Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts

Monday, April 9, 2012

How I Spent My Easter

I bought some great fabric from Spool. One was even on sale!

The colors in this fabric are so summery. I love that the flowers look like they are made from crochet doilies.

This fabric isn't usually what I would pick out, but I'm trying to break out of my box. I say this while realizing that I tend to purchase floral prints all the time so maybe this isn't a stretch for me.

This is going to become a Sorbetto as soon as I finish up my pants and shorts. (I ran out of the thread I was using to sew them so they are on hold till I go to the fabric store before work today.) I found the pretty mint green bias tape in my notions stash.

Since I had to put my shorts and pants on hold I made this new wallet out some of my scraps. The pattern is from DixieDIY.

I may have run out of navy thread, but I seem to have a ton of lime green.

Here's a shot of the inside. The fabric was left over from our wedding.

Then I made a blueberry pie.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Recipe: Guinness Cake

I very distinctly remember drinking my first Guinness. At first one my be apprehensive because of the dark black brew, but it's rich with coffee and chocolate and caramel notes. What better way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day than with a rich dense quick bread I like to call Guinness Cake.

Ingredients
1 12 oz Bottle Guinness Extra Stout
2 Cups Brown Sugar
2 Table Spoons Butter (I use Vegan Butter)
2 Cups Raisins
3 Cups Flour
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Cloves

This recipe yeilds two loafs of Guinness Cake. You will need two 4x8" loaf pans, greased and ready to go.

The Star of our show. Yummy rich dark stout.

1. In a saucepan heat the Guinness, butter, sugar and raisins. Bring to a boil and let boil for about 5 minutes.

Stir occasionally to keep from scorching the sugar

While the beer and sugar are boiling Grease those 8x4" pans and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F

2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Once the beer and sugar mixture has boiled remove from heat and let it cool.

3. Once the beer and sugar mixture has cool some combine it with the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Stir well to make sure the flour is not clumpy and the batter is thick but smooth.

Split batter between two 8x4" loaf pans and bake in the oven at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes. being careful to check on the loafs. The Guinness cake is done when you can stick a knife or fork in the middle and it comes out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes before releasing them from the pans.

I like mine warm with butter.

Enjoy!

Monday, March 5, 2012

My Weekend in Photos

When I came home from work on Friday this lovely package was waiting for me. I am very excited about getting yarn. First off, I can now finish that pattern I've been working on, and secondly, I have the yarn for my second pattern, and thirdly I have the yarn for a personal project. Getting fun mail makes any day better.

I then dragged Simon to a gallery reception at B Square Gallery. The Show was called Not a Stitch, all the art pieces were two dimensional renderings and interpretations of knitting and other types of needle work.

This one was my favorite. It's titled "Love in a Cold Climate" by Oompha Joompha. I told Simon that it would go great in our bedroom, but I don't think he was sold.

After the Gallery we popped on over to our favorite restaurant, Sabrina's. They have one of the best burgers in town. We treated ourselves to piles of fries and a burger stacked with all the fixings. This one was on Mom since she sent us a package for Easter (a super early Easter package) and the card had a bit of cash in it, perfect for going to Sabrina's. Thanks Mom!

Saturday was beautiful and we walked all over the city. I spotted a lot of birds nests in the bare trees. I find the intricately built bed of twigs and sticks fascinating.

This tree had two more birds nests in it. I didn't see them till I was walking away. The tree is one of the larger ones in our neighborhood. It's in a small park a block away from us. It's the perfect climbing tree and I'm surprised I don't see more kids playing there.

That afternoon I made cookies. These maybe the best cookie recipe ever. It's vegan, gluten free, it's easy, and it doesn't require any weird ingredient. You can see the recipe over on My Girl Thursday.

Then we made fajitas. There one of Simon's favorites so he was super excited that I made them. We also had a chat to Simon's bestie is Oz. I'm not sure if Simon would say bestie, but I would and will.

Sunday culminated in a jam session at our friends house. We played lots of music and drank some wonderful wine and ate Thai food from Circles.

Ralph was not pleased with our merry making and promptly let us know by hiding in this grocery bag and meowing at anyone who passed by.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Just One of Those Days

First off, what happened to fall? Where did it go and why are we jumping right into winter. Philly had its first snow fall on Saturday. It was a miserable day perfect for baking bread and making apple sauce, and sitting on the couch under a blanket with the hubs.

But today looks like it is going to be one of those days, you know where nothing goes wrong, but nothing goes right. Kind of a non-day. Here is a list of things that are making today feel less productive.

*I ran out of Navy thread so I can't sew my jacket until after work today once I get more.
*My Camera is sad and not turning on even after changing the batteries, so no photos for me.
*It is cold, which tends to zap all of my ambition.
*I ordering yarn, so I'm waiting on that to turn up.

