Holiday Baking

It's been a while, hasn't it? Somehow time got away from me after Thanksgiving. I got started with my usual holiday baking and sweets making, then I decided I really wanted a dog (Our first dog, Buddy, passed away in May), and I've been busy with our new dog, Mr. Baggins, and trying to entertain the girls during Winter Break from preschool.

I made the usual cookies this year, and tried a few new recipes, too. My mom and I would make Spritz cookies during our CookiePalooza, and I still had the cookie press, and I thought the girls could help me decorate them, so I made a couple batches of dough. What I forgot was how tempermental both the press and dough are. If the dough is too cold, it won't come out of the press. If it's too warm, it won't stick to the parchment paper. And, in a kitchen with an oven going, I found it frustrating to find that magic dough constistency. And trying to explain this problem to a 3-year-old who's excited for sparkly cookies doesn't go well. I did get the cookies made, but I don't think I'll make them again. They are delicious, but, compared to the other doughs and their ease of baking, it's not worth the effort for me.

I did find success with Salted Caramel Sortbread. They're seriously easy and insanely delicious. I've never made shortbread with melted butter, but it's genius.

May you have a happy, and decadent, new year!

Ornament Wreath

I didn't really need a new door wreath for the holidays, but, let's be honest, I really wanted one. However, I wanted a fun, bold wreath that wouldn't break the bank. Which, is a little harder to find.

On Pinterest, I found a fun wreath that didn't cost too much money; it just required some ornaments and a wire hanger. (Go ahead, make the Mommy Dearest joke. You know you want to.)



I found a set of shatter-proof ornaments at Costco for $20. Somehow, I didn't have a glue gun, so I popped over to JoAnn's and got one (seriously, how did I not have a glue gun?) and started on my wreath.

The tops of my ornaments didn't slide up, but I put a ring of glue around the base to secure everything. I grabbed a hanger from The Boy's closet, put some Vampire Diaries on (if you don't watch this show, you really should), and started stringing ornaments.

It's best to mix sizes, so they can slide snugly on the wire. There's really no rhyme or reason needed, unless you're set on a particular color pattern.

I didn't have any wire cutters, so I used some pliers to wrap the wire around the hook at the top and tied a nice ribbon to hide it.

Like I said, I got my ornaments for cheap at Costco, but if you're willing to wait, you could get some on sale after the holidays and stash them for next year. It's a quick, cheap and extremely easy project that has a lot of impact!

Plane Activity Kit

The holidays are here, which often means travelling. We've tried to get everything down to a science when going on plane trips with the girls. Snacks, DVDs, games on the iPad, the usual suspects. For our trip to visit my parents in Florida for Thanksgiving, I took an idea from something I found on Pinterest, and made activity boxes with all sorts of fun things in them.

I got plain, clear plastic craft storage boxes to hold everything. I personalized each box with the girls' names and some fun travel images. Inside, I had beads (in little, plastic pill-type boxes), string, pipe cleaners, crayons, stickers and lots of different kinds of paper. The scrapbook section of the craft store has tons of paper with different textures, which I thought might make coloring more fun.

The boxes were a big hit. My oldest spent a good 30 minutes making a bead necklace and bracelet for grandma, and the little one had fun with some lacing cards and strings I'd packed for her. I was even able to read a few pages of my book while the girls were busy. I don't know the last time I was able to do that while on a plane with them!

Peanut Butter Cup Mousse Cake

I made this cake years ago for a friend's birthday, then filed the recipe away for safekeeping. I found it a little while ago and just had to make it again. It's definitely complicated, but if you can spread the work out over a few days, it's manageable. I made the cake the first day, made the mousse and assembled the cake the next day, and glazed it the third day.

It's amazingly light, considering it's chocolate and peanut butter. The chiffon cake is spongy, and the mousse is creamy and not overwhelming, thanks to the whipped cream. I think the peanut topping is important, texture wise, as it adds a nice crunch to all the light smoothness.

I found the recipe in the now-gone Chocolatier Magazine, but it looks like the Godiva version is really similar. My recipe substitutes cocoa powder for the Godiva Dark Truffle Hot Cocoa Powder and decreases the amount of milk chocolate in the glaze.

Cocoa Chiffon Cake:
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs plus 3 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Mousse:
1 3/4 cups (10 ounces) peanut butter chips
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar

Milk Chocolate Glaze:
8 oz. Milk Chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish
1/3 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, finely chopped

Make Cake:
1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350ºF. Lightly butter bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake pan. Line with a circle of baking parchment or waxed paper. Dust side of pan with flour and tap out excess.
2. Stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
3. In large bowl, whisk together 2 whole eggs, oil and vanilla until frothy. Sift flour mixture over egg mixture and stir until smooth. Mixture will be stiff.
4. In a grease-free medium mixer bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until frothy. Gradually increase speed to medium-high and continue to beat until they start to form soft peaks. Add remaining sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time. Continue to beat until egg white mixture forms a stiff, shiny meringue.
5. Using large rubber spatula, gently fold 1/3 egg white mixture into the egg- flour mixture to lighten it. Fold in remaining egg white mixture. Do not over mix batter. Scrape into prepared pan and spread evenly with a spatula.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when gently touched in center. Cool cake in pan 5 minutes. Invert to wire rack and cool completely.

Make Mousse:
1. Put peanut butter chips into large bowl. In small saucepan, heat milk to a gentle boil. Pour hot milk over peanut butter chips. Let stand 30 seconds. Whisk until smooth and add peanut butter and vanilla. Let stand 5 minutes or until tepid.
2. In chilled bowl, beat cream and confectioner’s sugar just until soft mounds barely start to form and cream in still pourable. Do not over beat cream. Gently fold 1/3 whipped cream mixture into peanut butter mixture to lighten it. Fold in remaining whipped cream. Do not over mix mousse or it will become grainy.

Assemble Cake:
1. Lightly oil bottom and side of a 9-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Line bottom and ides of pan with plastic wrap, smoothing out any wrinkles, and pressing it into ridges on sides of pan. Scrape peanut butter mousse into pan and spread it in an even layer, filling in all fluted indentations in side of pan with mousse.
2. Remove paper circle from bottom of cake. Place cake on top of mousse in tart pan and gently press into place. Cover layer of cake with plastic wrap. Freeze for 3 hours or until firm.
3. Remove plastic wrap from cake and invert onto a cardboard cake round. Lift off side and bottom of tart pan, using a thin bladed knife if necessary. Peel off plastic wrap from peanut butter mousse layer.

