{Foodie Post No.9} Ice Cream Cake

This year for Wesley's birthday I made an almost traditional Ice Cream Cake. This is the best, no, make that, this is the only Ice Cream Cake ever. Nothing else compares. My family has been making this recipe for years after our aunt made it for my sister and cousin joint birthday celebration.

Every year my younger sister, Shelby, has The Traditional version of it for her birthday.
On my birthday, every single year, myself or my mom makes the Mint Chocolate version.

So, this year I chose to make an Ice Cream Cake for Wesley's birthday because (No.1) He loves ice cream (No.2) He is trying to make June a perfect healthy eating month with his birthday being the only cheat day. And (No.3) He loves ice cream.

It was a close choice between the Ice Cream Cake or Peanut Butter Pie because, he really loves that, too, so I decided on Ice Cream Cake with Reece's Peanut Butter Cups chopped up on top.

 Yes, I have a 20lb bag of sugar, I bake and sell at the Farmer's Market, remember ;)
(The cocoa somehow didn't make the picture, ooops.

 Melt the butter with the cocoa

 After adding the milk and sugar and boiling until thick.

 Process the oreos in a food processor and add melted butter

 the most effective way of pressing the crust into a pan is NOT with your fingers, use the bottom of a glass, measuring cup, or fairly flat spoon.

 Slicing the block of ice cream. Mine was a little more melty than necessary.

 At this point put the base in the freezer and wait until your fudge sauce is cooled. I was tired, and didn't want to wait so I poured my fudge sauce on while it was still too hot which resulted in it melting through in spots, hence the bubbling in the next picture.

 Fudge sauce on..

 Cool Whip topped and Reece's Cups chopped and spread over the cake, which by the way, my sister Shelby considered absolute desecration of Ice Cream Cake. In her opinion nothing but sprinkles belong atop this cake.

A slice at the birthday party.



Ice Cream Cake
Fudge Sauce:
1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 large can Evaporated Milk

Combine cocoa and butter in sauce pan. Melt until smooth. Add evaporated milk and sugar. Boil 15-20 minutes, until thick, stirring frequently. Cool.

Crust:
1 and pkg. Oreo's crushed
1/2 cup Butter
Finely chop oreos in food processor. Add soft butter and press into 11x17" pan.

1/2 - 1 gallon  of your choice flavor
Slice and layer over crust. Freeze.

Spread Fudge Sauce over cake.
Top with 1 tup of Cool Whip.
Decorate as desired.

A Mini Adventure

Last week the girls and I went on our biggest adventure to date. It was pretty little but big for me since the farthest I go from home on a typical week that Wesley is out of town is within half an hour. Wesley was staying in an extended stay hotel, for work, near where my sister lives so Monday the girls and I packed up and followed him. I never ever drive long distances and even on family road trips I rarely do much of the driving. It all went pretty well on the way there, the girls slept until about the last 15 minutes. On the way home we had a little detour due to police blocking the interstate and sending us to find our way around to get back on further down the road. Our trip was a lot of fun though. Staying with Wesley, cooking meals on a tiny stove and having to wash everything per meal to use for the next was different.  Each morning Wesley left for work before the girls were awake so when they did get up we would put Éowyn in the stroller and head to the building where breakfast was served. Tuesday I packed the girls up and drove to where my sister lives and spent the morning with her. Jerusha was so excited about going to see her cousin and I think they had a lot of fun. Tuesday night Jerusha had a fever and was pretty restless and delirious so we didn't do anything fun in the evening. Wednesday she was back to normal and I took the girls to the hotel pool for awhile. We went for walks around the other buildings and found a deck off the back of our building so we gathered pine cones from a nearby pine tree and spent awhile playing in the sun. That evening we met my sister and her husband and son at The Rock; a Mediterranean place and enjoyed trying outs new foods for dinner and as we could only find be hour taking, and the kiddos had begun climbing all over the nearby empty tables, we moved our visit to a park just down the road. I think we all had fun at the park, it was very nice with lots of tall slides and climbing options. Once we were back at the hotel that evening Wesley and I took the girls to the pool again. Thursday, after we'd had breakfast I packed all our belongings and we loaded the car to head for home. We ended up going straight to my moms because with about 20 minutes left on our trip Jerusha started crying that she needed to pee. I only live about 2 minutes farther than my moms but I knew unloading would go more quickly if I stopped in there. And sure enough, as soon as we pulled in my younger sisters came running outside to help unload the girls; and I'm happy to report that Jerusha made it to the potty without an accident. 
Note: we came home Thursday because Friday is baking day and I needed to be home in order to get my early start. 

visiting cousins..

 Pool Time

Hide & Seek

And lots of fun at the park!

Growing Bubble

This post is out of order from the ones I planned on posting but I couldn't exactly plan when I'd post this...

