buzzville

Martha's Cake o' the Month - April

I realize that I'm just under the wire on this one, and pretty darned lucky to be in the time zone I'm in at that! I procrastinated on the April cake because I was terrified... the Martha cake for April is petits fours. I've always thought of petits fours as something one might be served at a wedding or when going for tea - and I mean real tea - like high tea at Harrod's or something like that. It also seemed like a tremendous amount of work... making one cake can be tough, but making dozens of tiny cakes?!? I presumed this would only be something a professional baker could or should undertake. So, I waited until the last possible moment to get this one made, and I'm happy to say that my fears were largely unfounded.

Let's get down to brass tacks... the recipe for April is Spring Shower Almond Petits Fours, and as usual, some special items were required to make it just as she had it photographed in the magazine. First off, the recipe is supposed to be cooked in a 12" x 17" baking pan, but I already had a 12" x 18" pan which I anticipated would work just fine - so what if my layers are a tiny bit thinner! The recipe also called for gum paste cherry blossoms to decorate the tops of the finished cakes. I was not quite ready to shell out that much money for a cake we'd just be eating ourselves, so I planned on coming up with an alternate decorative plan.

The mixing and baking of the cake went just fine, and then it was time to assemble the layers. I cut the cake in half, spread cherry preserves on one half, and stacked the other cake half on top. After chilling the layers for a bit, I cut them into 1.5" squares (more or less - or good enough for government work!).

It was now time to glaze them with the sugar glaze. This was by far the most time consuming and frustrating part of the process... each petits fours is supposed to be completely covered with the glaze, and this is much more difficult than it sounds! It took me (and Jerry for part of the process) at least 1.5 hours to get them fully covered in the glaze. Now I know why Krispy Kreme has a conveyor belt system for glazing all their doughnuts!

Here is the glazing in process:

After they were glazed and chilled for a bit, I decided on a simple decorative touch - running a thin stream of glaze over them in a contrasting color. And so, here we have the finished product:

I know... still not as elegant and sophisticated as Martha's, but I don't have the staff of bakers and food stylists that she does! How did they taste? Well, I think both Jerry and I were ready to love them - we're both huge fans of almond-y stuff (can't get enough marzipan around here!), and almond and cherry is a fantastic combination. These definitely lived up to our expectations - very moist cake (thanks to the almond paste) and the cherry filling was not too sweet or too heavy for the tiny cakes. We give these petits fours 2 thumbs up, especially with a nice cup of tea in hand. And, other than the long glazing process, these really weren't to difficult to make! Maybe I'm ready to host a nice, formal garden tea party, complete with crumpets and petits fours!

Quilt-It Kit

A while back I pre-ordered the Denyse Schmidt Quilt-It Kit, and it arrived in today's mail. I thought I'd post the details on the kit in case any of you are trying to decide whether or not you'd like to snatch it up. As I expected, there's a fair amount of overlap between the kit and the Denyse Schmidt Quilts book, but there are 4 new projects included in the kit:

Run With It Table Runner

All The Trimmings Scrap Balls

I Can See Clearly Now Eyeglasses Case

Back To Square One Pillow

The kit includes the fabrics shown to make the pillow, as well as a needle, thread, instruction booklet, pattern cards, and pattern sheet (patterns are 50% size).

In addition to the 4 new projects, the kit includes these projects that are also in the book: Frame of Mine; Dis-Cards; Closet Case Sachet; Too Hot To Handle Oven Mitt; Shimmy, Shake & Bake Apron; Mix-It-Up Cocktail Coasters; Zigzag Bag; Big Zig Quilt; Hop, Skip & A Jump Quilt; Flock of Triangles Quilt; and A Day At The Beach Quilt.

Each of the projects has a nice little laminated project card, which seems like a handy tool for working on a specific project. If you already have the book, you probably don't need the kit unless you're crazy about any of the 4 new projects, or if you like the convenience of the little project cards. As with the other Chronicle Books kits, the box and packaging are really nice and well put together. Hope this helps!

