With both Harrison & Sawyer in school, Griffin's been feeling a bit left out in the mornings, so last Friday I took the day off and we had a special day just for Griffin. He rode with me to take his brother's to school, we got some breakfast and then we took him down to the Curious George Live show in Houston. He really enjoyed it.
Watch the video on mobile devices
We made a last minute trip out to nearby Moorehead's Blueberry Farm to pick some blueberries yesterday. They were reporting an excellent crop thanks to all the recent rain, and we were worried that everything would be picked through after the holiday weekend, but the blueberries were nice and ripe and falling off the bushes. We went after dinner to avoid the heat and didn't have much time before they closed, but we were still able to pick over 3 pounds of perfect blueberries.
Griffin did such a good job too! He caught on quickly, only picked the good ripe ones, and got them all in the bucket. He even took over the bucket I was sharing with him and carried it around himself picking his own blueberries and not spilling any at all.
For Harrison's 8th birthday cake, we decided to try something original and make the Williams-Sonoma Sandwich Cookie Cake. The most challenging cake yet, this one involved some serious made-from-scratch magic and the results were delicious. Ultimately, this cake consisted of two layers of rich dense buttery chocolate brownie baked with intricate designs sandwiched around about an inch of vanilla butter cream icing.
Lindsay followed the recipe on the back of the box, no cake mixes or canned icing involved. The process started with brushing both of the pans with melted butter and then 'flouring' them with cocoa powder. Then more cocoa powder, more butter and lots of sugar and flour. The cakes baked up perfectly and the intricate design came out much better than we anticipated. We considered the alternative of using ice cream as the filling, but ultimately stuck with the higher melting point of the butter cream icing.
The result was decadence, rich and delicious. It sliced pretty easily and we served it with ice cream. The pans were extremely difficult to clean, though. Each little detail had to be individually scrubbed out and the edges were uncomfortably sharp. Regardless, this cookie pan set will be seeing more action.
 |
| From Making Harrison's Cake |
 |
| From Making Harrison's Cake |
 |
| Griffin's First Haircut |
Yes, Griffin got his first haircut today. But for all you fans of the curls they didn't take much off at all, just had to get rid of the mullet he was developing.
