Again, from Dorie Greenspan. This was awesome. Carrots, coconut, raisins. Moist cake. Delicious. Wouldn't change a thing.
They even turned my carrot-cake disliking husband into a carrot cake liker. Awesome.
Here are all the little cakes I baked up:
Frosted cupcakes, and cake slices:
Thanks, SB, for being the hand model!
Ok, now this is seriously exciting.
I'm a knitter. I've been a knitter for a very long time. Since first grade.
I've recently tried my hand at sewing, with little projects here and there.
When I lived in New York, I made a friend who is a seriously talented quilter, and I was interested...
I got myself all set up. Got the tools, the inspiration, almost everything I needed. Then I was on a girls weekend in northern Minnesota on Lake Superior, and in the most unexpected place was the most beautiful little quilting shop. I was there with three of my oldest dearest friends, one of whom was just a few months from having her first baby (and the first among us), and I saw the charm pack and pounced. I told the store owner that this was a very ambitous project for me. She said to keep my seem allowances consistent and I'd be fine.
That was last August.
So all this time I've been waiting, eyeing, thinking, pondering the idea of making this quilt for my friend and her baby. And yesterday I totally went for it. I'm so pleased! I don't know what got into me, and quite frankly all this was above my skill level, but somehow I just plunged in and more excitingly, somehow it all worked out!
I did some math to figure out what dimensions everything should be (8 square by 5? 7 squares by 6?).
J and arranged the squares, so there weren't two patters next to eachother and the colors were sprinkled nicely:
I decided to do this in a top half and bottom half, so I peiced together the strips for both halfs, keeping everything labeled carefully.
And then I pieced them together with white, then the top to the bottom, and look!!!! It worked!!!
I'm a beginner sewer, so this felt like a very big accomplishment!
I added a 6 inch border, and then I got fancy and even mitered the corners!
I didn't pre-wash the fabric -- I've read about plenty of quilts that are washed after the fact, and then they get that puckered old look. I figured that might help absolve any errata in the quilt (though I have to say the whole thing is straighter than I thought I could do!)
And the top is done!
Next steps:
1. Plan the back (just white? Something fancy?)
2. Plan the quilting. I have no plan.
Here's the thing: I'm not very sure my machine (which I do love so much) can handle it. I'd have to buy a quilting foot, which isn't such a big deal, but I'm just unconvinced that it's small size can handle such a big job. I spend enough time cursing at the tangles as is, so I'm not sure it's a great idea. Other options: 1. go see my quilting friend, so first I can borrow her machine, and two she can show me what on earth to do. This has a lot of benefits, as she is super talented and it would be fun. It is also a four hour drive away... Or I could just knot-quilt it, like I did with that baby blanket I knitted a little while ago. I'm leaning towards that at the minute. Plus I know how to do it. Plus there are nice squares in the quilt already.
3. figure out the binding. let's just leave that for another day, shall we?
It's memorial day, so I have some time for more crafting. Maybe I'll venture to the fabric store and plan the back of this project. And maybe I'll get some yarn and knot quilt it. I'm anxious to keep working on it!
So fun!
I've made this before (it's a NYT recipe from summer 2007) but it was before my blogging days, and a brunch invitation was the perfect opportunity to bring it back. Rhubarb is tart! This was very good (though it takes four bowls to prepare -- that's a lot!).
A few things I'd change for next time (and yes, there will be a next time!).
No skimping on rhubarb. I did one layer of rhubarb because that's what Smitten Kithchen did, and I wished I had more. Next time, the full four stalks.
The recipe says to reserve a half cup of batter and put that on top of the rhubarb. Why? It doesn't cover all the rhubarb, and the rhubarb sinks in baking anyway. Next time, I'm just doing cake, then rhubarb, then crumbs. And we'll see what happens...
From your favorite and mine, Dorie Greenspan again, here is her Swedish Visiting Cake.
It was so great! A snap to put together, this little cake doesn't even have leavening!
Here it is just out of the oven. I popped it on a plate, and we gobbeled it up just as fast as we could. We had it in the evening, but this would be lovely for brunch as well. There will be more of this, I assure you...
When I made brioche last week, I had half a recipe left over and made cinnamon rolls and popped them into the freezer. Today I took a roll out and sliced off two buns. Here they are fresh from the freezer:
After being put in the caramel and rising an hour and a half:
After baking. mmmmm...
And on the place.
I'm still working on this. I think we like the white frosing kind of cinnamon roll more, and this becam caramel roll less... it was still delicious, and it's nice to have a fresh pastry in the morning!
Stay tuned for more variations on this theme...
I opened the fabrics and was so happy -- the reddish orange is my favorite color, and in fact was the theme for my wedding!
I also finally looked at a tutorial on how to make log cabin blocks (are you chuckling at me?) and dare i say these are the finest looking log cabins i've ever made!
and poor lucy fell asleep reading the craft books... (i didn't set this up, i swear.)
enjoy!
Brioche! I had fun making it -- but it's sort of a lot of work compared to Challah, and not particularly different... maybe it's time for another Challah?
In other news, I used have of this recipe to make and freeze cinnamon rolls, so there should be something good happening in our kitchen this weekend... with no work at all! Now that's nice!
More Dorie Greenspan, and this was great too. I wish I had a picture of the inside. I guess we ate it too quickly!
It was for brunch when mom was here. It's a nice thing to serve to your mom...
From my favorite, Dorie Greenspan, these were perfect! Wouldn't change a thing!
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