Sneak Preview

I've had some sketches for fun little embroideries I've been working on for a few years. One of the earlier sets is this particular one, and I finally made some time to get it started this week. To celebrate their impending arrival, I'll be doing a little giveaway next week. Here's a sneak preview of a couple of them. They are so much fun!

Sour Cream Pound Cake

I baked lemon sour cream pound cake last evening. After looking at five different recipes, I sheepishly realized they are pretty basic and rather similar. I combined a few recipes to make it lemon flavored. They turned out delicious!!! Here's my recipe:

Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake
3 cups unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups granulated sugar
2 sticks butter (room temperature)
6 eggs (room temperature)
1 cup sour cream (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Grated zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 1/2 lemon (I should have added more, but I wasn't sure how it'd affect consistency)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease (generously to prevent sticking) muffin tins or bundt or 10" tube pan.
Sift flour and baking soda together. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar at medium high speed using mixer.
Beat eggs in one at a time using low speed. Add sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest.
Incorporate flour and baking soda while mixing at medium low speed until smooth. Try not to overmix.
Pour into pans. Bake about 30 minutes for cupcakes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool for about 5 minutes on rack, then loosen from tins and let cool. If using bundt/tube pan bake for about 1 1/4 hours, let sit on rack for about 10 minutes before turning out to cool.

Makes 12 servings (520 calories ea.), I got about 20 cupcakes (about 310 calories each - approximation in calorie count is because I got 18 plus 12 mini cupcakes).
I might make a glaze with the remaining lemon juice and some sugar to add next time, but I was pleased with the buttery flavor, light crumb, and texture, though the lemon turned out to be more like a hint of lemon... gee, I'll have to try a few more just to make sure ;D My favorite part (and one of the reasons for using muffin tins) are the crispy bits around the edges of the tops. Yummy!!!

Flu

My poor neglected little blog! I caught the flu after my last entry and it really hit me hard. I had a flu shot in the fall but it didn't do anything to prevent this one. I'm slowly getting back to my old self but have a ton of things to catch up on. I hope if you are reading this that you're healthy and well! At least the garden is still blooming. These are Gaillardias I grew from seed. It took them a few years to get going but now they are bursting with blooms!

Ribbon Posy

I hope no one is sick of these yet, because I've been on a flower making spree! :) I put some fabric ones together earlier this week but wasn't happy with them (my husband agreed - that is one of the things I love about him, he's honest, yet tactful...) but I did make these and was much happier with them, he liked them much better too!
I added a pin to the back and thought they'd be good for decorating a coat or blouse or as a little everlasting corsage.

Herbs

I'm still working on the garden, there are now little tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplants, summer squash, and a variety of herbs planted in the garden beds, and of course flowers in the rest of the yard.

I hope the herbs make it, I have mixed luck with those. I planted some catnip in my garden at my previous place, only to discover my cat was one of those that wasn't at all excited by catnip. But the neighbor's cat discovered the thriving patch and I once looked out the window to see this cat literally rolling in the catnip, with a blissful look on its face. It makes me laugh to this day when I think about it.

Fashionable

I couldn't resist making one more ribbon rose.
There's no rhyme or reason as to how I make these flowers, I just play with wired ribbon and try different things until I make something that looks good to me.
I tried a different leaf shape this time around, added the usual pin backing and couldn't resist trying it on my little hand painted piggy bank that I made a while ago. This little piggy is definitely ready to go out and have fun!
What the fashionable peegs are wearing this spring!

Bamboo

I have been interested in Japanese culture since a fairly young age. I think it may have been either Sanrio or the Japanese animation I grew up watching, but either way, because I love art I was always intrigued by the sumi-e and woodblock prints I would see in books.

I took a class to learn the basics of sumi-e and found that it's a wonderful, meditative art. It's deceptively simple, because you try to capture the essence of the item in as few strokes as possible. The paper we used was absorbent and the ink permanent, so any hesitation would mean there was a blob of ink in the middle of an otherwise beautiful stroke. It took some practice, but I loved making the ink at the beginning of each session, working on control of the brush, and found that I felt much more relaxed and happy after a session painting sumi-e. The best part is that the finished painting itself also possesses some of those same qualities, inviting peaceful meditation. I recently came across my stash of work from those efforts and will be showing a few here as I become re-acquainted with them.

Blooming

We've been working on the garden, it's that busy time of year when the veggie garden needs to be started. Some of my roses have been happy with the weather and blooming. This one is an old-fashioned shrub that requires little care. This particular variety is called Mademoiselle du Brabant. I like roses that not only look good, but are easy to care for (no spraying for bugs or disease) and smell good. The old-fashioned varieties really do the trick, before that I had many failures with hybrids and thought I just couldn't grow roses. Turns out I was just growing the wrong kind. I want them to smell good too. It's one of the things people do when they see roses in bloom, they usually move in to try to smell them. So if they don't smell good, they are not worth growing. A shame because there are some pretty roses out there that don't smell so good, but again, the old fashioned ones usually have nice scents to boot. I must look funny at the nursery when I'm looking for roses, sniffing all of them before I choose which one I want!

Buttons

I acquired a mixed collection of buttons, and found some containers to hold them all. The studio is coming together - little by little but getting there!

Fresh Squeezed

I was gifted some just-picked citrus, and finally bought an inexpensive juicer so I could enjoy some of the juice oranges (navel oranges, on the right. The ones on the left are Chinese Honey oranges, easy to peel and great for eating.)
Some oranges look a little dirty because that is what they look like when they are just picked. After washing they look much better. This little juicer will make my next batch of lemon curd much easier to make!

Another Tiramisu Adaptation

This baby blanket pattern is addictive! I just had to make another one. This one is 100% cotton.

I Love Weekends!

Egg, whole grain toast, and sharp cheddar. Yum!

Colorful

I love all the bits of color in my studio. Marbles are a particular favorite of mine, I love the way the sun shines through them, and painting them has always been an enjoyable challenge!

Tiramisu Baby Blanket Finished

I finished the Tiramisu Baby blanket I started recently:
It was so much fun that I started another one the same evening. I modified the pattern a little and did not thread a ribbon through this blanket because I wasn't sure whether it would be safe for a baby. I'll have to look into that because it'd sure look cute with the ribbon. Either way I love the drape and the little scallops on the edge. I can't wait to finish the next one!

Happy World Nutella Day!

Finally a holiday I can totally get into! Nutella is one of life's greatest pleasures, IMO, and I have recently been fantasizing about making strawberry nutella crepes again:

Hey, Valentine's day is coming soon and what a better excuse to make these delicious treats (though I need to work on plating and maybe try making them during the day so I can get better images!) Last year it was Nutella gelato, which was good, but I have to confess that little else beats just having a spoonful of the stuff straight from the jar. Of course, being as weak as I am around Nutella, the last time it made an appearance in my home was last year's gelato obsession. Must remedy that today.

What type of Nutella lover are you? And in case you are worried you may be crossing the line, here are the top 10 signs you are addicted to Nutella.