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.

A Knitting Blog.

So I finally figured out what I was doing wrong when knitting lace patterns. What a sense of accomplishment I felt when I realized it.
I was pretty sure it had something to do with yarn overs...I was correct.
I have this reading comprehension issue. I scan a lot of times; and therefore miss important pieces. I don't know why I have to read so fast. I always did this.
Anyhow, I didn't realize that you do a yarn over differently based on the stitch that precedes and follows it.
I really want to knit something wearable. Much unlike the potato-sack sweater. I am so over making scarves. I want to make something awesome! Again, this is the whole thing of me needing to rush things. Why do I do this? If anything, knitting is slowly teaching me patience.
And now that I've said that, I must admit that I abandoned this faggot lace piece. I made several mistakes, but corrected them. I made yet another mistake and started to rip out the rows, then my daughter reached over me and all hell broke loose with the piece. I just gave up. Not a good way to be, but that's just the way it is.
Back to my next project. I have some ideas. I'm really interested in trying a cloverleaf pattern but I have issues with the SSK stitch. Gotta work on it.
I also have this adorable pattern I bought on Etsy. I need to get some good yarn for it though. My mom bought me a cool little box of patterns that I am excited about too.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.
The cupcakes themselves are quite delicious. I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa.
The frosting, however, is quite medicinal. Can't say I'm a fan. The chocolate ganache is yummy, the mint frosting is just too much. And that says a lot because I love the whole chocolate-mint combination.
This is the first time I worked with a non-dairy frosting. That is, the first time I used a non butter cream. I have to say that I did enjoy working with this frosting. Thank you super fatty vegan shortening (13 grams of fat per TABLESPOON!) for being so sturdy and non-melty (and yes, that's a technical term.) The shortening makes the frosting so sturdy and easy to work with.
I was thinking of nixing the mint extract and using almond extract. I think *that* would be absolutely divine. Or maybe...adding almond extract to the chocolate cupcake and making the frosting with coconut extract and coconut flakes, decorate with sliced almonds and flaked coconut. Almond Joy cupcakes. Hmmm...

Welcome to my Neurosis.

This was my view yesterday at the drive-thru ATM. I really don't know why it annoyed me so much, but it did. Actually, I guess it's more funny than annoying.
Lately I've had such an urge to do something really creative, but I just can't put my finger on what it is I want to do. I find myself scouring the internet looking for ideas, and then I realize I spend most of the time looking and not doing. That is frustrating.
Another (stupid) thing that is bothering me is the title of this blog. I think I need to change it. It's too specific. Especially since this is the second post and knitting, baking, or picture taking has yet to take center stage.
But then the url has the title in it, so I feel like if I change the title, the url is misleading. Yes, I think too much about stupid things.

Two Signs of Spring.

Humping squirrels and sprouting daffodils. Not necessarily in that order.