Make Milk Chocolate Glaze
1. Put milk chocolate in medium bowl. In small saucepan heat cream to a gentle boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate. Let mixture stand for 30 seconds. Whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla.. Cool glaze until it starts to thicken slightly.
2. Place cake on a wire rack over baking sheet. Pour milk chocolate glaze over cake, covering it completely. Refrigerate on wire rack for 5 minutes or until glaze is set. Sprinkle cake with chopped peanuts and refrigerate until serving.

Battenberg Cake

I'm American, but I definitely have a fondness for Things British. Doctor Who, Coupling, Emma Thompson, the James Bond movies, Jane Austen, just to name a few. One of my favorite book series is the Thursday Next series, by Jasper Fforde. If you haven't read them, I highly suggest them. They're fun, but literary and have a kick-ass heroine.

Whenever Thursday visits her mom, Battenberg cake is served. The first time I came across the term, I googled it, thought "that looks yummy" and went on my merry way. Then, I started reading Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate), which is a Steampunk take on the whole vampire/werewolf trope, on my iPad Kindle app, saw another reference to the cake, immediately googled it again, and got sucked into searches for a recipe.

It's really pretty easy. I had to jury-rig a pan to cook the bi-colored batter, using a concept from a very helpful YouTube video. I ended up dividing a 8"x 8" pan with some tin foil and it worked perfectly. My cake fell slightly, so I might have to tweak the leavening and/or baking time a bit. I also used a 7oz. tube of marzipan from the store, so I didn't have to worry about making my own.

It was delicious. I'd love to try an orange/chocolate version for Halloween, or a red/green combo for Christmas. Really, anything covered in marzipan will be devoured quickly by me.

Halloween Costumes

This year, I made the girls' costumes. Because I'm crazy.

I made a purple and black dress for The Bean, from Simplicity 2569 and a "wady-buggy" costume from Simplicity 2788 for The Belly.

The dress was made out of satin, crushed velvet and tulle--3 fabrics I had never sewn with before. The satin and velvet are really slippery, which made cutting them out somewhat tricky. I had to re-cut a few pieces before I got a bodice I was happy with. And have you ever tried to rip stitches out of tulle? It's nigh impossible.

However, the final product was a huge success. After a switch of witch hat for wings, and antenna from bumpy chenille stems and a headband, a beautiful butterfly was born.

The ladybug costume was easier to make, but had its own challenges. The body is lined with fleece, gathered at the bottom with elastic and the wings and shoulders are attached with velcro. The dots are just ironed on with strong fusible webbing.

The elastic casing on the bottom was a little hard to sew, just because of the fabric thickness. I also made a change to the wings. The pattern calls for 2 layers of felt to be fused together with webbing, but they were too floppy for my taste. So, I put stabilizer between the felt and sewed around the edges, using double-fold bias tape as trim. The pattern also includes a jumpsuit, made from velour, but I decided The Bean could wear a black shirt and pants and save myself some sewing.

She wasn't a fan of the antenna hat, so she went without, but was still incredibly cute.

And speaking of clothes made of curtains...

We were watching Sound of Music tonight, and I wondered: Maria makes the von Trapps one set of play clothes from the curtains, but where do the other ones come from? In the "Do, Re, Mi" sequence, they all wear a few sets of clothes, but the housekeeper only gave Maria enough to make dresses for herself. Where'd she get the rest of the fabric? Was it a pre-Tim Gunn, "Make it work" moment?

Chinese Lantern Skirt

I saw this skirt in Threads Magazine and was intrigued. It looked pretty easy, very comfortable, and fun and stylish. I've never cut anything (deliberately) on the bias, so it was a new technique I wanted to try.

I got some grey silky jersey from Fabric.com and the Chinese Lantern Pattern from Fashion in Harmony and was good to go. There are only 2 pattern pieces, 3 pieces of fabric and 5 seams. The hardest part is finding enough space to cut out the fabric.

The picture doesn't really do it justice. The fabric is gorgeous, very 40's film star, and the bias cut makes it drape beautifully. I didn't make a drawstring waist, I just used elastic.

I can see wearing this with a t-shirt and flats for running around or with a nicer shirt and heels for a date night or something fancier.

It took me about an hour to sew, even with my learning curve for my narrow-hem foot. I might have to find some other fun fabric and make another one.

Bedsheet Shirt

Not all my projects turn out well. I really only like to talk about the good ones, but trust me when I say I have my own share of failure. Sometimes I just give up and sometimes I have enough gumption (or stupidity and raw materials) to try again.

I had a bunch of cotton broadcloth in a neat black/teal/pink/white design from a project I never started. I figured I'd finally get on the tunic/leggings trend that's been going around and decided to make a long shirt. I found Simplicity 2255 and got started.

Everything was going well until I tried to put the collar on. I couldn't get everthing to line up properly and some sailor-blushing words started coming out of my mouth. I figured I'd cut something, like the buttonhole facing or front pieces, wrong, so I increased my seam allowance (which meant re-doing the hem, due to the pattern) a little. Still no go. I threw it all in the trash.

For some reason, I didn't want to let this fairly easy pattern go without another try. I didn't want to go out and buy a bunch of new fabric in case things didn't work out again. So I looked at what I already had.

And what I already had was a sheet set. I was going to use the flat sheet as a quilt backing, but I had the fitted sheet and pillowcase left over. I cut the elastic off the fitted sheet and cut out my pattern pieces. I eventually figured out that I'd cut the actuall pattern piece for the collar out wrong, so I re-traced it, re-cut it, and had a success.

I really like it. It's very comfortable and flattering. There are 2 bust seams and 2 back seams, so there's enough shaping to look good, but not so much you feel squished. I'm a little stumped on how to style it. With black leggings and a black belt, I feel a little 80's, but not in the modern way (is that an oxymoron?). I still have the pillowcase, so I might make a tie belt and some carriers and see how I like it.

It's not quite making clothes out of the curtains, but it was definitely a creative use of my stash.

Chocolate Cherry Cake

This cake is delicious and easy. And gorgeous and impressive. And people will love you for it.

It's the Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cake from Beki Cooks Cake blog. Her taste test on fondant was interesting and helpful. I don't use fondant, but maybe I'll start branching out.

For my cake, I baked the batter in 2 8" rounds, chopped up some of the extra maraschino cherries for the filling and used a buttercream icing mix, which had meringue powder already in it.

