocolate soup anyone?

How about cream of chocolate soup?

Mmmmmm! Spoon! I need a spoon!

At this point you can pre-heat your oven to 325. Unless you have a HUGE oven you will likely need to remove the top rack of the oven and use the bottom rack because of the paper sticking up out of the pan.

Now move this off the stovetop and onto the counter and slowly stir in 2 1/2 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 4 eggs and 1/2 cup of chocolate liqueur. Now, this bowl is HEAVY by now, so carefully lift it up (I can hear my father in the background LIFT WITH YOUR LEGS, NOT YOUR BACK!) and pour it into your pan, being careful of the paper sides sticking up. Scrape as much from the bowl as you can (but leave some to taste, the sign of a good chef)

Put this in the oven and leave it for…… 3 hours. yes, you heard correct, THREE HOURS. Hopefully you have left yourself lots to do around the house because you need to leave it to cool as well, so you are looking at around 5 – 6 hours before the next step. Have fun…

insert Jeopardy music here….

and now through the magic of time lapse…

A few things to notice here. Just above the rim of the pan there is a darker line. See it? That is not a shadow but the cake. This is why you need to have the parchment paper extend over the rim of the cake. It will settle down a little as it cools. Also, the cracks are normal, so don’t freak out, it is not a cheesecake. Leave the cake in the pan to cool.

Once the cake is cool you can use a cake leveler to level the cake to the top of the pan and then flip the cake out onto a rack to continue cooling (and for the next step)

This is a Christmas cake so we need to turn this into a wreath. Find a small bowl or plate and use it to mark the section that you will carve out of the middle of the cake

Use a knife to cut down around the sides of your template. I had to carve an “X” into the section and scoop it out, not exactly a clean and neat operation.

Lots of bits and pieces to snack on now while you keep working.

While the cake is cooling you can make the fluffy white icing for the snow to coat your wreath. The cool thing about making this icing is that I got to use my brand new candy thermometer! Small things, I know.

You need 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water and 2 egg whites.

In a small sauce pan mix the water and sugar together and put on heat until it boils. Boil the mix until it hits 116 degrees C

Remove from heat and cool until the bubbles disappear. Meanwhile in a medium bowl beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Then, in a steady stream, pour the hot sugar into the eggs while continuing to beat with the mixer. Beat for about ten minutes until the mixture cools and becomes firm.

The next step is really important to prevent everything from sliding off the top of the cake. Brush the entire top surface of the cake with a sugar syrup. You can get this at any craft or baking supply store. It acts like a glue that holds the layer of fondant icing in place.

And speaking of fondant….

You can make your own but it is a right pain in the rear, so just as easy to buy it pre-made from the same store that you bought the sugar syrup. Roll the fondant out and carefully place it over the top of the cake and cut out the ring in the center.

Then carefully spoon the white fluffy icing over top and all around the top. The white fluffy icing is really sticky so be careful to try and avoid dripping it over the sides (inside and out).

The next step is to prepare the wrapping for the cake. Choose a deep color velvet ribbon, 2.5 inches wide. This is where the arts and crafts portion starts.

Packing tape you may ask? Why? It will prevent the moisture in the cake from soaking through and staining the ribbon. This part is a lot easier if it is done with two people but it can be done alone.

WARNING MATH CONTENT

This is where you use the math skills that you asked yourself while sitting in math class “am I ever going to use this in real life”

To figure out how long you need the ribbon you need to figure out the circumference of the cake. The formula for this is C = pi x diameter. Nothing better than getting to use “pi” in a blog about baking! So, C = 3.14 x 9. This equals approximately 28.3 inches. Line the back of ribbon with packing tape

Leave a little bit of the sticky end of the tape hanging off one end so that the ends can be taped together to hold the ribbon together. Carefully wrap it around the cake, being especially careful with the fluffy white icing.

It wipes off the dish easy (see the smudge) but not off the ribbon, so be careful.

For the final step I bought a length of garland from a craft store and some other decorations. I used a pair of scissors to trim it down to manageable lengths and then placed it over the top.

And for those people who want to know what the cake itself looks like

This cake is REALLY rich, so you will likely have to give a lot of it away at the end of the party.

Enjoy!

Why are these brownies super? Supergirl decided that she wanted to make something all by herself and Z-man and I were craving some brownies so Supergirl said she would make them for us, so… Super Brownies!

