Thunder Cakes!

Shhh.  Don't tell anyone the name of this post (I'm talking to you, Angela M!)

Last Sunday, while I was in Western Massachusetts cheering for Georgia's soccer team, Gordy was at home, helping Josie create the above masterpiece.

It's Second Grade Halloween Storybook Hat Time, people!  Get excited!

Long-time readers of my blog will remember two years ago, when Georgia was in second grade and she made a hat based on the childhood classic, Madeleine (new readers can CLICK HERE)

Josie chose the perhaps-not-particularly-classic Thunder Cake, by Patricia Polacco:

It is the story of a frightened little girl who learns that she is really quite brave.... by making a cake with her grandmother instead of worrying about a fierce summer storm that is about to arrive.  It is a sweet story, although a little suspect.  Call me a cynic, but how could you possibly gather ingredients from all over a large farm, mix, bake, cool, frost AND decorate a cake in the time it takes a prairie storm to travel seven miles.  I'm just saying.

I'd also like to know what on earth a chocolate cake that includes an over-ripe tomato tastes like.

But back to Josie and her hat:

Josie made her hat look like the cake - with the brim being the plate.  It was a chocolate cake, so Josie colored the top brown and decorated the sides with characters from the story.  She included the little girl, the cat...

Nellie Peck Hen, a goat... 

The Kick-cow, the grandmother and those are strawberries on the top.

Josie will bring her hat into school on Halloween along with three written clues.

Hopefully, she'll stump them all!