Digging up crummy photos

Well, I hadn't planned on posting this because I don't have any even remotely decent photos yet, but since I am still without my little camera, I decided to go ahead and post anyway. Some of you may remember that I am, in fact, one of the participants in the Modern Quilt Along - I'll forgive you if you've forgotten this - it's not like I've posted any progress in eons! I probably should have been posting regular progress reports - tales of the challenging piecework, the near-impossible exercise in fabric selection, the learning curve of the entire process... but, I was too caught up in the tiny details of the quiltmaking process - details that would be boring and technical to anyone not attempting this particular design.

Although this post has been a long time coming, let me assure you that I have been working regularly on this project. I don't have much time for quilting at home - in fact, basically none - so my quiltmaking time is reserved to my precious Thursday evening class at our local college where I go to sew and relax and socialize with other community quilters. These nights are an amazing gift to me, and Jerry has wholeheartedly supported my weekly escape from home and family life. So, I haven't had the chance to work on the quilt on a daily basis, but just once a week at my class. Last week I reached a critical and exciting benchmark in the creation of this quilt - I basted! Here is an admittedly horrible, blurry, poorly lit photo of my basted quilt on the table:

The quilt is called Unfinished Business, and I assure you that I have thought the name a curse more than a few times! Here is a picture of the sample quilt from the Modern Quilt Workshop:

The concept of the quilt is a modern interpretation of the crazy quilt. Jerry chose the pattern (the most challenging in the book!), and I decided on a monochromatic grey palette so that the quilt can move from room to room and still work with our various color schemes. You'll notice that my quilt has just 4 rows, where the original has 5. This happened for a couple of reasons: appropriate grey fabrics were really tough to come by, and I didn't want to go all black or all white in the quilt - I thought it would be too much overall contrast and would overpower the other rows; and I decided that the size of the finished quilt with 4 rows would be the perfect size for the lap-sized quilt we were going for. And 4 rows are just fine, right?!?

I'm thrilled to have gotten to this stage with this particular quilt - it's been a tough one - and the race is on for me to get it quilted and bound before the end of my class. I hope to have a finished product to show you within a month, so keep your fingers crossed!

Maker Faire Report!

We're back from our weekend up north for the Maker Faire in San Mateo, and I think we survived! The bad news is that I somehow managed to forget our digital camera at my mom's house, so I can't (yet) share the photos we snapped at the faire (and I may not have the ability to post pics at all until I get my camera back... we'll see!). But, there are *loads* of photos of the faire on flickr, so there shouldn't be any shortage of photographic coverage!

The faire was much bigger than I expected, and there were tons of people there on Saturday. The exhibits were broken up into several exhibit halls surrounding a central courtyard where the Bazaar Bizarre was set up. I test drove a Zap Zebra - a 3-wheel electric car - but wasn't terribly impressed. The visibility in the car was terrible (I had to stick my head out the side window to see where I was going when turning left!), and if you have just one passenger in the back seat, they need to sit in the middle so that the frame of the car doesn't bottom out on the wheels. The interior was roomier than we expected (Jerry is 6'-4" and fit fine in the back seat), and the car is definitely cute, but I think we'll be holding off for something a bit more fine-tuned!

The faire was filled with all types of interesting and bizarre exhibits - robots, circuit bending, alternative energy sources, unusual computer interfaces, lego building extravaganzas, segway polo matches(!), etc. Lots and lots of creative people thinking up new (and occasionally useful) ways to use materials and/or technology. My main criticism of the faire was the lack of crafty exhibits. Although we all know that lots of crafters are out there using new and recycled materials to make fantastic things, they were not represented in the exhibits at this faire. In fact, were it not for Bazaar Bizarre, I'm not sure I could really say crafters were represented much at all.

