Wednesday, November 18, 2009

getting the goods


while my nearest supplier (I thought i'd use drug terms sometimes to draw the parallel between the addictions that one can have...

mine? paints, fabrics, wire, paper, yarn, wax, wood, thread, ribbon, sequins, ric rac, glue- hot, mod podge, yes paste, etc…) of fabrics would be the universal JoAnn Fabrics. while the locality and generality of it’s chain store conveniences are nice, where I could lose the house at is a little fabric store in Bainbridge. I made dirk miss a movie one day when I told him I’d be “right back” and in so doing, came back waaay to late to still make our movie. (New York, I Love You was showing. when we finally did see it, it was fabulous) this little fabric store has it all- the vintage calico prints, hip patterns (I hate using the word hip, by the way.), and an expert waiting in the wings to give you advice and lessons on the sewing machine they have handy for just such occasions. the store is called Esther’s Fabrics. check it out- along with a movie and a bite at the vegetarian noodle place on the corner.

i want to make some skirts for adelaide with this fabric:

Thursday, November 5, 2009

cranberry orange chocolate chip bread


i used the Betty Crocker recipe for Cranberry Orange bread, with a few alterations:
the best EVER chocolate chips to use are milk chocolate chips (semi-sweet works too) of the Guittard brand. Check out their website to see more about them: http://www.guittard.com/.
3 cups fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) cranberries

1 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons grated orange or lemon peel
4 eggs
3 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2x4 1/2x2 inches, or 1 loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches.
2. Stir together cranberries, sugar, oil, milk, vanilla, orange peel and eggs in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pans.
3. Bake 8-inch loaves 50 to 60 minutes, 9-inch loaf 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

i left out the nuts, and chopped the cranberries and chocolate so that every bite is filled with perfection.
also, for an extra orange-y flavor, i subsitute orange juice for milk. then i added 2 tbsp. plain yogurt for some tart richness.

i wanted to give them away, but didn't know what to wrap them in, besides plain 'ol plastic wrap. here's what i came up with. (i love the egg stickers)

Sunday, November 1, 2009

adelaide, you inspire me


for some reason, having a girl brings out all of these crazy ideas in me. maybe because with a boy, i wouldn't expect him to like a book filled with glitter, or twirling skirts.don't get me wrong,  reed gives me a fare share of that sort of joie de vivre, but i know adelaide will bring something different to the table. a whimsicality of girliness that each woman has at heart. no matter how old we are, we still love to play dress up in baubles and shiny shoes, eat petit fours like Alice in Wonderland, and have the imagination to hope for a life more... well, more colorful and fanciful.