Graduation Party

A couple weeks ago we had a Graduation Party for Rob. Rob wrote his last exam the middle of June and his marks were in by the end of the month. Although the official graduation ceremony is not until November we decided to celebrate now while the weather is nicer and we could still be outside.

Given the type of summer we’ve been having (rain, rain and more rain) I should have expected that after over a week of ideal summer weather it was going to rain on the day of the party … and I did expect it … and I was not disappointed in that regard.

It rained during the day, early evening and later at night … but for most of the evening it was relatively good with only a few spitters … and none of us got wet as Rob went off to Canadian Tire to buy the biggest tarp he could find … which he strung over our backyard … yes dear country friends, almost the whole thing, remember we live in the city now :( It was actually a good thing many people were on holidays and couldn’t make it … would have gotten a little congested under the tarp otherwise :)

I left the girls in charge of the camera for the night, asking them to take a few photos. You can view the outcome below … yes that’s right … there are none … they forgot (and obviously I did too or I would have reminded them).

Several people asked me for the recipes to one of the cakes I made. I’ve been asked for this recipe before (sorry, whoever you are I forgot, I know, terrible memory) so I figure I’ll just post it here … hopefully I’ll cover everyone then. I will be honest in that I don’t measure things … so I’m giving the original recipes, but I mostly just throw in this and that and away we go.

Chocolate Mocha Squares
500 ml whipping cream (I use Nutriwhip instead as this makes it a milk free recipe --- 500ml Nutriwhip might be a bit much - maybe more like 300-350ml)
3 tbsp chocolate syrup
3 tsps instant coffee
1 tsp warm water
¾ cup icing sugar
whole graham crackers
chocolate flakes/pieces

Beat whipping cream until stiff
Dissolve 3 tsps coffee in 1 tsp warm water
Add 3 tbsps chocolate syrup and ¾ cup icing sugar to coffee mixture
Mix altogether with whipping cream
In 9x9 pan lay graham crackers on bottom. Add a layer of whipping cream mixture. Alternate layers using 3 layers crackers and finishing with cream mix on the top.
Sprinkle chocolate flakes or pieces on top


Thank you to all who did come out to help us celebrate. We had an enjoyable time.