May 2009
Chocolate cake for no reason.
May 30, 2009 05:23 Filed in: In the kitchen | Chocolate
While flipping through recipes the other day, I came across a chocolate buttermilk cake recipe torn from a 1999 issue of Cooking Light magazine. Instead of waiting for some event, I decided our inaugural screening of "Bolt" was good enough. So I made the cake.
I made a wee mistake -- added too much baking powder or baking soda, I can’t remember which. To counter that slight extra saltiness, I added an extra tablespoon of cocoa powder (or two, perhaps?) and about half a cup of chopped up chocolate chips. If I humbly say so myself ... my mistake was the making of this cake! It was chocolatey and moist and a big hit with everyone. Although I won’t be adding too much of whatever-it-was next time, I’m noting the additions of extra chocolate for future cakes. Yum!
By the way, Bolt is a sweet and very fun movie. It's fun to think that's Vinnie Barbarino doing the voice of the innocent superdog. Rhino the Hamster is my favorite -- such a silly hamster!
I made a wee mistake -- added too much baking powder or baking soda, I can’t remember which. To counter that slight extra saltiness, I added an extra tablespoon of cocoa powder (or two, perhaps?) and about half a cup of chopped up chocolate chips. If I humbly say so myself ... my mistake was the making of this cake! It was chocolatey and moist and a big hit with everyone. Although I won’t be adding too much of whatever-it-was next time, I’m noting the additions of extra chocolate for future cakes. Yum!
By the way, Bolt is a sweet and very fun movie. It's fun to think that's Vinnie Barbarino doing the voice of the innocent superdog. Rhino the Hamster is my favorite -- such a silly hamster!
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When life gives you blackberries.
May 25, 2009 09:34 Filed in: In the kitchen
Blackberries were on sale for $1 a carton last week, so ...
... blackberry shortcakes! Victoria Magazine has a scrumptious recipe in this month's issue. Sadly, I can't link to it because it's not up on their site yet. Make your favorite shortbread recipe (this one called for buttermilk, and each was sprinkled with turbinado sugar), stir blackberries with some Smucker's blackberry syrup (we used boysenberry -- no blackberry at our supermarket), spoon over sliced shortbreads, top with whipped cream, and enjoy! We definitely did.
By the way, the shortbreads are delicious if lightly toasted first. And these shortcakes were so rich -- more like scones -- we ended up using just one slice. A much better use for a blackberry than sending text messages! No disrespect to President Obama.
... blackberry shortcakes! Victoria Magazine has a scrumptious recipe in this month's issue. Sadly, I can't link to it because it's not up on their site yet. Make your favorite shortbread recipe (this one called for buttermilk, and each was sprinkled with turbinado sugar), stir blackberries with some Smucker's blackberry syrup (we used boysenberry -- no blackberry at our supermarket), spoon over sliced shortbreads, top with whipped cream, and enjoy! We definitely did.
By the way, the shortbreads are delicious if lightly toasted first. And these shortcakes were so rich -- more like scones -- we ended up using just one slice. A much better use for a blackberry than sending text messages! No disrespect to President Obama.
Springtime in Who-ville.
May 25, 2009 05:18 Filed in: Gardening
by Aileen Fisher
Spring up, seedlings,
weedlings, clover!
Spring out, leaves,
now winter's over.
Spring up, green things!
There's a reason
Spring's the name
to fit the season.
Spring has been absolutely beautiful here in our corner of the midwest. Lush and green, with great weather -- a perfect mix of sunshine, decent temps (60s-70s), and necessary rain. Fragrant lilacs and viburnum abound in our neighborhood, along with magnolias, flowering fruit trees, and lots of tulips, grape hyacinth, lily of the valley, daffodils. My bleeding hearts surprised me by surviving some backyard construction work and a flood of woodchips that seeped under the fence from our neighbor’s yard. To me the bleeding heart is the prettiest old fashioned spring flower, even though it has no fragrance. I’m so happy to see them blooming again!
So many flowers around our neighborhood look like they could easily be home to the residents of Who-ville. I can see Horton
gingerly carrying one of them in his trunk, informing his jungle-mates "A person's a person, no matter how small."
Or in this case large, because no one could mistake these enormous allium for a tiny little clover with itty bitty Whos on it.
Chive blossoms make perfect Who-worlds, and they're tasty too.
A whole colony of Who-villes!
