Wednesday, January 19, 2011

oops...

Wow, I've been absent from the internets for a while... oops! Part of that is I haven't had too much that I've felt needed to be posted since very little craftiness has been happening. Of course cooking has been, with just a little bit of experimentation, but nothing so spectacular I felt it needed to be shared... until now! This past weekend we had a baby shower to celebrate the anticipated arrival in March of a friend's second daughter. I made the cake and it was a huge hit! I didn't get any photos of it, but a friend did, so as soon as I get one from her I'll post it up here. It was a basic chocolate cake (using KAF's chocolate cake recipe) with a raspberry curd filling and whipped cream icing. It was delish! I don't think there was a single crumb left on the cake stand! I even got asked to make cupcakes in the same combination for an upcoming birthday party... I may need to actually go into business for myself!

I think I also made a really yummy chicken dish with brussel sprouts a while ago I meant to post about, but now I don't remember exactly what it was :-( It probably started with bacon and I know I used a little cinnamon, which I think may now be my favorite spice to use in pretty much everything! I plan on making tourtiere, a traditional French-Canadian (with its roots in old France) pork pie, this weekend for dinner and a second for a friend who had a baby recently. I'll try to remember to take pictures and post about it! I haven't had any in a long time, and I remember it being absolutely delicious, so I hope this recipe (yet another KAF!) measures up...

As far as crafty stuff goes, I have had one card swap (with another tomorrow) and some basic card-making. I also helped a friend make a new bag for his tent, which was supposed to be an test of his newly-acquired sewing machine, but we found a couple of big flaws that need to be fixed. Not being able to wind your own bobbins is just annoying and getting stuck in reverse makes even straight stitching difficult! Sadly, I haven't done any quilting since my last post, meaning I did not finish my Project Modern quilt, or the strippy quilt I've been working on for a while now... it's a little frustrating! I need to spend some time cleaning up in my craft room so I can actually work in there and leave projects out. I think that as I put away Christmas decorations I'll be able to get a lot of the random stuff cleaned up in there, too. I really want to finish that quilt! And now I have another, at least crib-sized, quilt to make for the Guild! We have an all-solid challenge going courtesy of Robert Kaufman. The company gave us charm packs to use! I may also try to get to the second Project Modern challenge (a monochromatic quilt!) if I feel I have the time and creative energy to do so... I love the idea of a quilt in just one color, so even if I can't have it done by the end of March it may become on of my projects.

Ok, this turned into a rather long post! Happy New Year (rather late)!