Last week there was a birthday in our house, so I got out the cake pans and scoured cookbooks and the internet for a recipe that looked interesting. The request was for a “yellow” cake – so I found this butter cake recipe and I followed it exactly. The results were good, but next time I would tweak the ingredients a bit – I like a moister cake. However, for frost-ability this cake scored very high marks!
I recently got a Schacht Matchless and to say I adore it is an understatement. It is an amazing wheel and I am getting my spinning groove back.
In my box Spunky Eclectic had tucked some lovely fiber and so I divided the fiber in half with a goal of plying the yarn keeping each color separate with gentle gradient transitions between each color change.
I would say my results were very good and the process gave me a good refresher in spinning and plying. I had some thinner spots in spinning, but as I continued, my consistency got better and I achieved a move even single. My plying had some spots where I over spun a bit, but I did not let that deter me and I forged ahead working on applying just enough twist to balance out my yarn. I skeined it up and sent it off to the tub for a nice bath and I ended up with a 2-ply yarn that had 16 WPI.
I tweaked this lozenge stitch scarf pattern and cast on 122 stitches and joined in the round to make a cowl and my results were more than pleasing.
With Old Man Winter holding us firmly in his grasp, my thoughts turn to an array of comfort foods – ones that are warm, satisfying, and that might just conjure up distant memories of childhood past. Now, while my poor mother was not a spectacular cook by any stretch of the imagination, she would on occasion make some rice pudding. It was truly a superb treat to come home to on a cold winter’s day.
For a great portion of North America the weather outside is indeed frightful. Yet, nestled away in my freezer were some frozen bits of summer. I pulled them out and baked them into some amazingly delicious muffins.
These are sure to brighten up a cold winter’s day.
I am bringing the “year of making” to as many aspects of my life as I possibly can, and one very easy way for me to do this is through the meals I make. With some very simple ingredients – farm fresh eggs, milk, cheese, and some diced ham, you can have a very elegant but entirely satisfying dinner. I have based my recipe on Hubert Keller’s recipe for the same. Ham and Cheese Soufflé
