By We told the families this week. Or Megan told them, technically, with a card she made that said "Grandma" in her perfect teacher handwriting on the front and inside had a small ultrasound photo and our due date. She handed it to Linda at Sunday dinner and Linda read it and then screamed — I mean an actual full scream — and grabbed Megan and started crying immediately. Tom was standing in the kitchen doorway and he looked at me and I nodded and he crossed the room and shook my hand and then did something I'm going to carry for the rest of my life: he pulled me into a hug. A real one. I can't remember the last time my dad hugged me. It might have been when Babcia died. He held on for a second and I did too and that was everything.
We called the O'Briens on speakerphone. Patrick answered and Megan said "Dad, you're going to be a grandfather" and there was a silence and then Patrick O'Brien, retired Chicago firefighter, former man of very few emotional words, said "About time" in a voice that was clearly crying. Colleen in the background going absolutely bananas. The call lasted forty-five minutes. I sat on Megan's parents' side of the couch listening to her mother already talking nursery furniture and just felt like the luckiest guy in Bay View.
I made pierogi for dinner that night. Not a celebration decision exactly, just what I do when something real happens. Megan called her best friend Caitlin. I stood at the stove and crimped dough edges and thought about how we'd been holding this secret for five months and now it was out in the world and it felt like releasing something. The pierogi were good. The night was better.
The small future-kid-conversations have begun. Megan teaches small fourth-grade at a small public school in Wauwatosa. The small adoption-vs-biological conversation is in the small early-discussion stage. The small five-year-plan includes the small kid-or-kids in some form. The small kitchen is the small place where the small future is being practiced.
The small Lakefront Brewery shift-work continues to be the small steady-paycheck. The small forty-hour-week brewery-floor job pays the small twenty-two-an-hour rate that the small Milwaukee-blue-collar-economy supports. The small benefits are the small union-decent. The small ten-year-tenure-target is the small career-anchor.
Megan is from a small Irish-Catholic Milwaukee-suburban family. The small Sunday-dinners at her small parents’ house rotate with the small Sunday-dinners at Jake’s parents’ house. The small in-laws on both sides have been the small welcoming-presence. The small two-family-network is the small extended-support the small newlywed-life rests on.
Megan and Jake married in June 2024. The small newlywed-rhythm is in its small second year. The small two-bedroom rental on the small east-side of Milwaukee continues to be the small first-home. The small thirty-year-mortgage-eventually-someday is the small five-year-goal. The small marriage is the small foundation the small life is being built on.
The small Lakefront Brewery shift-work continues to be the small steady-paycheck. The small forty-hour-week brewery-floor job pays the small twenty-two-an-hour rate that the small Milwaukee-blue-collar-economy supports. The small benefits are the small union-decent. The small ten-year-tenure-target is the small career-anchor.
The small Polish-American heritage is the small kitchen-identity. The small pierogi-recipe-cards from Babcia Helen (Jake’s grandmother who passed in 2018, who had lived two blocks from the small Bay-View family-house) is the small monthly-Saturday-tradition. The small kielbasa-and-sauerkraut. The small bigos. The small recipes that came over from the small Krakow-region in the small 1910s.
Megan is from a small Irish-Catholic Milwaukee-suburban family. The small Sunday-dinners at her small parents’ house rotate with the small Sunday-dinners at Jake’s parents’ house. The small in-laws on both sides have been the small welcoming-presence. The small two-family-network is the small extended-support the small newlywed-life rests on.
The small Milwaukee-winter is the small six-month-condition. The small cold-weather-comfort-food rotation runs October through April. The small soups, the small stews, the small braises, the small heavy-baked-goods. The small Midwestern-comfort-vocabulary is the small kitchen-language.
The small future-kid-conversations have begun. Megan teaches small fourth-grade at a small public school in Wauwatosa. The small adoption-vs-biological conversation is in the small early-discussion stage. The small five-year-plan includes the small kid-or-kids in some form. The small kitchen is the small place where the small future is being practiced.
The pierogi were right for that Tuesday night — quiet, instinctive, something I make when the world shifts and I need my hands to do something real. But a week later, standing in the same kitchen thinking about how both families now knew and were already spinning into motion, I wanted to make something that actually announced itself when you carried it to the table. I work around hops all day at Lakefront, so when I landed on this Hoppy Frog Cake, it felt like it was written for the moment — something bright and a little ridiculous and impossible to look at without smiling, which is exactly where we are right now.
Hoppy Frog Cake
Prep Time: 45 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 1 hr 20 min + 1 hr cooling | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- For the cake layers:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- For the green cream cheese frosting:
- 16 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- Green gel food coloring (to desired shade)
- For the frog decoration:
- 4 large marshmallows (eyes)
- 4 chocolate chips (pupils)
- Black gel icing (pupils and mouth)
- 2 tbsp green candy melts, melted (optional, for detail work)
- 1/4 cup green sanding sugar or sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line bottoms with parchment paper, and grease the parchment. Set aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat softened butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed for 3–4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl once halfway through.
- Add eggs and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. The mixture should look smooth and cohesive.
- Alternate dry and wet. With mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the buttermilk in two additions, beginning and ending with flour. Add the lemon juice with the final buttermilk addition. Mix only until just combined — do not overmix.
- Bake. Divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake 30–35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops spring back lightly when touched. Cool in pans 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely, at least 1 hour.
- Make the frosting. Beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating on low to incorporate, then increase speed. Add vanilla and heavy cream, beat until fluffy. Add green gel food coloring a little at a time, mixing until you reach a bright frog green.
- Assemble. Place one cake layer on a serving plate or cake board. Spread a generous layer of green frosting over the top. Place the second layer on top and press gently. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting, smoothing with an offset spatula. Press green sanding sugar lightly around the bottom edge if desired.
- Decorate the frog face. Press two marshmallows near the top edge of the cake for eyes, securing with a dab of frosting or melted candy melts. Press a chocolate chip flat-side-out into each marshmallow for pupils. Use black gel icing to draw a wide curved smile across the top of the cake. Add any additional detail lines or spots with the remaining green candy melts or gel icing.
- Chill and serve. Refrigerate assembled cake for at least 30 minutes before slicing for cleaner cuts. Bring to room temperature 20 minutes before serving. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 4 days.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 610 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 28g | Carbs: 85g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 310mg