Whoopie Pies & Turban Calzones

I decided to make whoopie pies last weekend since I was having a major craving for them. I'd never made them and went to my trusty recipe box for mom's standby. What I found instead was a very complicated one I'd copied out of a book and it involved getting buttermilk and non-alkalized cocoa. My handwriting was so tiny on the card I immediately knew it was NOT what I wanted.

A quick call to my sister produced the "easy" recipe for whoopie pies that I remembered enjoying so much as a kid. I lined my pans with parchment and began dropping mounded tablespoons of the batter.

My husband (who had never eaten a whoopie pie) tried to grab one of the cookie halves when I wasn't looking. I slapped his hand away and asked "What do you think you're doing?!?!" I had counted them out so I had just enough for 21 pies. He said "I want to eat a whoopie pie!" The poor sheltered thing didn't realize that there was more goodness to come in the form of blinding white filling.

The only problem I ran into was that I didn't let the cookie halves stay on the baking sheet long enough when they came out of the oven. The only group that looked right was the last bunch. I forgot about them for a minute or two and rushed to get them onto the cooling rack. They were the only ones to stay puffed instead of deflating.

I gave them out to a few people who uttered things like "OMG!" and "amazingly delicious!" so I guess they were a success after all. The cookie is cakey but not too dense, and the filling is creamy and delicious. Yay for whoopie pies!

For dinner we decided to make our turban calzones. (The way I roll the ends together and the size of the calzones reminds me of a turban I could wear on my head.) The double batch of homemade pizza dough is filled with caramelized onions, diced tomatoes, basil and cheeses. The recipe makes two, and as you can see, I can hardly get them on one cookie sheet. They taste SO good though - especially with a side salad or peas and a nice bottle of wine. We share one and refrigerate the other for another meal later in the week.

It's Spring - Let the Nest Making Begin!

I've been waiting for today for a long time! All winter long I collected up my yarn scraps, bits of raffia and Cunningham's fur and put it in a suet feeder. I decided on the first day of spring that I'd hang it up so the birds could use it to build their nests with. I'm not sure where I saw the idea (sadly it wasn't originally mine) but I love the thought that this spring and summer maybe my throw-away items will be turned into a little nest. How cool would it be to look up at a nest and see bits of yarn from the socks or hat I knit?!?

Birds love building their nests with fur so I made sure lot's of Cunningham's soft fur made it from his brush to the holder. I'm not exactly sure when the nest building begins, but it seemed like a good day to put it out there. I have it hanging next to a suet-filled feeder and right now the birds seem much more interested in that one. I captured a chickadee in mid flight as he flew from nest supplies to...yummy food.

I'll keep taking pictures every couple of weeks and track the progress. We have so many birds in our back yard that I can only imagine it will get used eventually.

Joe the Cup

I managed to get quite a bit of crafting in over the long weekend. Since I'm a beginner crocheter, I gravitated to Ana Paula Rimoli's book Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet. Her patterns are really easy to follow and the results are darling! I've been obsessed with knit and crochet food, so my latest was her "Café con Leche" (i.e. Joe the Cup). I didn't add the pink cheeks in her pattern because 1) I wasn't sure I liked them, and 2) I didn't have pink felt.

I love using safety eyes. Besides the fact that it's impossible to find them at any of my three local craft stores, I ordered a bunch online from Harvey's Hobby Hut. They have a great selection of craft eyes and sell them in bulk or in the smaller packages. The prices are pretty good and they ship fast! I'd definitely recommend them if you are having trouble getting safety eyes locally.

Recent Crochet

I'm now saying that I officially crochet. After completing two projects that actually look like what they're supposed to, I feel like I deserve to list it as one of my crafty skills.

My little black cat sat around for awhile in pieces - for some reason I was convinced he wouldn't go together easily. It did take a really long time to get his face just perfect, but I think he was worth the effort. For a first pattern, it was definitely easy, but I should have chosen another color. It was really difficult to see the stitches when I was working. One of the good benefits of using black was that it hides all of my terrible sewing for his little arms, legs and tail!

I haven't decided if I'm going to give him up or not. I've gotten somewhat attached since he is my first crochet project. And he's just so darn cute!

