This was a view from a precarious perch on a half-submerged, half-decayed birch log off shore about 2/3rds of the way up the Island Trail. We hiked a 4+-mile loop Saturday morning and I can say it actually pained me a bit near the end! Okay, so the biggest pain was a blister betwixt my two far-left toes, but I also felt like this was one of the most vertical hikes we've ever done in Michigan. The views, the natural textures, colors, light & shade, birds & critters, were all so incredible it's hard to select just a few pics to share.
We arrived at the park Thursday night. Our reservation was originally Friday-Sunday. But spontaneously, Thursday morning I called to extend an extra day and we left work early, in dire need of an extra day away from the office. Best decision EVER! Not only did we get the most gorgeous Lake Michigan sunset all to ourselves, but we also got a great table at Sportsman's Pub for pizza without any wait ;-)
Ah... This is why a 3-day weekend at Ludington State Park has the same soothing effect as a week-long vacation in the Caribbean. 
And a MILLION cupcakes for everyone else! Our family is WAY fun, so I used cocktails as inspiration for the cake & frosting flavors.
Strawberry-lime cake with rum-vanilla buttercream and the prettiest sprinkles on the planet (which Rick picked out ~ he's honing in on his metro tendencies.)
Pineapple-Coconut cake with rum-vanilla buttercream.>
The island cake took almost an hour to bake. After the 10" layers came out (about 40 minutes at 325), I turned the heat down to 310 until a skewer came out of the pyrex cake clean. Oh, and if you ever want to know how to divide 2 boxes of cake mix (different flavors, of course) into three different-sized baking vessels, ask Rick, whose physics major (& math minor) came in WAY handy on Saturday!
Since Rick was so invested in the baking project, I decided he deserved to have some fun and help me put the decorations on the frosted cake. Other than putting one of the coral pieces on backwards and one sideways he did great ;-) (He's watching me type and just grated his teeth.)
And the finished product.... Jack Sparrow's island.
Now, the coral and seahorses are another story... I free-handed the seahorses on waxed paper with a tiny parchment paper cone filled with melted yellow candy melts. They're so cute! For the coral I started with a plate full of corn starch (because I swear I've seen that technique used on Food Network). I dipped a sucker stick in the cornstarch to make little channels for the chocolate to sit in, then piped it in and dusted it with yellow sanding sugar. I can't wait to see how they look on the cake. I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out.
Two-tiers, 10" round bottom, 8" pyrex dome "island" on top. Bottom tier will be white & blue vanilla cake with blue vanilla buttercream. Top tier will be yellow cake with mini-chocolate chips and brown sugar butter cream "sand" icing. The decorations are almost all molded chocolate. I have some great pics of those that will come next.
Orange-cinna-vanilla cupcakes with Mexican-hot-chocolate buttercream. I loved that icing so much I could shed a tear, or sweat a little from the heat of the cayenne pepper. Those little pics with the chile pepper and sombrero were a fun add, considering the cupcakes were for a party in our building. The red hots were a logical decoration, too, wouldn't ya say?! I will so SO so make these again ~ and hopefully sooner rather than later. If nothing else, just to have a bowl of that icing to eat with a spoon ;-) Recipe is here.
And I think that picture was taken after R & I licked up half the sugary-orange-y-melted-butter off the island. See that streak up the middle? A finger swipe.
Because PW's recipe says to cut off the uneven ends, I did what she said. So would you if you followed her blog! And because I'm such a frugal gal, baked up those uneven, untidy, messy-looking, not-pretty-enough-to-serve-to-company pieces of rolls, and ate half of them meeself to test the recipe (gave R the other half - arent' I a saint?) Uh, Ree? You're my new BFF.
After greasing and sugaring them down, rolling and slicing them, they rose for about a half hour on the range, out grazing with Marlboro Man's Mustangs. Uh, sorry, mind wandered. And actually, the orange rolls didn't rise that much. Hm. Not exactly sure why. Was the dough too warm by then? The cinnamon rolls rose just fine, though. I made two pans of cinnamon and then one orange marmalade, and I thought I rolled the dough for the first pan of cinnamon too thick, and so then I rolled the dough for the orange ones too thin. Grrr. Over compensated. Since this is my first experience with actual yeast-raised homemade dough, I gave myself a little slack. Even after using a 1/2 cup too much flour and forgetting the salt. Jeez, when will I ever be able to follow a darn recipe?
Breezie helped with the dishes, as you can see. She's such a sport. It was the maple syrup and coffee in the frosting that got her to help, I'm sure. Thank you, Ree, my new BFF. (HUGS from Michigan!)
In front we went all out orange - when the sun starts to go down the begonias are almost electric! These two planters on either side of the garage include coleus, licorice and dracena. Oh, and more dusties (because somehow we ended up with a thousand of them.) Along the driveway we went with a huge contrast to the house and planted all blueish-whites and they ended up being my favorites.
We also planted a whole slew of herbs including three different types of basil - yes, three - you should see them all. Helllllooo spaghetti pesto! What's in your garden/window boxes/hanging planters this year? Oh, and if you're in some lush tropical setting, please refrain from commenting about all your delicious exotica because, remember, I'm in Michigan, and my one lone rubber house plant likes being an only child, hogging all the skylight sun for itself. Thank you. xo ~ K
Maya in heaven - look at that amazing stick!
Isn't that the most painfully sweet Westie face you've ever seen? I can't believe I got it on film because it never lasts more than 0.2 seconds. It is followed almost instantaneously by sloppy kisses and wet dog tongue up one's left nostril. Love from Nory, take it or leave it.
Breezie on the prowl.
That fabulous runner is from Amenity (mine is Pier 1) and the votive holders (similar to mine, but mine are smaller and more amber-colored than orange). The tulips were $6 at Meijer. Beachstones were free, collected on several trips to Lake Michigan.