My ganache topping wasn't as smooth as hers, but I was more interested in getting the "drips" right than smoothing out the top. It gives it... character, right?

When my friends took their first bite, there was no sound but muffled "mmmmm"s in the room. I love the chocolate/vanilla buttercream combination and the ganache and cherries added even more texture and dimension. I almost cried when I ate the last piece the other day.

Robot Dress

As I've mentioned before, both my girls love robots. We've gone from Wall-E to Transformers, which means Star Wars can't be far behind.

My girls are also girly-girls, which means sparkly shoes, dresses and twirly dresses. The combination is all sorts of awesome and I hope it lasts.

I found some adorable pink and orange robot fabric (called I Heart Robots) and knew I had to make a dress out of it. I found a really cute Simplicity/Project Runway pattern and went to work.























I love it, and The Bean loves it. The Belly is going through a phase where she only wants to wear, like, 3 dresses, so I haven't made one for her yet. The dress pattern is also really easy to make and customize, so I might have to make some other dresses for them from the same pattern.

Black and White Chocolate Cake

Sometimes a recipe just jumps out from a blog, website, book, etc. For me, the latest to catch my eye was the Black and White Chocolate Cake from Dorie Greenspan's From My Home to Yours.

(Actually, I've been dying to make the cake on the cover ever since I got the book, but I need to find a good high-altitude 7-Minute Icing recipe.)

I liked the combination of chocolate flavors, that it was a little more intricate than the things I'd been baking lately, and that it had components that I could make in stages, ahead of assembling time.


I didn't have any chocolate bars large enough for shavings or curls, so I made a stencil with my Silhouette and dusted the top with cocoa powder. It's not as clean as I'd like, but it wasn't bad for a first try. The design is fairly intricate, and I needed to press the stencil into the white chocolate cream more so the cocoa powder wouldn't "bleed" underneath it.








The layers weren't as clean as I'd like. As a habit, I automatically halve the chemical leavener in any recipe to adjust for altitude, but I think I needed to leave a little more in so the layers would be higher. (Also, my cutting technique could use some help.)








It's a very delicious, fancy-looking, make-ahead cake. I definitely liked experimenting with the stencil and need to find another recipe to try it with soon.





Black-And-White Chocolate Cake

For the Cake:

• 2 cups cake flour


• 2 t baking powder


• 1/8 t baking soda


• 1/4 t salt


• 1 1/4 sticks (10 T) unsalted butter, room temp.


• 1 cup sugar


• 3 large eggs


• 1 large egg yolk


• 1 t pure vanilla extract


• 3/4 cup buttermilk

For the Dark Chocolate Cream:

• 2 cups whole milk


• 4 large egg yolks


• 6 T sugar


• 3 T cornstarch, sifted


• 1/4 t salt


• 7 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted


• 2 1/2 T unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces, at room temp

For the White Chocolate Whipped Cream:

• 6 oz premium quality white chocolate (such as Valrhona Ivoire or Guittard), finely chopped


• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Chocolate shavings or curls for decoration (optional)




Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans, dust insides with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake:
Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, and then the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and mix only until the ingredients disappear into the batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans at the midway point. When fully baked, the cakes will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the centers will come out clean. Transfer the cakes to a rack and cool for about 5 minutes, then unmold, remove the paper and invert to cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.


To Make the Dark Chocolate Cream:
Bring the milk to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, cornstarch and salt until thick and well blended. Whisking without stopping, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk--this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle--then, still whisking, add the remainder of the milk in a steady stream. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (make sure to get into the edges of the pan), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the melted chocolate, and let stand for 5 minutes. Then whisk in the pieces of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the chocolate cream is smooth and silky. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the cream until chilled, or for up to 3 days. Or, if you want to cool the cream quickly, put the bowl with the cream into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water and stir the cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.




To Make the White Chocolate Whipped Cream:
Put the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl and put the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Stir frequently to melt the chocolate evenly. Meanwhile, bring 1/2 cup of the heavy cream to a boil.

When the white chocolate is melted, remove the bowl from the pan. Pour the hot cream into the melted chocolate and let it sit for a minute. Using a small spatula, stir the chocolate gently until it is smooth. Let it sit on the counter until it reaches room temperature--it can't be the least bit warm when you add it to the whipped cream.

Working with the stand mixer with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the remaining 1 cup heavy cream only until it holds the softest peaks. Turn the machine to high, add the cooled white chocolate all at once and continue to beat until the whipped cream holds firm peaks. Turn the whipped cream into a bowl, press a piece of plastic wrap gently against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 6 hours.

To Assemble the Cake:
If the tops of the cake layers have crowned, use a long serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion to even them. Slice each layer horizontally in half. Place one layer cut side down on a cardboard cake round or on a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.

Remove the dark and white chocolate creams from the refrigerator and whisk each of them vigorously to loosen and smooth them. With a long metal icing spatula, spread enough dark chocolate cream (about 1 cup) over the cake layer to cover it completely. Top the cream with another cake layer, cut side up, and cover this layer with white chocolate whipped cream, making the white layer about the same thickness as the dark layer. Cover with a third layer, cut side up, and cover with another cup of so of the dark chocolate cream. (You'll have some dark chocolate cream left over--use it as a dip for madeleines or sables). Top with the final layer of cake, cut side down, and frost the sides and top with the remaining white chocolate whipped cream. If you'd like to decorate the top with chocolate shavings or curls, do it now.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

One apron, two ways

My friend, S, is raising money to walk in the Atlanta Breast Cancer walk this fall and is hosting a silent auction to help. I was very happy to make a few things, which will hopefully sell, to assist.

I found the Shimmy, Shake and Bake apron and coordinating Too Hot to Handle oven mit in Denyse Schmidt's Quilts book. (Side note: I'm still working on the bed quilt. I'm quilting by hand during naptime, so it's taking a while.)

I had a bunch of Paris-themed fabric left over from some other projects, so I started with that. The scale of the fabric pattern worked really well with the piecing for the apron pocket. I was even able to cut the Eiffel Tower out so it worked in the design. And I thought the pink was a nice counterpoint to the black, and also fits with the breast cancer awareness theme.

I also had a bunch of fabric left over from making dresses for The Bean last summer, so I went ahead and made a second set. It's a little more 60's-ish, with the colors and dots, but also fun and funky.

They were really easy and quick to put together, and I was able to use fabric I already had in my stash. I highly recommend these patterns if you want to make a personalized home-type gift for someone.