First step is to prepare the pans. Supergirl traced out on parchment paper some liners for the pans

In a large bowl mix the flour and cocoa together. Supergirl had fun digging deep into the bag for the flour

the cocoa was much easier

Supergirl was a little nervous over the next step never having really done anything over a hot element on her own but she was game for it

 

This is melted butter and sugar, and it can get HOT so be careful. 

While the butter and sugar are melting together you can break the eggs (Supergirl’s favorite part of the whole process I think) into the dry mix

Pour the melted butter and sugar into the mix (and again, be careful it is sticky and hot. Nothing is worse than a hot sugar burn, trust me)

Mix all this up and the yummy factor jumps up by a gazillion

If you can resist eating this as is, pour it into the two pans that were prepared earlier

The next step is to put the pans into the oven. Supergirl had some serious hesitation staring into the open door of a hot oven but she stepped up and put the pans in (a proud Daddy moment. sniff)

Supergirl closed the oven and grabbed the measuring cup and wouldn’t share

Now, the next step Supergirl just flat out refused to do, said the beater makes too much noise so Dad stepped in and made some chocolate butter cream frosting.

By this time the brownies should be finished, take them out and leave them on a wire rack to cool before spreading the icing

Supergirl came back to spread the icing (and lick the spatula afterwards of course!)

Slice em up and see how long they last

Super Brownies

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cups butter

melt together in small saucepan

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup flour

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

mix all ingredients together, pour into two 9 inch pans lined with parchment paper and bake 25 minutes at 350.

Butter Cream Frosting

3 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

2/3 cup cocoa

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

combine sugar and cocoa in large bowl. Cream butter and 1/2 cup of sugar/cocoa mixture in another larger bow. Gradually add milk and remaining sugar/cocoa mixture, alternating wet and dry. beat until reaches spreading consistency.

Sunday afternoon was rapidly passing and I asked the question to Z-man and Supergirl “What do you want for dinner?” and Supergirl said (emphatically) “FETTUCINI!” Z-man, with a characteristic teenage shrug did not seem to have an issue with this, so fettucini it was. I looked in the fridge to make sure I had everything (always a a concern on a Sunday afternoon) and found I had more than I expected so decided to spice it up a bit. What I ended up with was really fast and really good (so good that the kids inhaled it, always a good sign for a keeper recipe in my house).

I grabbed a package of Italian sausages and stripped the casings off

and tossed all the meat in a skillet to brown

While this is cooking grab a small saucepan and add 1 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup of butter (1 stick), 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan/romano cheese, 1 tablespoon of soft, unripened goat cheese and simmer on a medium heat for about 20 minutes until it starts to thicken.

Boil water and cook the pasta as directed (notice no pictures of this here at all because how exciting it is it to really see a picture of boiling water?!).

That’s pretty much it (I told you fast and easy!). To serve drain the pasta and place on a plate. Spread some of the sausage on top and then garnish with chopped tomato and sliced black olives and drizzle sauce over top of everything.

Enjoy!

Proceed past this point at your own risk because this post is dangerous! Danger Pie! Why is this post dangerous? Two reasons. First, the actual preparation of the pie could cause an explosion if not done right (no joke here, please be careful!), and second, there is a danger that you might closet yourself away and eat this whole pie yourself.

This recipe was modified from one that I saw on Bert’s Cannery.

So to get started you need two cans of sweetened, condensed milk, (Eagle Brand) nectar of the gods (already you can tell this pie is going to be good – TWO cans of Eagle Brand? OMG!!). Strip the labels off and using a large (biggest you have) pot, immerse the cans in boiling water for 2 1/2 hours. This is the danger part – it is VERY important to keep the cans completely covered throughout the entire boiling process, so monitor the water level in the pot and add more boiling water from a kettle as needed. You should always have enough water to maintain about 3 inches above the top of the can. If you let the water boil away and dip below the top of the can the can WILL explode (this is the danger in DANGER pie). Clear? OK, so as mentioned before, proceed at your own risk. Supergirl and Z-man were both pretty impressed that there was the possibility of an explosion in the kitchen and I am not sure if they were disappointed that there was not.

it is hard to take a picture of something under water while standing above the water!

Now that the safety concerns have been dealt with, this pie is SOOOO worth it so just use some common sense, pay attention and lets get on with it.

Let’s start with the crust. A graham cracker crust is really easy to make. You only need graham crackers (well duh!), sugar and butter.

