A Traditional Farm Life
By Shasta Hamilton
Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends! Green chives are tentatively poking up
through the ground in my mini-herb patch outside our kitchen door. A walk around our yard reveals buds on trees
and the all-too-soon arrival of my weedy archenemy, yellow dock. Is it really only the end of February?
Regardless of which calendar page we’re looking at, when the
weather is nice we simply can’t stay inside.
It’s definitely too early by looking at the calendar, but I’m eagerly
anticipating getting a small corner of the garden set aside for a gift I
received from the folks near Genoa, Nebraska whom I consulted with recently
about Native American beans.
They sent a “three sisters” sampling of blue flour corn,
Pawnee bush beans, and Pawnee watermelon.
The farmer in me is already anxious about getting a crop to maturity for
next year’s seed. Taking a cue from
their difficulties that first year getting a crop of corn, I’m hoping for a
planting site near the dog pen in hopes of keeping the birds, gophers, deer and
mice at bay.
Last Sunday afternoon was so beautiful we hitched up Tom and
Jerry to the people hauler and took an extended tour of Enterprise. It’s pretty amazing how the slower pace opens
your eyes to your surroundings. It
turned out eyes were upon us as well.
Local resident Dave Hansen good-naturedly called out as we slowly
plodded by, “How many bales to the mile do you get?”
Five years ago this week, our youngest child was born. Those years of long, sleepless nights with an
infant seem so long ago!
Our precocious little girl has been learning her letters and
numbers almost by osmosis it seems, as she is the only one not officially in
school—until next fall, that is.
While
she’s learning a lot from her siblings, it has become obvious some things just
come naturally.
She’s been volunteering quite a bit lately to go along with
me to the restaurant when I bake. After
we got settled in that first time she came with me, she asked for a cappuccino
from our cappuccino machine. We got her
this special treat and she contented herself with playing quietly for quite
some time.
The next time I went she readily volunteered to be my
helper, and we had barely got in the door before she innocently mentioned,
“This would be a great time for some cappuccino!”
Perhaps emboldened by her previous successes, this Tuesday I
had no sooner put the car in “park” in front of the restaurant before she
eagerly queried, “Can I have a cappuccino?”
Surprisingly, it turns out she did not ask for a cappuccino
for her birthday, but a Teddy Bear Birthday Cake instead. We have a fancy teddy bear cake
mold—naturally inaccessible in storage—so I suggested this easy alternative to
our eleven-year-old daughter who was in charge of baking the cake.
She divided the cake between two round cake pans; one
significantly smaller than the other, and the rest of the batter went into
cupcakes. After baking and cooling
completely, the larger 8” round was placed on the serving platter as the
“tummy,” the smaller round right above it as the “head,” and four of the five
cupcakes were placed as “arms” and “legs” on each side of the body. The fifth cupcake was cut in half and placed
with the cut side against the head for “ears.”
The cake was then iced and decorated as a teddy bear, much to the
birthday girl’s delight.
Teddy Bear Birthday Cake
1 box cake mix (your favorite flavor)
prepared according
to box directions
1 round cake pan (8”)
1 round cake pan (5”)
cupcake/muffin pan with liners
(5 cupcakes will
be used for cake)
chocolate and vanilla frosting,
purchased or
homemade
candies for eyes, nose, and mouth
if desired
1. Prepare cake pans
by cutting a circle of wax or parchment paper the same size as bottom of pan.
(Trace bottom of pan on paper and cut out.)
Spray both the pans and the paper lining with non-stick spray. Place 5 liners in muffin pan (more may be
needed).
2. Prepare cake mix
according to package directions. Fill cake
pans about 2/3 full; use rest of batter to fill cupcakes 2/3 full. Bake all according to baking time on box for
cupcakes and 8” round cake. The 5” cake
will be done somewhere in between the cupcakes and cake.
3. Cool cakes in pans
10-15 minutes, loosen outside edge with butter knife, and invert. Remove parchment paper and invert back onto a
wire rack to finish cooling completely.
4. To assemble,
prepare large platter, cookie sheet or covered cardboard. The 8” cake becomes the teddy bear’s
tummy. Place the 5” cake above it as the
head. Remove cupcake liner from 1
cupcake, cut in half, and place cut side next to cake as “ears” on top of
“head.” The other four cupcakes are
placed next to the “tummy” to become the “hands” and “feet.”
5. Frost with
chocolate icing. Vanilla icing can be
used as well, as desired. Candy can be
used for eyes, nose and mouth; or vanilla frosting can be tinted to desired
color and piped on.
Yield: 1 Teddy Bear
Cake
Copyright © 2016 by Shasta Hamilton
Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in
Enterprise, Kansas. She and her husband
own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled
children. You can reach The Buggy Stop
by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com
.
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