Stoneview

Sewing machine workout

I've been meaning to sew up a set of needle rolls as a gift for quite some time now. This week I finally freed up the sewing machine and set to work. I find them easier to do in multiples of two and these took a few hours to cut out and a morning to assemble and press. The rest of the box was packed up pronto and a visit to postmistress Karen soon followed. Hopefully the recipient will enjoy them!

Here's the full costume for best effect. The sword was  gussied up during art metals class with a coat of black paint all over and then red paint down on the tip. The helmet is borrowed from a friend and will be a template for the next big art metals project. The non-smudge black paint stayed on fairly well throughout the day (some rubbed off where the helmet presses) and washed off fairly easily. The felt cross and flames need to be stitched on. I was afraid to do that on the sewing machine since I have very little experience with applique but this morning it occurs to me I could easily sew that on by hand so I'll have to remedy that later this week.

Happy Halloween!

Last night I spent the evening snipping and ironing a "Black Knight" t-shirt for spirit day at school today. We got up extra early this morning so there'd be time to apply black makeup and hairspray- it took quite awhile to get it all done but I think he was happy with the result despite the ho-hum look on his face. The ring is his latest art metals project which involved cutting out the shapes with a jeweler's saw and soldering the pieces together. The finished ring was then polished. His outfit will be completed with a plastic crusader sword and a borrowed helmet.

In between the snipping and the ironing I made the slightly delayed taco salads for dinner. There's ground pork cooked with onions, salt, cumin, chili powder, granulated garlic and granulated onion. I warmed the tortilla chips then topped them with the meat, refried beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheddar cheese, green onions and a homemade version of ranch dressing. It was very quick and easy, just what I needed on such a busy knight, err night.

Sweet Sixteen

Yesterday was yougest's sixteenth birthday and we finally made steamed lobster for dinner, something he's been asking for since he was five. The guys had lobster but since I don't like it I had some trout pan-fried with a touch of flour, salt and pepper. The salad is our first harvest from the garden.

Apparently gifts are still appreciated. He'd asked for some gaming things but we also got a little MP3 player that was greatly appreciated. He asked for a peanut butter cake with white chocolate icing. It took some searching but I found a PB chocolate chip cupcake recipe to adapt and off we went.

I found the cake to be a bit dry and crumbly but that's probably because I made a single batch which turned out to be too little when split between two cake pans. I'm writing up the directions for a double batch which should be just right. If anyone makes this please let me know if it's moist or if it needs further tweaking from there. The icing was fab. I'm not a fan of white chocolate but I loved this icing.

Peanut butter chocolate chip cake with white chocolate frosting

for the cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Coat two 9-inch baking pans with cooking spray and flour.

Combine dry ingredients (except chocolate chips) in the bowl of a mixer and blend thoroughly. Combine wet ingredients (except for peanut butter) in a measuring cup and whisk together with a fork. Add wet ingredients and peanut butter to the bowl of the mixer and blend until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips then transfer to cake pans, dividing evenly. Bake at 375 F 25-30  minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan ten minutes then remove to a wire rack until completely cool.

for the frosting:
12 ounces white chocolate, chopped, melted, cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 cups unsalted butter, cubed, cold
2 cups powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a mixer and whip at high speed for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Frost and assemble cake.

I realized that If I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes. Charles Lindbergh

On my way to the market yesterday I spotted this wild turkey crossing the road. Since there were no other cars on the road I snatched little camera out of my purse and snagged a few snaps of it. I'm not familiar enough with them to know if it's male or female but there was definitely a bit of red on the "chin".  It's not really the best area for a turkey to be wandering since not even 100 feet away was the border of the Sportsmen's club. Usually I see these guys in groups of four or five but this one seemed to be a loner as there were no others around that I could see.

Spring garden prep continues. I've spread some rock along the side of the raised bed where it often gets muddy. I picked up pansies, violas, and Johnny-jump-ups yesterday and installed those in the patio pots along with a rosemary and some creeping thyme. Anything else will have to wait until after the frost date but these will provide plenty of lovely color until then.

While Daniel was away on April vacation with his dad he was able to create coasters from the wood I'd bought him. All they need now is a bit of sanding and a coat of varnish. It took a bit of hunting in the basement but I did manage to unearth a can of clear finish for him to use on these so perhaps this afternoon while it's still warm he'll get around to that.