People often ask me if I’m glad I had Sid, him being a surprise and all. If you’ve ever seen me with my son, you know that that’s a completely ridiculous question. A person could not possibly adore another person more.

With that in mind, we spent the entire weekend celebrating the little guy’s first birthday.

The party started on Saturday with a bagel and cream cheese brunch followed by Tunnel of Fudge Cake (recipe below) with whipped cream. Oh yeah, the kid likes cake.

That night, we had a totally over the top meal of Oktoberfest Stew,  Polpette Frite, pasta and salad.

A few hours after dinner, Shane served up some hot wings, because he’s never made wings before, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to try his hand at them.

Sunday morning we had a hearty brunch of eggs benedict (florentine for the vegetarian) and pancakes with the “Drews‘” homemade maple syrup.

Dinner was ad-hoc soup by my mom who makes the best ad-hoc soup, after which we cleaned up and collapsed.

Happy Birthday baby boy, you are so worth it.

• Tunnel of Fudge Cake •
from Pillsbury
35 min prep time, 4hr 30 min total time

Cake
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups butter, softened
6 eggs
2 cups powdered sugar
2 1/4 cups all purpose or unbleached flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups chopped walnuts *walnuts are essential to the success of this recipe and must not be omitted

Glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
3-6 tablespoons milk

Instructions
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube cake pan or 10-inch tube pan. In large bowl, combine sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar; blend well. By hand, stir in flour and remaining cake ingredients until well blended. Spoon batter into greased and floured pan; spread evenly.

Bake at 350°F. for 40 to 50 minutes or until top is set and edges are beginning to pull away from sides of pan. Do not over-bake or your cake won’t have the tunnel of fudge. Personally, I think you can’t go wrong taking this out after 40-45 minutes. Also, a cake-tester won’t work, since the center is supposed to be all gooey. Cool upright in pan on wire rack 1 1/2 hours. Invert onto serving plate; cool at least 2 hours.

In small bowl, combine all glaze ingredients, adding enough milk for desired drizzling consistency. Spoon over top of cake, allowing some to run down sides. Store tightly covered.