moon>sun

My Swap-O-Rama-Rama dress

2011-05-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to the Maker Faire and there was a big tent for Swap-O-Rama-Rama. Swap-O-Rama is a concept where you bring old clothes to donate and you can swap it for other people's cold clothes. But this was more than a simple clothing swap- the extra "rama" means you could also use the clothes to make new stuff. It's a swap-and-upcycle DIY kind of thing. They had sewing machines all set up for people to use and designers to help you with your ideas.

I brought in 2 zipper hoodie sweatshirts and 2 long sleeved v-neck tops.
I kept one of the v-neck tops to make into a dress. I just knew I wanted to make a skirt for it but I didn't know what kinds of fabric I'd find, so it was going to be a spontaneous project.
This is the finished dress.

The top is the black v-neck shirt I brought in.
The skirt is a charcoal grey knit skirt I found there, I was able to just cut off the waistband and sew it to my top. That made a very simple dress but I wanted more "oomph".
I found a shirt with a rayon print fabric I liked. I cut strips from it to make a ruffle for the bottom of the skirt.

I finished the bottom hem of the ruffle with the serger they had there. It was threaded with turquoise thread, which didn't really go with my project at all but it takes forever to rethread a serger so I just went with the serendipity of the moment! I think the turquoise actually adds an unexpected visual punch.

Then I found a really TEENSY miniskirt, like size XS, in the cutest black and pink chiffon print. It was lined in plain black chiffon. It had a handkerchief hem which I decided would look cute as a 2-layer ruffle on the 3/4 sleeves. It would break up the solid black and grey a little more, and make the dress less severe and Amish-y. The sleeves remind me of a Stevie Nicks kind of vibe.

For the last touch, I added a drawstring waist to make it less sack-like. I recycled the belt from the grey knit skirt, and just sewed a casing to the waist seam where I had attached the top and the skirt.

I am a bit bigger than my dress form so the dress is not as loose and drapey on me as you see here, but it's not skin tight either.

But I think this might be a dress I would actually wear, for fall & winter. It's enough black that it's well within my comfort zone, but it's got some more feminine touches to break it up and not look boring. I like the mid-calf length, especially with boots in the fall.

I like how my dress came out!
I could have done something similar with clothes I already had, or with goodwill finds, and I have done that in the past. But the Swap-O-Rama-Rama was a fun experience and I got to get rid of 2 big bulky hoodies which hopefully someone else made into something cool! I noticed they were both gone from the donation tables when I left so I hope someone got some good use out of them. (or maybe someone just wore them home, because it was rather unexpectedly chilly and windy that evening!)

Scarf made from self-striping yarn

2011-05-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

I finished knitting the scarf made from my hand-dyed self-striping yarn. This is the Dolcetto yarn that was supposed to be purple and black, but came out purple and dark brownish-purple. It's still pretty cool, it's not the colors I was trying for but luckily it is still colors I like.

I really liked the process of dying the yarn and then knitting it to see how it would come out in the final garment, so I have continued with the experimenting. Today I dyed some yarn with food coloring and it will be self-striping with yellow and green stripes. Pictures coming soon, as soon as it is dry.

Movie Review: Hereafter

2011-05-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

**This review will contain spoilers**

Last night I watched the dvd of Hereafter, directed by Clint Eastwood. The movie is about 3 different people dealing with the concept of what happens after you die, the existence of an afterlife, etc. It's kind of an odd coincidence, I had this movie in my Netflix queue for a couple of months, long before my best friend died a week ago. Then I had returned another movie the day after she died and this was the next one that showed up in my mailbox. So I have been thinking a lot about life and death lately for obvious reasons, and it seemed like good timing to watch the movie.

There are three main characters in the movie, who don't know eachother. It's really 3 parallel stories. One of them is a French woman who has a near-death experience. Well not really "near", she basically dies, but then is resuscitated. She has a conversation with her lover, and asks him "what do you think happens after you die?"
He says, it's just lights out. Nothingness, the void. That's basically my feeling, at least it is what I have always hoped death would be (when thinking about my own death). I don't beleive in heaven or hell, reincarnation, or god. I don't want to go on or come back or any of that, I just want to cease to be. There's always been something very peaceful and comforting to me about that perfect nothingness.

But in the movie, all 3 characters have some evidence that there is something after. The woman has been there, and seen it. The man is a psychic, and can communicate with spirits of the dead. And the young boy has lost his twin brother and still feels a connection to him, the "ghost" of the twin saves him from a subway explosion.
Of the 3 stories, I found the little boy's story the most compelling. Before the twin brother dies, the movie did a wonderful job of establishing the very close and intuitive bond the brothers had with eachother, almost like two halves of one person. So when the older, more confident twin dies, you really feel the loss and grief of the other boy. The 2 child actors (twins in real life, obviously) were so good in this movie.
The ending was happy for all 3 characters, which was a relief after all the grief and sadness but was also a bit unrealistic, too "deus ex machina" for my taste. It would be nice if real life worked that way. I hope there is a happy ending for my friend's husband and children, some where down the road.

It did make me think about my friend who just died. I still don't beleive in an afterlife, but she definitely did. She was really into the paranormal, ghost hunting, stuff like that. She went on a ghost hunting weekend run by the TV show Paranormal State, which she was a big fan of. The memory of my friend will always live with me so that is a form of afterlife I guess, but I don't beleive in ghosts in the literal sense. But, I do think it's comforting to think of her still having some kind of presence to watch out over her young sons. I want them to have a thought of mommy as their guardian angel, or something like that. It's hard enough for most adults to contemplate nothingness, but a 2 year old and a 4 year old should not have to face it.

Anyway, I recommend the movie, it's very good. Clint Eastwood has turned out to be such a great director, who would have ever thought it after that low period with the monkey movies.

Yarn Dyeing Project

2011-05-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

Today I finally finished my yarn dyeing project.

I started with two types of yarn.
1. Nature's Choice Organic Cotton yarn, in "Almond". This was basically off-white, an unbleached natural color.
2. Sensations Dolcetto (a very soft blend of wool and cotton), in a Lavender color.

What attracted me to these yarns was their very soft texture. I have really sensitive skin, and many yarns are too scratchy to wear directly touching my skin. My neck and face are especially sensitive and sometimes have eczema in winter, so my scarves and hats have to be very soft.
(most wools, for example, are not soft enough, but the Dolcetto blend of lambswool and cotton is exceptionally soft).
The unfortunate thing is that both of these yarns only came in a very limited selection of light colors, and I prefer deeper colors. But, I decided that I would experiment with dyeing since they were natural fibers.

I bought two colors of dye.
iDye in Purple
iDye in Black
This type of dye can be used on any natural fiber- both animal and plant.

My idea was to make a self-striping yarn with the Dolcetto. I wanted to make a scarf that would have alternating skinny stripes of lavender, purple and black.

My first step was to knit a few inches with the yarn in the gauge and width that I would use for the scarf. Then I unraveled it and measured how many inches of yarn was used per row.
Once I determined how long each color segment needed to be, I set up two kitchen chairs far apart in a room. I started winding the yarn around the two chair backs to make a large loop. I tied off my loop in the middle and then I planned to dip one side of the loop in purple, and the other side in black.

The plan for the off-white cotton yarn was simpler. I had two skeins of it, so I was going to dye one of them solid purple and the other one black. Then I would knit with them doubled up to make it chunkier and have both colors showing.

I started the dyeing process with the purple dye. I used both salt and vingar as a mordant, since one of my yarns was a blend of plant and animal fibers.
Generally you use salt as a mordant for plant fibers (cotton or linen), and you use vinegar as a mordant for animal fibers (wool or silk).

I used a large pot on the stovetop instead of the washing machine method. This allows you to use hotter water and the cleanup is easier. It's the recommended method for dark colors.
I put one of the skeins of cotton yarn into the pot, and suspended the Dolcetto yarn over the pot so that half of my large loops was submerged in the pot.
I also threw in a white cotton eyelet top that I got at the thrift store.

The results were very good!
The cotton yarn came out a deep, vibrant purple.
The Dolcetto also came out nice and dark.
The eyelet top came out more of a greyish-lavender, but it was very pretty.

Then I got busy and did not have time to do the black dyeing until the next month. I finally did that today and it was my final step in the project. (not counting the actual knitting!)

I followed the same process I used with the purple dye. Salt, vinger, large pot on stovetop.
I made sure to leave the yarn in the pot a long time since I wanted a nice deep black.
I decided at the last minute that I wanted to make the natural cottton yarn variegated black and grey, so I left half of it soaking for a long time, and just gave the other half a quick dip in the dye bath.

My results were puzzling, to say the least!
The black dye came out purple.
This is the off-white cotton yarn after dyeing it "black". It's not completely dry yet.

This was supposed to be black and grey, from a long soak and a short dip in the black dye.
Instead, it is dark purple and light purple.

Then I left the Dolcetto yarn soaking even longer, over an hour.
This is the result:

The top lavender section is the virgin yarn as it came.
The left side is the "black" dye, not completely dry yet.
The right side is the purple dye, completely dry.

You can see that the black is a different shade of purple, it's most reddish while the "purple" dye is more of a blue-violet.
But both of them are purple.
My purple and black stripes are going to be purple and purple stripes.
otherwise known as : PURPLE.

I also tried to tie-dye the cotton eyelet shirt in the black. I twisted it into a rope and then tied it up with rubber bands and twine. The idea was for it to be black with purple spiral designs.
That came out purple and purple, as well. No black, no grey. Just variegated purple.
It's still drying, I will take photos after it's dry and ironed.

So my conclusion at this stage is that they accidentally put purple dye into the black dye package. I don't think I did anything wrong, as far as mordants or soaking time.
If I had not soaked it long enough, then it should be grey, not purple.
If I didn't use the right mordants or not enough, then the colors should run and fade to grey.
But none of these mistakes would account for the black turning purple.

It also could not have leached purple dye from the previous dye job, because the yarn I was dyeing black was the "virgin" sections, and the eyelet top had been thoroughly rinsed and machine washed, it had no excess dye still in it.

So it's a good thing I like purple, I guess.
I might still try to re-do the black section on the Dolcetto with another brand of dye.

Update, May 15

this is dyed first with the purple dye and then black on top of it.
The areas at the bottom which were not tied up with rubber bands, and which the black could completely penetrate, are actually lighter than the areas that were tied up and kept from the black dye.

Hat knitted from yarn that I dyed.
Using 2 strands of yarn: One solid dark violet-purple, one variegated with dark and light burgundy-ish-purple.
100% organic cotton

Dead Skin

2011-05-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Snakes shed their skin all in one piece. I wish I could do that. I have eczema and I shed my skin in teeny tiny scaly flakes, constantly. It's like dandruff all over my body and face. It's worst on my face. The scaly dead skin is very itchy, and when I finally exfoliate it all off, (which I have to do very slowly and gently, every day) it feels some relief but the skin underneath is bright red and raw. It feels better but looks worse.
The eczema has been bad lately from stress, and from the high pollen counts. Mostly stress, it seems like everything I am feeling and not saying just comes out through my skin. I guess some people might think it's my terrible personality or my sins manifesting itself in my skin. Like the Portrait of Dorian Gray.
I shed so much dead skin every day, you'd think I should be a whole new person by now, but it's still just me.
How many layers until I get to the chewy center of this tootsie pop?

2009 Holiday Baking Log

2009-12-16T00:38:00.000-08:00

1. Thanksgiving: Chocolate Pecan Pie

9 inch pie plate, buttered

Crust...
7-8oz shortbread (this is usually 1 package of shortbread cookies)
2-3 tablespoons melted butter

Pulse shortbread in food processor until finely crumbled. Use your hands to mix in melted butter until small clumps form, then press butter & shortbread mixture into buttered pie plate to create crust. If the crust seems a little too soft put it in the fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes before adding the filling.

Pie Filling...
1.5 cups pecan halves or pieces, toasted
3 oz. coarsely chopped baking chocolate
3 large eggs
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoon brandy
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dark corn syrup

Mix all ingredients until combined. Pour pecan mixture into crust. Bake for 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees.

2. Thanksgiving: Pumpkin Pie

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin. (unspiced, unsweetened, just plain pumpkin.)
1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

Directions

MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

3. Banana-pecan bread

4. Cranberry bread

5. Apple-pecan bread

6. English shortbread, dipped in chocolate

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I prefer unbleached flour)
pinch of salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened (NO margarine, no substitutions)
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325 F

Combine flour and salt in bowl and set aside.
Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
At low speed, gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended.

Knead dough lightly on work surface.
Divide dough in half. Pat each half into a slightly flattened disc. (a squished ball)
Place one disc on a lightly floured board. Sprinkle lightly with flour and cover with a sheet of wax paper.
Roll with a rolling pin until dough is about 1/4 inch thick. Remove wax paper.
Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters or knife.
I also used some cookie stamps- these are glass stamps that imprint a design into the cookie.
Do not re-roll the scraps- bake them in the irregular shape they are and eat as testers.
(re-rolling makes the cookies drier and tougher, less melt-in-your-mouth)
If you want to minimize waste*, cute shortbread into bars or fingers.
Lightly prick cookies all over with a fork. (you don't want to penetrate all the way, just a couple of millimeters)

Bake about 20 - 25 minutes at 325 F until cookies are lightly golden at the edges.
Cool completely on a wire rack.

