Wordless Wednesday..

Recycling the good stuff....

Just a little blurb about yesterday's Christmas card in my tree...well, actually.... the several cards in the tree...every year.  Yesterday's was one from my sister one year ....

I hate to throw away pretty cards... especially those with a bit of bling and also some special meaning. They are perfect for that dark spot...or that wonky spot or ... well, anywhere in the tree actually, where you want a bit of "something" that the balls and other decorations just aren't providing....


This one I just cut around the edge of the gold trimmed centre of a lovely card.... it stays in the Christmas decorations box....been there about 6 years now.... love it...

Store bought cards are horribly expensive and some are perfect for this... and... those beautiful handmade cards? .. well,  they 're just too special to chuck in the garbage.

With some, I save the whole front of a card...some, I just save the middles...or maybe only a particular piece.  Yesterday's ... the whole front...cut with deckle edged scissors...and strategically placed in the tree.. lights shining just so onto it.

You can make labels or tags with the smaller pieces... or use them on your own handmade cards next year... or... well, I am sure you can think up other uses for them as well.  I have a box full of them for when I think of other things to do with them.  It doesn't take up any space at all in my big storage area... just stack it with my other 4 or 5 boxes of things.  The origami papers (oh, yes...don't forget...save all the beautiful foil type wrapping papers too...for those!!  (they only need 3 pieces of 3 X 3 inches each) If you don't want to make any...save it for me! Send me a few bits and pieces in a card envelope.... hey!  I could make you a few and send them back to you next year.... hahahha... oh, yeh...what else?

There is a box of walnut mice....another box of whole cards for making boxes... some boxes of greenery for making some table centres and arrangements.. and,  ... oh, alright, alright....... I admit it.  I have several more boxes ...of all sorts of things for Christmas and other crafts.  Sigh...

Must p.u.r.g.e.  Maybe it's time to give away some of the stuff I just know I'm not going to use anymore.... wish I knew locals who want to do some crafting....

here are the links to last year's card posts...

Better get a move on... today I'm making soup from the tiny chicken carcass... foccaccia bread to go with soup for supper...another 'nog loaf....and oh, ... better do some treadmill.  The Christmas goodies are beginning to show...around my middle.....

.

....... day after Christmas

Ghosts of Christmas Past....

Thank goodness we've come a long way since then..... whew.....

Have a happy day everybuddy.....

I hope you have a fun tree to enjoy ...

and some yummies...

some chocolates ...goes without saying really....

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Merry Christmas !!!

Hey, just a darn minute here.  Does anybody remember these little lights being this tangly last year?..huh...do ya?

Well, they weren't... Im sure of it.... so who played with them besides us?


Merry Christmas everybody.....

.... and...... here's to a healthy, happy 2011.....

let's make it a fun one!


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Don't panic!!

I know there is very little time left and some folks get so caught up in the whole festive season hype....   Of course, it's only my humble opinion...but, I'm sure they just try to do too much.  Sometimes simple ..or at least simpler... is better.  Really.

It's all gotten so commercial hasn't it?  Maybe it's time to mutiny or rebel... just do it a whole new way.  Or... go back to the old ways.... well, at least some of the old ways.  They weren't all great...

Here's a suggestion, for what it's worth.  If you still plan to do some special baking... make it "special".   Do one fabulous thing instead of a lot of "stuff". Trim it or plate it in grand style...and that could be it.  How about Cranberry Coffee Cake?















If you want a great seasonal loaf... try Eggnog Christmas Loaf with Buttered Rum Glaze.  Can't go wrong with that one! A fancy plate.. a bit of gold ribbon.. a few ornaments...and just the loaf itself...they'll be drooling.  It is droolworthy. And... make a few more after Christmas with the leftover 'nog... double wrap and freeze for oh,.. say... July?  YUMMY !!  I love Christmas in July.  Can't believe I can't find a photo of one of the lovely loaves...  I'll look again tomorrow.....

Press somebody into helping with cute Chocolate covered maraschino cherry cookies...  cuties... they are a bit fiddly for one person, but, still not all that bad.....however, with another pair of hands... a snap.  Again... they look so special...  and worth the effort.  Everybody will be impressed.... it happens every year.  Look how cute.

