Fun Cake Idea (Hot Dog & French Fries - seriously!) and Making Friends

When I first moved to New Jersey just over 13 years ago, it was a time of big changes for me.  I had just gotten married to my best friend and moved to a part of the country where I knew no one other than My Husband and his family.  I was very excited about moving somewhere new, but didn't really consider how hard it would be to essentially "start over" when it came to making friends.  I had never moved as a kid, so I was never the "new kid" in school and pretty much had the same friends throughout my school years.  Those girlfriends are still a part of my life - we are in contact on a pretty regular basis thanks to email!  I'm terrible at making phone calls, but email has enabled me to maintain friendships that I would be very sad to lose. 

Of course, as I got older and started working I made other friends along the way.  While that was not so hard to do back then, because I had my "core" group of friends it was much harder when I relocated.  I found it very hard to connect with the people I first met when I got here.  The impression I got was that everyone had their history here with the people they grew up with and didn't have room for additional people in their lives.  I made peace with that for awhile because I was busy with finishing my degree at night and was a newlywed who wanted to spend time with My Husband.

Not everyone makes friends easily, and I guess I am one of those people.  But, once you have entered my "circle of trust" (those who have seen Meet the Parents will get that), I'm there for you no matter what.  I've been fortunate that I was encouraged to join a group back when My Boys were very young that allowed me to make some fabulous connections that I still have today.  Our lives may be busy, but we do try to make time to at least connect in one way or another in spite of our schedules.  I've read so many articles that talk about how women need relationships with other women for so many reasons.  I must say, I do agree with what I've read.  Without my different groups of friends, I'm sure I'd be a bit of a crazed woman.  It is so nice to be able to vent to a friend and get an objective opinion or share some good news.  Sometimes you just need a friend to chat with that loves you for who you are - "warts and all". 

Now, what does that have to do with anything food related?  Well, as I've mentioned before I play Bunco once a month with a great group of women.  It's the one night a month that is entered on my calendar and no matter what's going on, I make it there!  I think in the many years I've been playing that I may have only missed a couple of times and that was due to me being too sick to go.  Having this one night out each month guarantees that we each get a chance to catch up while sharing a ton of laughs.  The other night, we had a small group due to all of the spring sports - but, that didn't stop those of us who made it from having a lot of fun.  I had a rushed evening between baseball games and practices and getting to the game so I didn't bring any new treats to share.  No worries, though because my neighbor made this fun cake that I can't wait to share with you here!

When I first saw this cake (YES, it is a cake!) on the table it immediately made me smile!  I'm going to have to make it for My Boys sometime as it would completely fake them out!  My neighbor did an AMAZING job putting it together and I told her it should definitely make an appearance at our block party this summer!  If you want to try this one for yourself, you can find the instructions at Family Fun right HERE. 

Weekly Tasty Tidbits will be posted this weekend, so be sure to check back to see what I discovered this past week!

Please note that all photos and content belong to Patsy Kreitman, unless otherwise noted. If you want to use something please ask first.