To made the black & white cookies:
Melt candy making chocolate or chocolate chips at LOW temp in the microwave. Be careful not to burn it- only microwave it on 30% power for 30-60 seconds at a time, then stir.
When chocolate is melted, dip one half of each cookie into chocolate and lay on a buttered plate. Put the plate in the fridge for a few minutes to harden chocolate.

* it's really not "waste" because you will eat all the scraps too!

7. Rolled spice cookies

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup shortening, I use Crisco sticks because it's so easy to measure
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
....
1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (not soda)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Cream together shortening and sugar until well mixed and fluffy.
mix in egg.
sift together all the dry ingredients, then add to shortening mixture.
mix until all dry ingredients are incorporated and dough holds together
wrap dough in waxed paper and chill at least 30 minutes.
Flour a smooth surface and flour your rolling pin. I use a rolling pin cover which is like a thin knitted sock, and a rolling cloth which is like thick cotton canvas. They make rolling a little easier but you don't need them, you just may have to use a little more flour.
Divide the dough in half and roll out half at a time, until it's about 1/8 inch thick.
Cut out shapes with your favorite cookie cutters and place on baking parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Spray lightly with Pam cooking spray, and Sprinkle with colored sugar. (the Pam makes the sugar stick better)
Bake on in a preheated 350 (F) oven for 10 minutes.
Cookies should be lightly brown at edges but not too dark.

8. Cuban Wedding Cakes aka Mexican wedding cookies

INGREDIENTS
2 cups flour
1 cup hazelnut meal *
1/2 cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter, softened and cut into pieces
extra powdered sugar for coating

preheat oven to 325 (F)
Mix together the first 4 ingredients.
Stir in the vanilla.
With a pastry blender, cut in the butter.
Mix until dough looks line fine crumbs and holds together. All dry ingredients should be incorporated.
Knead dough with your hands a few times gently. Just squish it together to make sure all the dry stuff is mixed in.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls, and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 325 (F) for 25 minutes. The lower temperature and slower baking time keeps the balls in their shape, so they don't spread out.
Cool 5 minutes, then roll cookies in powdered sugar. I use Snow White Non-melting Sugar because it won't dissolve or go invisible on a moist or oily cookie.
If you use regular powdered sugar and it does soak up the oil and melt, cool cookies completely and roll them in powdered sugar a second time.

* Nut meal is very finely chopped nuts. You may use hazelnut meal, almond meal, or pecan meal. You can also make your own by putting toasted unsalted nuts in a blender but be careful not to make nut butter.

9. Key Lime Pie

10. Dark chocolate spritz cookies
I made these extra dark, they are almost black. The black cocoa tastes like oreos.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (no margarine!)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa (I used black cocoa from king arthur flour but you can use regular cocoa)
optional: 2 Tblsp espresso powder from king arthur flour

Cream first 4 ingredients until light and fluffy.
Sift flour and cocoa together, then mix dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
This dough is versatile: you can shape it into balls, flattened balls, you can form it into a log, chill and slice. I chose to use my cookie gun because it makes pretty shapes.

Bake 7-9 minutes until set. The dough is dark so you cannot judge doneness by golden brownness. Push gently at the edge of a cookie, if it moves as a semi-solid unit rather than just making a dent, the cookie is done.
Cool, and then decorate if you wish.

11. Chocolate Rugelach

Ingredients :
8 ounces cream cheese, room temp and cut into chunks
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temp and cut into chunks
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
filling:
1 can Love'n Bake™ Chocolate "Schmear" Filling

Cream the butter and cream cheese and sugar.
sift in the flour and mix until dough can form a ball
pat the dough into a flattened round, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
preheat oven to 375 (F), and grease 2 cookie sheets

divide dough in half and roll out half of it on a floured surface into a circle about 11 inches in diameter.
place a large dinner plate on dough and trim around edges with a knife.
spread the chocolate "Schmear" Filling on the circle.
Cut the circle into quarters, and then cut each quarter into 4 pieces, to form 16 wedge shaped pieces.
Roll up a triangle starting from the wide end, and tuck the point under the cookie on the baking sheet.
Repeat with other half of dough.
Take the scrap dough (from cutting the circles) and reroll it to another circle shape, to make a third set of 16 cookies (which will usually be smaller and less perfect than the first two sets. That's OK- these are your testers that you eat yourself, and save the pretty ones for company!).
Don't reroll the dough more than once or too much gluten will form.

mix 1 egg white with 1 teaspoon cold water.
brush cookies with egg white glaze and sprinkle with sugar.
bake until golden, 15-20 minutes.
cool on a wire rack.

Note: you can also make almond or cinnamon rugelach with the same dough, just substitute the filling.

12. Pink Peppermint Meltaways

These mint meltaways are from page 113 of "The Betty Crocker Cooky Book".

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops red food coloring
2 1/4 cups cake flour*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Andes peppermint candy baking chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 400F.
Cream butter, sugar, peppermint extract and food coloring thoroughly.
Measure flour and salt into a bowl, blend into butter mixture.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 minutes at 400 (F). Cookies should be set but not brown.
While warm, sift a light dusting of powdered sugar over cookies.

* cake flour is important to this recipe. Cake flour has less gluten than all-purpose flour so it makes a tender, melt-in-your-mouth cookie.

Holiday Baking Logs

2009-12-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

I was going through my cookbooks today and I found my Christmas baking logs from the past 18 years. I bake lots of different cookies each Christmas and being my usual hyper-organized self, I keep lists!
I thought it was time to get those lists onto my computer so I just typed it all out and decided I might as well blog it. These lists are an interesting artifact, to see how much or how little I made each year, what flavors were exciting me the most, etc.
In 2002 I made a lot more breads, muffins and scones because my ex-bf preferred them to cookies. It's also interesting to see which cookies keep making repeat appearances year after year, and which recipes are tried once and then dropped.

So without further ado...

Christmas Baking Log

1991
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Reverse chippers aka pearls and chocolate (chocolate cookie, white chocolate chip)
3. Bright Eyed Susans
4. Lemon Spritz
5. Crisp Almond Slices
6. Mint-chocolate trees (green mint spritz, dipped in chocolate)
7. Buttermint kisses

1992
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Reverse chippers / Rocky Road (chocolate cookie, white chocolate chip, nuts, marshmallow on top, covered in chocolate)
3. Lemon Spritz
4. Mint-chocolate trees (spritz)
5. Chocolate Spritz
6. Almond Spritz
7. Cuban Wedding Cakes (aka Mexican wedding cookies)
8. Chinese Almond Cookies
9. Sugar Cream Sandwiches
10. Chocolate Pretzels
11. Chocolate-orange bars

1993
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Lemon Spritz
3. Mint-chocolate trees (spritz)
4. Reverse chippers / Rocky Road
5. Bright Eyed Susans
6. Sugar Cream Sandwiches
7. Chinese Almond Cookies

1994
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Lemon Spritz
3. Mint-chocolate trees (spritz)
4. Bright Eyed Susans
5. Chinese Almond Cookies
6. Cuban Wedding Cakes

1995 (no records)
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Lemon Spritz
3. Cuban Wedding Cakes
4. Glazed nuts
5. Spiced nuts

1996
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Cuban Wedding Cakes
3. Lemon bonbons
4. Orange butter cookies
5. Butterscotch balls
6. Orange chocolate chip
7. Rose’s butter crescents
8. Brown sugar thins
9. English shortbread
10. Chocolate rolled cookies, dipped in white chocolate
11. Glazed almonds
12. Cinnamon pecans
13. Maple glazed walnuts

1997
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. English shortbread
3. Cuban Wedding Cakes (with hazelnut instead of pecan meal)
4. Cinnamon chip
5. Lemon chip
6. Chocolate-mint chip
7. Chocolate with white choc/raspberry chips
8. Orange-lemon Pandoro
9. Cocoa-cabernet pound cake
10. Glazed almonds

1998
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Bright Eyed Susans (multicolor non-pareils)
3. Lemon cream cheese cookies frosted & lime jimmies
4. Chocolate-caramel chip
5. Chocolate-mint chip
6. Chocolate almond Biscotti
7. Storebought gingersnaps received as gift- I dipped them in chocolate and decorated
8. Orange Pandoro
9. Peppermint Bark
10. Pralines
11. Glazed almonds
12. Nephew’s B-day cake: scratch white cake, scratch lemon curd filling, scratch vanilla buttercream frosting
13. Thumbprint jam cookies
14. Cuban Wedding Cakes (with hazelnut instead of pecan meal)
15. Simply Perfect dinner rolls (yeast)
16. Cinnamon rolls

1999
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Cuban Wedding Cakes
3. Lemon meltaways, frosted & lime jimmies
4. Caramel chip Toll House
5. Crisp sugar cookies, fiori di sicilia flavor
6. Rainbow chip brownies
7. Orange-currant mini-muffins
8. Glazed almonds (3 batches- vanilla, butter toffee, cinnamon)
9. Glazed sunflower seeds
10. Chocolate hazelnut Biscotti, dipped in white chocolate
11. Rolled spice cookies (second batch, painted ornaments)
12. Lemon bars
13. Lemon Pandoro
14. Lemon bread pudding
15. Crispy Buttercream chocolates (candy)

2000
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Cuban Wedding Cakes
3. Lemon meltaways with lemon chips, pink frosted
4. English Shortbread
5. Chocolate chocolate chip cookies with pecans, dipped in white chocolate, with dark chocolate jimmies
6. Glazed almonds- English toffee flavor
7. Glazed sunflower seeds
8. Pandoro
9. Cocoa-cabernet pound cake

2001 (living with my ex)
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Lemon bars
3. Chocolate chocolate chunk cookies
4. Cheese wafers
5. Cuban Wedding Cakes
6. Millionaire’s Shortbread
7. Lemon loaf cake with candied lemon peel
8. Glazed almonds- (cinnamon, vanilla)
9. Sunflower seed brittle

2002 (living with my ex)
1. Glazed almonds
2. Chocolate hazelnut Biscotti
3. Cuban Wedding Cakes
4. Chocolate chip cookies
5. Cheese Pennies
6. Butterscotch-pecan cookies
7. Beer Bread
8. Apple-whole wheat muffins
9. Pumpkin muffins
10. Pecan muffins
11. Currant muffins
12. Peach-spice scones
13. Blueberry scones
14. Cappuccino chip scones
15. Cinnamon pecan rolls

2003 (no records)

2004 (no records other than photo of Christmas day)
1. Cream puffs
2. Peach upside-down cake (using frozen home-grown peaches)
3. Bright-eyed susans
4. Pink peppermint meltaways
5. Glazed almonds

2005
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Marshmallow crispy treats
3. Chocolate graham crackers with peppermint bark
4. Glazed almonds
5. Cherry-almond cookies (red sugar)
6. Pine nut cookies (green sugar)
7. Beautiful leaf-crust apple pie for Thanksgiving

2006
1. Rolled spice cookies
2. Cuban Wedding Cakes
3. Lemon bars
4. Toll house- with white chocolate chips & toffee bits
5. Marshmallow crispy treats
6. Pandoro
7. Cinnamon rolls in star-shaped pans
8. Mint Meltaways
9. Pink peppermint bark stars (in candy molds)

2007
1. Rolled spice cookies- polar bears (recipe in this blog)
2. Bright-eyed susans (recipe in this blog)
3. Cuban Wedding Cakes (recipe in this blog)
4. Mint Meltaways (recipe in this blog)
5. Millionaire’s shortbread (recipe in this blog)
6. Chocolate Rugelach (recipe in this blog)
7. Chocolate graham crackers with peppermint bark (recipe in this blog)
8. Glazed pecans (recipe in this blog)
9. Lemon loaf cake with candied lemon peel (recipe in this blog)
10. Black chocolate cake with nutella, Kahlua pastry cream, and chocolate buttercream frosting)
11. Cream puffs with key lime filling

2008
1. Rolled spice cookies (recipe in this blog)
2. Chocolate Pecan Pie, Thanksgiving (recipe in this blog)
3. Apple Tart
4. Banana Pecan Bread
5. Orange-cranberry-pecan scones (recipe in this blog)
6. Apple-pecan-cinnamon bread
7. Cinnamon glazed almonds
8. Dark chocolate-cherry-pecan clusters
9. Orange toffee glazed almonds
10. White chocolate, pecans, and dried cherries (candy)
11. Crunchy turtles: Pecans, caramel, marshmallow, chocolate, mini-rice crispies
12. Chocolate-mint rice crispy treats (recipe in this blog)
13. Bright-eyed susans (recipe in this blog)
14. Jam thumbprints
15. Rocky road brownies (recipe in this blog)

2009, so far
1. Thanksgiving: Chocolate Pecan Pie (recipe in this blog)
2. Thanksgiving: Pumpkin Pie
3. Banana-pecan bread
4. Cranberry bread
5. Apple-pecan bread
6. English shortbread, dipped in chocolate
7. Rolled spice cookies
8. Cuban Wedding Cakes aka Mexican wedding cookies
9. Key Lime Pie
10. Dark chocolate spritz cookies
11. pink peppermint meltaways
12. chocolate rugelach

Etsy mini test 3

2009-11-17T17:28:00.001-08:00

the javascript version
there is no way to remove my name at the bottom of this one, but it doesn't have the flashing popup box

etsy mini test 2

2009-11-17T17:24:00.000-08:00

flash version with some code removed
I removed the extra links at the bottom and the "movie" parameter but it did not get rid of that flashing popup box.

eek

testing etsy mini for favorites

2009-11-17T17:16:00.001-08:00

Flash version iwith the text and links at the bottom edited

eclipse
Buy handmade
eclipse

Milestones

2009-09-28T00:47:00.000-07:00

Last week, I realized I had just missed my 3 year Etsyversary. I was looking in my shop for another reason on Monday, and I realized that the previous day was the date I joined Etsy . September 20, 2006.
Last year on my second Etsyversary, I made some special commemorative ACEO's and this year the whole thing just slipped my mind.
Then on Tuesday, a friend reminded me that the traditional gift for a 3rd anniversary is leather!
This was all the rationalization I needed to buy myself these fabulous vintage boots as an Etsyversary present!

