Siamese Knitty Kitty and an Ice Cream Sandwich.

I completed the adorable cat for Abby. The face looks absolutely horrific, but overall, it's cute. The child likes it, so that's all that really matters. I purchased the pattern from this etsy shop.

Today me and Abby made some oatmeal raisin cookies. I then made some "ice cream." I adapted this recipe. I used vanilla silk (instead of plain), dark brown sugar and flavored it with cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. I'll call it Brown Sugar & Spice. I just ate the ice cream sandwich and it was delicious.

Hard Rolls or Vienna Rolls.

Made some rolls today. They really involve little effort, just a lot of wait time. The photos are of the second rise, the third rise, and the delicious finished product. There are only 11 rolls because a certain little lady helped shape one. Her hands were covered in bread dough, and it was unable to be salvaged (the roll, not her hand).
If you have never made bread, I highly recommend it. The aroma that fills your house is definitely worth it.
I followed a recipe from my favorite cookbook, "The Joy of Cooking."
We had these with our dinner. Fresh and hot out of the oven. Steam wafting, butter (or, in my case, Promise Light spread) melting. The outside is firm, the inside is chewy. Delicious!
Make them. Soon.

Contact me if you want the recipe. I was going to type it all out, but I'm just feeling lazy.

Betrayed by a Macaroon.

It's not often that I bake something and am unhappy with the results. Ugh! I made these macaroons from a recipe provided by a friend. She made these cookies for the cookie exchange I hosted in December and they were delicious! Perfectly coconut-y. These bad boys? Not so much. They need a ton more coconut. I am sorely disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to eat them because, well, let's face facts, I love to eat sweets. But, I will eat them begrudgingly. *huff*

Orange. and Blue

I used to hate the color orange. It just annoyed me. It was the least worn down crayon in my box of crayolas; well, aside from the white because really, who uses a white crayon?
Anyhow, over the past few years the color has grown on me and now it is one of my favorites. I love the warmth of it. Anyhow, I have recently taken a few photos with some orange "zest". Sorry, couldn't resist.
And, just to be complimentary, there's a blue photo in there too.

Last Night's Dinner and Easter Dinner.

Last night for dinner me and Abby made Vegetarian Minestrone. We also made goat cheese (obviously, not vegan), sun-dried tomato and fresh spinach panini. The sandwich was very, very good. Since I do not have a grill pan, or a panini maker. I just made them the usual way in the pan, but place another, smaller pan on top of it and then put the full pot of soup on top of that to press it down (oh so resourceful!)
~
For Easter we're going to do appetizers. I usually do brunch, but that's getting old, plus "brunch" time is Abby's naptime. That's not a good idea. So, this is what I've tentatively come up with:

• Onion Tarts with Goat Cheese
• Eggplant, Smoked Mozzarella and Basil Rolls
• Sweet Potato Rolade
• Deviled Eggs
• Garlic Toasts with Black Olive Tapenade
• Crispy Baked Eggs Rolls
• Black Bean Cakes (my sister will make)
• Brushetta (my sister will also make this.)
• Lemon and Almond Tart
• Creamy Lemon Rice Pudding

It's a lot, but doesn't seem like enough. Plus, it's going to be a lot of work. Especially with a toddler.

Screen Print.

I've been wanting to do some screen printing. Why? I really don't know.
I found a blog on livejournal which gave an easy, cheap way to do it. It involves a hoop (used for cross-stitching), sheer curtains, mod podge, and speedball paint.
Abby & I headed down to Pearl on South Street this afternoon to get the paint. Not until I got home did I realize that I didn't buy textile paint! Ass. Oh well. I did it anyhow because I just wanted to see how it would turn out. I like the cupcake, the word "yummy" just looks dumb.

Another Vegan Cupcake.

Another one from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I altered the vanilla cupcake and vanilla buttercream to make them almond flavored. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong, but the vanilla ones never taste fully cooked despite a clean toothpick.

The buttercream was pretty good, but not what I'm used too. I'll say it was a few steps above Sam's Club or Acme. But many steps below my regular dairy-filled buttercream.

I will be honest, I've been toying with the idea of being vegan. It seems like the natural progression of things, but I just cannot tolerate these vegan items as acceptable substitutes for my kick-ass poundcake and buttercream. I just can't. Occassionally, sure. When I just want something sweet? Definitely. But for birthday cakes? No f'ing way. Sorry, vegans of the world (like anyone is reading this anyhow...) I just can't.