Category Archives: Baking

simple things

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  • starting a new pattern for my Christmas tree and a swap
  • chocolate crinkle cookies
  • buying 26 Christmas balls for six dollars
  • reading “Skippyjon Jones: Lost in Space”
  • getting an “a” on a psychology quiz
  • destashing some of my lovely yarn
  • starting to work on my Blythe’s makeup and hair
  • watched “i know what you did last summer” and “the shining”
  • drank two and a half gallons of water in three days
  • enjoying a mug of homemade hot cocoa
  • brought out my embroidery pieces, getting inspired
  • new craft magazines
  • starting a new novel
  • working on my “tucks” cardigan in madelinetosh pashmina
  • sleeping in on sunday morning

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

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So divinely delicious. This recipe should be a sin.

Ingredients:

4 large carrots, grated

2 C cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp mace

1 1/2 C sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/4 Canola oil

1/2 C raisins, plumped in hot water

1 C walnuts or pecans, chopped

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and mace. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, and oil. Whisk thoroughly. Stir in the carrots. Fold in the dry ingredients. Add the raisins and nuts. Pour batter into cake pan or 24 cupcakes.Bake cake for 3-40 minutes (or 20 minutes for cupcakes) at 350.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 Cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature

10 oz. white chocolate, melted (I used a 12 oz bag of chips)

2 tsp. vanilla

Cream the butter and cream cheese until thoroughly mixed. Pour in the melted chocolate and mix on low until fully combined. Beat in the vanilla. Chill for a few minutes in the fridge to let stiffen.

Enjoy.

 

Plethora

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It’s not the word of the day, but it is how my life can be classified at the moment. A plethora of activity has been brewing at Casa de AJ.

It all started on Friday when I got really bored just sitting around watching summer reruns on the tube. I picked up some linen and wool and decided to make a sampler for the living room (it will go perfectly with my soon to be painted living room). I have to say that I’m really enjoying this freehand embroidery. I wish it hadn’t intimidated me so much before. Especially after I got a copy of Bags in Bloom. NowI have an itch to embroider everything.

Saturday I wasn’t so much bored as I was unoccupied for a while. So I decided that even though I’m still working on my Tea Leaves Cardigan and all I need is the second sleeve, I cast on for something new. (Part of the reason I stopped the sleeve is that my arthritis has been acting up when I work with DPN’s.)

So Norah Gaughan’s Eastlake Sweater it is.

{ Eastlake by Norah Gaughan in Woodland Gothic }

US 5 and 7 needles (smaller is for the ribbing)

Berroco Inca Gold in Azul Marina

And because I know how many of my dear blogging buddies love cookies I thought I’d share with you my new creation.

{ Triple Chocolate Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies }

1/2 C. Margarine

1/2 C. Sweet Cream Butter

1/2 C. Granulated Sugar

3/4 C. Brown Sugar

1 Egg

3 tsp. Cocoa Powder

2 C. sifted Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. Salt

1 C. White Chocolate Chips

2 C. Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Cream butters. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar until mixture is smooth (about two minutes on low if you use a Kitchen Aid mixer). Add cocoa powder and egg until both are incorporated. Slowly mix in dry ingredients. Mix in chocolate chips until the batter is thick.

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes. Yields approximately 4 dozen cookies depending on how you spoon them. (I use a melon baller.)

Recipe Repeat

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Thursday I was having a bout of depression and decided to stay home and just veg out on the couch while my mom took care of Scout and Rogue. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and took a nap while “Scooby Doo” played in the background. I didn’t have to do the dishes. And when I had a little spurt of energy I’d check out people’s blogs. And one such blog is Holli. Now, mind you, this isn’t her recipe but she’s an excellent knitter and she does link us to some great recipes one in a while. Such as…

{Blueberry Crumble by Smitten Kitchen}

Ingredients:

1 Cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

3 Cups flour

1 Cup cold unsalted butter (I ran out and used butter and margarine)

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

zest and juice of one lemon

4 Cups fresh blueberries (you can use frozen)

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

4 tsp corn starch

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.

2. In large bowl, mix the 1 Cup sugar, flour, and baking powder. Add lemon zest and salt. Using a pastry cutter, a fork or your fingers mix in the egg and the butter. (I cheated and used my Kitchen Aid mixer, made it all the more easy.) Dough will be crumbly. Take 1/2 the dough and pat it in to the greased pan. Reserve the other half.

3. In another bowl stir together the 1/2 Cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and blueberries. Sprinkle this mix onto the dough. Top the dish with the remaining dough.

4. Bake in preheated over for 45 minutes (it only took me about 40 minutes to bake) or until top is golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing.

{Bon Appetite!}

Just Another Manic Monday

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Rogue and I took a nice little walk this morning. The sky was blue, the wind was at a minimal, and you could actually hear some birds twittering among themselves in the trees up above. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love dark and dreary days. But this morning was a nice change of pace. I attribute feeling better, physically, to it as well.

I have been keeping busy today

  • Laundry, both washing and folding
  • Dishes, still drying in the dishwasher
  • Picking up toys (they are never ending)
  • Making banana bread
  • Writing the meal plan for the week (tonight is Chicken Parmigiano Strips with Spaghetti Marinara)
  • Organizing various projects
  • Organizing the closets

I should be working on my love notes card for Shawn, for Valentine’s Day. I need to do some 1/8″ stitching around the envelope before I can embroider the card.

I should also be doing some embroidery after investing in a hand painted canvas on supplies. I decided to delve into the world of embroidery on my second visit to Queen Anne’s Stitches. It was a perfect activity while the rain poured on and on in the afternoon. Of course, I saw this and just had to join.