Then I got looking at more and more vintage shoes and boots. Oh how I love fall weather (aka BOOT WEATHER) and how I love leather and SUEDE!
These are all shoes and boots on Etsy that I am currently lusting after. Click to see full size.

Item listings:
29988582, 31398666, 31160298, 31546116
28854817, 31480078, 31192839, 28266976
25026078, 31160332, 30633522, 30985709

I cannot really justify 12 new pairs of shoes, though. The two black pairs in the second row are to DIE for, but I currently have about 30 pairs of black shoes. What's a girl to do?? Post a comment and vote for your favorite pair.

Last week was also my mother's 80'th birthday! Now THAT'S a milestone!
I made her a lemon meringue pie instead of a birthday cake.

White chocolate, fruit & nut clusters

2009-09-17T23:28:00.001-07:00

Today I had a craving for something sweet, so I made up a recipe for some candy just using ingredients I happened to have in my pantry.
I had a handful of almonds, about 1/4 of a bag of white chocolate chips, just leftovers from other baking adventures.
So I sort of threw in everything but the kitchen sink! They came out pretty tasty.

First I decided to candy the almonds, although you could use plain roasted nuts or even raw nuts. That's the beauty of this recipe, just use whatever you have on hand.
---------------------------------------------------------
Candied almonds INGREDIENTS:
1 cup whole raw almonds
1/2 cup granulated pure cane sugar
2 tablespoons butter
Combine nuts, sugar and butter in heavy skillet. I use a cast iron skillet. Do not use a teflon-coated pan. Some candy-makers believe that sugar melts better in a copper pot, but I've never cooked with copper pots!
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until nuts are toasted and sugar is golden brown and the consistency of a thick syrup. (about 15 minutes)Sugar should not be grainy.
If you want to test with a water glass, the syrup should be in the hard crack stage.
Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
Spray a piece of aluminum foil with non-stick spray (like Pam).
Spread the nuts onto the foil in an even layer.
Let the candy cool, then break into 1 or 2 nut clusters.

BE CAREFUL AND USE OVEN MITTS, and wear long sleeves. This molten sugar syrup is HOT and sticky so if some gets on you it is like napalm. It will burn you and take some skin off with it when you peel it off.
---------------------------------------

Then I melted about 1/4 of a bag of white chocolate chips in the microwave, in a medium size pyrex bowl. I had a few pink candy melts left from Valentines day baking, so I threw them in there too, just to use them up. That's why the color is sort of off-whitish.
To melt chocolate, use a low power setting like 30%. Do it one or two minutes at a time, take out and stir, then nuke it another minute. (at low power)
repeat until the chocolate is melted.

Stir into the melted chocolate:
the chopped-up candied almonds
a couple handfuls of craisins (dried cranberries)
a handful of of Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal (brown sugar flavor)

Stir it all together until everything is coated in chocolate.
Spread it out on a plate that you sprayed with Pam. (or rub some butter on the plate)
Put the plate in the fridge until the chocolate hardens.
Remove plate from fridge and chop up the candy into chunks.

Yummy!

You can use milk chocolate or dark chocolate instead of white.
You can use any kind of nuts.
You can use raisins, dried cherries, banana chips, any kind of dried fruit.
You can use almost any kinds of breakfast cereal, to add crunch.

This would be good with milk chocolate, peanuts, cheerios and banana chips.
Just look around your pantry for leftover stuff you can mix in!

WATERMELON GRANITE

2009-08-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

Today was hot so tonight I made some Watermelon Granite.

Granite (pronounced Granita and sometimes spelled Granita) is an easy frozen treat you can make without an ice cream maker!
I have also made this in lemon and in red wine flavors.

WATERMELON GRANITE

5 cups peeled and seeded watermelon chunks (from about a 3-pound slice of watermelon)
½ cup sugar (or sugar to taste depending on how sweet the melon is)
Juice of one lemon or lime

Place the watermelon chunks in a blender or food processor and blend on high speed until very smooth.

Strain the watermelon puree in a mesh strainer, Push on the pulp with the back of a large spoon to squeeze out all the juice.
discard pulp.

Transfer the watermelon juice to a mixing bowl and add the sugar and lemon/lime juice. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Not all watermelons are the same sweetness so I don't really measure the sugar, I sweeten to taste. Note that sweetness gets weaker when it's frozen so you want to over-sweeten it a bit in the juice stage.

Pour the juice into a metal baking pan that will fit into your freezer. I use a 9"x9" square brownie pan. Put that on a freezer shelf for about 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the freezer and use a fork to scrape any ice crystals from the sides of the bowl. Break up any solid chunks. Stir to incorporate the crystals. Return to the freezer.

Repeat the scraping procedure every 15-20 minutes, rake the fork through the pan to break up the crystals, then return the pan to the freezer.
Keep doing this until the consistency is fluffy and “snowy” when scraped with a fork or spoon, at least 4 hours.

Then scoop into bowls or dessert glasses and serve.
It's very good with a crisp nutty cookie such as these
http://chezlatina.com/I/chezlatina_1702_12056958.jpg

Knitted Eyeball

2009-07-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

I originally posted this tutorial on Instructables.com on Jan 31, 2009

Intro: This is a fun, easy knitting project using the Knifty Knitter knitting looms. Knitted eyeballs of different sizes make great Halloween decorations. Make a whole set in different eye colors, to match all your family members!

This project is suitable for older children, too, as long as they are old enough to use a (fairly dull) plastic yarn needle.

step 1Materials

The Materials you will need to make this project:

1. Knifty Knitter set of knitting looms.
These come in 4 sizes, for this project I am using the smallest loom (the blue one) but you can use any size. I have made larger eyeballs using the green loom.

2. Yarn- I am using Lion Brand Vanna's Choice. If you are using one of the larger looms you will want to either use thicker yarn (bulky weight) or use a double strand of worsted weight.
1 skein of white yarn
1 skein of black yarn (you won't use very much black so if you have some leftover from another project that is perfect)
1 skein of blue yarn (or brown or green, whatever eye color you want to make)
1 small skein of red yarn or red embroidery floss, I used Sugar 'n' Cream crochet yarn.

3. scissors

4. Poly fiberfill stuffing

step 2Getting started

You will start with the white yarn.
The knitting process follows the basic Knifty Knitter instructions, I'm assuming if you own the looms you have used them before and know the basics.

Cast on with the white yarn and begin to knit a tube.

Knit until the white tube is about 5 inches* long.

*5 inch measurement pertains to using the smallest loom. If you are using a larger size loom, these length measurements will be larger.

step 3Changing colors

Now you want to switch to the blue yarn.
(or brown or green, whatever eye color you chose)

Leave a tail of the white thread anchored to the outside peg, and wrap the next circle of loops using the blue yarn.
Continue knitting with the blue yarn a few more times around, and then tie off the tails of blue and white in a knot together. Pull the tails of the knot inside the tube to weave in later.

step 4Knitting the pupil

Knit about an inch and a half* of the blue yarn, then change colors to black.
Follow the same color changing directions as in step 3.

Now knit about an inch and a half with the black yarn.
When you are done, anchor the tail to the outside peg and cut the yarn leaving about a 6 inch tail.

Inch and a half measurement pertains to using the smallest loom. If you are using a larger size loom, these length measurements will be larger.

step 5Remove eyeball from the loom

Wrap a piece of black yarn around the outside of the loom to measure it, and cut a piece about 6 inches larger than the loom circumference.

Thread the piece of black yarn in the plastic yarn needle that came with your Knifty Knitter loom.
Use the yarn needle to lift the last set of loops off the loom, one by one, following the basic Knifty Knitter directions.
This piece of yarn will serve as a drawstring to close the pupil, once the eyeball is off the loom.

step 6Tying the drawstring

Now your knitted tube should be off the loom and look something like this.
It looks long and skinny but don't worry, the tube will stretch quite a bit when it is stuffed.

Turn the tube inside out, and pull the last black piece of yarn tight from booth sides like a drawstring, closing off the black end. Tie them in a tight knot and also tie those 2 tails to the black tail from the tube.

Weave in the ends of these tails and the tails from both times you changed colors.

Turn the tube right side out again.

step 7Stuff the eyeball

Start to stuff the eyeball through the white end, which will still be open.
Use white poly fiberfill stuffing, it will still be somewhat visible through the holes in the knitted tube, but it won't fall out.
It won't be as visible through the blue and black sections because they are not stretched as much.

A tip from myrrhmaid on Instructables: use a length of pantyhose as a liner to keep the stuffing from coming out. Great tip!

Stuff it until you get a nice rounded shape, it can even be a little oval shaped like a nearsighted eyeball.

When you think it is full enough, thread some of the white yarn with the plastic yarn needle and thread it through the bottom loops on the white end of the tube.
Close it tight and tie it off using the same drawstring method you used on the black end.
Weave in ends.

step 8Add the bloodshot veins!

Now you could stop here, it's a perfectly nice little eyeball. Roly-poly and soft, all ready to be thrown at someone! But something is missing! To make a good Halloween decoration, you really need some veins.

Cut some of the red yarn, about 24 inch pieces are easiest to handle.
Thread one of the pieces in the plastic yarn needle and start "embroidering" veins onto the eyeball. I just improvised this step, weaving the red yarn in & out, over & under until it looked good. When you reach a stopping point like the end f a vein, just tie off the yarn in a knot and cut off the excess.
This is really a creative license thing, you can make the veins as simple or as branched as you like. No two eyeballs are alike in real life, so no two knitted eyeballs will be alike either.

Tutorial: T-shirt hacking

2009-07-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

edit July 25:
This tutorial was featured of Totally Tutorials Blog. They have lots of other great tutes so check it out!
---------------------------------------
This is a tutorial to take a big, boxy, unflattering T-shirt from Michael's craft store, like this one:
(click any photo to see it larger)

And reconstruct it into a cute, girly, puffed-sleeve babydoll Tee like this one:

Michael's T-shirts really don't look that great on a woman's body. They have some good points: they are inexpensive, and they come in a lot of nice colors, but that boxy crew-neck cut just doesn't thrill me. So I decided to see what I could do with the standard T-shirt to make it cuter.
This week my local Michael's had blank tees on sale for $2.50 each, for any size. I picked up this pretty lemon-lime color.

Materials needed:
1 t-shirt
some thin elastic (optional, if you want gathered sleeves like mine)
scissors
sewing machine, thread, etc.

For this project: Buy a tee that is 1 or 2 sizes larger than you would normally wear. I bought an XL. (unlike American Apparel, these XLs really are EXTRA large, I think they are mens sizing)

First I sketched out what I wanted to make. I designed a top with a flat piece on the shoulders and upper chest, called a yoke, and then a loose, gathered section on the body. The front yoke is curved because I think that's more flattering, and the back yoke is straight across.
I added puffed sleeves.

The only seams you will need to sew on this top are:
2 armhole seams
front yoke
back yoke
finishing the neckline.
The side seams, shoulder seams, and hems are already done for you.

Phase One: CUTTING

1. Cut off both sleeves from the t-shirt, following the armhole seam.

2. Trim off the armhole seam from the sleeves. Set the sleeves aside.

3. Cut the front layer ONLY into a curved shape, starting about halfway up the armhole.
DO NOT CUT THROUGH BOTH LAYERS.
Try to make your curve symmetrial, you can do half of it and then fold the shirt to mark your cutting line, to make sure the other side matches.

4. Cut the back layer straight across, at the same height as the highest points of the front layer. (the sides.)

5. Cutting the yoke.
First you want to trim the shoulders because the oversized boxy tee probably had the armhole seam halfway down your bicep. We want the new armhole seam to be right at the natural shoulder. Hold the yoke up to your body or use a well-fitting shirt to determine where to trim the shoulders. Discard the two shoulder trimmings.

6. Cutting the neckline.
I don't like crew neck tops, they aren't comfortable or flattering. I wanted a deeper scoop neck which I think is more feminine. Trim off the neck ribbing and set that aside, you will reuse it.
Cut the front layer ONLY of the yoke into a deeper U-neckline. The back layer should stay at the higher level.

7. Trim the bottom of the yoke: Trim the front yoke into a curved shape, and trim the back yoke straight across. Discard the excess you trimmed from the bottom of the yoke.

Here is the final yoke piece, all trimmed and opened flat. You can see the difference between the back yoke and front yoke shapes.

step 8. (no photo)
Take the neckline ribbing you set aside in step 6. Trim the ribbing from the rest of the scrap fabric and the tag. You just want to salvage about a 1 1/2 inch wide strip of ribbing. It will be like a long loop. Stretch it out by gently pulling on it. It should stretch quite a bit once all the seams are cut off.

