Cookie Cake for an A**hole

Ok so my friends and I were FORCED into a birthday for a non-existent kid. 
There were 17 of us (children and adults) total and we wanted to go to an indoor water park in our area, we called to buy tickets and were told that they were not selling tickets for the day as it was historically a busy day, so they were only booking birthday parties. So what did we do? We booked a fake birthday party for a kid who didn't exist. Here is the cookie cake I made for the kid. 


Pre-Heat oven to 325*

10 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup  chocolate chips or however much you want

I actually doubled this recipe as when I put it into a 14" pizza pan it was quite thin, however I made a batch following the recipe and then made a 2nd batch and added it to the pan, I would not recommend doubling the recipe and trying to fit it all into a large household bowl at one time unless you have the Terminator of all mixers.  

Line your pizza pan with parchment paper so that your cookie does not stick. 

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on low for about 2 minutes until it is a smooth consistency. 

In a separate medium bowl mix together the flour and baking soda. Add the dry mixture to your wet mixture 1/4 cup at a time, leaving 1 cup to the side. (I recommend the 1/4 cup at a time so as to not create a flour bomb in your kitchen).

Once the dry mixture is added with your 1 cup of dry mixture to the side, add in your chocolate chips. I find that if I wait until the end to add in the chocolate chips they don't get mixed well throughout. 

Add in the rest of your dry mixture. 

Spread evenly out on your lined pizza pan. Use aluminum foil to cover the edges of the cookie so that they do not burn. 

Cook for 20-25 minutes until your cookie cake is golden brown across the top, the cookie will continue to bake when you remove it from the oven due to the internal heat. 

Frosting:

Not gonna lie- I used canned, this kid doesn't deserve homemade, plus it was like 11pm when I made this. 

Honey Havarti Grilled Cheese on Rosemary Sea Salt Bread

Let me start by saying that if you do not have a Wegmans near you, I am extremely sorry. Seriously I extend my heartfelt apologies. This recipe calls for a bread sold by Wegmans, however if you can find something similar, have at it! I am all for adjusting!

2 slices of Wegmans Rosemary Sea Salt bread, cut thick (1/2 inch)
2 slices of Havarti cheese
1t honey
1T butter, halved

Heat a skillet to medium low, place 1/2 of the butter in the pan and allow it to melt. Quickly place 1 side of your bread in the skillet and move it around in the butter to ensure quality coverage.

Center your bread over the heat, place the 2 slices of Havarti on the bread and drizzle with 1t honey. Cover with 2nd slice of bread.

When your bottom bread is a delicious golden brown (about 4-5 minutes) use a spatula and slide your sandwich onto a plate (I know you didn't cook the other side yet, hold your horses!!)

Place the last 1/2 of the butter in the pan, allow it to melt and then carefully turn your sandwich over and again move it around with a spatula to ensure quality coverage. Once this side is a delicious golden brown, remove your sandwich from the pan with a spatula and enjoy.

I couldn't take a picture of the finished product because I wasn't patient enough to get my camera, instead I scarfed this delicious creation down.

Grey and Yellow Bathroom

I wanted a bathroom with gender neutral colors for my son and daughter as they will share this growing up. I also didn't want a bathroom that I would have to update in the next 5 years, so I stayed away from using characters or decals on the walls.

I used the following:

Threshold Paisley Shower Curtain (Target)
Threshold Paisley Bath Mat (Target)
Room Essentials Grey Bath Mat (Target)

Sonoma Good For Life- yellow towels (Kohl)

Behr-Grey Marble (Home Depot)

I waited until the Target items were discounted through Cart Wheel.

Front Hall Foyer

Letters: 
I used a large monogram letter from AC Moore and then spray painted it with navy blue matte. 
Next I went to good old Wally World, in their craft section they have durable letters that I used for the EST 2009 and spray painted those as well. 

Pictures:
I then found 4 vinatage picture frames from our local antique shop in colors that would compliment one another as well as the current wall color in the foyer. 

Bench:
I found an old coffee table that would work as the bench, I went to JoAnne Fabric and found a 3inch foam that I had cut to fit the bench, then I found a cloth that would compliment the rest of the decor and just folded the sides over. I have been thinking about getting a baby crib sheet and see if that stays put a little better. 

Shelf:
Lastly I went to home depot, you can scrounge in the discounted wood pile and find a piece that is relatively flat. I asked them to cut the board into 4- 3ft sections. I sanded and stained it with Minwax American Walnut with Polyurethane. I coated it about 3 times, sanded 1 more time with a final coat. I then affixed the 4 screws on the bottom with the hooks pre-attached- also at Home Depot. 

Lastly I convinced the DH to help with the drilling into the wall for the hardware to hold the shelf. I used 2- 6in. pipes from the plumbing section with 2 flanges and 2 caps all 3/4 inch openings and WALAH!

Chocolate Layer Cake~ Super Easy

This is super easy. I really like boxed Devil's Food cake mix, I add chocolate chips into mine to make it more chocolatey!!

Cake
Spray your cake pans with non-stick and then flour them lightly! You need this if you bake them flat. 
Make box as directed and allow to cool until cake is cool to the touch. I used 2 9inch circle pans and I baked them flat- here is a really simple method:

Use 2 CLEAN towels and cut them into 2 inch strips, soak them in cold water and ring out, use safety pins to secure them around the pans. When the batter is in the pans, tap them on the counter lightly until you no longer see air bubbles surface. When you put your cakes in the oven, pull the shelf out and place the pans on. If you slide them, the towels make get stuck and pull off of your pans.

Frosting
 2 cups of confectioner sugar
2 T butter (use real butter) softened
2T milk
1/2-1t vanilla extract (depends on how much vanilla flavor you like)
In a bowl, combine the sugar, butter, milk and vanilla, beat on medium speed until smooth and fluffy.This should take you about 5min for truly smooth frosting

So how to make the layers:
When the cakes are completely cool,  use 2 pieces of wax paper and 2 plates; layer in this order
Plate
wax paper
cake
wax paper
plate on top

You are cutting your cake into 3 thin pancake layers. Repeat this next step.
Using a long serrated edge knife, slice the cake using the edge of the plate as your guide. Then carefully flip the thin pancake that you just make onto your cake platter. frost