And... biscotti.  For some reason, everybody thinks it is difficult to make.  Not so.  Even though I, myself, had a few hiccups this past week with my baking... biscotti is still a special and yet an easy biscuit to make.  Decorate by dipping into chocolate... drizzling with chocolate... sprinkling with nuts... and the combinations of ingredients is endless.  I have a few on the other blog...but, you could always just go to food.com and type in biscotti.  You'll be flooded with recipes!  Tomorrow I'd like to get some pistachio/cranberry biscotti done.  But...I also want  to do a bit of grocery shopping...and try on a blouse I saw the other day..oh... and do my treadmill.. so... eh... maybe the biscotti won't get done tomorrow.  There's still Friday...   and, I do have at least one eggnog loaf in the freezer........

Oh, my ... these just look so plain beside the other goodies... okay..then... scratch these for this year....

Is Mars in retrograde?

I've heard that description before... maybe it has to do with baking woes.   Or is there some other wonky planet alignment?  Maybe my Biodex is in a downward swing.  Whatever's happening.... the kitchen disasters..or near-disasters have continued throughout the past few days.  Maybe I'm just losing it...or... well, who knows....

Actually, I (and Mr. BumbleVee too) "eated" a lot of cookies.   He always rubs his hands in glee... and has a big grin... cuz he knows it means more for him.  Cheeky!   There I was ...baking second batches. Because they were not quite right.  The edges of some biscotti refused to cut nicely.  There was some breakage..or there was crumbling.  And...I want perfect when I send them, darn it!

This is definitely not the norm.  I bake.  A lot.  And... not much goes wrong ...usually.  Well, sure there is the odd thing that happens, but not like this.  Read that in a very whiny voice.... .

This week, I have had nothing but "blog fodder"...   I could get miles of written word out of my "happenings"  in the kitchen.. ....sigh...
everything from trying to use butter that was too firm and whacking myself out trying to whisk the lumpiness into something smooth.... to not being able to get white chocolate to drizzle...hmmmm..... all of which, of course, I've done previously.  Many times.

Oh, well, suffice to say... finally, today, I am finished with my planned baking that I am sending to my sister.  It's become a tradition.  She doesn't like to bake very much and still has a bit of trouble with staying focused as far as wordy recipes are concerned.  Most of you that are regulars know that she fell years ago... about 9 years now I think....on an icy parking lot.  Knocked herself out cold; sustained a terrible concussion. There was and still is some residual brain damage.  If you meet her you would never know because she has clawed back most of her former self.......almost single handedly I might add.  Nobody in or outside of her family helped much at all. But, there are some things that still elude her or make her feel nauseous ... and baking from recipes is one of them...  plus she wanders away from the kitchen and things happen then for sure.  There have been a lot of ruined pans and things burned to a crisp on her stove in the past few years... and a lot of fire alarms and worried cats.  She has decided it is safer not to bake... or cook much at all as a matter of fact.

The past week... she is definitely not in her kitchen.  She is stuck on the couch or wandering around in pain and frustration.  She fell and broke her wrist and finally after a week of waiting... they have placed a cast on it.  They had just cleared their steep driveway with the tractor...the blade left glare ice...and two steps onto the ice ... down she went.  Well, of course, after all the agony of the first few years after her concussion... all she could think of was.."don't hit my head!!" .. and out flew both hands to prevent that from happening.  She said as quick as it happened...that was still her first thought.  She also knew that the second she threw out her hands... she was going to be in big trouble. She was; it broke straight across the second it hit the ground.  Damn!!

So...I love to bake...always have and love to send her some.  I'll be off to the Greyhound soon to get her package away.  The Speedy Doggie as Mum used to call Greyhound... her favourite mode of transport in the day.

Update:::  Aaacckkk!!  I knew it GP!  Something is definitely not quite right.  

hahah...of course, I don't know much about any of it...although I do find it interesting if I read up on some aspect of it.  Once I even had my horoscope chart done... many moons ago... 

..and look at this... an excerpt from the info regarding the retrograde phase of Mercury.

"Mercury is all about mental clarity and the power of the mind, so when Mercury is retrograde these intellectual characteristics tend to be less acute than usual, as the critical faculties are dimmed. Make sure you pay attention to the small print!"

There we have it..... is it even worse if I'm a Capricorn?...cuz...I am..... 

Nuts!!

Literally... and figuratively .....

When a recipe says roast nuts in a 350F oven for 15 minutes...and alarm bells go off??.... listen to your alarms!

This is where the first batch ended up...

If it looks like a garbage can... that's because it is.
Walnut halves are like gold.  A big bag was $14.99....on sale.  Oooooooooohhh.... that burns me almost as much as it did the darn nuts.