Phase Two: SEWING

9.The first thing. you want to sew is to finish the neckline. It's easier to do this while the yoke is separate.
Pin the ribbing to the neckline of the yoke, pin it to the wrong side (inside) of the yoke.
It should be long enough to bind the neckline after you have stretched it.
Now sew the ribbing to the wrong side of the neckline. Do not stretch the neckline of the yoke as you sew, you should only stretch the ribbing as needed to fit the yoke.

This is the wrong side of the yoke, with the ribbing sewn on.

10. Now you will fold the ribbing over to the right side (outside) of the yoke neckline. Fold the ribbing to cover the seam allowances and encase all the raw edges. Pin and sew the ribbing down to the right side of the yoke. This is one of the most important parts to do neatly, especially the front neckline, since it is the closest to your face. Most people won't notice a funky sleeve but will notice a crooked neckline.

Here you can see the ribbing area in the back is finished, and the ribbing near the needle is folded over about to be sewn.

Here is the yoke, with the neckline ribbing finished.

11. Attaching the body to the yoke.
With pins, mark the center point of the front and back yoke, and the center points of the front and back body pieces.

12. Set your machine stitch length to a long basting stitch, and baste along the top edge of the front and back body pieces. Also baste just along the top half of both sleeve pieces. Leave your threads dangling and both ends.

13. Pin the front yoke to the front body piece, right sides together, matching centers and matching sides. Pull on the loose basting threads like a drawstring, to gather the front body piece to fit the yoke. Distribute the gathers to be fuller right over your boobs.

14. Now sew the front yoke seam.
If you have a serger, you can do this in one step. Sergers are the best for sewing with t-shirt knits.
I don't have a serger so I sewed a straight seam, then I trimmed the excess seam allowance, and then used a mock-overlock stitch to finish the edges.
Repeat this process with the back yoke and back body pieces. You can distribute the gathers evenly across the back. Pin and sew the back yoke to the back body.

Here is the top viewed inside-out, with the front and back yokes finished.

15. The next step is to add the sleeves, which you set aside in a previous step.
There is no left or right sleeve, they are identical.
Pin the sleeve to the armhole, right sides together. Match up the side seam of the body to the underarm seam of the sleeve, and match the shoulder seam of the body to the top shoulder crease of the sleeve.
Distribute any gathers to the top of the shoulder area.
Now sew the armhole seam as you have pinned it.
If you have a serger, you can do this in one step.
I don't have a serger so I sewed a straight seam, then trimmed the excess seam allowance, and then used a mock-overlock stitch to finish the edges.
Sew on both sleeves.

Here is the top with sleeves added. This is the front view.

Here is the top with sleeves added. This is the back view.
Now you could wear the shirt just like this, if you like straight loose sleeves.
But I wanted puffed sleeves so this last step is optional.

16. To make the sleeves puffed, I added elastic to the sleeve hem. You don't need to make a casing for the elastic, because the existing hem will become your casing.
Measure around your upper arm and subtract a couple of inches. Cut 2 pieces of narrow elastic to this length. You can use 1/8" wide elastic, or 1/4 " wide, whatever you have on hand that will fit in the sleeve hem. If the elastic is stiffer or less stretchy, then only subtract one inch from your arm measurement.

Cut two small holes on the inside layer of the sleeve hem, one hole on each side of the underarm seam. Do not cut all the way through both layers the hem to the outside, you want these holes to be invisible from the outside.
Do this for both sleeves.

Attach a safety pin to one of your elastics.

Poke the safety pin into one of the small holes you cut. Use the safety pin to thread the elastic through the casing, until you get to the other small hole. Pull the safety pin and elastic out the other hole.

Tie both ends of the elastic together in a secure knot. Trim the ends and tuck the knot into one of the holes.
If you used wider elastic you can also sew the 2 ends together for a smooth flat joint, because a knot may be too bulky.

Here is the finished puffed sleeve from the outside.

Design ideas:
You can screen print on the shirt or add other embellishments to the yoke area.
You can buy two shirts in different colors, and then swap the yokes. So you can make a top with a black yoke, and pink sleeves and body, and another top with a pink yoke, and black sleeves and body. Give one to your friend and you will be opposite-twins!

"whoopie pie" cake

2009-07-09T17:50:00.001-07:00

This is like a cake-sized version of a Whoopie Pie.
The frosting uses this recipe for whoopie pie filling, although I am using Kraft Marshmallow Creme instead of Marshmallow Fluff, which is not commonly available in my area.

Lemon Meltaway Cookies

2009-07-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

Cookie Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsalted Butter, softened
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
freshly grated zest of one lemon

Frosting Ingredients:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsalted Butter, softened
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon lemon juice
(I also added a few drops of yellow food coloring)

Combine all cookie ingredients in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed.
If the dough is dry and crumbly after beating, add more lemon juice, adding 1 teaspoon at a time until dough forms.

Divide dough in half. Shape each half into 8x1-inch log. Wrap each in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate until firm (1 to 2 hours).

Heat oven to 350°F. Cut each log into 1/4-inch slices with sharp knife. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until set. (Cookies will not brown.) Cool completely.

Combine all frosting ingredients in small bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until fluffy. Frost cooled cookies.

Old School chocolate cupcakes

2009-07-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

We all have some childhood nostalgia for those Hostess chocolate cupcakes, with their iconic squiggle on top. But with your grown-up palate, they just don't pass muster for taste. So I decided to make some lookalike cupcakes from scratch.

Step 1:
Bake a dozen chocolate cupcakes from your favorite recipe or from a cake mix.
This is my favorite recipe:

Peerless chocolate cake

this makes one layer, 8" or 9" round pan, or 12 cupcakes.
preheat oven to 350.
line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners.

Melt 1 oz (1 square) UNSWEETENED baking chocolate (not
semisweet) in a double boiler or a microwave at a
low/defrost setting. Don't scorch it. Set aside to
cool.

cream together with electric mixer:
1/4 cup softened butter (I use unsalted for baking)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

mix in cooled chocolate.

sift together into a bowl:
1 cup cake flour (it must be cake flour, not all-purpose flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Add the flour mixture to the chocolate-butter mixture,
mixing at low speed with electric mixer. Add in 1/2
cup ice cold water and beat til smooth at medium
speed. Batter should be light, smooth, kinda fluffy.

Pour batter into prepared cupcake pan, filling the cups about 2/3 full.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
-------------------------------

Step 2:
Cream filling:
1/4 cup crisco shortening (not butter flavored)
1/3 cup marshmallow creme or marshmallow fluff
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
Beat all ingredients together with mixer until fluffy. You may add a little milk, a few drops at a time, to get the right consistency.

Put the cream filling into a ziplock baggie and cut off the tip of one corner.

Step 3:
With a pointy serrated knife, cut out a conical section from the top of each cupcake. You hold the knife at an angle to make the cone.
Then cut off the tip of the cone-shaped plug, so that you have a flat cap of cake left.
(you can eat or discard the tip of the cone)

step 4:
Squeeze the ziplock baggie to pipe the cream filling into the cone-shaped hole in the top of each cupcake. Don't fill it all the way to the top, because you will replace the cap of cake on the top.

Step 5: These cupcakes have been filled and the caps are back on top, covering up the filling.

Step 6: Frost the cupcakes with your favorite chocolate frosting recipe, or you can use canned frosting. I made a simple chocolate buttercream with:
powdered sugar
cocoa
melted unsweetened baking chocolate (1 square)
softened butter
vanilla
milk
I didn't use a recipe or measure anything, I just eyeball it, mix it up and then add a little milk as needed to get the right spreading consistency.

Step 7:
squiggles
Mix about 1/3 cup of powdered sugar with a little milk. I did not measure the milk, I just add it a few drops at a time and then stir, repeating until I get the right consistency. Do NOT add too much milk at once!
When you get the right consistency, it should not be too liquidy because you want the squiggles to hold their shape.

Put the white frosting in another ziplock bag and cut off a tip of the corner. You will cut a much smaller hole for this than you did to pipe the filling.
Squeeze the bag and pipe the white squiggles on each cupcake.

step 8: OmNomNom!!
This cupcake has a bite taken out showing the cream filling center.

serve with ice cold milk!

Easy chocolate mousse cake

2009-07-09T16:47:00.000-07:00

My birthday was last week and this was the cake I made.

Grease and flour a tiara cake pan, this pan has an indentation on top to hold a filling.

Mix up your favorite chocolate cake recipe, enough for a single layer. Or you can use half a box of devil's food cake mix, that is what I did.
I mixed a little Kahlua into the cake .
Bake as directed, cool, and then turn out onto a plate.

Then mix up a box of chocolate instant pudding, following the directions on the box.
Let it start to thicken, and then fold in a cup of kool whip.
Use that to fill the indentation in the top of the cake. If you have extra filling, put it in a cup or glass to eat as pudding.
Chill the cake until filling is set.
Serve with more kool whip and SPRINKLES!
It's also good with cut-up strawberries on top.

If you don't have a Tiara cake pan you may also use a Mary Ann Cake Pan or an obsttortenform pan. (see photos)
Tiara pans were made some years ago by Duncan Hines to go with their special line of Tiara Desserts mixes. They no longer make the mixes but you can often find the pans in thrift stores.
I use this pan a lot, it's great for filled cakes, strawberry shortcake, ice cream cakes, etc.

Easy homemade beer bread

2009-07-09T16:03:00.000-07:00

Beer bread
(photo coming soon)

1 cup sifted white whole wheat flour
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 12 ounce bottle of beer, at room temperature
(dark or malty beers work best, like porter or amber ale. It's delicious made with Guinness! The stronger of flavor the beer has, the more flavor the bread will have. A pale mild beer like Bud will not make a very flavorful bread.)

preheat oven to 350
spray a loaf pan with Pam cooking spray
mix all the dry ingredients first
stir in the beer just until everything is moist, do not overmix.
Spread the dough in the pan and bake at 350 for about 50 minutes, until bread pulls away from edge of pan.
Turn the bread out of the pan and eat! (I like to have a piece when it's still hot from the oven, but you can let it cool first if you have patience)

notes:
optional: pour 1/4 cup melted butter over the dough in the pan, just before baking
you can use a standard 5" x 9" loaf pan, I use a 4 1/2" x 12" pan
you can also use all white flour instead of the whole wheat. Just use 3 cups of all purpose flour.
you can add other extras like grated cheese, garlic powder, caraway seeds, etc.

2008 Holiday Baking Journal

2009-01-05T02:13:00.000-08:00

Welp, this isn't much of a "journal" really, because the holidays are all past now. And people probably don't need recipes anymore since everyone is on their New Years Diet! But I did bake this year, not as much as last year though. And I thought I'd document the goodies, better late than never! You can always use the recipes next year.

THANKSGIVING
------------------------------------------------------
Spoonbread

preheat oven to 350 (F) and grease a 4-5 cup glass or pyrex baking dish/casserole . I use a nonstick spray like Pam.

Put 2 cups milk and 1 Tbsp butter and 1/2 cup yellow polenta in a saucepan, bring to a boil, stirring constantly. turn heat to low and cook , stirring constantly til it thickens..should be about the consistency of oatmeal. Remove pot from heat. Stir in 1 cup corn kernels .

In a small bowl, beat 1/2 cup egg substitute (I use safeway 'best of the egg') with 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp baking powder (not soda) with a whisk until somewhat frothy. Gradually fold the egg mixture into the polenta mixture, try not to stir all the air out of the eggs.

Pour the mixture into the baking pan, and bake at 350 (F) for about 30-40 minutes. It's done when it starts smelling really good, the top is light golden brown, and you can stick a knife in the center and it comes out clean.

The baking time depends on the pan used, a high pan with small diameter needs more time than a wide shallow pan. The best size is about 7-8 inches diamter, that allows it to have some depth and rise nice and high.

options and substitutions

I have made it with whole milk, but usually now I use nonfat. I have even made it with half water and half milk if I was low on milk, you can also use some chicken broth for part of the liquid.

I have made this with normal cornmeal, the stove cooking part takes less time that way but the result is not as yummy, to me. Polenta is a very coarse grind of cornmeal, it's also sold as 'corn grits' in packages. Don't get the white corn kind, get the yellow. Don't use instant polenta or the precooked logs of polenta, just plain old normal dry polenta is what you want.

The original recipe called for 2 whole eggs. I use the egg substitute because it's basically egg whites with a little yellow color , it whips up higher without the yolks, but you can use 2 whole eggs if you like.

The corn kernels are optional, you can use fresh or frozen or canned, I just use frozen because it's easier. I mix them in still frozen, you don't have to thaw them, they'll thaw out when they hit that hot polenta.

Another nice addition is some grated cheese, I like to use romano or parmesan, but any kind is good. I usually layer in half the polenta, then the cheese, then the rest of the polenta with a little bit of the grated cheese on top.

You can make it southwestern by adding some chopped chile peppers to it.
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Chocolate Pecan Pie
Recipe borrowed from Passementerie

9 inch pie plate, buttered

Crust...
7-8oz shortbread (this is usually 1 package of shortbread cookies)
2-3 tablespoons melted butter

Pulse shortbread in food processor until finely crumbled. Use your hands to mix in melted butter until small clumps form, then press butter & shortbread mixture into buttered pie plate to create crust. If the crust seems a little too soft put it in the fridge or freezer for 10-15 minutes before adding the filling.

