Video Games

It’s that time again! Every year, my office holds a Halloween party where dressing up in a costume is mandatory. We take it so seriously that we actually have awards for best male costume and best female costume.

In past years, I’ve dressed up as Link from Legend of Zelda Nintendo games (complete with my own knitted green hat, custom-made Triforce shield and sword), as an “80′s girl” (complete with scrunchied ponytail, neon dress, big bangles, hoop earrings, and blue eyeshadow… think Tina Majorino’s character in Napoleon Dynamite, i.e. Ms. “Glamor Shots”), and as a Canada’s Wonderland carny games operator (complete with headset microphone, Wonderland employee sweatshirt, and giant life-size stuffed chicken one would win by playing the “milk cans” carny game).

This year, I decided to dress up as a contestant from Project Runway. I recently became obsessed with watching reruns of old Project Runway episodes – both the US version with host Heidi Klum, and the Canadian version with host Iman.

As you may know from reading my “About” page, I have dabbled in pretty much every craft ever created. I’m pretty much a regular Martha Stewart… except, y’know, minus the jail sentence (and I really do mean that in a good way… I truly admire Martha Stewart and have mad respect for her and her massive empire). But even though I’ve tried my hand at sewing before, I’ve never really gotten into it in the same way that I’ve gotten into knitting.

And that’s why Project Runway appeals so much to me, more so than most other reality shows (it should be noted that I’m a self-admitted reality TV junkie). Other than Hell’s Kitchen, of course… and that’s only because that show appeals to the domestic chef in me. Plus, I ♥ Gordon Ramsay. Mmm… nothing is truly sexier than an angry man screaming his guts out at incompetent chef wannabes.

Getting back to the topic of Project Runway… I would looove to start getting into sewing and designing my own clothes and handbags and cushions and other home decor products galore! That is definitely a future goal of mine… albeit, quite possibly a far, far, far away future. I’ll get around to it, I promise… just gotta wait until time permits!

Anyway, I didn’t want to go out and buy anything for this costume, so I basically just donned one of my awesome Desigual blazers (that’s decked in random colorful stitching and buttons and ribbons all over) that I had purchased while in Europe, paired with a flow-y knee-length skirt, star-patterned leggings, green suede flats, green cardigan, green headband, side ponytail, mismatched earrings, and my Vivienne Westwood star-patterned hot pink & black thick-framed glasses.

I wrapped a few tape measures around my neck, and was prepared to complete the look by grabbing an iron and carrying it around with me all day at work. However, the iron thing didn’t turn out ’cause I tried looking high and low for it this morning, and I must have misplaced it during the move. Technically, I could have used a clothes steamer as a replacement… but no way was I going to lug around my massive, totally non-portable clothes steamer while at work!

As per usual, the Halloween office party was also a potluck… but this time for desserts only. Last potluck at work a couple weeks back, I had blogged about cooking a Hash Brown Casserole that tasted just like the one offered at Cracker Barrel (based on a copycat restaurant recipe that I had dug up online). For this potluck, I had decided to try recreating Cracker Barrel’s Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake with another copycat recipe.

When everyone at work found out what I was making, they were all highly intrigued and interested in trying it out. I joked that, being the uber-caffeinated person that I am, I was simply trying to incorporate that side of me into my baking by stuffing as much caffeine as possible from every available avenue into the cake. Well, it worked out, because like the Hash Brown Casserole, the Double Chocolate Fudge Coca-Cola Cake was a huge success!

I had coworkers telling me it was “the moistest cake they’ve ever tasted,” with someone actually eating 4 pieces in a row (although the latter might have to do with the fact that all that coke and chocolate in the cake probably made it highly addictive!).

Here is the copycat recipe that I had used to make the cake. I opted not to have frosting made to go with this cake, and I did customize it a bit by replacing margarine with butter, and also cutting the amount of butter/oil in my version. Based on my first attempt at this recipe, I have to say it’s definitely a keeper.

If you’re reading this and you’re intrigued, then I definitely recommend that you give it a go! Afterward, feel free to leave a comment letting me know how it went.