We'll see how they sell this weekend.

Decorated Purse

Now that we've started to reach the stage where a true diaper bag is no longer necessary, I found myself needing a larger, but not too large, purse. One that will fit my wallet, keys, phone, etc., but also a few diapers and wipes, plus some sippys and small snacks. Target, a mom's best friend, has some, but I wanted something I could customize and make my own.

I found a cute, basic purse at Joann's (mom's other best friend) and decided to have some fun with my Silhouette and the heat transfer vinyl. This two-layer (or even three-layer) design was interesting, but would go with a lot of different styles and gave me a chance to practice layering more.

Not bad for a $10 purse, $3 worth of vinyl and 20 minutes of my time.

Hippy Golf Shirts

My stepmother, J, plays in a golf tournament every year that always has a fun theme. However, it's played at a somewhat stuffy golf course, so you don't want to go too overboard with the theme shirts. Delicate balance, right?

This year, the theme was "Hippy Chick". And since I love my Silhouette, I offered to design the shirts for J and her partner, C.

We figured everyone would go for tie-dye and peace signs, so we didn't want to go there. My dad, D, kept urging me to put a big cannibis leaf on the front. Which, in Colorado, isn't so much "hippy" as "current legal medical alternative".

I did a search on the Silhouette online store for "hippy" and a lava lamp came up in the results. I was delighted. I had pink and silver heat transfer and a bunch of rhinestones. I decided to put the lamps on the backs of the shirts (as a lava lamp between the breasts isn't exactly the most flattering look) and some 60's slogans/golf puns on the front.

I thought it was a great mix of the theme, wearability and appropriateness. J told me the shirts were a big hit and a bunch of people wanted to know how to do them. Let the crafting ripple effect begin!

Good Thing to Know

You can substitute powdered sugar for regular, granulated sugar. 1c regular = 2c. powdered

Yes, somehow I'd run out of regular sugar. No, I don't know how that happened.

Heartbroken

I broke my oven. I think I feel faint.

I was making dinner the other night and when I went to check on it, the door wouldn't open. And it smelled like the oven was on Clean, even though the display read 400 deg. I had an error message on the display and the manual was less than helpful.

I couldn't turn the oven off no matter what buttons I pushed or knobs I turned.

The Boy and I decided to unplug the oven, but when he grabbed the door handle, it cracked into a million pieces (but didn't shatter thanks to the safety glass). So, we turned off the power to the stove from the circuit breaker.

Now, I can survive (for a short while, at least) without an oven, but I can't survive without an oven AND a rangetop. No boiling water, no sauteeing, no pan frying. Imagine it.

After all, if I get an unalterable urge to bake, I can get an Easy Bake Oven and a bunch of lightbulbs.

Strawberry Sorbet

It's summer and that means strawberries are everywhere. I buy a lot of them, for an easy breakfast for me and the girls, so sometimes I'll have a package or two in the fridge, just languishing with nothing to do.





If you have somewhere fun and/or fancy to go, the Red Velvet Strawberry Short Cake is one way to go. Smoothies are another. Sorbet is yet another. And, what a way it is...





As with a lot of recipes I try, this one is from King Arthur Flour. Subscribing to their newsletters and paper catalogues are a sure way to get into trouble. And I mean that in the best way.





This amazing strawberry sorbet can be made as either a more granita-esque dessert or a more traditional churned concoction. I have only made the churned version, but I bet the other way is great, too. It calls for fresh lemon or lime juice, but I had most of a bottle of Key Lime Juice left over from the Key Lime Mousse Pie, so I used that instead. I think it offsets the sweetness from the simple syrup and berries very nicely.

I've made this twice and it's a cooling treat in this crazy, hot summer.

Smoked Turkey and Cheese Salad

Sometimes it's just too hot to cook. On those days, it's much easier to just pull a bunch of stuff out of the fridge and call it dinner. This recipe is perfect for such an occasion. Even better, you can throw the whole thing together the day before, and it tastes even better.

I got this from my stepmother, I have no idea where she got it. My brother says he has some kind of issue with a fruit/nut/meat combination, so he never ate it, but I more than made up for it.

Smoked Turkey and Cheese Salad
* 1 lb. smoked turkey breast, skin removed (I've also used roasted chicken and it's just as delicious)
* 1/2 lb. jack cheese
* 2 apples
* 1 cup seedless red grapes, halved if large
* 1 cup thinly sliced celery
* 1/2 cup raisins
* 1/2 cup cashews
* watercress or fresh greens
* 6 (or more) strips fried, crisp bacon (I'm lazy and use the pre-made stuff)

Tart-Sweet Dressing
* 1 cup mayonaise
* 1/3 cup yogurt
* 2 tbsp. cider vinegar
* 2 tbsp. honey
* salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare dressing first and chill at least 1 hour.
2. Toss the sliced turkey, cheese, apples, grapes, celery, raisins and nuts. Pour dressing over ingredients and toss to combine. Chill for 3 hours or overnight.
3. To serve, mound greens on plate and add bacon bits to top.

Trying Something New

Partly due to having three dresses fail (more on that, later) and partly to realizing I'm making fabulous clothes I have nowhere to go in, I've decided to try quilting. Or, rather, try quilting again.

When I first got my machine, I made a simple quilted table runner. It didn't turn out too badly, but I wasn't realy happy with the process and can still see all th mistakes in the end project. Last year, I had the brilliant idea to make patchwork placemats from somme of my scrap fabric. However, I didn't really secure the batting, so it bunches up when they're washed (which, I could probably fix easily). It's also the project where I learned how valuable it is to have A)a sharp rotary cutter blade and 2) a security handle for the ruler. Because, otherwise, you end up seriously slicing a finger rolling the cutter back and forth because it won't cut. And, if you're me, you have a bad reaction to the tetanus shot the doctor gives you.

Where was I?

So, a little while ago, I picked up my Denyse Schmidt book and flipped through the pages to see if anytthing tickled my fancy. I loved the Just a Bunch of Squares pattern. It's fun and funky, and even better, the way the blocks are framed and cut, you can make them more or less off kilter, intentionally or not.

I'm armed with fabric, fresh rotary cutter blades and health insurance, should anything need to be sewn back on. By a professional.

Homemade Peppermint Mocha Coffee Creamer

It's a nice little marketing trick, offering seasonal products. St. Patrick's Day shakes, frozen lemonade (any RI people figure out how to ship out Del's lemonade?), Cadbury Creme Eggs.