Pie Filling...
1.5 cups pecan halves or pieces, toasted
3 oz. coarsely chopped baking chocolate
3 large eggs
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoon brandy
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dark corn syrup

Mix all ingredients until combined. Pour pecan mixture into crust. Bake for 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees.
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Apple Tart

Banana Pecan Bread

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CHRISTMAS

Orange-cranberry-pecan scones

preheat oven to 375 F
grease & flour a pizza pan (round cookie pan)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

cut in: 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, until mixture is crumbly and no big chunks of butter remain
(I cut in with a pastry blender)

In a small bowl beat 2 eggs and 1/3 cup whipping cream to blend.
reserve 1 tablespoon of this mixture, then stir the rest into the flour mixture and mix well with a fork until all dough is moistened.

Stir in 1/3 cup of orange-flavored craisins (dried cranberries)
and 1/4 cup of chopped pecans

Knead gently on floured board, just 3-4 turns, until dough forms neat ball.
(don't over-knead, it makes a tough gluten-y dough and you want tender scones)
Put the dough ball in the pizza pan and pat into a 1-inch thick round.
Cut into 6 wedges, and leave in place.
Brush the top with the reserved egg-cream mixture, then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake 25 minutes at 375 F

The wedges should separate pretty easily- enjoy with butter, jam, clotted cream, or my favorite: lemon curd!

You can substitute raisins, currants, blueberries, etc for the cranberries.
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sliced bosc pears with dulce de leche pudding, whipped cream and candied pecans.
I suppose you could broil or roast the pear but this one was so perfectly ripe I just used it raw, and it was delicious! The recipe for the candied pecans is in last year's baking journal.
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Apple-pecan-cinnamon bread
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homemade candy
L-R: cinnamon glazed almonds (recipe in 2007 baking journal)
dark chocolate-cherry-pecan clusters
orange toffee glazed almonds (recipe in 2007 baking journal)

---------------------------------------------
dark chocolate-cherry-pecan clusters
melt organic dark chocolate in a double boiler
stir in chopped raw pecans and dried tart cherries
spread on a buttered plate
put in fridge to harden
break into small clusters
OM NOM NOM

----------------------------------------------------

Left: white chocolate, pecans, and dried cherries
Right: Crunchy turtles: Pecans, caramel, marshmallow, chocolate, mini-rice crispies
----------------------------------------------------

Spice cookies (recipe in 2007 baking journal)
---------------------------------------------

Cocoa crispy-marshmallow treats, Bright-eyed susans, jam thumbprints

Bright-eyed susans recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

* 3/4 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 3/4 cups flour
* about 24 chocolate non-pareils

Cream together butter and sugar until well mixed.
Add egg, vanilla and salt until blended.
Sift in the flour and mix until blended.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour in refrigerator. (not freezer)
Shape cookie dough into 1-inch balls; place about 2 inches apart onto an ungreased baking sheet.*
Place a chocolate non-pareil on each cookie, flattening the cookie.
Bake at 400°(F) for 8 to 10 minutes. Bake until set but not brown.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

option: you can use Chocolate Stars or even Hershey Kisses if you can't find non pareils

--------------------------------------------

Chocolate-mint rice crispy treats
3 tablespoons butter
4 cups mini-marshmallows
6 cups cocoa crispies cereal
1/2 cup Andes peppermint crunch baking chips

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

2. Add cocoa crispies cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. stir in peppermint crunch baking chips

4. Spread in a 9x13 inch cake pan which has been sprayed with a nonstick spray. (like Pam)

5. Let cool and then cut into squares

6. Om Nom Nom!
-------------------------------

NEW YEARS DAY

Rocky road brownies
1 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
1 stick butter , melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Put all of the ingredients into a large bowl in the order in which they're written. Stir, then beat the mixture till smooth.

Stir in 1 cup chopped pecans

Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch pan. Bake the brownies in a preheated 375°F oven for 25 minutes, or until they're just barely beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Take them out of the oven and sprinkle some mini-marshmallows on top.
Return to oven for 5 minutes until marshmallows soften and puff up.
Remove from oven.

Let them cool completely .
Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in a double boiler
spread melted chocolate over marshmallows

put in fridge to harden chocolate
remove from fridge when chocolate is firm, and serve at room temperature

Makes about 2 dozen brownies.

The New California Academy of Sciences

2008-11-21T21:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I visited the newly re-opened California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. It had been closed for several years while they completely rebuilt it from the ground up. They just had the grand opening in September but this is the first time I have visited since it reopened. I had been to the old Academy of Sciences many times, from childhood school field trips into teenage visits to "Laserium" for the Dark Side of the Moon show, and as an adult many times. I loved the old Academy and the old Steinhart Aquarium, which were built in the 1920's and 30's.

The architecture was cool, the reptile and amphibian room for example had beautiful mosaic floors with snakes and lizards. The collections were somewhat old fashioned- lots of taxidermied animal specimens. But I liked that sort of musty turn of the century naturalist vibe of the old place.
But it was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, so the city decided to replace it with a more modern building. (which did not start construction until 2005)

The new building is bigger, or seems so from the front.

It's very modern and reminds me of my old high school. Exposed concrete, I-beams, lots of glass, it looks like a prison or a factory. It's also supposedly the greenest museum in the country. It uses recycled building materials, it's insulated with recycled bluejeans (how quintessentially San Franciscan, since Levi Strauss headquarters are here), and it has a much-discussed "living roof" planted with all native California species and wildflowers.

This dome is the roof over the rainforest exhibit, with lots of skylights.
All this construction isn't cheap. The price of admission is much higher than I remember from the old Academy. It was $25 for one adult, but you can get a $3 discount if you took public transportation and show your bus transfer.

When I got inside I got the little map guide and right off I noticed how many things were missing. Many of my favorite exhibits from the old Academy are completely gone.

What's missing:
1. The hall of gems and minerals- this was small, nowhere near as good as the one in the Los Angeles natural history museum which I visited this past April. But it was still interesting and beautiful and it didn't take up much space so I don't know why they got rid of it. Many of the rock specimens were also native to California and there was a nice display about the gold rush. Another important piece of local history which is missing from the new museum.

2. California coastal life exhibit, which had dioramas of animals like elephant seals and tule elk, as well as greatly magnified models of krill and other microscopic critters. There was also a living display of tidal life and that is still there.

3. The entire geology section is gone! I was shocked. The old academy had a great exhibit about the "Ring of Fire", of which California is part. Lots of great displays about volcanoes and earthquakes, including a big display about the 1906 Earthquake and an "earthquake simulation" room where the floor shook at the same intensity and duration as the 1906 earthquake. Now considering this is San Francisco where earthquakes are a reality not just something you read in books, and considering the new museum was built because of earthquake safety, it makes no sense to not have any exhibits about geology. It's a subject of great local importance!

4. The Wattis Hall of Anthropology is gone. Now admittedly this was not one of my favorite rooms, I usually skipped it because I am more interested in animals than humans. But it did have some nice examples of arts and crafts from native California tribes, etc.

5. The North American Hall of Birds and Mammals is gone. All the dioramas with taxidermied birds, bears, coyote, moose, cougar, buffalo, etc. All gone. They DID keep a similar hall full of taxidermied African mammals and birds. But they lost the animals that actually live in our own state and country. This is another weird decision to me. It seems like the old museum was more relevant to our local sciences here in California. The new museum focuses on Africa, Madagascar, Costa Rica, all these distant places.

6. The fish roundabout is gone. This was a huge donut-shaped tank that you could stand in the middle of and fish species who swim constantly and never rest would swim all around you. There were some really large specimens here including sharks. I don't know where they went.

7. The marine mammal exhibit is gone. The old aquarium had a few dolphins and harbor seals, which are now gone. I know there was always a lot of protest about keeping whales or dolphins in captivity so there used to be signs saying that they would only keep their current dolphins until they died (because they were born in captivity and could not be released to the wild) but they would not be replacing them with new wild-caught dolphins. So maybe those old dolphins died?

Ok so that's what is missing, now I wanted to know, what new things do they have and are they as good as what we lost?
The first thing I saw when I entered was the Philippine tidal lagoon and reef exhibit.
The lagoon has rays and sharks, and rays are one of my favorite fish to watch.

There was a cool leopard-spotted ray

Then I went through the African hall of mammals, which is pretty much the same as it was in the old Academy. The one difference is they have moved the African penguins (live ones) to this room, when they used to be in the aquarium. These guys are so fun to watch, all the little kids were especially entertained.

Then I went to the far left hall of the museum, which is shared by a Galapagos exhibit and a Madagascar exhibit. These take up a lot of floor space but it's all basically videos, still photos, and text to read. It is informative and educational but you could just read a book if you want text and photos. I have to say it's a bit boring, I want something a little more 3-D when I pay $25 to get into a museum. There are a few life sized models of Galapagos tortoises but otherwise it's just lots of photos and text. At this point I was rather disappointed with all the cool stuff that was missing and this is what they replace it with!

Then I saw the Foucault Pendulum which is something they saved from the old academy. I was glad to see it! I even got to see it knock over a peg.

Then I went to see the Planetarium show which was about looking for life in space and exo-planets. It was good but the recliner chairs are so comfortable I almost fell asleep in the dark. LOL

Then I went to see the alligator pit, now dubbed "The Swamp".
One nice touch is they saved the old railing from the old alligator pit, which features beautiful bronze seahorses.

The famous albino alligator doesn't look very happy. He is blond, so he sits on his rock all day and he doesn't go in the water because the female alligator and the turtles bite him!

Next I went over to the far right side of the museum, where there is a big hall devoted to climate change and ecology. More photos and text and videos. Yes I know it's important but honestly it was presented in a pretty boring way. I guess I am shallow, I want to see cool animals, not read a preachy textbook.

Next I went up to the second floor to watch a 3-D movie about bugs. They have a large screen, not Imax size but still pretty good for seeing a 3-D movie. That was fun and it's another opportunity to sit and rest for a little while, if you have been walking around all day.

Next I went into the much publicized Rainforest dome exhibit. Now this is what I'm talkin about! Two big thumbs up for the rainforest. Definitely save at least an hour just for this alone.

The dome has a spiral ramp around the edge which goes up to 3 levels. There are birds and butterflies flying loose and lots of cool animals in glass tanks. The second level is the best- that is Madagascar animals. Take some time to really watch the amazing reptiles and amphibians here. I saw a lot of people just rush by, they'd say "I can't find it" and they'd move on. Many of these animals are really well camouflaged in their exhibits but if you are patient you will find them. And oh my gosh they are so fascinating and entertaining! The Panther Chameleon for example was so cool. He was beautiful bright colors, he has creepy eyes that move in different directions, his feet are really neat, he walks super slow like a robot.

There was a big fat green caterpillar in the tank with him, which crawled right up the bottom of the branch the Chameleon was sitting on. Caterpillar crawled right over Chameleon's toes! I thought for sure he was going to be dinner. Then caterpillar crawled to the end of the branch, reared up and swayed back and forth right in front of Chameleon's face! By now a small crowd had gathered and we were all waiting to see that worm get et! He was practically begging to get et. We wanted to see Chameleon unfurl his long tongue and grab that cocky worm. But apparently Chameleon was not hungry that day. He just slooooowwwly reached out for another nearby branch and walked away from the worm.
The top level of the dome is Costa Rica, which is also very cool but I recommend the Madagascar level.

The exit from the dome is to take the elevator down the center to the basement, which houses the new Aquarium. I spent a LONG time at the Aquarium. There is a huge tank for the Philippine coral reef, and I got to see a feeding in that tank which means the fish are very lively. There are benches in front of this tank so you can really relax and be hypnotized by the gorgeous swirling colors and movement of all the tropical fish. I could also watch the Moon Jellies for hours. Jellyfish are natures Lava Lamp! They are so beautiful and graceful and just relaxing to watch, I'd love to have a tank of these at home. Then I saw something so bizarre and beautiful, a leafy seadragon. Actually they have a whole bunch of them. I had seen these on television but never in person. I love these guys! So that would have been an awesome day if it ended there but the best thing was still yet to come.

If you go to the Academy, make SURE you find the Burmese Vine Snakes in the aquarium. And make sure you spend some time watching them. Don't just spot one in a tree, say "ok I have seen that" and move along. Look towards the back of the tank near the floor, and you will see at least a dozen of these slender green snakes hanging upside down over a small pool of water. Their bodies are all curled into S-shaped curves, they hang by their tails from a branch and their heads are about 3-4 inches over the water. They stare at that water VERY intently. I watched them fascinated. "What are they all looking at?" I wondered. Well, there are teensy little fish in that pool. And these snakes eat the fish. They are the only arboreal snake in the world which eats fish! Thy do not swim, they aren't water snakes. They just hang there and wait for a little fishy to come close to the surface, and then STRIKE! I watched 6 or 7 of them catch little fish and eat them. The fish are still wiggling and flipping their tails as they are swallowed, and even afterwards the lump in the snakes throat is kind of squirming. I got disappointed by the Chameleon but the snakes delivered!

Any person who came by and couldn't find the snakes or only noticed the ones draped over the upper branches, I told them where to look to see the fishing snakes. They were all so fascinated once they slowed down and really looked. These little snakes are utterly fascinating to watch, they are rare and were only discovered in 2002. Before that no one believed any arboreal snakes ate a diet of fish. The exhibit at the Steinhart is the only place in the world they live in captivity.
More info about Burmese Vine Snakes

More info and a photo

video of one catching a fish

Burmese Vine Snakes WIN!
They were the stars of my visit.
The new cafe is very nice too, I had a snack of apple caramel bread pudding while watching a bigass fishtank they have facing the cafe.

