Halloween, Fondant Fears & a Jack O’ Lantern Dragon
So my birthday is right next to Halloween (October 27th) for all you interested peeps and like all kids with birthdays at the very end of October, they are almost always Halloween themed. In the past, I found it mildly annoying, but now I have learned to embrace it.
I decided to celebrate over the weekend and attend this thing up in Croton-on-Hudson, New York called The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze which I’ve never been to before. It says it has over 4000 pumpkins carved into a “breathtaking display” as you “meander into an 18th century landscape”. I figure it sounds random and weird and Halloweenie and tickets are pretty cheap. Since we were going late at night I figured the boyfriend and I should turn it into a little overnight thing. So I book a room at the Tarrytown Estate & Conference Center because it seems like a nice place—scenic and all that, plus it has a decent bar. Right before the weekend, I get a surprise email from the hotel letting me know they are hosting a cupcake decorating clinic on the exact day I am checking in and would I like to attend.
This was it. Finally, I knew the day would come when I would be able to face my fear of fondant. I really enjoy baking and cake decorating as many of you may recall with the Bunny cake (aka the Poodle with the Glandular Problem) I discussed in a previous entry. I have fun with cake decorating, but have never built up my courage to attempt the use of fondant. Something about its clay-like texture and need to be rolled out just make me twitchy.
In any case I now had a seat in my first ever cooking type class. The cupcake class hosted by this really nice chick, Stephanie Kolnick, who’s been on that show “Amazing Cakes”. She was fun, upbeat and let us make a huge mess that we didn’t have to clean up—which is something I recommend everyone get to do for their birthday.
So the hotel is pretty and there are a hundred buildings all 8 miles apart with no parking next to them, so there’s a lot of walking and a lot of random statues of naked people interspersed through the walkways. As soon as I get there I have to rush to the cupcake class. My boyfriend has this rant against fondant because its “form over function” and doesn’t taste good and blah blah so of course he would never consent to be a part of such an event—which is fine cause that means more cupcakes for me.
I sit next to a 4 year old who’s piling on buttercream and pink sugar and having the best time ever and start trying to make something decent. I used fondant and I wasn’t afraid…I even used CHOCOLATE fondant! (It tastes like a tootsie roll in case you’re wondering). I made some cute cupcakes (if I do say so myself) and I will be trying out fondant at home sometime soon. I’m thinking some crazy Christmas cake may be on the menu this year. I’ll be updating this blog with some pics soon and you’ll be able to see my cupcakes. (Why does that sound dirty?) I had a good two hours or so and then it was time to get some dinner.
We head out to this horrible restaurant that has a dog theme—seriously. It’s called Emma’s Ale House and the only warning I had was a little dog as the logo. I figured it was just a cute logo—I was very, very wrong. You go in and there are dogs everywhere—dog print on the upholstery—dog paintings and photographs staring at you from every wall and of course, the restaurant’s name is after the owner’s dog…Emma. Sigh.
It was described as “upscale pub” but the only thing upscale was the price. In the spirit of newness I decided to go with the Oktoberfest special “Wiener Schnitzel”. I have never had Wiener Schnitzel before but apparently it’s just a very thin breaded veil cutlet with the most bland fried pasta ever and a side of nasty cabbage. All for the price of $22. Yuck.
So after the dog restaurant, we head out to the Jack O’Lantern blaze. The GPS sends us down these one lane roads through the town of Sleepy Hollow (which is pretty cool it being Halloween weekend and all).
We get there and there are tons of people. You basically wander through some roped off grounds and see lots of different lit, carved jack-o-lanterns which would be very cool if people would stop taking flash photos. I’m not sure why they didn’t figure out that Nighttime + Lit Object + Flash = Shitty Pictures.
There were some really nice carvings, but it was pretty crowded. At the end of our little windy walk, was the very thing that made all of this worthwhile.
A dragon made entirely of carved pumpkins. You heard that right folks, a dragon made of pumpkins. So now I can say with all truth that I have seen a pumpkin dragon. And that’s a gift that keeps on giving.
