Easter Monday.

Just so we are all clear, I made the cutest cake ever for Easter Monday dinner at my in-law's house. And, might I add, it was The Canadian's idea. I showed him a photo of Easter basket cupcakes and he twisted it into an Easter basket cake made from my giant cupcake mold. He's such a genius. I think I'll keep him around.

The cake making part went fairly well. It's hard to screw up a box cake. Although, I've done it before and I'm sure I'll do it again.

The real challenge was creating a handle for the Easter basket. My bright idea was to braid pieces of licorice together to create support and structure. 

Note: licorice can NOT be melted together using a hot pink hair dryer. 

I poked and prodded with toothpicks forever...and it just wasn't working either.

Finally (miraculously) the idea of lollipop sticks popped in my head. They sort of worked...but I was out of ideas so that's I went with.

The whole 'basket weave' thing was no easy task either. Thanks to our good friends at google I figured out that the key is to create the weave in sections. And have patience. And cool the frosting halfway through because my sweaty hands were making it melt. Sexy.

Anyway, finally all the icing was in place and the grass was added. It only took enough green jimmy's to cover an entire country.

So I loaded it with Easter basket fillings and added the precarious handle...

TaaDaa! A completely edible Easter basket. Not bad for a mornings worth of work.

Oh, then there was the matter of cleaning up the disaster I call a kitchen. But I only did a half ass job because I had to get to the gym and frankly, I didn't feel like it.

Totally worth it -- my niece certainly enjoyed her piece.

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Workout: Cardio - 20 minutes (I was in a hurry. Stupid basket handle.) Weights: legs, abs

Weigh-in tomorrow. It's NOT going to be pretty. Brace yourself.