I had originally planned to spend the day visiting both the Academy of Sciences and the De Young museum across the street, because the De Young has a luscious retrospective exhibit of Yves Saint Laurent fashions, 130 garments! But I spent so much time at the academy that I would have only had an hour or two left for the De Young, which is a waste. So I skipped it and I will go back another time when I can spend a full day at the De Young. I went to the Vivienne Westwood exhibit at the De Young last year and I arrived late in the day and really didn't have time to do it justice.

So my overall review is positive, there are a lot of old favorites missing but there is still plenty of neat stuff to look at. I'd recommend focusing your visit on the Aquarium and the Rainforest, especially if you have limited time. Those two areas have the most entertainment value and "oooh" and "eeew!" value.

Getting custom-printed shirts on Etsy

2008-05-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

I have always coveted so many of the cool screen-printed T-shirts I see on Etsy, but I was always sad and frustrated that most of them were not available in my size. I'm not even that unusual of a size, I wear an XL in most bricks&mortar stores. But the blank shirts used by most Etsy screen-printers are either American Apparel, or Alternative Apparel, and unfortunately both of these companies have strange sizing and their largest sizes (in women's shirts) are still too small. American Apparel, for example, goes up to XXL but it's equivalent to a L in normal sizes. I could always buy the men's shirts, but they aren't really a flattering cut on me. So I have gazed longingly at the cute T-shirts, like a little hungry orphan with her nosed pressed against the candy store window. (only, not that little. hence my problem!)

So recently I decided to contact some Etsy sellers and ask if they would print their awesomely cool designs on blank shirts I supplied. It's not difficult to find shirts that fit me in stores like Target or Old Navy. I know these are probably sweatshop made, but what can you do when all the "socially conscious" brands don't even acknowledge that women exist over a size 12?
Anyway, the sellers all said yes! And I had lots of blank shirts already in my wardrobe, so then I had to decide which designs to get printed on which color of shirt. I was now like the little kid inside the candy store, overwhelmed with all the appealing choices. In the end I ordered eight shirts from four different sellers. They all came out fabulous and it makes me wish I'd done this a year ago!

Behold my new summer wardrobe of cool shirts!:
These two are from SalmonStreetStudio

These three are from Ahpeele. Several of them have a design that wraps around to the back, which is very cool.

These two are from CircularAccessories

I also got this design on a black V-neck, from Satisfactory. This photo isn't my shirt, I just didn't get around to photographing that one.

So I am super happy with all the shirts and I can't recommend these shops highly enough. They were all very friendly to work with. If you also wear a larger size and feel frustrated or left out because you can't buy the cute shirts on Etsy, just try asking them about this option to supply your own shirt. It does take a bit more effort and you have to think about colors and style, so it's not as spontaneous as just buying "off the virtual rack". But it's totally worth it when you see the results.

I'm featured on The Budget Casa

2008-02-15T06:07:00.000-08:00

The Budget Casa featured my plastic bag fusing tutorial!
If you don't want to try fusing yourself, check out my Etsy shop for finished items made of recycled plastic.

Can you eat silver balls?

2007-12-31T19:29:00.000-08:00

Some amusing things people search for and end up at my blog

So I was checking out my blog tracker, and mostly I get visitors searching for info about fusing plastic bags, and this past month a lot of people looking for cookie recipes. Every now and then I see a funny search query that led people here:

can you eat silver balls?
Mystery goo recipe
"you crossed the wrong fish"
great fury vengeance keeper

ROFL!
Sorry, I can't tell you the recipe for mystery goo, if I told you then it wouldn't be a mystery anymore!
But I can tell you that soylent green is people!!!!

2007 best and worst list!

2007-12-31T15:29:00.000-08:00

Well there's about 9 more hours of 2007 left so it's customary to make a best and worst list, here's mine pretty quickly thrown together.
Now this blog usually just covers such a tiny part of my life, that it might be easy for people who don't know me to think the events covered in this blog were the most important things in my life. That would be totally incorrect. In reality and in the big picture, this craft stuff is just a small facet of my life. I keep my private life pretty private in public areas like blogs and Etsy forums.

Best time of 2007-
Spending a month in Europe this summer, staying with 6 different friends and their families (friends I originally met online, and became real-life friends with). Seeing Paris for the first time with my bf, spending my birthday in The Netherlands with him.
This whole concept of "online community" is not something new. It's something I have lived, something I have worked in, and it's a reality to me. I have been a part of online communities that really do care about eachother, where people meet up and travel together and form real-life relationships that support eachother through illness, death, and celebrate weddings and births of babies. Plus, it's great to make friends that live in European capitals so you can crash on their couches! Haha. (now seeking friends in Berlin and Prague)

Other highlights of the year are:
* Going to my friend's wedding, a friend who survived an aggressive brain tumor that gave him less than 50% survival odds. I don't have many heroes but he's someone who is really inspirational to me (and equally his wife who stood by his side during the whole treatment). It was really the most beautiful and emotional wedding I've ever seen. They couple just skipped the vows about "in sickness and in health" because they have already faced pretty much anyone's worst case scenario and they came through it strong, united, optimistic.
He has such a fantastic sense of humor, whenever I feel sorry for myself about any of the STUPID trivial bullshit that would be on my "worst" list, I have to think about how lucky I am.
I am healthy.
I have a roof over my head.
I love and am loved.
Anything else is meaningless.

The worst of 2007
In the big picture, the war and especially the growing evidence of torture by the U.S. is probably the greatest tragedy of 2007. Every time I hear them debate about waterboarding on the news with these dry and analytical attitudes, it makes me physically ill. How can any sane person even consider, for a moment, that this could be acceptable way for civilized societies to operate? Is this the Spanish Inquisition? Did the Enlightenment never happen? I'm ashamed to be human, much less ashamed to be American.

All in all I really didn't have that many bad things in my own little life. I had some friends who had cancer scares, but all of them have recently had good test results and are going to be OK.
I had some trivial problems, but if that was the worst thing that happened to me all year I'd have to be pretty happy with my year, because it was really an insignificant blip on the radar.

Best live show of 2007:
This is a tough one because I saw some great music this year. The amazing return of Iggy and the Stooges, an absolutely transcendent solo performance by Lisa Gerrard from Dead Can Dance. But the best show was probably the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club show I saw in Amsterdam in July. I've seen many good shows from them but the Amsterdam show just set the bar even higher.

Best Movie of 2007
oh this is tough because I really haven't seen hardly any movies this year! I used to see tons of movies, at least 2 a week, and lately I haven't gone to any for ages. I have been watching dvds, but they are older than 2007.
I have most of the movies from the critics "best of 2007" lists on my netflix queue so I probably won't know the best movie until 2008. :p
Of the movies I did see, I liked Grindhouse (the Rodriguez half, not Tarantino's film), Stardust, and Black Snake Moan.
Tarantino's "Death Proof" , half of the Grindhouse double feature, might well be the worst movie I saw this year. Well, the worst movie I paid for. I did see some stinkers on airplanes (like "Failure to Launch"- UGH!!) but I don't really count them because I didn't choose to see them.

Well, it's nearly 2008 so I wish everyone a Happy New Year.
*flings silver confetti*
Let's hope the next year brings happiness and success to those who deserve it, justice and truth to those who deny it, a Democratic president to this country, and an end to the horrible war. I wish Peace, love, puppies and cupcakes(with sprinkles!) to all my friends, and I wish bad hair days, traffic jams and papercuts to those who have fucked with me. Ouchy! LOL you crossed THE WRONG FISH!

Great Speeches of Vengeance

2007-12-17T04:41:00.000-08:00

I was just thinking today about some of the great and moving speeches of vengeance from history, movies, theater, and television. I thought I'd share some of my special favorites. I love language, it has such power to strike terror in the hearts of the weak.

Allow me to impress upon you the severe mistake you have made.
For years my conduct has been largely benign, and yet without provocation you have severed our détente and forced me to unleash upon you the vengeful flames of a thousand suns.
You shall curse your mothers for the day of your birth!
So go now, GO, and begin your life of fear,
knowing that when you least expect it, the looming sword of Damocles will CRASH down upon you, cleaving you in twain,
and as you gaze upon the smoking wreckage that was once your life, you will regret the day you crossed THE WRONG FISH!

Klaus the goldfish from American Dad

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Jules (played by Samuel Jackson), Pulp Fiction

LUCIUS
Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds?

AARON
Ay, that I had not done a thousand more.
Even now I curse the day--and yet, I think,
Few come within the compass of my curse,--
Wherein I did not some notorious ill,
As kill a man, or else devise his death,
Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it,
Accuse some innocent and forswear myself,
Set deadly enmity between two friends,
Make poor men's cattle break their necks;
Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night,
And bid the owners quench them with their tears.
Oft have I digg'd up dead men from their graves,
And set them upright at their dear friends' doors,
Even when their sorrows almost were forgot;
And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,
Have with my knife carved in Roman letters,
'Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.'
Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things
As willingly as one would kill a fly,
And nothing grieves me heartily indeed
But that I cannot do ten thousand more.

Act 5, Titus Andronicus

AARON
O, why should wrath be mute, and fury dumb?
I am no baby, I, that with base prayers
I should repent the evils I have done:
Ten thousand worse than ever yet I did
Would I perform, if I might have my will;
If one good deed in all my life I did,
I do repent it from my very soul.

Oh yeah, he's bad. But you know the villains are always the best characters, and they get all the best lines!

Holiday baking journal, part 2

2007-12-15T02:10:00.000-08:00

The first baking journal was getting pretty LONG with 6 recipes, so I thought I'd start a new one.
I made these on Wednesday but didn't get around to blogging it until today.

CHOCOLATE RUGELACH!!!
This is the first time I have made these, but it won't be the last. Oh lordy are they good!

Ingredients :
8 ounces cream cheese, room temp and cut into chunks
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temp and cut into chunks
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
filling:
1 can Love'n Bake™ Chocolate "Schmear" Filling

Cream the butter and cream cheese and sugar.
sift in the flour and mix until dough can form a ball
pat the dough into a flattened round, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
preheat oven to 375 (F), and grease 2 cookie sheets

divide dough in half and roll out half of it on a floured surface into a circle about 11 inches in diameter.
place a large dinner plate on dough and trim around edges with a knife.
spread the chocolate "Schmear" Filling on the circle.
Cut the circle into quarters, and then cut each quarter into 4 pieces, to form 16 wedge shaped pieces.
Roll up a triangle starting from the wide end, and tuck the point under the cookie on the baking sheet.
Repeat with other half of dough.
Take the scrap dough (from cutting the circles) and reroll it to another circle shape, to make a third set of 16 cookies (which will usually be smaller and less perfect than the first two sets. That's OK- these are your testers that you eat yourself, and save the pretty ones for company!).
Don't reroll the dough more than once or too much gluten will form.

mix 1 egg white with 1 teaspoon cold water.
brush cookies with egg white glaze and sprinkle with sugar.
bake until golden, 15-20 minutes.
cool on a wire rack.

Note: you can also make almond or cinnamon rugelach with the same dough, just substitute the filling.
----------------------------------------------
Update December 16, 2007
This weekend I made Homemade chocolate graham crackers, topped with peppermint bark.

*drooool*
These are frekakin GOOD, the crispness of the thin chocolatey cracker sets off the creamy decadence of the peppermint bark just perfectly. You could make these with storebought graham crackers too, but I find those thicker and chewier than my homemade ones, andjust not as tasty.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons cold milk

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Cut out two sheets of parchment paper as large as your cookie sheets.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, cocoa, sugar, and baking powder. With a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until evenly crumbly.
In a separate bowl, combine the honey and milk, stirring until the honey dissolves. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and toss lightly with a fork until the dough comes together. Add a few drops additional milk, if necessary.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and fold it over gently 5-6 times, until smooth. Divide the dough in half. Work with half the dough at a time, keeping the remaining dough covered.

Transfer one piece of dough to a piece of parchment. Roll it into a rectangle a bit larger than 10 x 14 inches; the dough will be about 1/16-inch thick. Trim the edges and prick the dough evenly over the entire surface with a dough docker or fork. Repeat with the remaining dough and parchment. Place the rolled-out dough pieces, on their parchment, onto baking sheets.

Bake the crackers for 15 minutes, or until you begin to smell chocolate. Remove them from the oven, and immediately cut them into rectangles with a pizza wheel or knife.
I use a fluted pastry wheel, it's like pinking shears for cookies!
Transfer them to a rack to cool.

PEPPERMINT BARK INGREDIENTS
1 12-ounce bag of white chocolate chips
2 regular size candy canes, or 10-15 starlight peppermint candies

unwrap the candy canes or starlight mints, and put them in a ziplock baggie.
Smash them up with a hammer or meat tenderizer.
Melt the white chocolate chips in a double boiler, or in a microwave. If you use the microwave, only nuke it for short periods (30-45 seconds) at low power, stirring in between each nuking.
Stir the crushed candy canes into the melted white chocolate.
Spread the delicious goo onto the chocolate graham crackers.
You can leave it to harden at room temperature, but it takes longer.
You can put them in the fridge to harden quicker, but you need to transfer them to smaller platters that will fit in your fridge.
If you live in a cold climate and it's not raining, a great way to harden them is just put them outside for a few seconds! Voila, walk-in freezer!

Happy Birthday Cute Knut!

2007-12-06T23:17:00.000-08:00

I am a day late but I still wanted to wish a happy birthday to Cute Knut the polar bear.