I've taken to hoarding International Delight's Chocolate Mint Truffle creamer during the Christmas season and it's a sad day when I use up the last bottle. Coffee Mate has started to offer their version year round, but it doesn't taste as good to me. I thought about a bunch of different ways to make my own, but none was really appealing. Until I found Peppermint Stevia at a local health food store.

Stevia is a natural, no-calorie sweetener. It comes in powder and liquid form and now some genius has created flavored Stevia. I found Vanilla, Lemon, Almond and Chocolate varieties at the store. A whole world of possibilities!

To make my own creamer, I put 3/4 dropper Stevia, some half and half and chocolate syrup in my mug, then stir and add coffee. It's awesome because it's totally customizable and, if you use milk instead, probably more healthy than the original product.

I might have to go out and get the other varieties and see what other concotions I can make.

A Frakkin' Awesome Skirt

I really like skirts more than shorts (and am very excited that skorts are more cute and fashionable now than 20 years ago). Skirts that I can wear while running errands and chasing after the girls are my new obsession.

Enter the Wong-Singh-Jones Kyoto Skirt from Hot Patterns. It's cute, fun and practical. And, if you watch the You Tube videos from Trudy, very versatile and changeable.

I made it first in a lightweight denim, but it wasn't drapey enough, especially in the godet in the back. It puffed out at the hips where the interfacing for the piping was, and no woman wants to look like she has puffy hips. Also, I did the top stitching in a matching, rather than coordinating, thread, so it got lost in the fabric.

I tried again with a back cotton sateen and, here I cheated, used gray quilt bias binding for the trim, instead of making my own. I used a gray thread for the topstitchingand leftover gray fabric for the pocket flap lining.

The back godet/yoke/sides are made first and as I was doing the topstitching and attaching the trim, the whole effect really reminded me of Battlestar Galactica.




I know the picture isn't great, but don't you get a Galactica vibe, too? Hence, I call it my Frakkin' Awesome Skirt. I highly recommend making one or at least Netflixing the series.

Paris Dresses

I love Paris. I've been there twice and can't wait until the girls are old enough and we can take a trip there together. So I was very excited when a friend gave me a dress that had all sorts of whimsical drawings of Paris life on it for the Bean. She loved it. Wore it constantly, especially with her pink cowboy boots. I called it her "Paris, Texas" look.

When she started growing out of it, I wanted to make her a replacement, and I figured I'd make one for the Belly, too. For a brief moment, I thought about making me a matching skirt, but then I realized that would be too twee and I'm not that person.

I found some great fabric with a stylized map of Paris on it at Fabric.com. I already had a simple dress pattern from Butterick, so I was good to go.

My friend S and I decided that the dress by itself "needed" something, so I added 3 hot pink buttons and hot pink grosgrain ribbon trim on the bottom to anchor it. I'm very pleased with the dresses. So much, I'm thinking about making "France-y Pants" lounging pants for me out of the fabric. (I've actually made a few pairs of lounge pants with Paris-theme fabric. More about those later, probably.) But I promise I won't wear them outside of the house when the girls are wearing their dresses.

Cheap Therapy

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night ( will the teething end?), so I have been wicked grumpy today. One thing that helped was swimming laps in the pool while the girls played at the drop-in daycare. And while I was doing the backstroke, I decided that I really needed to bake something. I didn't need to bake something to fill a sweet craving, but I needed the act of baking to make me feel better.

It's been this way for years now. In addition to haircuts, pedicures, buble baths and new lipstick, baking has become a form of cheap therapy. Well, not so cheap with rising food costs, but probably still less expensive than a co-pay and prescription.

I sew because I like to make new clothes for myself or challenge my skills with a more advanced pattern. I make things for the girls because I like to see their faces light up. Yes, I bake because the finished product makes other people happy, but there's something else there.

As I've said before, my mom was a huge baker. I have pictures of a grade-school birthday party whe she made Raggedy Ann and Andy pan cakes (fully hand decorated) for me and a boy in my class who had a birthday the day after mine. Every year, after Thanksgiving, my aunt and I would go to my mom's house for "CookieFest", where we made a holiday's worth of cookies. So, there's definitely a nostalgia aspect to baking, but I think it's much more than that.

I like the mix of senses, tastes, textures, flavors. I like taking basic ingredients, like butter, eggs, flour, sugar, and making something new when I combine different amounts of them. I love the way my house smells when there's something in the oven. I love the tangible end results.

I guess, in the end, it doesn't really matter why I do it, as long as it continues to make me happy. And the Boy happy. And the girls happy. And my friends and family happy. Because part of baking is putting yourself into what you make and being comfortable enough to share.


As a side note, my theraputic baking today was a Braided Fruit-Filled bread from King Arthur. I used sour cherry preserves instead of lemon curd. It's amazing to eat and smell and look at.

I am (not) a rocket scientist

If I were, I would have figured out long ago that cutting on a flat surface instead of a bumpy one, like the carpet in our spare room, makes cutting easier, more precise, and cleaner. Especially for knit fabrics, which I love to use.

Recently, I got the Dritz Superboard Cutting Board and it has changed my life. I don't have a table big enough to cut out patterns, so I have been using the carpet-covered floor in one of our spare rooms. Which has a nice space to spread out, but I catch my pins in the carpet loops and fabric tends to bunch up, which makes for incorrect cutting.

This simple piece of cardboard is foldable and portable, so I can put it back in the closet when I'm done. And if I ever get to the point where I want to draft my own patterns, it has all sorts of helpful markings. And if I succesfully make my own patterns, I really will be a rocket scientist.

Cow Pops and "Short" Cake

The Boy's office had a bake sale to raise money for a local food bank, so I decided to make more Cake Pops. And since he works at a dairy company, I decided to make Cow Cake Pops. When The Boy told the bake sale organizer, she said jokingly "Your wife is the kind of wife that makes other wives look bad." I say I just live too close to the crafting trifecta of Michaels, JoAnns and Hobby Lobby.

I was smarter this time and spread the work out over multiple days. I used a chocolate cake and vanilla icing base, since the coating and candy decorations are so sweet, they need something darker to balance them.

They turned out really well. I couldn't find any candy pens, so I used Wilton Chocolate Icing for the spots and Wilton Black Icing for the eyes, nostrils and mouths.

Everyone loved them! The Boy said they got a lot of compliments and every single one (I ended up sending in 36) sold for $2 each. I was very flattered.

