Happy Groundhog's Day!!!

So, as stated in my previous post, Groundhog's Day is not taken lightly in my family, at least from my mom's side. We embrace it. It's almost ridiculous. By the way Phil's official predictions  from Gobbler's Knob this year are 1) the Steeler's will win the Super Bowl, and 2) Spring will be here in 6 weeks since he did not see his shadow. I am hoping for both!!!

So in honor of my mother and her much cherished local holiday I found directions on the Serious Eats website for how to construct a Groundhog. Granted, it's kind of ugly and not shaped quite right, it's still kind of endearing. They didn't post a lot of pictures so I took it upon myself to photo document my efforts.

Start with your favorite chocolate cake baked in a 9 or 10 inch round pan. Cut the top off of the cake so you have a flat surface.

Note: I will post the recipes I used for the cake and the frosting in another post. Both are quite yummy!

Once the cake is completely cooled, cut it in half to you have two half moon pieces.

On the bottom piece, spread a layer of your choice of chocolate frosting, then top with the top layer.

If you wish, you may gently slice away one of the ends on the sides and top so you have a nice shapes for Phil's head.

The coat the entire cake in a thin crumb coat and place in in the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm up.

Once the frosting is firm, cover the cake in another layer of frosting.

I used chocolate pieces from a broken chocolate bar for the ears, feet and tail. The eyes are chocolate chips, the whiskers and mouth are black spaghetti, the grass is coconut colored with green food coloring and the hat and tie are made from cardboard.

 

Needless to say it's a crude version of Phil and I probably will do a little bit more shaping the next time around, and perhaps use chocolate fondant instead of frosting hmmm...

All in all very fun!!!!

Football Stadium and Groundhogs!!!

So my former youth instructor at church posted this to her Facebook page a few days ago.

Needless to say when I saw it I almost spazzed out completely!!! I knew that I had to make it. Everyone thinks I'm insane. My husband, my mom, some of my fellow foodie friends...everyone. I on  the other hand think it's going to be freakin' grand! I can't wait to do it. So keep on the look out for it this upcoming Superbowl weekend. There will be dips!!!!

Also, on a more personal side note, Groundhog's day is coming up tomorrow. My mom is from Punxsutawney (phew spelled it right, otherwise I may have been disowned) and so they celebrate it religiously in their house here in the Midwest. In Punxy it's like a national holiday. Everything closes for the day, there's no school and thousands of people descend on Gobbler's Knob to see Phil pulled out of his hole. I hope PETA doesn't throw another fit this year. That groundhog is the most well cared for and spoiled animal on the planet!!! I'm pretty sure Phil would kick PETA in the butt if they took him away from his cushy life. Sorry, random tangent...

 So a cake in the shape of a Groundhog in honor of my mother? Oh I think so! Now if I can only find the time. Arg! Never enough time. Maybe I just need to take a week off and cook all the things I've been wanting to over the past year? Sounds grand.