Knut is my avatar and I just fell in love with the little guy last Christmas, as the little orphaned bear cub from the Berlin zoo.

He's not so little and not so cute anymore, (he weighs 245 lbs and he's still growing!) but he is enjoying being one year old!

To celebrate Knut's birthday I made Polar Bear cookies yesterday!

Rrrowwwr, eat them before they eat you!

I have also made a series of polar bear Christmas stockings for my Etsy shop

I've sold five of them so far, and for every one sold, I'm donating half the price to the World Wildlife Fund to help save polar bears in the wild. (and other endangered animals)

and last but not least, I had to buy this

the amazing pooping Poo-Lar Bear!! LOL can anything top that?
watch him in action!
(not my video)

Holiday Baking Journal

2007-12-01T23:21:00.000-08:00

The cookie factory is back in business!
Every year for the past 15 years or so, I have made an assortment of cookies and goodies for the Holidays. Some years I have gone just crazy and made like 15 different kinds, spread out over the month. Whenever I make a batch of cookies I freeze half of it, so that on Christmas eve I can take out the frozen cookies and have a beautiful assorted platter to serve guests. You can also make lovely gift bags this way with one or two of each kind per person.

I like to choose an assortment of recipes each year that will make a pleasing diverse platter. For example, as much as I love chocolate, it's kind of boring to have 10 kinds of chocolate cookies on a plate. I like to make sure there are different colors, different shapes and different flavors in my assortment.
I keep lists of everything I have made each year, but this year I'm going to keep the list in blog form. I'll try to include photos and recipes for each batch.
I will be adding to this blog article with edits or comments when I have a new entry, rather than adding a new article for each thing. So keep checking back to this article every few days for the latest goodie!

I kicked off my holiday baking today with two old favorites:
Bright-Eyed Susans

and Glazed Pecans

For all of my recipes, unless otherwise specified:
flour means all-purpose white flour. I will specify cake flour or whole wheat flour if you need it.
sugar means granulated white sugar. I will specify brown or powdered sugar if you need it.
butter means real sweet cream unsalted butter, do not substitute margarine or butter-favored crisco! I will specify shortening if you need it. I NEVER use margarine for baking because it has too high of water content and the texture will be soggy instead of crisp.
egg means whole egg. I will specify white or yolk if you need to separate the egg.
Yes, some of these things are not the healthiest foods for you. But in my opinion when it comes to baking you have to use the real stuff. No fake fat, fake sugar, chemical polymers or mystery goo.
---------------------------------
Bright-Eyed Susans
I forget where I originally got this recipe but I think it was a Southern cookbook.
INGREDIENTS:

* 3/4 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 3/4 cups flour
* about 24 chocolate non-pareils

Cream together butter and sugar until well mixed.
Add egg, vanilla and salt until blended.
Sift in the flour and mix until blended.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour in refrigerator. (not freezer)
Shape cookie dough into 1-inch balls; place about 2 inches apart onto an ungreased baking sheet.*
Place a chocolate non-pareil on each cookie, flattening the cookie.
Bake at 400°(F) for 8 to 10 minutes. Bake until set but not brown.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

*Tip: I always use parchament paper for baking cookies, whether the recipe calls for greased or ungreased cookie sheet. You never have to grease the pan when you use parchament paper and you don't have to wash it either!

option: you can use Chocolate Stars or even Hershey Kisses if you can't find non pareils.
---------------------------------
Glazed Nuts
I got this recipe about 7 or 8 years ago from a Victorian-themed Christmas magazine. I am not sure the recipe is historically accurate but candied nuts were very popular Christmas treats in Victorian times, and they are just as delicious now. You can use almost any kind of nuts, I like using pecans, almonds, or walnuts. This candy glaze is similar to peanut brittle, but the proportion is more nuts and less "brittle"
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup whole raw nuts
1/2 cup granulated sugar (*see note)
2 tablespoons butter
Combine nuts, sugar and butter in heavy skillet. I use a cast iron skillet. Do not use a teflon-coated pan. Some candy-makers believe that sugar melts better in a copper pot, but I've never cooked with copper pots!
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, until nuts are toasted and sugar is golden brown and the consistency of a thick syrup. (about 15 minutes)Sugar should not be grainy.
If you want to test with a water glass, the syrup should be in the hard crack stage.
Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
Spray a piece of aluminum foil with non-stick spray (like Pam).
Spread the nuts onto the foil in an even layer, and immediately sprinkle lightly with salt. (if you wait too long the salt won't stick)

BE CAREFUL AND USE OVEN MITTS, and wear long sleeves. This molten sugar syrup is HOT and sticky so if some gets on you it is like napalm. It will burn you and take some skin off with it when you peel it off.

Let the candy cool, then break into 2 or 3 nut clusters. This makes a great gift in pretty glass jam jars with their labels soaked off. I like to spray-paint the jar lids silver or gold so you can't see the jam logo.

* Use pure cane sugar only for this recipe. I used to think all sugar is the same and for most baked goods it is, but whenever I used cheaper store brand sugar for this recipe, it just wouldn't caramelize properly. I later read that most store brand sugar is beet sugar which doesn't caramelize as well as cane sugar. So you can use beet sugar for cookies and cakes but I recommend cane sugar for candy making.
Also I recommend not making these on a rainy or humid day. The weather can seem to interfere with caramelizing too. Crisp dry days are the best.

*If sugar crystalizes and won't get syrupy, add a few tablespoons of corn syrup or maple syrup to get it liquidized. DO NOT ADD WATER! (or any water-based liquid) It will vaporize instantly on hitting the hot syrup and can give you nasty steam burns.

*option: you can use raw sunflower seed kernels for this recipe, that comes out really yummy! But if you use them, do not add them until you've cooked the sugar to the syrupy stage. They are so small they will burn if you cook them 15 minutes. Just cook the syrup alone and then add seeds when the syrup is 3-4 minutes from being done.

*option: Substitute other flavorings for vanilla. I have used cinnamon oil and a drop of red food coloring to make delicious cinnamon glazed almonds. It's like the coating on candy apples! Oils based flavorings work best, while alcohol based favorings like vanilla extract will sizzle a bit when you first stir them in. Stir fast before it all evaporates.

Ok, that's it for now but I'll make more goodies tomorrow!
---------------------------------
Update Dec 3, 2007
Today's cookie is Cuban Wedding Cakes

otherwise known as Mexican Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes.
I have tried a couple different recipes for these and this one is my favorite.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups flour
1 cup hazelnut meal *
1/2 cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup butter, softened and cut into pieces
extra powdered sugar for coating

preheat oven to 325 (F)
Mix together the first 4 ingredients.
Stir in the vanilla.
With a pastry blender, cut in the butter.
Mix until dough looks line fine crumbs and holds together. All dry ingredients should be incorporated.
Knead dough with your hands a few times gently. Just squish it together to make sure all the dry stuff is mixed in.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls, and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 325 (F) for 25 minutes. The lower temperature and slower baking time keeps the balls in their shape, so they don't spread out.
Cool 5 minutes, then roll cookies in powdered sugar. I use Snow White Non-melting Sugar because it won't dissolve or go invisible on a moist or oily cookie.
If you use regular powdered sugar and it does soak up the oil and melt, cool cookies completely and roll them in powdered sugar a second time.

* Nut meal is very finely chopped nuts. You may use hazelnut meal, almond meal, or pecan meal. You can also make your own by putting toasted unsalted nuts in a blender but be careful not to make nut butter.
---------------------------------
update Dec 6, 2007
Today's cookie of the day, which I actually baked yesterday but decorated today, is:
Christmas Spice Cookies

I made these in polar bear shapes in honor of Cute Knut's birthday, about which I will make a separate blog post. This recipe is so nostalgic for me. My mom used to bake these cookies every Christmas, and my sisters and I would decorate them. Now, my mom was not a June Cleaver cookie-baking mom! She has a PhD and worked full time her whole life. Christmas was the only time of year she baked cookies from scratch, and as my sisters and I got old enough, we took over the baking. But I have very fond memories of all of us sitting around the table with colored icings, colored sugars, jimmies, and those little silver balls that break your teeth if you eat them. I also still have the cookie cutters my mom used all those years ago, but I have increased the collection quite a bit.
Most people make simple sugar cookies to decorate, but I think this spice cookie recipe makes a much more interesting cookie.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup shortening, I use Crisco sticks because it's so easy to measure
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
....
1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (not soda)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Cream together shortening and sugar until well mixed and fluffy.
mix in egg.
sift together all the dry ingredients, then add to shortening mixture.
mix until all dry ingredients are incorporated and dough holds together
wrap dough in waxed paper and chill at least 30 minutes.
Flour a smooth surface and flour your rolling pin. I use a rolling pin cover which is like a thin knitted sock, and a rolling cloth which is like thick cotton canvas. They make rolling a little easier but you don't need them, you just may have to use a little more flour.
Divide the dough in half and roll out half at a time, until it's about 1/8 inch thick.
Cut out shapes with your favorite cookie cutters. I recommend polar bears!
Bake on a greased cookie sheet in a preheated 350 (F) oven for 10 minutes.
Cookies should be lightly brown at edges but not too dark.
cool completely before decorating.

To decorate:
I make a simple icing with powdered sugar and milk. I don't measure, just pour a cup or two of powdered sugar in a bowl and add milk a tiny bit at a time, stirring after each addition. Don't add too much milk to begin with! You can always add a few more drops to thin the icing but if you make it too runny, it takes a LOT of sugar to thicken it. You want it thin enough to spread but thick enough that it won't run off the sides of the cookie. You can divide he icing into smaller bowls now, and color them different colors with a drop or two of food coloring. I usually need a bowl of green for the tree cookies, a bowl of white for the snowflakes and polar bears, and some red for the stockings and ornaments.

Spread the icing on a few cookies at a time and then decorate with your choice of sprinkles, jimmies, colored sugars, edible glitter like I used on the bears, or fancy sugar decors.
But if you're in California like me, the days of little silver balls are over. apparently someone thinks those little silver balls will kill you. Go figure! I am still alive!
Check it out, I can't even buy them online.

Please note* Dragees have been banned in the state of California and it is illegal for us to ship them there. If you place an order to be shipped to California, the dragees will be omitted from your order and you will not be charged for the dragees.

The decors and sprinkles stick best when the icing is wet so just decorate a few cookies at a time. If you are really patient and fancy yourself the next Martha Stewart, you can use a cake decorating bag and really get fancy!
Have fun and if you have kids, let them help decorate the cookies. Make some sweet memories!
-------------------------
December 9 update!
Today's cookie is Peppermint Meltaways

I first made these cookies in 3rd grade, I think, with my dad. Our school was having some kind of bake sale and there was a cookie cookbook in the school library that I loved because of the gorgeous photos. I checked the book out and picked a cookie for us to make together. We made these mint meltaways, but in pale green instead of pink.
They were quite delicious and I remembered their melt-in-your-mouth quality. Then I returned the book to the library and that was that.

When I got older and started baking on my own, I looked for that cookbook in several libraries and could never find it. I remembered some of the photos so vividly from childhood but I didn't remember the name and I thought I'd never see them again. Then I was in a bookstore 2 years ago and I saw the cookbook! It was an updated version but I recognized it instantly. I almost bought it, but then had the idea to look for the original version used on Ebay, now that I knew the title. And HALLELUJAH, I found it! So now I try to bake something every year from this vintage 1973 cookbook and I still love looking at the photos I used to love so much as a child.
These mint meltaways are from page 113 of "The Betty Crocker Cooky Book".

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops red food coloring
2 1/4 cups cake flour*
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400F.
Cream butter, sugar, peppermint extract and food coloring thoroughly.
Measure flour and salt into a bowl, blend into butter mixture.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 minutes at 400 (F). Cookies should be set but not brown.
While warm, sift a light dusting of powdered sugar over cookies.

* cake flour is important to this recipe. Cake flour has less gluten than all-purpose flour so it makes a tender, melt-in-your-mouth cookie.
------------------------------
Update December 12, 2007

Today's goodie is Lemon Bread, it's a quickbread (non-yeasted), but it has a light, tender texture like a cake, thank to the cake flour and beaten egg whites.
I LUUUURVE me some lemons. I love lemon anything- cookies, cake, candy, drinks, etc. And when I have something lemon, I want it to be REALLY lemony. I don't like wimpy lemon stuff. So whenever I bake something lemon, I usually double or triple the lemon juice or zest from what the recipe says. It's also handy that I have a lemon tree out back, although it is the lemon tree from hell with 3-inch thorns, stiff razor-sharp thorns like needles tipped with acid, so that if you get stuck it will sting and burn so bad.
But I digress! Lemon bread! Yummmmm!
As much as I love lemon, I loathe traditional fruitcake. But I make this bread with candied lemon peel, so it is my spin on a fruitcake.

This recipe is from this cookbook, but I've made some modifications. (amped up the lemon! and omitted walnuts)

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, at room temp
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temp, separated
grated rind of 2 lemons.
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup candied lemon peel

Preheat oven to 350F
Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan, (I used 3 mini loaf pans to make small loaves for gifting)
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg YOLKS only. (reserve whites for later)
Add lemon rind and lemon juice and mix them in, then set this bowl aside.
Sift the cake flour and baking powder together.
Fold flour into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk.
Fold in the candied lemon peel.
set aside.
In another bowl, beat egg whites and salt with electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
Fold the egg whites gently into the dough, just until mixed.
Pour the batter into the greased loaf pans and bake in a 350F oven until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
baking time for a 9x5 loaf will be about 45-50 minutes.
Baking time for my 3 mini-loaves was about 35 minutes.
Let cool 5 minutes in pan, then remove from pan and let cool on a cooling rack.
Enjoy with tea, if you are a true lemon FREAK like me you can spread some lemon curd on a toasted slice for triple-lemon overload!!

now playing: Led Zeppelin- The Lemon Song

Shout Outs!