But on the other hand I was super productive in other areas this weekend like:

*Cleaning out the bathroom cupboard (I do not need any more lotion for a very long time).
*Sewing most of my jacket together. I just need to sew up the left front pieces and the sleeves then on to the yoke.
*I made yummy whole wheat bread.
*Apples are 50 cents a pound in the market, so I made apple sauce which came out amazing.
*I started a new sweater project, I found some old wool that i had made a sweater out off, and the frogged because it came out so horrible and now I'm using it to mak A Very Plucky Cardigan by Kate Hiester.

My plan on beating the non-day today is as follows:

*Get my winter clothes out of storage and put the summer clothes in storage.
*Go to the market and buy more apples, I want to make more sauce and try my hand at apple butter.
*Make said apple sauce ( 4 pounds of apples, peeled and cored in the slow cooker on medium heat for 7 hours.)
*Look up how to attach a lining to a jacket.
*Buy thread and buttons before work.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Best Berry Muffins

I have been baking muffins like crazy these past two weeks. Berries have been on sale at Whole Foods and to make sure we use them I'm been baking berry muffins every few days. The Hubby loves these muffins because they aren't "super sweet" and are full of berries. What is great about this recipe is that it only has a few ingredients, one of them is Bisquick (which also makes wonderful pancakes).

Best Berry Muffin Recipe
2 Cups Bisquick
1/2 Cup Soy Milk (or regular milk)
1/2 Cup Soy Yogurt (or regular yogurt)
2 tbls Honey
1 egg
2/3 Cup Berries (I like to crush my berries a little before I mix them in.)

This will make 6 large muffins or 12 small muffins.

Combine all ingredients and spoon mixture into greased or lined muffin tin

Here is the batter for my strawberry & blackberry muffins

If you like sprinkle a little bit of whit or brown sugar on the top.

Into the oven they go!

Bake in an oven at 400 degrees for 20 min or until golden brown on top. If you are making smaller muffins you will only need to bake them for 10 to 15 min.

Ta-Da delicious muffins.

Let cool for a few minuets then remove from baking tin.
Enjoy!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Homemade Bread

Today I put my to do list Slightly on hold. I really didn't as "learn to bake bread" was on my list of things to do. And guess what I did it! I found a great site called cookingbread.com and found a simple white bread recipe in their extensive lists of bread recipes. The one I used was the Hungarian White Bread I omitted the anise and fennel seeds. Above is my dry ingredients all ready to go waiting for my yeast to activate.

Here is my yest activating in some luk warm water.

All Mixed up and ready to rise!

This was after about an hour and a half it was double its original size. At this point in the recipe you had to "punch down" the dough and cut in half

I did exactly that and placed my two halves in loaf pans. Here I covered them and let them rise for about another hour.

They doubled in size again and puffed up. Now it was time to bake them for 50 min at 350. As the loaves baked the wonderful smell of baked bread filled my apartment. It made our place seem so warm and cozy.

50 Minuets later I had this!

Here they are out of the pans after a few minuets of cooling, I couldn't wait to slice into one and see how it turned out!

Delicious! That's how it turned out! Bread was a lot easier to make than I thought. I think the part that makes it seem hard is the yeast and waiting for the bread to rise. This was more an exercise in patients, but I can now proudly say I can Bake bread. I think this may become a weekly thing.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

An Intersting Ambition

I would like to say that this week is a quiet one. But the reality is with the upcomming holidays I am mostly knitting for the shop, dying all the base that I have, trying to work on a lace pattern (although the farthest I've gotten is dying the wool and deciding I want to design a lace project), putting together items of different price points, attempting to think about Christmas, planing a short get away with Simon and deciding that I really want to learn how to make bread.

Most of this list is some what normal for me, knitting, dying, dreaming up designs. Some of this list comes with the holidays, but the weird thing is my new desire to bake homemade bread. I have a silly domesticity in me that wants to bake bread in the morning, I blame the fact that I am recently married and am nesting in a weird way. My reasoning is I'm home most of the morning and afternoon, I don't work till 3pm, I can totally learn to bake bread.

This want to bake bread just adds to my seeming domesticity. I cook, knit, sew, know how to make pie crust from scratch, I spin yarn, and now to add to the list I want to bake bread. Next thing I know I'm going to want to start canning and making jam (two things a have done in the past with the matriarchs of my family).

I feel a type of wonder doing these things, in a way I feel its keeping alive a dying art form. Who actually bakes bread any more, I know people do, but I don't know anyone who does. With the rush and bustle of today I really like the idea of making something that takes time and practice. Maybe this is why I gravitate to knitting and spinning and even sewing. I am a good knitter but it took time and practice and a lot of mistakes to become a good knitter. I still have a lot of room for improvement and have only learned a small amount of technique, but I want to improve and learn more.

So, maybe this week isn't the best week to decide to take up bread baking, but I have two weeks off starting on Saturday. I think next week I will be indulging my new found interest. But first I think its time to bring back the time honored to do list for now.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Vintage Finds Friday: Baking

With the weather getting cooler and the holidays fast approching this becomes my favorite time of year for baking. It makes the apartment feel nice and cozy and it also provides me and the hubby with yummy treats. Below are some amazing vintage baking items all found on etsy.