Elinor Neckwarmer

With winter coming to a close I decided to put to use some of the thick Berroco Ultra Alpaca yarn I had sitting around. I tend to name my knit goods after characters/places in books I’m reading at the time, and this one made me think of Elinor Dashwood.

This pattern is really interesting in that you just slip one end through the cable at the other end to to keep it secured around your neck.

This Twisted Vine Neckwarmer pattern is a quick and easy knit with beautiful results. I’d love to make it again in a lighter color that will allow the pattern to really pop. I’m definitely keeping it in mind for gifts–I hope my family doesn’t get upset if they all receive one for Christmas next year!

My Ravelry link

Bombshell Brownies

I don’t know what’s come over Joseph, but he’s baking up a storm! I love smelling brownies in the oven without having to do any work, and it turns out he is great at baking.  He’s always been a phenomenal cook, but I usually take over the desserts.  This is the second sweet he’s baked this week!

These are delicious. Hands-down the best brownies I’ve ever had. They are the perfect balance of cake and fudge, and the flakey top is perfect. I’m handing over the brownie-baking to Joseph from now on!

I get thirsty every time I eat one of these–keep a glass of milk on the side!

Bombshell Brownies from Allrecipes.com, slightly altered:

1 cup butter, melted
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.

Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.

Leonardo is interested in everything in our house. But thankfully he didn’t want to eat these, only smell them–kitties can’t eat chocolate!

Embroidered Crown Jacket

I’ve been interested in improving some of my clothes for a while but am scared of ruining them. I noticed this little cotton J. Crew cardigan hanging lifelessly in my closet. I’ve probably worn it three times; I ordered it on sale and expected it to be more like a cardigan sweater.

I’ve always loved the little crowns on the buttons so decided to embroider one onto the chest!  The bright gold really compliments the drab grey and navy.  I think this jacket will have a much bigger rotation in my wardrobe now!

I’m very, very happy with how it came out! I’m not sure why it looks so wrinkled here–bad lighting, I suppose–the fabric is actually pretty wrinkle-free. I have a brown cardigan I want to liven up a bit, and now I almost have the courage to work on it next.

I made a few sketches before I got started. Since the navy of the jacket was too dark to draw on, I cut out my final sketch, taped it to the fabric, and traced the bottom. Then I lightly drew the rest free-hand with pencil and used that as a guide for the french knots.
You can also see I’m working on some deer antlers! I’m not sure what I’m going to do with those yet.

A bit of my embroidery floss collection. I can’t wait to have a craft room where I can organize all of my goods! Right now they just sit all tangled in a plastic bag

This is how my cat likes to ruin my photos

Celebrating Chocolate Cake, Two Days Late

I learned from all the food blogs I follow that January 27th is Chocolate Cake Day. All my friends know how much I love chocolate cake; I can’t believe I missed it! When I told Joseph he decided we should make a cake a day late.

So, actually, Joseph made this cake! He tore through my trusty Better Homes and Garden Cookbook and decided on the One-Bowl Chocolate Cake. Very tasty and easy to make!
I wanted to make a chocolate frosting, but we ran out of cocoa powder so settled on the very sweet shortening-based Creamy White Frosting.

I know this cake is pretty ugly–a result of baking at midnight.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake from Better Homes and Garden Cookbook

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup milk
1/3 cup cookig oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9×1 ½-inch round cake pan or 8×8x2-inch baking pan; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer on low speed just until combined. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add egg; beat 2 minutes more. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool cake in a pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan; cool thoroughly before toping with frosting.

Creamy White Frosting from Better Homes and Garden Cookbook

½ cup shortening
¾ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp almond extract
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs milk

In a large mixing bowl beat shortening, vanilla, and almond extract with electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Slowly add about half of the powdered sugar, beating well. Gradually beat in the milk to reach spreading consistency.

This recipe will frost one 8 or 9-inch round pan or a 13×9x2-inch cake pan. Double recipe for a two-layer cake.

I love these two together–it tastes like a cake I would have had at my grandmother’s house growing up. Better Homes and Gardens is always good for that!

Chocolate-Covered Pretzels

I can’t find any chocolate-covered pretzels around here, so I decided to make my own. Turns out they are extremely simple! I haven’t had store-bought ones in years, but I have a feeling these taste better.

I made some with milk and dark chocolate.