2007-11-07T22:52:00.000-08:00

Time to give some shout outs to some amazing, cool, talented and GENEROUS Etsy members who have contributed to my plastic fusing mania by sending me some great plastic bags.

First there was my trip to England in July. I brought back some great orange plastic bags from Sainsbury's, a supermarket chain in the UK. But I used them up so fast! I was sad. My boring U.S. supermarket uses boring white bags. But I knew the Etsy community could make me happy! I posted a plea to UK Etsians to collect and save their Sainsbury's bags for me. Two smashing Brits came through for me, yay!
Thank you to http://magpienest.etsy.com and http://duckduckGoosestuff.etsy.com for all the gorgeous orange plastic!

They actually sent much more than this, but I used some of the bags already.

custom trick or treat bags, front and back are fused plastic and
sides are black cotton with silver reflective safety stripe

Then came Halloween, my favorite holiday of the year. And Halloween candy comes in the coolest plastic bags. All these great bags were sent to me by http://funkyquail.etsy.com and http://luna2005.etsy.com.

I have already fused some of the donated bags into projects

(that's a Sainsbury's bag as the background)

And last but DEFINITELY not least, is the amazing huge bundle of uber-cool Japanese plastic bags, sent to me by the extremely generous http://pipi.etsy.com. I just received them this week. I can't wait to start fusing these!

There's gotta be at least 50 bags in here.
Here is just a small sampling of the amazing Japanese plastic bags, with incredible cute and colorful graphics!

SQUEEE!!!
Thank you to all of these sellers for sending me such beautiful bags.

To learn how to fuse plastic bags yourself, check out my tutorial in this blog.
To purchase some of my fused plastic creations, visit my Etsy store. And be sure to check back in my store frequently to see some of the great bags above transformed into cute and funky accessories!

Getting in the Halloween spirit

2007-10-20T23:28:00.000-07:00

A little poetry to get you in the spooky mood of my most favorite holiday!
(My apologies for poetic license, but "five" didn't rhyme!)

Once upon a forum dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious thread of forgotten gore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my convo door.
'Tis some buyer,' I muttered, 'tapping at my convo door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak September,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my crafts surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Etsy four -
For the rare and snarky maidens whom the angels named Etsy four -
Nameless here for evermore.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
'Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `'art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, 'Etsy four.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Rokali just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!

Fused Plastic bags tutorial

2007-09-24T00:52:00.000-07:00

This is copied from a blog I wrote on myspace on May 7, 2007.
I was all set to write a plastic fusing tutorial because lots of people were asking me for one, but then Etsylabs published a tutorial on May 6! LOL
So I wrote mine anyway, but more as a complement or addition to theirs.

Here are some good tutorials for fusing plastic bags:
http://etsylabs.blogspot.com/2007/05/long-overdue-fusing-plastic-bag.html
http://blog.etsy.com/?p=239
http://modcottage.com/?p=109
http://www.inthewake.org/howtos/shopping-bag-plastic.html

Read these first for a general understanding of how it works.
My own tips and tricks I will add to the above:

This is all you need to start fusing:

1. an iron
2. a hard heat-resistant surface like a wooden cutting board
3. baking parchment paper. This works better than typing paper because it's silicon coated and nothing sticks to it. It's also larger, and semi-transparent so you can see appliqués have the correct placement, etc.
4. Some plastic bags! There's no shortage of those in the world, unfortunately.

DO's and DONT'S

DO set the iron between polyester and rayon. One of the tutes says to set it at cotton, that is too hot in my opinion but perhaps irons vary.
DON'T use steam.

DO fuse both HDPE (recycle code 2) and LDPE (recycle code 4) bags

HDPE is the crinkly plastic grocery bags, LDPE is the glossy stretchy bags like Target bags, also clear bags like dry cleaner bags.
They will both fuse, to themselves and to eachother. You may need to lower the heat just a bit for LDPE.
There are some tutorials which say you cannot use LDPE, but I have successfully fused it.
The sides of this bag are Target bags (LDPE) and the inside layers are HDPE

and this entire bag is LDPE, I used the clear bags my newspaper is delivered in on rainy days

DO use all kinds of plastic, not just grocery bags. Use the bags from frozen veggies, use the bag from dried pasta, bread wrappers, etc. You can use potato chip bags inside out to get a silver metallic color. This works better for small appliqués than for a large piece, because foil-lined plastic will not shrink at the same rate as normal plastic, so if you try to fuse large areas of foil lined plastic you will get bubbles and puckers..

DO apply the heat a little longer for thicker plastic. You also don't need to use as many layers when you use a thicker plastic.

DO put a clear plastic layer over any vivid colored design you want to show on the outside of the bag. Red ink especially seems to melt and bleed. If you don't use the clear layer on top, the ink will transfer to your paper like this

DO use a layer of clear plastic on top of appliqués too, to seal them in.

DO reuse the parchament paper over and over, unless it gets an ink transfer from a bag. Then you will need a clean piece, because it will transfer that ink back to your next fused piece.
DON'T use waxed paper instead of parchament paper! The wax will melt and make a stinky mess. Waxed paper cannot take the heat, freezer paper is also not ideal because it's made for use with cold not with heat. Baking parchament paper is the best because it's made to withstand heat up to 420 degrees Fahrenheit.

DO use a hard ironing surface such as a wooden cutting board. A hard, smooth surface will help you get even adhesion.
DO use firm pressure when ironing, but keep the iron moving. This isn't like fusible interfacing where you have to keep the iron in place for 10 or 15 seconds- f you do that the plastic will probably burn.

DO fuse one or two new layers at a time.
DON'T try to fuse all 8 layers at once, or the middle layers will have incomplete adhesion.

If you find your fused plastic curling up too much, flip it over and fuse the next layer onto the back. This will equalize the shrinkage and flatten it out.

DO sew the finished material in the sewing machine or serger.
DO use a longer stitch length, so you won't have too many holes forming a perforated line.(prone to tearing)
DO sew small items wrong sides together.
You DON'T need to turn the seams to the inside like you do with fabric items, because the plastic does not fray. Also, it may be difficult to turn smaller items like cosmetic pouches inside out.

To see some of my fused plastic finished projects, check out this Flickr set.

To see my fused plastic items for sale, check out my Etsy store. (more items coming soon)

Custom fabric tutorial- bleach stencilling

2007-05-13T02:20:00.000-07:00

With the recent custom fabric tutorials and workshops on etsy,
http://blog.etsy.com/?p=272
http://blog.etsy.com/?p=284
I thought I'd write a tutorial on a bleach stencilling method I learned in 1989 in a Theater Fabric Modification seminar at San Francisco State University. (when I was majoring in costume design at the time)
There are some very good tutorials already on the web for the bleach stencil method:
here
here
and here
Those are good resources and you should read them for general tips.
All of the above are using the familiar type of pictorial stencils. The method I will share is using lace or a doily as your stencil, to make a patterned design fabric rather than a pictorial design. This was used in the costume shop to simulate brocade. Theatrical costumes are seen from a distance, not in closeups like film, so there is a long tradition of making cheap fabrics look like expensive ones, and it only has to pass from a distance. But the technique is a cool one for adapting to craft usage.

Before you get started, some Do's and Don't's:
DO wear old clothes that you won't mind if they get bleached
DO wear safety glasses- the bleach mist might go in your eye, and as they said in Ghostbusters: "that would be bad".
DO this process in the shower or the garage, or outdoors.
DON'T do it in any room with carpet, upholstery, curtains, etc.
DO use basic cheap chlorine bleach
DON'T use color-safe bleach
DO test a small piece of your fabric with some bleach solution before you start, so you will know what color you will get when it lightens.
DO use about 3 parts bleach to one part water.
DO use a good spray bottle that gives an even, fine mist with no drips and blobs.
DO use a dark colored fabric which is 100% cotton or at least a 50% cotton/50% poly blend. It doesn't have to be only T-shirts, you can do this technique on corduroy, denim, cotton velveteen, etc.

Here are the materials I am working with

I have a piece of black percale sheet, a poly-cotton blend, and a piece of heavy thick cotton lace to use as my stencil. This was a recycled thrift shop blouse.
You should choose a piece of lace which is thick, like a doily. Thin laces will just soak through. If you can find a vintage 1960's plastic lace tablecloth or placemat, those are ideal. Other thrift store finds like crocheted shawls can be used too- anything with an openwork pattern that is thick enough.

1. Lay the lace on top of your dry fabric, with a safe surface underneath. I'm using my washing machine lid, you can also use a large piece of tinfoil, or just do this process in the shower.
2. Spray an even mist of bleach onto the fabric. Don't saturate the lace, you just want a light mist.
3. Immediately remove the lace and set it aside or hang it up to dry.
This is the fabric immediately after the lace has been removed- the bleach has just begun to remove some of the dye.

4. let the dark fabric set a few minutes as the bleach continues to lighten it.
5. When the desired color is reached, quickly rinse the fabric in a bucket of water. Do not let it sit in the water. The bleach will be rinsed into the water and if you let it sit, the whole item will bleach evenly and lose the pattern.
6. Empty out the bucket and repeat a few times with clean water. Do quick rinses, swish the fabric around a few times and then change the water.
7. Now run the fabric through the dryer. This is my final result after it's dry:

8. you can also rinse and dry your lace to reuse it later. If your lace piece is small, you can do several areas at a time, one after another to make a repeating pattern. However, feel the lace periodically to make sure it's not getting saturated.

Another way to use bleach in making your own custom fabrics is the great Clorox Bleach Gel Pen.

For my example I am just drawing some simple spiral designs on my black sheet.

Let the gel sit for 1-3 minutes until the desired color is reached.
Then do the rinsing process from steps 5 and 6 above.
Then run it through the dryer.
Here is my final result:

These are just some quick samples of what can be done with household bleach. There's always an element of unpredictability and imperfection with this method, but I like that and it looks more earthy and handmade, like batik or mudcloth. It's not always possible to bleach a dark fabric into a pure white design. That much bleach would possible eat holes in the fabric. You are more likely to acheive a lighter shade of your starting color. For example here bleaching black fabric, I get a greyish brown. If you were bleaching a forest green cotton, you might end up with a light greenish yellow. So always experiment with a small piece first and don't use this method on very expensive fabrics. I find that when I use cheap materials, my creativity is liberated because I'm not afraid of ruining them! Most of all, have fun and be safe.

Ugly is the new black!

2007-05-12T02:37:00.000-07:00

Submitted for your disapproval, the treasury of ugliness.
This is a collection of items nominated by their creators for the Ugliest Item on Etsy contest, which was the brainchild of Quirke.
The top row contains the first, second and third prize winners, determined by popular votes.

Now before you say what a meanie I am to call these things ugly, please understand this treasury was curated with love. All of the items in it were nominated by their own makers for the contest, with plenty of humor and affirmation by the etsy community. Many of the self-nominated items were actually sold during the contest, so the contest was also a good marketing gimmick. It really proves that ugliness is in the eye of the beholder. If these ugly things can find homes, it gives hope to all of us, that someone may find us beautiful.
Ironically, the jewelry artisan BOXC nominated this necklace, which I absolutely LOVE and have had it in my favorites since March 30! I even included it in a treasury earlier this week, which was completely sincere things I loved, with no irony or joke involved. Here's a screenshot of that trteasury.

I even nominated one of my own creations for Teh Ugly contest, but it was ineligible because it wasn't for sale in my store. (I know my dear readers will be heartbroken that they cannot purchase it!)

This little treasure was made as a gift for my friend Wendy. Here is the inside.

So, in celebration of ugly ducklings everywhere , and above all our ability to laugh at ourselves, I salute the winners!

Yet another online toy

2007-05-12T02:02:00.000-07:00

So now I have a blog. Welcome to it! Well I had two blogs already on myspace, (my private one and my craft one) which I rarely updated, but now I have this one. Yet another online toy for me to neglect! I am not a big blog reader and will probably not be the most entertaining blog writer. The medium gives me some performance anxiety to be honest, like I was back in college with an essay due. I actually prefer message boards for my online communication, they are more democratic and interactive, less ego-centric, and I'm far more entertaining in short spontaneous spurts than in long proofread articles. I guess I am in constant fear of being exposed as not as clever as people think I am. I am the poster child for wasted potential. But then again, most blogs I read leave me with the distinct impression that their authors are not nearly as clever as they think they are. They just forge ahead anyway, unencumbered by self-doubt or self-awareness.

This blog will be focused on the craft side of my life. Stuff I love, stuff I am making, and how you can make it too. You won't find any sexual TMI revelations, any political rants, any whiny-assed petty griping about the minutiae of daily life, or any thinly-veiled passive-aggressive bashing of my friends which they are expected to decipher. You won't find any posts with a superior attitude that I am so much wiser and more evolved than other folks. I won't try to impress you with lists of the books I'm reading, unless they relate to art or craft.
It's the lighter and fluffier eclipse, now with 20% less bitterness!

Welcome to my unBlog.