I found a link to the Red Velvet Strawberry Shortcake cake through Pioneer Woman's food blog email. It's a dangerous email to get, as it will make you crave whatever it is she's blogging about and you're probably reading it in the morning before you've had breakfast.

The actual recipe, or "recipe" to be more precise, is from I Am Baker. It's insanely easy to make: a white cake from a mix, a red velvet cake from a mix, Cool Whip and choped strawberries. That's it.

Two things to know: this cake is absolutely delicious and it's huge. It's so tall, I couldn't fit the lid of my cake carrier over it. I had to drive to my friend's house, so I went, like, 20mph just to be sure it didn't topple over.

I just did the simple vertical lines for decorating, but I'd love to try to more "scalloped" version at some point.

More fun with Silhouette

The Bean is slmost done with this year of preschool and she has had a blast. Teacher Appreciation Day was a couple weeks ago, so I decided to make fun gift bags with (store-bought) cookies in them. I decided to go off a "growing" theme, and put some layered flowers on one side, with the words "Thanks for helping me grow" on the other side. And a robot, because the girls looooove robots.

I think they turned out really well. I used adhesive cardstock for the grass, stems and words and just glued on the flowers and robots. I got some flower and ladybug cookies at Whole Foods to put inside. They were a big hit.


The Belly is starting to be a big talker, but still can't pronounce some letters correctly yet. Our favorite is "nuggle" instead of "snuggle". You can hear our hearts melt when says "Nuggle you?" and wants to be picked up. After many requests for "Nuggle you", the Boy thought it would be cute if I made a college-style shirt, like "Nuggle U".

I downloaded an outlined collegiage font, then added "Est. 2009" (they year she was born), under the words. I printed it out onto heat-transfer paper and ironed it onto a plain white shirt. When the Boy came home and saw it on the table, he burst out laughing because it was perfect.

Girly Robot T-Shirts

I have extremely girly girls. They don't like wearing pants, only skirts or dresses, and they have inherited my "sparkly shoe fascination" gene. Yet, we haven't hit the "princess phase" yet. Instead, both girls love robots.


I think it mostly comes from Plex on Yo Gabba Gabba and Wall-E. I found the movie Robots on massive sale at Target and it's been The Bean's most requested thing to watch so far. (It doesn't make my ears or eyes bleed, so that's a bonus for me, too.)


Thanks to the crafty evil influence (and that actually is a compliment) of my friends S and V, I bought a Silhouette cutting machine. This thing is awesome--you can make iron-on transfers with your ink-jet printer, amazing cards and paper crafts, and even iron-on appliques. As if JoAnn and Michaels didn't get enough of my money already...


My first project was to make girly robot shirts for the girls. I got some hot pink heat transfer vinyl and a robot template from the Silhouette store and plain white shirts at Target. I sized the template to a good size, sent the heat transfer through the machine, took out the extra pieces and ironed the robot shape to the shirts.


I got massive "mom points" for a fairly easy and quick project.







This is The Belly smiling. I love the scrunchy eyes.

The Bean, giving me her best "I love this shirt" pose.

Easter Goodies

As I've said before, I should not be allowed online. I can get into too much trouble.


My latest craft craziness? Cake Pops and Cake Bites.

We host an Easter Egg hunt the Saturday before Easter, and I thought the Bunny Pops and Chick Cake Bites would be a fun dessert for the kids (and the adults, too). Because, you know, there's never enough sugar at an Easter Egg hunt...

It's a fairly time-intensive process, but can be done over a few days. I made the cakes one day, shaped them the next day, then dipped and decorated over the next couple days. The Bunny Pops took the longest time, because of the ears, eyes, nose and mouth. The Wilton edible pen I bought didn't work very well on the candy coating, so I ended up drawing with black gel frosting and a toothpick. Next time, I'll try to find the Americolor edible ink pen at the cake decorating store. For the Chicks, I used the colored chips for both the eyes and beak, giving some of them brown eyes and some blue.

Everyone loved looking at, and eating, the bunnies and chicks. It was definitely worth all the effort to see the kids' faces when we brought them out.

Key Lime Mousse Pie and Homemade Samoas

Ohhhh, yaaaaaa'lllll. I was at the gym and one of the TVs was set to Food Network, which is either brilliant or completely insane. I usually just watch with my eyes glazed over, but this time Paula Deen made me want to run home and make this right away.

It's a Key Lime Mousse Pie, and, being Paula Deen, is crazy rich. I tried to make it less fattening with low-fat cream cheese and low-fat whipped topping. I also cheated by using bottled key lime juice, but, really, we don't get them a lot here in Colorado. Judging by the moans of delight from my friends, no one minded a bit.

I'd originally planned to bring Homemade Samoa bars, at least until Paula derailed me. I think I like the Samoas just a bit more than Thin Mints, although it's a close race. So, I was thrilled when I found a recipe to make them at home. I was ecstatic when I found the bars variation.

Because I'm lazy, I melted the chocolate on the shortbread base, which was a suggestion from one of the comments on another site. I just put some chips on the cookie base, right out of the oven and used the residual heat to melt them. Worked awesome.

Next time, I'll only make two changes: use a larger pan so the shortbread is a bit thinner and make my own caramel so I can have a higher caramel-to-cocnut ratio for the topping.

Oh yes, there will be another time. For both these recipes.

HotPatterns Weekender Sunshine Top and Dress

I just got back from a family trip to Cabo, Mexico. It was wonderful, although it did have some stressful moments, as you do with small kids. In preparation, I made a couple of HotPatterns Weekender Sunshine Tops, and also made a dress version.

It's very easy and fun to make. And by easy, I mean I could probably cut out, interface and sew one of them during a decent naptime. How awesome is that? It did take me a couple tries to get it right.

The first time, I used an interlock knit, which was definitely not flowy enough to really work. Then, I had to figure out which neckline size to use so my other "girls" wouldn't be on display. I ended up using the size 10 neckline (and top of sleeve), a size 16 around the bust and for the back, and tapered the waist to a 14 just on the front, to take away some of the excess volume.

I'd watched the YouTube videos and saw that Trudi had made a dress as one of the variations and, knowing I'd want a comfortable, pretty dress for Mexico, decided to try it. I found a really cool black and white sequin trim at JoAnn's and went with a black poly knit for the fabric. It turned out really well.