Thankfully, there were a number of workshops covering craft-related topics, and I was lucky enough to get to attend the Knit a Toy workshop led by the super talented Jess Hutch! Not only does she make (and teach us to make) fantastic knitted toys, but she's an amazingly calm, organized, and collected chica! I'm not sure if I gushed too heavily when we chatted, but I was certainly thrilled to meet her and see first hand some of her toy knitting tips and tricks - thanks Jess! And, in other incredible news, Make magazine is soon to launch a new magazine - Craft - and Jess' robots made the cover! Huge posters of the new magazine were up all over the faire, and it was so comforting to see her sweet robots at every turn! Congratulations Jess!

I got to meet more of my heroes at the faire - Bethany was there with her fun and witty crafty goods (we love the infidel!). Susie probably thinks I'm a stalker by now - her stuff is so incredible! I can never get enough of Alison and her wares - her style is so fantastic and unique! And, did I mention Jill Bliss?!? Yes, I can now die happy because I got to meet her, and she signed her One book (look under Publications and Portfolios) that we picked up for Brynne - and it even comes with a fun cd! So, despite the relatively low representation of crafters at the faire, I had a great time because I got to meet all these great folks.

The return to my routine today has been a bit of a let down... imagine what we could all come up with if we were living in an environment of creativity, innovation, and free thinking? I think I need to strive for a bit more of that in my daily life!

transformations

As is probably pretty common, the seasons are changing and I am sick again - ugh! So far, I'm the only one to be struck down, so hopefully it will stay that way...

One of the many thrills I get from being a mother is watching from the sidelines as Brynne's creative mind continues to develop. A huge breakthrough came a few months ago when she started sketching faces - the first step in drawing something that looks like what is being depicted. I was thrilled and shared the news with our family immediately. I'm not sure what it is about her faces, but I find them to be incredibly fascinating. Here is one she brought home with her today:

and here are several (studies?!?) that she drew a few weeks ago:

I love these so much that I am actually considering choosing a favorite to be a tattoo. It would be my first tattoo, but I think of all the imagery out there, I will never tire of these early works of her art.

More mundane transformations are happening around here as well... I had long been thinking about recycling yarn from thrifted sweaters to use for my knitting and crocheting, but I had been so caught up in learning to knit that I hadn't yet felt brave enough to tackle the deconstruction of a knitted garment. Well, I've now unraveled my first sweater! Here is the before:

a pretty boring short sleeve sweater knitted from a beautiful pink ribbon yarn...

and here's the after... loads of yarn that I can now repurpose for my own creations! Once I got the hang of finding the yarn ends, the unraveling was very simple, if a bit time consuming. I've since purchased a few more sweaters to unravel, and the sweater aisle has now been added to my regular thrift store route. I look for colors I like, fibers that are particularly wonderful/soft, variegated or unusual yarns, etc. I try to find sweaters in large sizes (the one above was a 2XL) so that I have plenty of flexibility to make what I want out of the yarn. The best part? Most sweaters at my thrift store can be had for $6 or less - even if they are made of merino, alpaca, or other super nice fibers. You also don't have to worry about holes or stains on the garment... just cut those areas from your yarn as you unravel! My one word of caution: be sure to pay attention to the gauge of the yarn so that you don't end up with something that you don't really want to work with - although I find beautiful cashmere sweaters at the thrift store, they are usually in very fine gauges. I'm personally not quite ready to work in such a fine gauge!

Speaking of yarn and knitting, I'm thrilled to be going to the Maker Faire this weekend, and I've signed up for Jess Hutch's workshop! My family has been generous enough to watch the munchkin, so Jerry and I will have an incredibly rare day to ourselves at the Faire and Bazaar Bizarre. Anyone else going? I'll try to take loads of photos to share!

Settling down after Easter madness...

