I have tried to get a post or two up here before now, but as I've learned the hard way, I guess it wasn't meant to be...
So just to keep things current.
That previously mentioned knitted item is no longer a knitted item; it is officially part of the stash once more. As it turns out, I wouldn't have had enough yarn to finish it anyway; so another time and in another place, with another yarn I may try to knit it again.
And maybe take pictures.
Enough about that.
I used to bake
a lot! My husband tells me that's one of the reasons that he married me. (That, and I had furniture.) I've entered fairs and won prizes; I think I may even be more proud of that accomplishment than (well some) of my knitting ribbons. I guess because I can
see the competition in the knitting categories, but when it comes to baking...well, we don't get to taste the other entries, now do we?
Anyway, over the past few years it's been hit and miss as to how much energy I wanted to put to work in the kitchen. I used to just "feel like baking" and there would be a batch of cookies, bars or a cake appear, but "I lost that baking feeling" (yes, sing like nobody's listening!) and did what I had to, when I had to, or guilted myself into.
But last week?
BAM!! Betty Crocker was here again!
The other morning I felt like Blueberry muffins. So, I made blueberry muffins (a double batch) AND just because I could, I also made my famous (it's a recipe out of a magazine, but around here it's me that's famous for making them) Date 'n Nut Bran Muffins. Tim Horton's used to have a muffin like this, but they haven't made it for years. Yummy and healthy!
A couple of batches of muffins in the morning? Well, stranger things have happened...
How about a double batch of Brownies the
night before???I
love my Brownie recipe.
LOVE IT!! I quickly wrapped a bunch of these up to freeze for lunches this week, because the last time I made them...
WHOOOSH!! They were gone.
Back in the day, when I would bake for fun, living alone with nobody to eat this baking, that I did for fun. I would only wish for people to eat my creations and there was a family I would visit whose mom would complain about how people (the kids) ate everything as soon as it was made. I told her I was throwing my stuff out, because there wasn't anybody there to eat it...I'm not sure if she thought about that again, but I know I do whenever the cookie jar's empty...and I don't say a word.
In fact, I still get upset if I have to throw the stuff out!
Now, here's the part that I was trying to post about back in June.
My daughter has taken ballet for many years. Over the past few years we've (the moms and the girls) get together for a lunch or dinner after the ballet exams are finished. It's a pot luck, it's casual, the girls really do work hard to do well and they are all lovely ladies to spend time with-- the moms and the girls.
To reiterate, I like to bake; I bring dessert.
Here's what this years cake looked like:
I love that I get to make a doll cake! The girls all look forward to it now and expect it. My daughter said, they just get better every year.
Wow. A compliment. Wow.
I had each of the girls tell me their favourite colour and then put stars on the skirt for each of them. They used Spanish fans in their exam; so I fashioned fans for them too. The gathers on the skirt were a complete accident, and I love it. I got to spray paint the dress; always wanted to do that! The ribbon, just kind of glitzed it up and hid any boo boos on the bottom and you know what the best part was?I had NO IDEA how I was going to decorate this cake until I started!
I went into Michael's and the Bulk Barn to get some supplies and just grabbed a few things and thought, "I'll figure something out." The white detail at the bodice was inspired by a excess piece of fondant. The fans?! The fans were made out of a round cookie cutter shape cut into four! (Four girls took the exam...well, our four girls) I was kind of stressed about that, and really, it couldn't have been much simpler. We enjoyed the cake and I've already been volunteered for next year! I've made purple dresses two years in a row now (their costumes were purple); I hope we get a different colour next time!
So, we're sitting in about a thousand degree weather and I'm baking and knitting scarves.
I'm soooo Canadian. Cheers!
It's a very Zen like knit and I'm modifying it a bit as I go (because that's what I do), one tip that I did take to heart was the suggestion to put a marker every 50 stitches to help with the 450 stitch cast on and keep the pattern in check as well. I plan to get it finished while I'm away over the next two weeks and hope to get a picture posted around the second week of August.
Now, why would a married woman with two kids, a dog, two cats and some fish have a favourite roomy named Jenn? Because we are part of the Red Hot Mamas and when we go for our annual weekend away (hopefully a full week in a few years) she and I share a room and it works out just great. This year, as we enjoyed a quiet, rainy day, she says, "I can knit", picks up my sock and knits! She was a little hesitant because she "didn't want to mess up my knitting", but I was so excited to see her (or any of my 'mama-sista-friends') knit I assured her, 'I can fix anything. It's only knitting.'