I was going along so well too.... this is how amazing they were just after I added a splash of my real Quebec Maple Syrup from a friend of a relative.... just brought all the way across the country.  Wasted Maple Syrup is an absolute crime!!  Anybody who has ever had the real thing will tell you that. Then...a generous grinding of lovely black pepper.  These are spicy glazed nuts. Mmmm... well, they would have been mmmm...

... but, then... the recipe called for putting them in the oven.  So.. I set my timer for 12 minutes..not even the required 15... but... too late..... they were already past tasting burned when I grabbed for the baking sheet.  There were some "french words" as somebody used to say..... who was that now?  I forget.  Anyway.....it was disheartening to say the least because it was just the beginning of my plan for an amazing salad for supper.

Onward.... second batch.  Never quit when you are behind.

You can bet your bottom hard earned dollar that I was watching like a hawk this time around..... my eyes were glued to that oven.  Don't even walk out of the kitchen.... cuz you know how fast nuts can be ruined!

Ahhhhhh.... that's more like it.  I had the oven at just over 300F this time...and it only took about 6 to 8 minutes really.... ....

Then....I poached my lovely pear.  In wine and cinnamon infused syrup....

It was a thing of beauty.... well....to my eyes at least it was.  It stayed firm... soaked up the wonderful flavours...and was absolutely the nicest pear I have ever seen or eaten.  Including the creation by the chef at the restaurant where I first had this salad... and now... I've copied it to the best of my recollection.

Pear and Goat Cheese Salad with Glazed Walnuts......

I used some peppered goat cheese and instead of just crumbling on the bits...I wanted to figure out a way to cut the soft cheese into rounds.  Looked on Google...and found a few suggestions.  Love Google.

Dental floss.  Yep.  You can saw it across it if you like...as in the video I saw... but, if you just lay it under the roll of cheese...then draw up each side of the floss and cross them over each other...it slices straight through the cheese as easy as can be.   Even very thin slices come away so cleanly it is amazing. I did put the cheese roll in the freezer for just a few minutes (watch that too... you don't want to ruin a lovely little log of cheese) .. so that I could cut away the packaging without damaging the roll.  Why can't they make it easier to get the roll of cheese neatly out of the packaging material?

A vinaigrette with a few tablespoons of the poaching syrup finished it off. YUM....

Take that Chef Kevin....

Clay didn't appeal ...

..the other day when I had a bit of time to play.  So, instead...I stitched up some bear bits and pieces. Remember the little furry face?  These are the rest of the story.... although, even her/his face is not yet finished.

Oh.... and ... have some lovely warm beverage at hand.  This is not as quick for me as it is for some folks....

Usually I hand stitch my bears as they aren't very big.  My largest stitched mohair and other fabric bears would be about 8 inches....  they go down to about 2 inches.  My needle felted guys are usually under 2 or just up to 3 max....

There are several ways to hold the pieces securely in position while stitching.  My preference is alligator clips ... probably because that's the way I was shown when I did my first little bear.  You know how it goes... we do what we are comfortable with...and it seems it's often the way we learn to do something that remains most comfortable for us.  Some people like to baste the two pieces using blanket stitch, or whip stitching... and then go back over it with a secure backstitch.

Here's my way.  A porcupine.  Hahahha.... this is the body.  It is pretty tricky to stitch up a piece with this many clips hanging off it...even by hand... but, it definitely keeps the pieces from sliding around and then... either puckering or the whole piece being twisted when you finish.

I may give basting a try on the next bear I do on the machine. If I do another.  We'll see how this little guy works out first.   I can see basting perhaps being a little easier all 'round.  Although...if you remove a couple for the first stitches....and just go slowly.. removing each clip as the toe of the foot touches it or just before ... things work out okay.  I am not a quick stitcher anyway...so, no biggy for me.  Maggi likes to whiz along...so she pins hers and when she isn't using my machine...says she even stitches over the pins. Ohhhh..... she's brave.  I tried that once and sproinnggg!  'Busted needle'.  My first try going over a pin.  Forget it.

Seeing as this is about a 6 inch bear....I thought I'd give it a go on the machine.  Of course, it's been so long since I used my machine that I had to look up how to put thread on a bobbin...and then..page 15...how to thread the darn thing.  It was already threaded because Maggi was here not that long ago and she did it properly of course.... she sews .. a LOT.   But, I had to change colours... and...   I'm just not that much into sewing...yet.  Probably not going to happen at this late stage in my life ..... oh, well.... it seems to be stitching properly.  So..off I went.  Wooohooo...it is a lot of fun when I get going.  I just hesitate so darn much at the simple "trying" of some things.... only some things though.  Other things?...I'm the fist guy on the block ... even I can't figure me out at all.  Don't even try.

