Switching to Bloglovin

So it's almost July and I've done pretty much no sewing. Whoops. I'm almost done with my summer class so it's just 40 hours of volunteering a week plus riding after that (plus dog walks, church, family nonsense and so on), much more manageable.

Anyway, I'm switching to bloglovin and I'm trying to claim my blog- let's see how it goes


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(theoretically) Quick Storage Bag

 

The horse I was riding up until last week* threw me and then I caught the nasty bug that's been going around (it's since turned into a sinus infection and I can't hear 100% out of one ear) so all last weekend I moped around. The problem is I get a bit manic when sick and decided I needed to replace the plastic bag that's been housing random stuff.

Half Way There

I'm almost half way through my summer class and already have a backlog of projects to finish (vintage Vogue reprint hack, Negroni for DH, knit peplum, trousers to hem, taking in a skirt) but believe it or not, I *have* been sewing. Just nothing I can show here (should have taken pictures for my log though). We are testing out the best/cheapest method to store silver so I spent a couple hours sewing pacific silver cloth bags and box liners. I was not particularly proud of the sloppy lines (that cloth eats needles and I get sloppy early in the morning as evidenced by the random patches some of the larger pieces have when I forgot to account for all dimensions when cutting) but I got compliments from some of the non-sewers in the office so that was nice.

Fiesta Kind-of Chowder

The colors remind me of traditional Mexican colors so the name. They called it a chowder but with so little fat, it doesn't quite qualify as chowder in my book. To quote DH "It's WeightWatchers so it's not going to be the tastiest thing ever", but with the added spices and fat I think it's better than he gives it credit for (he ate three bowls). I think all the vegetables throw him off.

Chevron Skirt

Food and sewing posts are going to be lacking for the next two months or so. My internship is an hour-twenty at least each way (three days a week), my class is forty minutes away (twice a week), volunteering is twenty (once a week), and lessons are an hour-ten in the opposite direction (once a week). So it's going to be quick dinners, and very limited sewing.

A couple of months ago (had to have been early summer) I found a cute skirt tutorial for a chevron pleated skirt and decided that would be a good way to replace some of the printed skirts DH doesn't like.

The front two have been shelved for a couple months now. The parasol one reminds me of Kaylee and the dot one is just fun.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Nautical Knit Top (Fringe Festival Scarf T)

I've been getting frustrated that there are so many cute dresses out there that could fit me, or I like the pattern for, but dresses are just so impractical. I have a decent walk each way to and from the metro this summer and while there is a shuttle from the HOA office to the metro, there is definitely not one to my internship (hoping I can get clearance to drive my car, I don't care if it's in DC traffic, it cuts my commute down by almost an hour). So this is sort of sewing therapy, a patterned top that could be practical.
I know I said no nautical but I saw the announcement of the fabric and had to get it. DH says it could be work appropriate with khakis or something but I'm not convinced- thoughts?

 I talk with my hands, this is what happens when I ask DH to take the pictures

Banana Bread and Cookie Snakes

We had to bring snacks in for church this week and I was feeling particularly lazy (I had to make cookie snakes for a term project, presentation, I'll talk about that later) so we picked up a coffee cake and I made a loaf of banana bread. The banana bread is pretty straight forward, the cookies are less so.

Banana Bread

There are a couple of variations that I included in the recipe but not in the this loaf (the as-is loaf was a hit with my church so I'm not sure the additions are needed)


3-4 RIPE Bananas, mashed (this means going brown, not this side of green)
1/2 C Butter, unsalted, melted
1 C sugar, granulated (though brown would probably do well, too)
1 t Vanilla (or a combination of Vanilla, Rum extract, etc. This loaf has a 2:1 ratio of Vanilla to Rum)
1 Egg, beaten (in a separate bowl/mug)
1 Pinch Salt (regular iodized,  not Kosher/Sea/Flaked/Himalayan)
1 t Baking Soda
1.5 C Flour, All purpose
1/2 C Chocolate Chips, semi sweet (optional)
1/4 C Pecans, Chopped. (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a ~4"x8"' loaf pan (I use the wrapper of the butter since you don't need a lot of butter to grease)

With a wooden spoon, mix the mashed bananas with the butter in a medium to large bowl. Add the Egg, Sugar, and Extracts. Stir. Add Salt and Baking Soda. Stir. Add Chips and/or nuts. Stir. Add Flour. Stir.

Bake for ~45-60 mn (usually closer to 45). Loaf is done when golden on top and a skewer/knife inserted and pulled out comes out without goop and a few crumbs (clean means it's over cooked).

Let cool in the pan, uncovered. Can be kept for several days, covered, in the fridge. I would recommend pre-cutting/removing from the pan before serving since it can be rather soft.

Cookie Snake
Adapted from Peppermint Plum's Sugar Cookie

We were presenting on a museum that had an exhibit called "Why did it have to be snakes" (or something like that, it wasn't important to the project) and instead of a more complicated (to carry) treat, we decided to do cookie snakes. Here's how I did my batch:

1 C Butter, unsalted
2 C Sugar
2 Eggs
3 t Vanilla
1 C Sour Cream
1 t Salt
2 t Baking Soda
5.5 C Flour, All purpose
0.5 tube green gel food coloring
3 drops each, red and blue food coloring

In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients.
Cream Butter and Sugar. Mix in Eggs and Vanilla. Mix in Sour Cream. Incrementally mix in the dry ingredients (use 1/2 C increments or else your kitchen will turn white). Add the food coloring (or omit if you want regular sugar cookies). Mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for >30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375. Pull cookie sheets, line with greased parchment paper or silpats.

On a clean surface, powder lightly with powdered sugar. Pull a baseball sized lump of dough from the fridge. Roll into 1/3" wide lengths. slice them ~6-7" long and on the tray, create your snake. Good rule of thumb we found is: 2 Squiggles is a worm, 3-4 is a snake, even squiggles are intestines. Taper one end into a point and create a lumpy "head" at the other end.

 

This batch was more than 6-7", they expand too much for what I wanted

 Bake for around 5 minutes, though they may take longer. Watch for the top texture to change but pull before the edges brown. A little tan is okay.

See? Expand too much.

Let the cookie cool for 1-2mn on the tray then pull silpat to cool more. Then transfer to paper plates or whatever to cool completely. At this point your can freeze or ice the cookies. To freeze, place in a tupperware type container and put parchment or waxed paper between layers.

Icing
Barely Adapted from Alton Brown's Royal Icing

One of my teammates just picked off the icing and ate that so I guess this wouldn't be in line with the royal icing I grew up using for gingerbread houses

Yellow Gel Coloring
3 Egg Whites (if you can find pasteurized egg whites, use that- roughly 6 T, I think)
~4 C Powdered Sugar
1 t Vanilla/Almond Extract (whatever flavor you feel like really)

If you are using unpasturized egg whites then I've been told you just need to heat them in a saucepan until warm (careful not too cook though) or you can risk salmonella, whichever. Moving on.

In an electric mixer, combine the egg whites and vanilla on medium speed until frothy. Add the powdered sugar in small ammounts until all combined. Mix on medium-high until stiff peaks form (8 minutes or so). Immediately transfer to sealable containers until ready to use. Make sure to have cookies are room temp before icing.

If you are adding coloring (I use 3/4 tube of yellow) add that into the frosting and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a piping tube. I may recommend 1-1 1/2T of liquid to thin it all out since it was a little too firm for my liking.

These were the rejects because of the wonky stripes/eyes but you get the idea.

I used one of those writing gel tubes for the eyes, they got everywhere, oh well, the "directors" thought they were adorable.