More Snow, Jack Sparrow and Chocolate Sheet Cake

Part I: More Snow - pictures from our Saturday snowstorm, taken at and on the way to Central Park. Unfortunately, the snow didn't stick around; most of it had melted by Sunday afternoon. Even on Saturday as it was coming down, the snow turned to cold, wet slush on the sidewalks and streets. This gal did not pack for a Noreaster so I was quite unprepared for a trek through our mini blizzard!

Cold, COLD NYC...

Part II: Captain Jack Sparrow - For the Halloween party that we attended Saturday night (yes, it was still snowing outside, and yes it was utterly frigid), Meredith and I were adamant about coming up with costumes which cost us no more than $20-25. We found a cheap witch's hat and some spiderweb-printed stockings for me which were paired with a black dress, some dark nail polish and dark eyeliner and poof: instant witch costume for me. Meredith found some bunny ears and a cotton ball-esque tail which she paired with some makeup and a black dress and voila: instant bunny costume for her. However clever (or boring) you might think our costumes were, Ben's was by far the best. Meredith and I found a great Captain Jack Sparrow hat and a fantastic fake sword to start with. Mere pulled out a pair of Ben's linen pants and a white linen shirt and then tied a black scarf around his waist for a sash. I added a bit of brown eyeshadow around his eyes, Mere drew in some fake scruff and yo-ho: Captain Jack Sparrow! 

Part III: Chocolate Sheet Cake - found this recipe on Pinterest. It's from the Pioneer Woman's blog and is every bit as delicious as it looks. Made this for a dinner that we had on Sunday at my cousin's apartment and it was so much fun to taste along the way and definitely worth eating at the end! The recipe is as follows, with some pictures thrown in along the way: 

Melt 2 sticks of salted butter in saucepan on stove. Also boil 1 cup of water. After the butter has melted, add 4T of cocoa powder to the saucepan and stir together well. Add the cup of boiling water to this mix. Allow these ingredients to bubble/boil for 30 seconds, then turn off the heat and set the saucepan aside. 

In a separate bowl, mix together 2 cups of sugar with 2 cups of flour and 1/4 tsp of salt. Mix well. 

In another bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of buttermilk with 2 beaten eggs, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp baking soda.  Stir all of these together well. 

(Melted butter with cocoa and hot water mixed in.) 

Add the butter/cocoa mixture to the sugar/flour mixture. Stir together well (next two pictures). 

Now add the buttermilk mixture to the chocolate mixture. Stir in well (next two pictures). 

Pour cake mix into an ungreased cake pan or baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Make the frosting while the cake is baking.

 Frosting Steps:

Melt 1 and 3/4 sticks of butter in saucepan over stove. Add 4T of cocoa (I added heaping scoops like the Pioneer Woman suggests). Stir these together and allow them to bubble on the stove for 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and add 6T of milk and 1 tsp of vanilla. Stir together. 

Now add 1 lb. of powdered sugar to the mix and stir well. Make sure to stir the sugar clumps out, lest your frosting look like mine did (below)... You might even try sifting the powdered sugar before adding it to the chocolate so that you don't have clumps in your frosting. 

Pour the frosting over the cake when you first pull it from the oven. The heat from the warm cake will allow the frosting to spread over much of the cake so that you don't have to do much work. You might need simply to spread it a bit for an even coat of frosting. And then enjoy your cake! It's mighty delicious...

Thank you, Pioneer Woman!