It's been nice to try to settle back to a semi-regular schedule today after an extremely busy Easter weekend, filled with egg hunts, feasting, family visits, and general chaos. The Easter bunny was very generous with Brynne this year (could it be because she's actually using the potty?!?), and hid her basket in the dryer at the end of a trail of jelly beans. The bunny was also in cahoots with me on a little side project for the basket - he requested a handmade soft toy to match Brynne's bonnet. I had the perfect inspiration from the spring issue of Cotton Friend magazine - the pattern wasn't included, but with Jerry's fantastic sketching skills we were able to collaborate to make a bunny pattern based on this picture:

I used the same vintage yellow floral and orange fabrics from Brynne's bonnet, and I added a green cotton for the bunny's dress. The main body of the bunny is made from super soft 100% wool felt and I embroidered the facial features with brown floss. This little one (still awaiting a name!) was hiding in the basket on Easter morning:

As you can see, she really likes carrots, so we're working out a plan to keep them in regular supply. This bunny has already been seen having conversations and play dates with other local bunnies, so we think she's settling right in to her new home. She's enjoying the warm weather that has suddenly appeared on our doorstep, and lounging with Brynne in the back yard appears to be her favorite pastime at the moment. Welcome little bunny!

Here comes Peter Cottontail!

Happy Easter to all who are celebrating!

Lots to report, but today is family day, so I'll try to catch up tomorrow! Have a great one!

eggy weggy

Easter egg decorating has always been a tradition in our house, even before we had a munchkin around. Although Jerry swears by good ol' Paas for his decorating traditions, I decided to try something new this year. Of course, Martha has complete instructions (along with color glossary) for dyeing eggs using a variety of natural, homemade dyes. All in all, our dyes resulted in much the same color variations as shown in Martha's glossary:

The one weak link in our dyes was the beet dye, and I think this is probably because I was a bit lazy: I got all of the "ingredients" from Trader Joe's, and the only beets they had were already peeled and packaged in sealed, plastic bags (sometimes going to yet another store for food is just too much!). I'm guessing that some of the potency of the beet color was probably lost in the processing. So, our "lavender" (fourth down on the left) is pretty weak, and our pink (top left) is also extremely pale. However, we were thrilled with the gorgeous colors from the red cabbage (the light and dark blues), the turmeric (yellows), and the onion skin (oranges and russets). The coffee worked well (dark and light brown), but they look like standard brown eggs to me; I guess I'm a bit more impressed with the brighter, more vibrant colors. It was a bit tricky keeping track of which we boil, which are soaked in room temperature dye, and for how long, but I'm very pleased to see such vibrant colors from these very natural dye sources. On the down side, it did seem to be a bit wasteful... I'm not sure anyone wanted to eat cabbage or beets that had been boiled for 30 minutes in vinegar water!

Figuring out this knitting thing...

I've been working insanely horrible hours lately, and that's why my posting has been even more "periodic" than usual, but I do have a whole bunch of finished and near-finished projects that I hope to share with you all very soon. Today I'm showing off a real, completed, knitted garment! I took a short class recently that introduced me to dpns, and despite my total fear of so many pointy objects in such a small space, I managed to get the hang of it!

Here's the quick hat we made (as modeled by my ever tolerant husband!), knitted in Lamb's Pride Bulky on 10 1/2 dpns.

There's something incredibly pleasing about the pinwheels of decreases at the top. I guess you knitters out there are very used to these, but I just get happy looking at them!

The pattern was pretty good, although I would have made the hat longer so that it would cover the ears a bit more. But, for me, the project was really more about learning how to use the needles... maybe one day I'll actually tackle a sock!

Linens 'n things

I picked Brynne up from preschool today and she brought home the cutest little project; I wanted to share this with other moms out there because it's so easy and great! The kids made "greenhouses" by stapling a green construction paper triangle (which they were allowed to color/decorate) to the top of a ziploc bag. They placed wet cotton balls and some beans and peas in the ziploc and sealed it up. We attached our "greenhouse" to the window with some masking tape, and Brynne is so excited about watching her beans germinate! Really fun, and really simple!

I made an unplanned stop at Kmart today - I'm not sure why because I almost never shop there (it must have been kismet!) - and found some more amazing kitchen towels from the Martha line. These are just screaming to be used in fun crafty projects...

fruit assortment for fun/kitschy stuff, or

modern botanicals for a more contemporary look.

Aren't these great? They're 100% cotton, and I just love the colors they've used!