I put in an elastic waistband to give me a bit of definition. I tried just using a zig-zag stitch to attach the elastic directly to the fabric, but it was a massive fail. So, I did a bit of a cheat and used a 1/2" bias trim as a casing for a 1/4" elastic. I cheated again, sewing the top of the casing, fitting the elastic closely to the top stitching, stitching the bottom of the casing, leaving a couple inches open, tightened and secured the elastic, then closing the casing all the way.

It's a really cute, comfortable, casually elegant dress. With some cute gladiator flat sandals (from Target), it was the perfect outfit for the trip.

The Dress that Wouldn't Dye

I have this pretty cute faux-wrap dress from Target that I've had for ages, but hadn't worn in a while because it was black and I had some other black dresses that I was wearing more often. It had been hanging in my closet, talking my winter sweaters on the shelf above, when I decided to try my hand at fabric dyeing.

I'd read an article in Lucky magazine*, about the "$2 Trick that will change your wardrobe".. It looked pretty easy, there's a JoAnns nearby, I had a dress I'd like to update. How hard could it be?

The answer? Much, much harder than I thought. My main issue is that the dress is 100% polyester, which is notoriously (thanks, Google!) hard to dye. The first time, I used RIT dye, which didn't work (no fault to the product). I did a bit of research and found out I needed a dye specially for polyester, which I found at JoAnns. I also found color remover, and decided to use that first, since the dress is black.

Well, long story short, the color remover didn't really work, so they dye wasn't able to show up on the black fabric. The tag, which was cream, is now a beautiful shade of purple. However, wearing the dress inside out was not what I had in mind. I don't know what I'll do next. I figure, for the materials cost, time and effort, I could sew something similar, rather than try to change the color of this dress. For now, the dress will go back in the closet, all ready to chat up that chunky, gray cardigan.



*Two things: I don't really like the direction the new editor is going, but I'm hesitant to cancel my subscription, because I like some of the skincare/makeup stuff and having a vague idea of what's fashionable and I don't think I'm ready for More yet.

Second, have you seen the Lucky Kids special ediiton? I am soooo not the target demographic because I don't know where to buy quail's eggs for my girls' bento box lunches (for that matter, they don't have bento boxes) and they're definitely not getting anything from Burberry or Michale Kors until they can pay for the drycleaning themselves.

Cheesecake Bars and Chocolate Angel Food Cake

Cheesecake is another one of those easy-but-takes-a-while things,but it's so totally worth it. I made King Arthur Flour's Vanilla Cheesecake Bars for a Mom's Night Out and got rave reviews. My friend V wants a standing order for each month.

I highly recommend using the lemon peel and juice in the recipe. It doesn't add a real strong lemony flavor, but it gives a nice complexity to the vanilla and creamyness that I really like. The next time I make these, I might try another marble variation, using that Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter and chocolate wafers for the crust.

I had a bunch of egg whites left over, so I decided to try my hand at a Chocolate Angel Food Cake. The recipe from Pie in the Sky has consistently worked for me, so I started with that. I was a little worried about replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder, since flour is really necessary to create the proper structure at high altitudes so the cake doesn't fall. I decided to go for it, and replaced 1/3 cup of floiur with cocoa powder and made sure to underbeat the egg whites, per the instructions, so they'd have plenty of room to expand while cooking.

It worked! The chocolate flavor isn't overhwelming, but nice and light, like you'd want in an Angel Food Cake. I kept the almond extract, since I love that combination, and next time I might try the orange zest and flavor substitution.

Chocolate Caramel Pie

I'm always on the lookout for easy, delicious, chocolate-based recipes. I should clarify that, to me, there are two tyoes of easy: quick and easy and time-consuming and easy. Brownies are quick and easy. Truffles are time-consuming and easy. This insanely good Chocolate Caramel Pie is easy and time-consuming. And you should make it right away.

It's not too sweet, even with the layer of caramel. The pudding is nice and rich and the whipped cream top has just a touch of brown sugar and cocoa, but is a camy counterpoint to the rest of the components. It's also pretty on the plate, with the different distinct layers of tastyness.

It's great with coffee and also with a glass of red wine and some hysterical conversation with your friends.

Creamy Chocolate Cake

Or, what I do for PMS...

I love me some chocolate, and the cravings can be downright overwhelming sometimes. This cake, while not instant gratification, will do the trick. I found it in Dorie Greenspan's Paris Sweets, which is a collection of pastry recipes from some of the best shops in Paris. So, if you can't afford the plane fare, pop in Amelie and bake something from the book.

This is Grandmother's Creamy Chocolate Cake from Robert Linxe.. It's dead easy, with ingredients you probably have in your kitchen. Butter, sugar, chocolate, eggs, and flour. Seriously, that's it.

It's not bake and eat, you have to wait for it to cool, then chill in the fridge, but it's totally worth it. I like to keep it in the fridge and eat it cold, so it's more fudgy, but it does lose a bit of the crunchy top that way. However, it is easier to hide from your chocolate-loving children when it's hidden on one of the upper shelves in the fridge. Because you won't want to share. Trust me on this one.

Three Graces Shirts

The Three Graces shirts from HotPatterns aren't my "ideal dream perfect" shirts, but they are pretty awesome. I bought the pattern because I loved the cross-over variation, but, having made all three, I think I love them all.

I decided to watch the YouTube videos that Trudy has helpfully put up, having had some problems in the past with the instructions for other patterns. She made it look so easy! In honor of her British accent, I decided to see how many Doctor Who episodes (Season 5 with Matt Smith) it would take me to sew one shirt. I figured one, maybe one and a half, show and I'd be done. I was both right and wrong.

I got hung up on how the cross pieces went together. For about 2 hours. A few seams were sewn and ripped out. A few curse words were muttered.

I don't have a dress form, which makes piecing together a drapey garment kind of difficult. I came up with the brilliant idea of using a pillow as an impromptu dress form, so I could see, and pin, everything, better.

After I figured out how to put together the front pieces, the rest of the shirt defintely went together easily (two Doctor Whos.). And it's beautiful. So beautiful, I decided I had to make the other two shirts.

The cowl-neck version was easy peasy (One and a half Doctor Whos). The only thing I changed was to bring the sides in a bit, since it was a bit looser than I like. The twist neck was easier than the cross front, but harder than the cowl (two Doctor Whos). Most likely, my problem was that I was overthinking the construction, as I figured out how to do it after a glass of Scotch.

An Inspired Use of Appliques

As any parent knows, potty training is a process of hits and misses (figurative and literal), trying to find ways to get the toddler to want to use the potty. For the Bean, chocolate is the perfect reward (fyi, despite their claims, M&Ms do melt in your hand). The big hurdle was getting her to want to wear underwear.