Is that whofoo fluff? Or fuzzle fuzz?
These rose buds could be fun, pointy Who-heads. Wait ... is that one ... smiling?
Surely this is inspiration for an unusual Who hairstyle.
Could Whos live inside these fluffly balls of viburnum? If so, they would be drunk on their heavenly fragrance!
I hope you've had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend. Although we've had cool sunny weather all weekend, today, in typical Memorial Day fashion, it rained.
Blooming corsage progress.
May 10, 2009 01:37 Filed in: Crochet
The crochet thread I ordered arrived, and it is lovely! Summer Straw, Tea Rose, Aqua, and Wintergreen. So pretty, and so thin. No mistaking it for yarn, that's for certain. On the very same day a mess of skinny little steel crochet hooks I won on eBay also arrived: 11 different sized hooks for $6.50 including shipping. That’s 60 cents per hook -- less than half what they cost at the craft store. My kind of bargain!
Here is the rose I started from the Corsage in Bloom pattern. It was a bit awkward at first working on such a small scale, but I’m getting used to it and now it’s as fun as working with a regular sized hook and yarn. The Coats Opera thread has a lovely sheen and works up easily. The flower is really taking shape. See all those scallopy petals? By the time I'm done there will be 392 double crochet stitches on the outer edge!
I used to think big needles were it. My first knitting projects were on big size 11 and 13 needles, so size 8 and 9 felt comparatively small, and the work felt like it progressed so slowly. Now I appreciate the feel of petite projects in my hands and I look forward to knitting Kenny's kilt hose on size 4s and using this wee hook for making pretty little flowers. It reminds me to slow down, be patient, and really see what I’m doing. And it takes less time to complete smaller projects ... which is contrary to the “slow down” idea, but who doesn’t want to see the finished project sooner than later?
Here is the rose I started from the Corsage in Bloom pattern. It was a bit awkward at first working on such a small scale, but I’m getting used to it and now it’s as fun as working with a regular sized hook and yarn. The Coats Opera thread has a lovely sheen and works up easily. The flower is really taking shape. See all those scallopy petals? By the time I'm done there will be 392 double crochet stitches on the outer edge!
I used to think big needles were it. My first knitting projects were on big size 11 and 13 needles, so size 8 and 9 felt comparatively small, and the work felt like it progressed so slowly. Now I appreciate the feel of petite projects in my hands and I look forward to knitting Kenny's kilt hose on size 4s and using this wee hook for making pretty little flowers. It reminds me to slow down, be patient, and really see what I’m doing. And it takes less time to complete smaller projects ... which is contrary to the “slow down” idea, but who doesn’t want to see the finished project sooner than later?
Happy Mother's Day!
May 10, 2009 11:28 Filed in: A bit of history | This and that
More than a decade earlier, a rural northern Virginia minister’s wife named Ann Jarvis also united mothers in the name of community and peace. Around 1858 she started “Mother’s Day Work Clubs” -- groups of women who worked locally to help prevent the spread of disease by improving sanitary conditions, and who assisted families of mothers suffering from tuberculosis. At the onset of the Civil War, her clubs helped raise money for much-needed medicines, conducted food inspections to guard against contamination, and tended both Union and Confederate soldiers sick with typhoid fever. She created “Mother’s Friendship Day” to ease post-war tensions, and create a sense of peace and unity between Union and Confederate woman. Her wish for “a memorial mother’s day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life” came to fruition in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother’s Day a national holiday. Ann's daughter, Anna (pictured below right, next to her mother) rallied for years until she was virtually destitute to help grant her mother's wish. Ironically, Anna Jarvis never married or had children, but clearly she was devoted to her mother!
I am humbled by the work of these women, which goes far beyond what I have presented in these few paragraphs. Each felt deeply the importance and necessity of peace in the world, having experienced directly its violent opposite in their homeland. Each understood the unique position women are in as traditional nurturers to help bring about peace. Each endured the hardship of war, disease, unsanitary living conditions and social disapproval to work (peacefully) for peace, to help others live better lives -- to help them simply live. Mother’s Day is built on a firm foundation of faith, integrity, sweat and compassion, not greeting cards and chocolates.