Oh, hey! and..... don't forget to pick the "fur" out of the seams on the wrong sides before turning the pieces.  If you leave it caught in the seams you will have undesirable shorter tufts all along a seam.  Not very professional looking.  It might not be quite as noticeable to the average viewer, especially on a bear with long scraggly fur...but....I would notice ... and not be all that pleased with myself.

And... one other thing..... on the machine...I get going along and forget to stop in time, so all of a sudden...I have a hole remaining that is just too tiny.   I got to use the seam picker thingy two times.  You need a hole just a bit larger than this to get a finger and needle nosed pliers inside the body to attach joints and limbs....  not much larger....but, just a tad.  Unpick... reinforce the ends of the stitching a second time.  Pick out scraggly fur caught in the seams...turn the body... Voila.... bear bits ready to play with and...now... stitch on the foot pads.  I'm too chicken to try those on the machine.

It's a beautiful blue sky day....  going up to an amazing +8C or so.... I'll sit at the kitchen table in the lovely warm sun and stitch on the foot pads today...

playing with clay

Finally I'm getting around to making some arms and legs for my funny little dolly I began waaaay back... can't even rermember when...

She is my take on Black Eyed Suzi's well known dolls...

Having made only a few things using paper clay, it is mostly still a learning experience.  The head and face seemed a lot easier than the spindly legs and arms.

I used a piece of wire wrapped with tin foil to give it a bit of shape and something to begin to attach clay.  It sure is a fiddly job...and they look pretty rustic so far...but, it is a start and should be easier to add more clay when dried... then some sanding and shaping and hopefully...a "voila" !  moment.

 I'll keep you posted Dear Diary.... lol....

I'm not sure about sizes.... I'm just a hit and miss kinda gal most of the time.  It's why it takes me soooo long to do everything.
I made the tiny foot first, but then thought it looked a tad small for the body and the length of the leg.  So... second leg is larger overall.  Today I'll place all the limbs near the body and check for size...then... make a second leg ...  in what I deem to be an appropriate size for her.

Not to worry about all the lumpiness... when I add more clay... it can all be smoothed over... and don't forget...sanding.  One thing about this clay...it sands wonderfully... and easily.

How do you like my ingenious drying rack? hahahhah......

I'll have to move things around today...I need to use that mixer....

Sunny Sunday....

Here's a quick little fun thing for you to whip up at a moment's notice .... when you crave some chocolate.... or want to nibble something sweet and don't have any other goodies on hand.  Simple, quick and very effective....

It is actually called 5 Minute Chocolate Cake in a Mug...and, sure, you can do it that way...but, a few extra minutes and it is so much better than the rubbery, mediocre, microwave version.

I love little ramekins.... as a matter fact...I have a "thing" about them.  I have a whole drawer full of them...and hardly ever use them.  But, I see some I think are cute...and have to buy them.  These are my latest ... chocolate coloured outside and creamy white on the inside.  Too deep for this tiny amount of cake-y stuff....but... I wanted to see how they looked.  I'm thinking they may even take the full amount in one ramekin seeing as they are larger than most of the others.  Next time I'll double the recipe...and make us a full one each!  But... really... I only need a few mouthfuls to satisfy the chocolate craving.  Well... I do when I remember that it takes about 6 hours on the treadmill to burn it off.. hahahhahha.....

here's the explanation

Sheila, of PrimRose Donkey Sanctuary.... rescues and takes in strays of all sorts.(it isn't just donkeys at her place for sure!)  This is just one more in the never ending line of poor unfortunates.  However... once they get to Sheila's place...    they are definitely not unfortunate any more! They get all the love and spoiling the volunteers can muster.  Laurel is one of those very special ladies.... 


Here is the blurb I copied from Sheaffer's blog to let you know the story...


"Shadow the goat, now renamed VanaRose, made clear to Laurel the volunteer that her ears were feeling the chill and so Laurel has made her several sets of ear covers, in varying thicknesses so she can weather the winter chill in comfort. They match her tartan winter blanket, giving her a stylish air not usually seen outside the larger fashion houses."


Imagine somebody making such a cute outfit for a rescued goat..... I just love it.  I don't know Laurel...but, sure wish I could meet her in person some day.  She must be a special lady indeed..... and... what a sense of humour!


Every time I see that picture of the goat I just have to laugh....

Wordless Wednesday..

http://sheafferdonkey.blogspot.com/