Put 3/8 cup butter in a pot on low heat and melt. While this is melting, take about 25 graham crackers and put them in a large Ziploc bag

You could do this in a food processor but this way there is less to clean up after. Pound the crackers with a rolling pin until you have medium-sized chunks

and then you can roll it into crumbs. You should end with about 2 cups

Combine the graham crumbs with the sugar in a mixing bowl, stir well, and then add the melted butter (you didn’t forget about that in all the fun of pounding the crackers did you?)

Stir this together well and then press into a 10-inch pie plate, try to get about 1/8-inch thickness all around

You can pop this into the oven now if you like for about 15-minutes at 375 but if you put it in the fridge for an hour first and THEN the oven, the crust will be a little more tender. Regardless of how you decide to do this step, when it comes out of the oven put it on a wire rack to cool.

While all this was going on you have of course been monitoring the water level in your pot, right? Good. After 2 /12 hours remove the cans and place them on a wire rack to allow them to cool completely.

Everyone is familiar with Eagle brand? this is what it usually looks like when you open a can (from Orange Creamsicle Cake)

but look what 2 1/2 hours immersed in boiling hot water transforms this sweetness into

Caramel! The best caramel EVER!

Scoop about 1 1/2 cans into the pie crust and spread it evenly

Now this will introduce another danger element to Danger Pie. You will notice that while you boiled TWO cans of Eagle Brand, you only actually use ONE AND A HALF cans? That leaves 1/2 of a can unaccounted for. The danger is that you will just stand there with a spoon and eat that half can!

Mmmm!

OK, now that your snack break is over, throw the pie into the fridge and let us get onto the next stage of Danger Pie, the chocolate layer (because chocolate and caramel are a natural combination).

For this I used Smitten Kitchen’s chocolate pudding recipe, previously seen filling the chocolate bowl’s that Supergirl and I made. For this pudding you will want to avoid any sort of skin forming on the pudding so before you put it in the fridge to cool make sure you press a layer of plastic wrap smoothly over the pudding (press it right into the chocolate). Once the pudding has cooled scoop it out and put it on top of the caramel layer and spread it so that it evenly covers the whole pie

This was just the first scoop of pudding, so you can see the contrast between the layers; I used a LOT more pudding. Here again is another danger element to the danger pie – stopping to snack on the chocolate pudding! Once (or if?) you manage to finish with the pudding layer, stick it back in the fridge to allow the pudding to firm up some more.

Next up is the top layer, whip cream. Beat up some whip cream and gently smooth this all over the top of the chocolate layer. Be careful when spreading this layer not to press too hard and dent the chocolate layer. Three layers of goodness done!

Dust this with some cocoa powder

and the slice it up and serve it up! This is the last danger aspect of this pie that you may have to deal with – getting out of the way of your guests as they rush to get a piece! Enjoy!

What on earth could cause Supergirl to pull such a face? Read on and find out!!

We decided to make a dessert treat and decided to start with the bowls, and what better to make a bowl out of then chocolate! To do this, you need to start outside the kitchen, with a bunch of balloons.

Notice the look of intense effort? After a few tries at this, we decided that a new approach was needed as we were both pretty close to passing out.

now, look at my face in this next picture

This is because Supergirl, using her super muscles, was REALLY good at pumping these balloons up and there were little shards of latex all over the living room. Great fun. Thanks to Z-man for taking time out to take these pictures.

One of the benefits of using balloons to make your bowls is that it ends up being very convenient keeping them handy for when you need them

So once the balloons are ready to go, it is time to start tempering the chocolate. Cut up the chocolate and put it into a double boiler (or a steel bowl over a low boil water which is what I use)

once this melts down, remove it from the heat and put about 1/4 of the original amount in and stir until it is melted

Now it is time to start dipping balloons. Remember at the beginning I asked what could make Supergirl pull such a face? Well, dipping thin, cheap balloons in hot chocolate is what. I can honestly say that high-velocity chocolate splatter is one of the messiest things ever. Dip a balloon in the chocolate, hold it up to admire your work and BANG!!!! chocolate covered latex and chocolate spray all.over.the.kitchen.

All over Supergirl

and all over the side of my fridge (and SO many other places I did not bother to take a picture of). Of the 16 balloons we started with six survived and made it into the freezer. Once the bowls have set you need to take the balloons out.

Be careful on how you puncture the balloons – if you simply pop them it will blow the bowl into shards. Best way to do it is to snip it on the soft squishy part of the neck and let it deflate.