I miss phoning my mom on this day to say, "I love you, mom!" I miss the joy of receiving sweet handmade treasures from my own son (who, incidentally, gave me a hug this morning AND is in the kitchen making me breakfast!). I appreciate the tulips and reassurances that I’m a good mother that I get from my husband. But since Mother’s Day has “real” -- not commercial -- beginnings as an effort toward peace, I need to figure out how to honor the women who began the day. While I’m working on that, I’m going sip my favorite kiwi pear green tea, enjoy the crunchy stuffed french toast being prepared for me by my two favorite guys, plant some Joseph's Coat climbing roses (oh I hope mine grow as beautifully!) in the front garden, go for a bike ride, and nurture peace and love in my own home.
Someone ...
May 05, 2009 10:20 Filed in: Knitting
...... isn’t letting me work on this:
It’s a Toirneach kilt sock that I’m knitting for Kenny! Actually it’s kilt hose, but I’m not sure if it’s proper or decent to call a single sock a “hose.” Makes sense for a pair of “kilt hose.” A hose is something you use to water the garden. Is a hose also something you put on your foot? At any rate, Piper keeps bobbing up and down by my knees, with a bone/rope/squeaky tennis ball in her mouth waiting for me to play with her. I, on the other hand, want to remain in my overstuffed chair by the front window enjoying a lazy day of knitting!
These hose had a bit of a false start. After carefully scrutinizing the other Toirneach projects at Ravelry, I decided to buy KnitPicks Telemark yarn -- it was economical ($15 for enough yarn for the pair!) and people seemed to get gauge with it. I ordered it in “Deep Navy,” which was nothing short of pure black. MAYBE in the brightest light you could see some blue highlights. Maybe. If you squinted. It was way more black than blue. And the swatch I knitted was rough -- not soft and foot friendly. So I conceded to the yarn recommended for the project: Louet Gems Merino in “Indigo.” Much better! Nice and soft, knits up smoothly, and the color is true navy. I made it through the lace cuff (after several tries), and the 1x1 rib on size 2 needles, and I’m at last on the calf portion. Using the magic loop on my interchangeable circulars, this is growing nicely! Although that is probably because I’m not turning the heel or knitting the toe yet. I've never knitted socks before so this is uncharted territory for me. I'm hopeful these will be ready by the time we go to the Bristol Renaissance Faire this summer, so Kenny can wear them with the kilt I made for him. Whew! That man looks good in a skirt. The unused Telemark? It's destined to become a felted skull tote.
Piper couldn't care less about knitting and kilts and ren faires! She just wants to chew and chase her squeaky ball.
Go get it, girl!
By the way ... I can crochet.
May 05, 2009 09:30 Filed in: Crochet
I recently taught myself how to crochet JUST so I could make this scarf. Between my learn to crochet book and the charts on this pattern, I was able to struggle through several attempts at working the scarf, repeated ripping when my effort didn't match any of the examples on Ravelry, finally making a breakthrough on how to correctly execute a double crochet, and wow! I was hooked. (Yes, that is an intentional crochet pun, which I'm sure I inherited from thousands of crocheters before me.) I easily memorized the repeats and couldn't put the project down. Then I manically tried it in about six other yarns on various hook sizes. I went a little crazy, but I've settled down now and I'm back to the kilt hose as my main project. I am looking forward to making many more of these! Friends and family can count on getting one as a gift sometime in the future.
The yarn is Dalegarn Svale in ivory. I bought this single skein from a LYS because it was recommended for a counterpane afghan I wanted to knit for my mom. The total cost for said afghan would have been something absurd like $150 using this yarn! So although I loved my dear old mom, I opted instead for about a ton of white Cotton-Ease at less than $5 per ball. White CE is much more fitting for a counterpane anyway, so the Svale became this pretty, too-short Anne Lace scarf. It's more of a collar or choker when wrapped around twice. Secured with a ceramic rose pin of my mom's, I think it looks quite romantic! Okay, not with the pink tee shirt and gardening sunburn.
I'm so confident in my new crocheting skills that I've already started the "French Country" hat (with the crocheted mum) from JooJooBees. And the next project in my cue is Corsage in Bloom, a pretty posie of roses and lily of the valley made with a skinny little size 7 steel crochet hook. Yikes! It's like crochet in miniature. I'm going for it, though--I picked up the wee li'l hook at Tom Thumb Hobby in Evanston (you should see this thing, it's super skinny!), and ordered the recommended Coats Opera Crochet Thread. Thread. I'm going from big fat yarn to little old thread? No matter, I can't wait to get started!