Joseph brought me some white chocolate the next day to round off the batch! These ones are definitely my favorite.

The biggest part of this is making sure the chocolate melts smoothly; I break the chocolate into small pieces and then cook it in a microwave, stirring every 15-30 seconds. You want the chocolate to be milky and smooth for easier dipping. I then dip the pretzels with a spoon, grasp them with two fingers, and use a toothpick to break the chocolate out of the holes.

These can also be great for parties! I decorated with nonpareils but have also used crushed candy canes. In high school I had a (eloquently named) “Dipping-Prezels-in-Chocolate Party”–chocolate melted over a stove, decorations, and a big container of large pretzel sticks. It was easy and very fun! We took turns coating our own pretzels (this is easy as we simply dipped a straight pretzel as far as we wanted with no mess), chose from a variety of toppings, and enjoyed them!

Coconut Cream Pie

I love pie. Really, I love pie! I’ll choose pie over cupcakes, brownies, or cookies any day.

The one problem with pie–it’s difficult to photograph. I can’t count how many pies I’ve made hoping to post here, only to see the pictures and decide against it. I’ve been wanting to post the recipe for my grandmother’s chocolate pie for over a year! Right now you’ll just have to deal with one of my new favorites–coconut cream pie. It’s an easy crowd-pleaser, and the coconut flakes on the top make for a beautiful dessert!

I know, I really need a real pie plate! Anyone want to buy me this one?

Baked Pastry Shell from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
⅓ cup shortening
4 to 5 Tbs cold water

In medium bowl stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening until pieces are pea sized (I use my hands for this).

Sprinkle 1 Tbs of water over part of the flour mixture; gently toss with fork. Push moistened pastry to the side of the bowl. Repeat moistening flour mlisture, using 1 Tbs of the water at a time, until all the flour mixture is moistened. Form pastry into ball.

On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten pastry. Roll pastry from center to edges into a circle about 12 inches in diameter.

Transfer to 9-inch pie plate. Personally, I like to roll the pastry onto aluminum foil, then flip it onto the pan. You could also transfer the pastry by rolling it around the rolling pin and then unrolling it into the pie plate.

Trim pastry to ½ inch beyond edge of pie plate. Fold under extra pstry. Crimp edge as desired (I normally make thumb-prints or use a fork to decorate).

Prick bottom and sides of pastry with a fork. Line with foil and bake at 450F for 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5 to 6 minutes longer. Cool on wire rack while you prepare filling.

Coconut Cream Pie from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Baked pastry shell (or store-bought shell)
4 eggs, whites reserved for meringue
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
2 ½ cups half-and-half, light cream, or milk
1 Tbs butter or margarine
1 ½ tsp sugar
1 ½ cup flaked coconut

Prepare crust of your choice. Set aside yolks for filling and whites for meringue.

Preheat over to 325F (165C). For filling, in a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in half-and-half. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly; reduce heat. Cook and stir for two minutes more. Remove from heat. Slightly beat egg yolks with a fork. Gradually stir about one cup of the hot filling into yolks. Add egg yolk mixture to saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil; reduce heat. Cook and stir for two minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, vanilla, and 1 cup flaked coconut. Keep filling warm and prepare meringue.

Once meringue is ready, pour warm filling into baked pastry shell and top with meringue. Sprinkle ½ cup flaked coconut over meringue. Bake at 325F for 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack for one hour. Chill 3-6 hours before serving.

Meringue
4 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ cup sugar

Allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. In a large mixing bowl (glass, copper, and stainless-steel bowls work best) combine egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until soft peaks form.

Gradually add sugar, 1 Tbs at a time, beating on high speed about 4 minutes more or until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks and sugar dissolves.

Immediately spread meringue over hot pie filling ,carefully sealing to edge of pastry to prevent shrinkage. Bake as directed.

Enjoy! When I made this pie for Joseph’s birth in November he asked me to please make it every day–it’s a big hit here.

Playing Favorites

This is one of my absolute favorite dresses. I probably wore it about three times a week last winter but haven’t as much this year since I’m scared of wearing it out! If I had a couple more just like this I don’t think I’d ever wear anything else. It’s so comfortable and easy to put on, and I love the pattern. It’s not often I wear clothes that hang so loosely, but somehow this one works!