I should be working on my Minimalist Cardigan considering the Ravelympics start on the 12th and I really don’t want to start a second sweater without finishing the first one. I guess we’ll see what happens in the next few days. I am in three groups for the Ravelympics. What was I thinking?

I should be going to the gym. Right now. I finally joined a gym and need to go check it out so I know where everything is and to get a class schedule. I did very well last month with our new healthy living. Until I got food poisoning. I know that whatever weight I lost in January I gained right back this past week. So I need to get some exercise to help shed those pesky cottage cheese thighs.

I should also be very pleased with myself because my Littlest Pet Shop Special Edition Platypus came in the mail the other day. But you have to see what I had to buy to get the Platypus because she’s just so damn cute:

I should also try to calm myself down. All weekend I’ve been up in the air. Flitting about from one thing to the next. You see, school starts tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. My schedule?

  • 8-9:20 History 102: Western Civilization
  • 9:30-10:50 Political Science 1
  • 11:10-12:30 Sociology 200: Women’s Studies

My days are just getting busier and busier and I don’t know where to find the time to do all the things I should be doing. How does one do it?

{rainy day}

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Today is a rainy day.

One of those days when you lay in bed and you reminisce about those days when you went off to elementary school, lunchbox in hand. How you ran to your classroom trying not to get your Mary Jane’s wet. How recess was held inside. Games strewn over the double desks. Monopoly, Checkers, Old Maid. How you skipped in and out of the puddles on the way to the lunch room. How you watched the water drip, drip, drip. How there was a sweet scent of children, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and wet rain coats. How the YMCA counselors would open up the auditorium and all the kids would put on fake plays on the stage.

Those days are over, but they are lovely to remember. We hardly get much rain here in Southern California. Especially in the area we live in now. So when the sweet scent of water and asphalt mixed, I knew we were in for an old fashioned rain “storm”. It’s been raining all day today, so Scout and I had a rainy day inside.

I wonder. I wonder when she’s older, will she remember watching Scooby Doo with me on the couch under my comforter? Will she remember how we had “fair food”, (pizza rolls, soft pretzels with cheese, and cupcakes), and how we practiced our spelling out everything we ate? Will she remember the wonder in her eyes when she looked outside and didn’t really know why there was water falling from the sky? Will she remember the way the wind was so powerful that it shut our bedroom doors and bent the tree boughs right by the patio? Will she remember the sounds of the heavy cars splashing water onto the sidewalks? Yes, I wonder.

While side glancing a few episodes of Scooby Doo I finished up the shoulder warmer that I offered to make on Etsy. I’m happy to have it done. It wasn’t tedious. It wasn’t difficult. But it was time consuming and I am so behind on a few projects. I really need to catch up. And it seems like the rain just may allow it.

ShoulderWarmer1

Ravelry link

Pattern by Crocheteria

Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Solid, (Charcoal Gray), almost two skeins

Needles: US 8′s and Us 9′s for the ribbing

I still have a scarf and a pair of mittens for Etsy customers to make, but I’m nearly finished and I can’t wait. (Patience, anyone?)

In the midst of our rain and knitting, Scout and I stopped to have a little snack: Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting,

PumpkinCupcake

and a little bit of reverie, (for me).

Abidewithme

Yes. I think all of these memories are what justify my love for the rainy days we have.

{ Ten Things I Love }

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Time for reflection during the busy rush of the holiday season. The end of the year parties. Presents to wrap. Portraits to photograph. Cookies to bake. For me, the busy time is well received. I have one more “big” Etsy order and then I can focus on me. My family. No more deadlines. No more procrastinating. More time to do the things that I love for myself. More time for reflection.

swsleeve

{1. Having more time to knit. Having time to work on projects that have been buried. This is the cuff of the sleeve for Snow White.}

{2. Art Therapy and beginning my Happiness Project.}

creamcheesecookie

{3. Cream Cheese Cookies, freshly baked.}

{4. An early Christmas gift from Shawn: He is paying for me to take some one on one sewing classes at the local quilt shop. I’m thinking my first project might be this, this, or this.

pc3

{5. Slowly but steadily making way with my first cross stitch project. The boy is done but for a few accents. I’m currently working on the puppy.}

{6. Acquiring a new pair of sweat pants that were originally intended for Shawn. They are uber comfy!}

decbooklist

{7. My December Book list. Most of it is self help on simple living and growth in marriage. Again, more time to reflect.}

{8. Looking towards the future and new beginnings. Along with sewing classes I’m going to be joining a gym – something that should have happened long ago. I am also attending art therapy and have signed up for a mommy and me gymnastics class. In February I will be returning to school to take French 2. Such possibilities!}

smartowls

{9. Some extra soft fleece with cute little owls ready to be made into a blanket. My mother is going to replace a blanket that someone stole -yes, stole- from me a few years ago. One side will be the owls and the other side will be a chocolatey brown flannel. Something to keep me warm and to wrap comfort around me.}

{10. The beginnings of some new projects.}

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Friday Fill In # 103:

1. Said the night wind to the little lamb, share your fleece on cold nights.
2. The first Noel, the angel did say, love and live freely.
3. Cold and wet white snow, Over the hills and everywhere.
4. It came upon the midnight clear, the brightest Northern star.
5. Give freely, Let your heart be light.
6. And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing loudly and from the heart.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to hot chocolate and fresh baked cookies, tomorrow my plans include baking a kitty cat cake and knitting and Sunday, I want to see Scout’s excitement on her second birthday!