The Non Traditional Birthday Cake

Today marks my niece's 12th birthday.

As with many of her birthdays we are celebrating it at our cabin in Maine - which does not have my KitchenAid Stand Mixer, stoneware pans and other favorite baking utensils that are back at my house in Florida. I am not a huge fans of store bought cakes (which seem expensive for mediocre flavor or really expensive for a wonderfully tasting cake).  While that may seem like a conundrum in itself it's worse because she doesn't really like cake.

I am known for my homemade chocolate chip cookies.  She loves them, as does the rest of the family.   But they seemed so unbirthday like.  Hmmm...what should I do?

A Chocolate Chip Cookie Birthday Pie!!  I would love to say that I came up with this creation myself.  But I didn't.  While searching on Pinterest I found this recipe on a blog that said they adapted the Nestle Toll House recipe.  However, when I looked at the Nestle Toll House recipe I realized it was an identical recipe.  Seriously people, don't pass something off as your own version if it's not.  The credit goes to Nestle Toll House.

You can find the recipe here:
Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie

Although my favorite baking aids were not up here, my mom had this beautiful green pie plate that I thought would be wonderful to dress up a celebration.  I just love it!  I"m sure that in the coming years I'll be using it more for a variety of other pies. Now if only I really knew how to crimp pie dough, lol.  If anyone has tips on that please let me know.

This pie looked good even before it was in the oven!  Probably because I'm a sucker for anything chocolate chip cookie dough! The pie came out a little bit dark but my brown sugar was really dark.  Next time I'll be using light brown sugar so it looks a little more appealing.  Sometimes you just have to use what you have :)

The Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Pie was a complete hit.  Serve it with a little bit of ice cream or whip cream - yum!  Since we are in Maine for so many of her birthdays I think I'll tuck this recipe away to celebrate with it again.

I'm curious ... do any of you make a non traditional birthday cake?  If so, what do you make?  Thanks for sharing!

Maine Wildlife Park

Every year we are lucky enough to travel to a family cabin in Maine for a couple of weeks out of the summer. Spending the summer in Maine, however, always causes a conundrum in my family.  Some of us just want to sit by the water, read a book and relax.  Others want to travel around the state.

In the past my husband and I have traveled several hours to Greenville, Maine to see moose.  We didn't bring the kids.  This year there was chatter that they also wanted to see a moose but didn't want to go so far from the cabin.  A friend of mine mentioned a place in Gray, Maine called the Maine Wildlife Park.

Getting to the Park from where our cabin is (near Bath, Maine) was not fun for those who succumb to car sickness.  Our group used Sea Bands to help out with it but there's your warning.  I'm not sure if there's an easier way to go.  We used our phone's GPS to get there.

The park was beautiful and a lot more than I expected.  There are over 30 species of native Maine Wildlife.  Here are just a few pictures of the animals we saw:

And best of all, we saw a moose!!!  Unfortunately I was not able to get a good picture because they were sitting so close to the fence.  There were 2 male and 2 female moose.

The walk through the woods was beautiful and as you can see the animals were very cool.  The animals housed at the Maine Wildlife Park were rescued and cannot survive in the wildlife alone, which I like better than a regular zoo.  According to a volunteer we talked to at the Park, it only has 4 employees and lots of volunteers who keep up the grounds gorgeous, act as tour guides and so much more.

The only downside I found is if you are visiting mid-day and  forget to bring a lunch.  Snacks and other sweet stuff are sold but no actual food you would consider lunch.  So don't forget to bring your picnic baskets!

The Maine Wildlife Park is open every day during the season from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. (although guests already in the park can stay until 6 p.m.).

For more information on prices, events, photo passes, volunteering etc. visit Maine Wildlife Park.