I bought some pink absorbant underwEar from Target, but she didn't like it as much as the regular underwear that had fun characters on it. Then I got a brilliant idea: fun, iron-on appliques, so I could personalize her underwear to give her something special. It worked like a charm -- she loves them.

The fabric-based appliques worked best. I couldn't get the paint/plasticey ones to work, and the beaded flowers came off after one wash. So if you want to try this, get a few types and experiment to see what works best for you. My friend S also suggested fabric paints.

It's made a huge difference in the process and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the diaper-free tunnel.

Cornstarch is Not Baking Powder

Cornstarch is not the same as double-acting baking powder. This is a very important distinction if you're making a sour-cream based sauce on the stovetop and want to thicken it a bit. If you grab the baking powder instead of the cornstarch, you'll end up whisking something that looks like it should be served by Richard Blais on Top Chef.

For those who are unfamiliar with baking chemistry, double-acting baking powder is a chemical leavener that makes baked goods rise in two ways: it first reacts with an acid (like, say, sour cream), then it reacts to heat (like from a stovetop burner).

I keep my baking good all in the same drawer and the baking powder and cornstarch were next to each other and are both in metal cans. I accidentally grabbed the baking powder instead of the cornstarch last night when making the sauce for my crockpot dinner last night. To save a bowl, I mixed the ersatz cornstarch in the sour cream container. I realized what happened when I looked over and saw what looked like a sour cream souffle rising majestically from the white plastic.

I quickly put everything into a bigger saucepan, added the real cornstarch and whisked for my life. The bubbles did eventually go down and I think it tasted okay. It's a dish I'll make again, taking care to grab the right can.

A Twist on the Marble Cheesecake

I'm in between projects right now, trying to clean up from the holidays, recover from the double-whammy of a cold and a sinus infection, and getting into a new preschool routine with the Bean. However, I realized I never blogged about the marble cheesecake I made with that Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut spread.

I started with Gale Gand's Marble Cheesecake recipe, and substituted 6 oz. of the spread for the chocolate. It was divine. (I do have to admit it cracked more on the top than I'd like, but I think that's just a high-altitude thing or not using a water bath.) All my friends moaned with delight when they ate it, so I'm guessing they liked it, too.

And on a sewing note, I've given up on trying to sew the perfect v-neck t-shirt. In all honesty, with my lifestyle and sartorial style (is that an oxymoron?), it's much easier to buy a shirt from Old Navy, then adjust the shoulder seams so it's not so low cut.

I got Built by Wendy's book on sewing with knits on massive sale and I'm eager to see what she has to say. Maybe I'll get that dream shirt after all...

Yule Log Cake

It's been a little hectic with the holidays and 2 kids, so I haven't posted anything lately. I'll try to be better this year. Along with losing all that weight and watching less TV.

Ahem.

As I mentioned before, my mom was also famous for her Buche de Noel, or Yule Log, cake at Christmastime. I have lots of great memories of helping her decorate it with all her fancy icing decorating tips, then getting to decorate our fingers with flowers, swirls and leaves before licking the icing off. How we ever got to sleep those nights, I'll never know. Maybe we had a good crash after all that sugar.

It's a delicious recipe. It's also a little difficult to make and is best spread out over a few days. The one good thing is that it freezes very easily, so you could make it a few weeks ahead of time, wrap it, put it in the freezer, then put in the fridge the day before you serve it to thaw a bit.



Buche de Noel
10-12 servings
One of the most charming of the traditional French holiday cakes is the buche de Noel, or Christmas log. When finished, the cake looks deceptively like a log.

1 cup sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Rum syrup (see below)
Mocha cram frosting (see below)
Decorative frosting

1. Line a 10 1/2 by 15 1/2-inch jelly roll pan with waxed paper.
2. Preheat oven to hot (400 deg. F.)
3. Mix the flour, salt and half the sugar. Sift together three times.
4. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Gradually beat in the remaining sugar. Fold in the vanilla and egg yolks, which have been stiffly beaten. Fold in the flour-sugar mixture, about three tablespoons at a time.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan in parallel strips running lengthwise of the pan. Spread evenly and bake until firm in the center, or about fifteen minutes.
6. Turn the cake out onto waxed paper, or a towel that has been sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. Remove the pan lining and cut off all the edges of the cake. Roll the cake as for jelly roll, without removing the paper or towel. Cool and chill briefly. (The paper or towel will be on the inside of the roll.)
7. Unroll, brush with half the rum syrup and spread with mocha cream frosting. Roll as a jelly roll, this time removing the paper or towel. Wrap in waxed paper and chill thoroughly, or until the frosting becomes firm.
8. Remove the waxed paper and cut off the ends of the cake diagonally for use as "branches."
9. Brush the outside of the cake and "branches" with the remainder of the rum syrup. Set "branches" aside. Frost cake with mocha cream, using a pastry bag and notched tube and running the strips lengthwise of the cake to give the appearance of bark.
10. Attach the "branches" to the "log" and press into the frosting. Frost with mocha cream.
11. Frost the ends of the "log" and "branches" with alternating rings of mocha cream and yellow decorative frosting, forcing both through pastry tubes. Chill the "log" until the mocha cream is firm.
12. Decorate the log as desired with flowers, "Noel", etc., using decorative frosting and forcing it through different tubes. Serve the cake promptly, storing it in a cool place until serving time so that the butter in the mocha frosting does not soften.

Rum Syrup for a Buche de Noel
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons rum

Boil the sugar and water together until syrupy, or about three minutes. Cool and add the rum.

Mocha Cream Frosting
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
2 egg yolks
1 cup soft butter
1 1/2 squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 tablespoon very strong coffee
1 1/2 tablespoons rum

1. Boil together the sugar and water to 240 deg. F. (Syrup forms a soft ball in cold water).
2. Beat the egg yolks until fluffy. Add the syrup gradually, while beating, and continue beating until the mixture is cool.
3. Add the butter, bit by bit, until it has all been beaten in. Beat in the chocolate, coffee and rum.

I usually make the cake and syrup the first day, the frosting the second day and assemble, then all the decorating the third day. If you don't have 2 mixers, you can beat the egg whites first, gently transfer them to another bowl, wipe out the mixing bowl, then beat the yolks.

This year, I was lazy, so I just used sugar flowers I bought at a baking supply store (places like Michael's have them, too).





Thanks, Mom, and Happy New Year.