Struck my funny bone!

Birthday greeting from my dear friend:

The pen bit .... priceless! I could just see (and hear) Dianne as the first pen ran dry and she searched for another while Tigger and Sasha meow " Purrr Mommy", swish their tails and turn up their noses at the 10th kind of gourmet/prescription cat food she's tried to entice them with that day. I don't want more birthdays... I would much rather reincarnate ASAP and return as one of Dainne's beloved cats!

Another delightful birthday surprise...

A magnificent Birthday Bouquet from my dear friend Mary Anne, Detail of some individual blossoms- Beauty within beauty, reflecting itself again and again...

Having all the ingredients on hand, I baked a birthday cake, winging it as I went along, as is usual when I am in experimental baking mode. Peter, a ranger at Shawme-Crowell State Forest, (where all my favorite mushrooms grow) would celebrate his birthday on the 19th, the day after mine, so I baked this cake with him in mind. I should have measured and written down the ingredients, because this gingerbread-pumpkin-cocoa pound cake studded with walnuts, dried cranberries, dark chocolate chips and preserved ginger turned out to be one of my best experimental creations. Frosted with a thin glaze of dutch & black cocoa, confection sugar, a pinch each of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, allspice and thinned down with Marsala and a drop of orange oil...the deep, dark flavor perfectly compliments the not-too-sweet gingerbread richly textured with the addition of the pumpkin. It's a very October cake.. a Libra cake. My decorating skills are a bit rusty, but passable. (Those are supposed to be mushrooms at the bottom of the cake, as Peter christened me "The Mushroom Lady" when I first began foraging at Shawme-Crowell.)

Sunday afternoon just before the 4 PM "changing of the guards", I headed over to the State Forest. As I drove through the entrance and immediately noticed the little station was empty and not a vehicle in sight, I realized my mistake. After October 16, rangers are there only certain days and hours, as this is the start of the off-season.

The cake is in my freezer now. I left a message at the ranger station, but if I don't hear from them by next week, the cake will end up as coffee break fare for the folks at the Sandwich Library.

Update: Peter did get his cake!