^This is the official announcement that we put out there on Facebook. ^

^This, however, is how I told Wesley and then my mom and sisters.^

I have painted each of the girls a picture for the nursery wall which they'll get to take someday to do as they please with. Wesley knows this so I knew I wanted to announce it to him by having Jerusha show him to the bedroom and see how long it took him to notice the change. Friday, when Wesley got home from work and was led by Jerusha to her room, he didn't miss a beat, instantly I heard him say "A new picture means mommy is having a baby, doesn't it Rue?" 

It was Wesley's birthday, as well, so I felt like that added to the excitement. 

I'm not 100% sure when I'm due since I haven't been cycling what with nursing Éowyn still, but, I'm just now having symptoms so I'd say I'm only a few weeks along and looking at a February baby. 

We always choose to announce our babies early because each day is a gift, and for us, part of cherishing our gift is sharing the joy. I feel very blessed to be carrying this child and your prayers for a healthy pregnancy will be appreciated. 

Already I am struggling to keep up with the girls because all I want to do is sleep. Time to find some healthy snacks, stay active, and push through the drowsiness in order to keep up with house work, meals, and life with my 2 and 1 year olds. 

~Haley

Camping

We are planning a trip to Colorado for late summer and I'm a little nervous as to how camping and hiking days on end with a one and two year old might go, so, when my husband had a floating holiday about to expire he decided to take it the Tuesday after Memorial Day so we could have a little trial camp out. We were excited about the opportunity to fit in camping because we don't  have the chance on a normal weekend since we have to be up by 5 Saturday mornings to bake cinnamon rolls and be at the farmers market.

For me a camp out is setting up tents down by my parents pond; close enough we can walk to the house if we need something but far enough that it's a little inconvenient. Ideally we pack all the food we'll need for one dinner and breakfast at a time and head to the house to refresh supplies the next day after having expired our food. This time things were a little different because it ended up being a micro camp out and kind of last minute.

Camping was fun but in the end it was a little disappointing.  Our plan was to camp both Sunday and Monday night but due to losing our camping buddies and a pop up rain shower we didn't end up at camp for a second night. Sunday night, was a lot of fun just not all I had hoped. I was trying to prepare for Éowyn's first birthday party as well as help my mom and sister prepare for their party so I didn't make it to camp until nearly 11 PM. That did away with the possibility of much actual camp prep. Then once I did make it to camp Wyn threw up in a pretty sickish style so I briefly considered throwing in the towel but I realized dealing with a sick kiddo wasn't going to be any easier inside, in fact, it might be easier outside. I headed to the house for some extra towels and water proof bedding but in the end Éowyn slept off her sickness and was healthy the next morning.

Many of my siblings had  also set up tents and camped with us which added to the fun. We sat around visiting, eating s'mores and marshmallows, and telling jokes until about 1AM before calling it a night.
Monday morning it was up at the crack of dawn, because for some reason sleeping in a tent with the sun illuminating the inside by 5 AM it's impossible to not get up. Lots of people went fishing (soon I'll have a post regarding Wesley's early birthday present of a fishing pole and gear) and my brothers worked on getting the fire ready for me to make breakfast. I used a large iron skillet and started by frying up a bunch of Wright's bacon pieces (my favorite and most economical way of buying bacon), next I cubed up potatoes I had pre baked and warmed them in the bacons grease, then it was add eggs, scramble, and throw the crumbled bacon back in, as well as a block of cream cheese. I'm sad that breakfast is the only meal I got to cook at camp because I find it to be a lot of fun cooking over an open fire. Before long we'll be in CO and I'll be cooking past my hearts desire I'm sure.

Anyway, we had a nice teeny tiny little camp out and I look forward to more! The girls actually did great, falling asleep in our arms then transferring easily to their pallets in the tent while we went back to the fire. Jerusha had no problems with the idea of peeing outside now that she is potty trained, another thing that had me nervous. They both respected the fire and kept their distance although that was a necessity on everyone's part thanks to my brothers fire that was so big and hot that anyone sitting close is now leg hair free. :P

This ends my post of our camping experience and I hope to have more to write of after our July trip to Michigan and then our August trip to Colorado!
The few pictures I took..

First Birthday

Our little Éowyn is ONE.  Her daddy was going out of town for work on her actual birthday so, much as I hate to admit, we celebrated a few days early.
My family annually hosts a Memorial Day Pitch In at their place, providing the main food and everyone's favorite location for your well rounded party. Because we knew both sides of the family would likely be gathered together, we chose to roll Wyn's birthday party in a little earlier than the rest of the guests were expected to arrive.

I chose 'You Are My Sunshine' as a theme because  Éowyn has been known far and wide for her sunny personality. Wesley got her balloons which went with the theme and I did a few decoration attempts. I made Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting and a smash cake of the same variety.

 Éowyn did just as I expected with her smash cake. Poked it and rejected it as a messy texture. After I got a spoon and tried feeding her a bite she, as she typically does, grabbed the spoon and took over.

 Wesley made balloon animals and swords for all the cousins/young uncles and aunts.

  Éowyn Harper's monthly pictures
...and a few extra from the last shoot because, well, its the last.