Starting to take shape.

at this point, the bowls may have softened a bit, so you may need to pop them back in the freezer for a bit otherwise the bowl will peel apart in your hands. Now we need to think about what to make to FILL the bowls with! And what better to put in a chocolate bowl than more chocolate?! Chocolate pudding (pudding the way it should be, not Jello. yuck)

You will need cornstarch, sugar, salt, milk and chocolate

Put the cornstarch, sugar and salt into a double boiler

and slowly add milk, scraping the sides of the bowl to make sure everything mixes in, then whisk for about 15 – 20 minutes until it starts to thicken and coats the back of a spoon

then add the chocolate and stir until it is melted and thoroughly mixed in

Put this in the fridge for 30 minutes. If you do not want a skin to form you can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface.

Then, spoon into the bowls, top with whip cream and serve. Try to keep this in your house for more than day. I bet you will not succeed!

Chocolate Bowls

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate + 2 ounces reserved, rough chopped

Balloons

Melt 8 ounces chocolate over low heat double boiler, remove from heat and stir in reserved 2 ounces chocolate

Chocolate Pudding

6-ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1/4 cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups milk

Put cornstarch, sugar and salt in double boiler, slowly add milk, whisking for 15-20 minutes until it starts to thicken. Add chocolate and stir until fully melted. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-minutes.

In mid-June Supergirl and Z-man’s Grandfather gave them an Atlantic Giant pumpkin seed that he had sprouted, told them to bring it home and put it in the garden. Little did we know what we were getting into!

This small little seed

grew into this sprawling monster

in a month and a half!

This monster has pretty much taken over our entire vegetable garden. It plowed right through the lettuce and buried it, it smothered one of the pepper plants, overshadowed the peas, almost overpowered the cucumbers (and anyone who has grown cucumbers knows what a feat this is!), and is well on its way to expanding into every corner of the yard.

The weather in Ottawa this summer has been in a word, crap, so many of the pumpkins rotted right off the vine but in early August the weather turned and finally one pumpkin set and started to grow. Z-man and Supergirl, while upset that this crazy plant overpowered many of the vegetables they had planted, were suitably awed at the growing power in this plant and a new daily ritual of measuring the circumference of the pumpkin has started.

At the very end will be the daily log of the circumference of this beast.

This picture was taken 13AUG2009 and the measurement was 12 1/2 inches round.

To put this into perspective, 12 1/2 inches round is the circumference of a large can, 28 fluid oz, of diced tomatoes.

The sun was shining on the morning of 15AUG2009 and just starting to peek through the leaves onto the pumpkin. 17 1/2 inches round today.

Another cloudy morning (shocking, I know) on 18AUG2009 and measured at 26 inches round.

This is 20AUG2009 and just looking at it you can see how much closer it is to the leaves than the picture above. 31 inches around.

I figured it was time to try and put some perspective to this again, 31 inches around is slightly larger than a NCAA regulation basketball.

In a week we went from the size of a can of tomatoes to larger than a basketball. I shudder to think about what this will look like by the time Halloween arrives. We still have about 70 days until that time!

Today I am starting to wonder if we have crossed into obsession. I read that having strong sunlight on the pumpkin all day can toughen the skin, and at the rate it grows on a daily basis, this can cause the skin to split! OH NO! So now our pumpkin has its very own jury-rigged sunshade so that it is comfortable.

You will notice as well that the rock underneath the pumpkin has been replaced by two boards as the pumpkin was getting too big for the rock. VERY scary transferring to this new base. Note for next year – place wooden pallet underneath the pumpkin BEFORE it grows this big!

Harvest day! After seeing the growth slow down and the temperature drop we decided that it was a good time to harvest the Great Pumpkin. Lift from your legs. We cut it off and stepped on the scale and found out that we had a 50 lb pumpkin! Not bad, not bad. Next year we will start much earlier and see how where end up.

Next step is to carve a monster into this monster! Happy Halloween.

DAILY LOG

DATE                                                  Measurement (in inches)

13AUG2009                                       12.5

14AUG2009                                       14.5

15AUG2009                                       17.5

16AUG2009                                       20

17AUG2009                                       23.5

18AUG2009                                       26

19AUG2009                                       29

20AUG2009                                       31

21AUG2009                                        34

22AUG2009                                        36

23AUG2009                                        37.5

24AUG2009                                        39.5

25AUG2009                                        42

26AUG2009                                        43.5

27AUG2009                                        43.5

28AUG2009                                       46

30AUG2009                                        47

31AUG2009                                         48

01SEP2009                                          49

04SEp2009                                          50.5

06SEP2009                                         51.5

12SEP2009                                         52.5

20SEP2009                                        53.0