Update Post Re: All Projects
The Wordy Bit
It's all wordy bit and pictures today. My life has been a whirlwind of projects, illness, wellness, craziness, and chaos since just before Christmas. I've got loads of projects going, and none of them seem to be getting done--at least, not fast enough! My baking experiments have been mostly failures, lately...which is very disheartening but! I'm learning. I'm trying new things even when I fail, and I'm making notes (extensive notes) so that I can track my successes and failures. I teased a sugar-free chocolate cake a while back and never came back around to it....it was a mess, and I ate one piece. My husband didn't like it, and I wouldn't even dare give it to my toddler.
I have a love/hate relationship with Devil's Food cakes, anyway**. This iteration is a modified version of my cupcake recipe. It didn't turn out well, so I made some notes on ways to alter the prep (not the ingredients) and see if that yields better results. However, the frosting was a near-success. It's a marshmallow frosting, and it was a bit tackier than I was expecting, so I'm going to tinker with that, as well.
I also really need to bake more. The problem is: my husband doesn't do sweets, and I'm watching what I eat. I guess I'll start posting my baking projects on my personal page and see if they entice any of my neighbors. That would also be a good way to get some more constructive feedback. The only baking success I've had lately (that my husband can't say no to) is this beautiful bundt cake! I would love to take credit for this dream, but I can't. I found the recipe here, and I'll never use another pound cake recipe, again!
I'm steadily working on my meal prep repertoire, as well. So far, I've got 3 meals of pork tenderloin (this recipe from Creme de la Crumb is AMAZING! and the one I used this time), 2 meals of chicken and dumpling starters (all you have to do is bring it to a boil and drop in your dumplings. It's so quick!), 3 meals of the "Butter Chicken Lady"'s butter chicken (recipe here), and about 6 meals of what we call "junk food" (I'll do a post about this sometime. It'd be great for entertaining!). I've been changing and altering some recipes...I currently have about 2 meals of beef stew in the fridge, but I don't know if it's worth keeping. The meat came out tough and chewy (it usually doesn't), so I'm re-thinking my methods on it. I took a picture of it, and all the picture did was prove to me I need a new stock pot....
Of course, most of you prefer my fiber art projects. And that's okay! I've got loads of those in the works. I recently completed a couple projects that you may have seen on social media. These fantastic slipper boots have been a frequent part of my winter ensembles...and they wash and dry well! I opted to go without the pom-poms for my pair, and I also changed up the colors (as you can see).
I've got two large blanket projects in my rotation: learning to knit the Kilim Blanket from We Are Knitters (my colors are: ochre, blush, and olive); and the Woodland CAL by Attic24 (I'm using the same colors/pattern as the CAL). Both of these are progressing slowly, as I've had other projects cross my lap...and I'm taking the knitting very slowly. I think, in the month of February, I've only knitted once for about 3 hours. It's very mentally taxing for me, and I haven't had the mental resources to knit any more than that lately. That, and I had an issue when I got into a quicker rhythm while knitting: half of a knit row came out as purls no matter how many times I did it! It was the weirdest thing, but it taught me the value of a knitting life line.
As for the CAL, it is crochet, and I've just finished Part 2. I'm using the break in Parts to weave in the ends. This also gives me something to do to rest my hands (but still do something) while I'm making amigurumi baby Yoda dolls. Amigurumi is so hard on my hands, so I can only do a couple rows at a time before I have to set it down for a while. I don't have enough ends to keep me occupied during my breaks, so I'll start Part 3 before I'm done with my last two dolls.
I'll have more new designs ready for you soon, as well as some new recipes. I've just had to take some time to get reorganized within the whirlwind of chaos I've been in. Thank you very much for sticking around.
**So, I haven't made a Devil's Food cake since Thanksgiving or Christmas of 2013 (or 2014, I don't remember as I've blocked it from my memory). I made this luscious cake via a Food Network or Martha Stewart recipe. It was topped with a dark chocolate ganache. Well, my sporting self got antsy in the prep and made it same day...big mistake. I iced a too warm cake with a too warm ganache. It slipped and slid everywhere! My sister-in-law and my husband got covered in ganache trying to hold it in place while I cut and served it. It tasted amazing, but we were all too covered in ganache to appreciate the taste. I still get made fun of for it to this day...
I have a love/hate relationship with Devil's Food cakes, anyway**. This iteration is a modified version of my cupcake recipe. It didn't turn out well, so I made some notes on ways to alter the prep (not the ingredients) and see if that yields better results. However, the frosting was a near-success. It's a marshmallow frosting, and it was a bit tackier than I was expecting, so I'm going to tinker with that, as well.
I also really need to bake more. The problem is: my husband doesn't do sweets, and I'm watching what I eat. I guess I'll start posting my baking projects on my personal page and see if they entice any of my neighbors. That would also be a good way to get some more constructive feedback. The only baking success I've had lately (that my husband can't say no to) is this beautiful bundt cake! I would love to take credit for this dream, but I can't. I found the recipe here, and I'll never use another pound cake recipe, again!
Of course, most of you prefer my fiber art projects. And that's okay! I've got loads of those in the works. I recently completed a couple projects that you may have seen on social media. These fantastic slipper boots have been a frequent part of my winter ensembles...and they wash and dry well! I opted to go without the pom-poms for my pair, and I also changed up the colors (as you can see).
I've got two large blanket projects in my rotation: learning to knit the Kilim Blanket from We Are Knitters (my colors are: ochre, blush, and olive); and the Woodland CAL by Attic24 (I'm using the same colors/pattern as the CAL). Both of these are progressing slowly, as I've had other projects cross my lap...and I'm taking the knitting very slowly. I think, in the month of February, I've only knitted once for about 3 hours. It's very mentally taxing for me, and I haven't had the mental resources to knit any more than that lately. That, and I had an issue when I got into a quicker rhythm while knitting: half of a knit row came out as purls no matter how many times I did it! It was the weirdest thing, but it taught me the value of a knitting life line.
As for the CAL, it is crochet, and I've just finished Part 2. I'm using the break in Parts to weave in the ends. This also gives me something to do to rest my hands (but still do something) while I'm making amigurumi baby Yoda dolls. Amigurumi is so hard on my hands, so I can only do a couple rows at a time before I have to set it down for a while. I don't have enough ends to keep me occupied during my breaks, so I'll start Part 3 before I'm done with my last two dolls.
I'll have more new designs ready for you soon, as well as some new recipes. I've just had to take some time to get reorganized within the whirlwind of chaos I've been in. Thank you very much for sticking around.
**So, I haven't made a Devil's Food cake since Thanksgiving or Christmas of 2013 (or 2014, I don't remember as I've blocked it from my memory). I made this luscious cake via a Food Network or Martha Stewart recipe. It was topped with a dark chocolate ganache. Well, my sporting self got antsy in the prep and made it same day...big mistake. I iced a too warm cake with a too warm ganache. It slipped and slid everywhere! My sister-in-law and my husband got covered in ganache trying to hold it in place while I cut and served it. It tasted amazing, but we were all too covered in ganache to appreciate the taste. I still get made fun of for it to this day...
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