My second project were a couple of Happy Eggs. I fell in love with them as soon as I saw the picture, so I borrowed the book from the library and made it my second project. I started by making the yellow chick with wool ease and then was annoyed that the white has a strand of glitter running through it and bought a white Vanna's Choice. The shell was way too big for the little guy so I made the gold chick and ended up making the yellow chick's shell by ripping out the shimmery strand. I actually like the wool ease chick and egg better even though it's not as firm as the Vanna's Choice. The little chick is fuzzier and the gauge works out to be more the size of an actual egg.

What I'm Reading: Angela's Ashes: A Memoir - Frank McCourt

Thumbs way up! I'd heard people say that Angela's Ashes was a must-read book, but for some reason it took me a very long time to get around to agree. I think I made the decision to put it on my 2008 list when we got back from Ireland and wanted to mentally prolong my visit. After reading The Glass Castle (TGC), I thought "eh, why not another memoir?" I was on a memoir roll!

Once again, I listened to the audio - which happens to be done my McCourt himself. I found this particularly nice because he sings all the old Irish songs.

Overall I thought it was well written and very good. As with TGC the subject matter was at times difficult to listen to, but what amazed me in McCourt's experience, was that often times, there were people around to help out. That's not to say he didn't endure hardship, it was just different from TGC.

I feel like I have a much better understanding of what it means to be Irish and Catholic (I'm neither). McCourt does an amazing job of setting you in his shoes - tape and holes included - to get an idea of what it is to be both.

Cappuccino Cupcakes

My friend and co-worker, Andrea is getting married next month. A bunch of us decided to surprise her with a shower at work, so I of course, volunteered to bring dessert.

I wanted something simple, yet pretty. Since there were going to be a lot of men at the shower I also needed something that wasn't TOO pretty. I decided that Cappuccino Cupcakes would be perfect!

The recipe comes from my copy of Old-Fashioned Bake Sale (page 122). It couldn't be simpler because you just need a chocolate cake mix and frosting. To achieve the mild coffee flavor, the cupcakes are made with strong coffee instead of water (I used hazelnut), and you mix coffee liqueur into the frosting. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons but I gave it an extra dollop of Kahlua - this does make the frosting too thin, but just beat a spoon of shortening in and it will come out really good. I topped with a coffee flavor chocolate candy (couldn't find any choco covered beans) and I was done! So simple!

The cupcakes came out very moist and delicious and everyone loved them. They look great on the cupcake tree too!

Amigurumi - I'm in love

I really didn't think I would ever want to crochet. EVER. I didn't like the look of it and thought knitting was superior. Then I saw amigurumi. I couldn't get enough of all the adorable little animals and items and decided I had to make them. Little did I know that almost all amigurumi patterns are crochet.

I took a quick lesson with my mom and ta da! I have the makings of my very own amigurumi black cat. The pattern is actually pretty easy but now, as you can see, I have to figure out how to put him together. I worked on his face FOREVER until it was just right. I could only get my hands on solid black eyes (they are hard to see in the photo), but I ordered a bunch of natural eyes so I can make more of these little guys. Isn't he cute!?!?!?

Tree of Life Knit Along

Lion Brand Yarn sends me emails every now and then and I was so excited when I saw they were having a knit-along with the Tree of Life pattern. Even though the pattern is labeled "Experienced" I read through it and was only mildly terrified of what lay ahead. It's so amazingly beautiful I just couldn't help myself and had to start it right away. I'm using Lion's Fisherman's Wool (100% wool so it smells really nice) so it will be very cozy when I'm done. There is a scary flower garden section coming up but onward I go! *insert marching music here*

My poor husband thinks I'm possessed when I'm working on this blanket. It takes SO much concentration because I don't want to mess it up. When he starts talking to me I usually end up giving him sinister glares or bite his head off with "Stop talking to me! I'm knitting!!" I of course apologize when I finish the row, but I think he's catching on that when he sees the cream colored blanket come out, he should hide. hee hee.

So far I've made one mistake. Instead of hiding it and pretending it's not there, I've taken a picture and am pointing it out to the whole world. I was very disappointed when I noticed it but since the pattern is so complex, I've decided to call in a knot in the branch, and move on. I knew I would just make more of a mess if I ripped the rows out and tried to fix my mistake. I blame Bill for the error, of course. He must have chosen that moment to tell me something and I held the cable needle in front of my work when it should have been behind. (I hope he doesn't hate this blanket by the time I'm done.)