Shoes and dress both from Urban Outfitters, coat (that I’m completely in love with!) from Victoria’s Secret

Today I wore red stockings but usually wear the dress with black ones and boots, sometimes adding my gold scarf from H&M.

Hair and Cats

Winter is a blessing for my hair. I grew up with constant humidity in Houston and love what Europe does to my hair, especially further up north. But I’ve found something new to help–Herbel Essence “None of Your Frizziness” conditioner. It really does illuminate frizz! I only flat iron my hair once every couple months, but this time was much easier thanks to my new product. It actually looks like straight hair rather than dry, curly hair that’s been forced straight.

Some curls snuck in while I was sleeping!

This is my favorite (and, uh… only) lipstick that I always forget to wear. I’m a mascara-and-chapstick girl.

Besides the occasional straightening and a ponytail, this is all I know to do with my hair. A few twists and a lot of bobby pins–an easy fix for curly hair that looks much more difficult.

Cats find comfort in the strangest places. Leonardo loves sitting in front of the bathroom mirror when it’s steamed up after a shower. Though his all-time favorite place to sit in the bathroom is the bidet!

Venice in January

My sister Victoria visited over her Christmas break, and I’m finally getting around (I’ll blame it on the cold I picked up the day after she left) to posting the photos from her last day here when we went to Venice.

Venice is only slightly more than an hour’s train ride away!  I will really miss trains when we move back to the US.

It snowed all day! That’s very rare for Venice, and we were unprepared–I was miserable without a scarf.

Tori in the little cafe we ate at.

Good food is hard to come by in Venice. The city is so tourist-packed that I usually avoid eating, but with patience you can find places off the tourist maps. This particular cafe doesn’t even have menus–walk in at lunch time and order off that day’s pastas scribbled on a chalkboard. I had a bowl of risotto and white wine for just 6 Euro.

The winding streets and crooked buildings are my favorite thing about Venice–much more beautiful than the canals!

Tori accomplished most of her goals for the trip that day–bought a lot of great Italian candy, bought gifts for friends, and had a Nutella crepe.

After a few hours walking around and shopping, we took the train ride back home.

For her last night here, we went to my favorite local gelateria (and then I dragged her grocery shopping with me).

I finally own a bracelet, as well as some Venetian glass! I bought this in a little shop in Venice

You’ve likely seen these post cards if you’ve visited Venice; I’d been wanting to frame a few and finally got around to picking some out. The frames were intended to be temporary (had them sitting in the garage), but I think they’ll stay! I love the way the post cards look as if they’re telling a story from a novel.

To and From

Now that my family has received their Christmas gifts, I’m excited to post about them! Even though who I buy for has doubled (with no help from Joseph–I’ve learned men lose all opinions on these things once married :p), I love planning and preparing Christmas packages.

For all the little girls in the family I framed these embroideries. Joseph helped pick out each girl’s hair color, and I embroidered them then painted a few small frames white. The font for each girl’s name is “Little Days”

Patterns are “Cute Little Heads” from Jenny Hart’s Sublime Stitching (my #1 source for modern embroidery)

I knit this scarf for my mother-in-law LezLee. I wish I had made the ends larger, but the yarn (Malabrigo Lace) is so soft and such a nice color (“apricot”) that I think it makes up for it!

The beads on the end help with the draping.  Pattern available here for anyone interested.

For knit goods this year I made these tags out of cardstock and decorative paper. I ordered the beautiful stamp from foryoo’s Etsy shop.

For my sister Victoria I knit these mittens–by far my favorite thing I’ve made in my seven years of knitting! My very first mittens, first time knitting in the round, and first time knitting with two colors.

Tori holding a tiny snowball in her well-protected hands! She told me they were extremely warm; I was a bit jealous in Switzerland when I looked down to my flimsy old Urban Outfitters mittens.
“Bird in Hand” pattern available here.

Lastly, I made a few spice blends for my dad. I got the idea from Syndey at Crepes of Wrath last winter and looked forward to making them all year. I made an Italian seasoning, Creole seasoning, Blackened seasoning, Taco Seasoning, and Spiced Sugar. Maybe next year I will make a post just before Christmas dedicated solely to this idea.

As for the gifts I received…

Joseph and I decided not to do much for Christmas this year as we’re saving up for a trip to Egypt next month. I gave him a blue ASUS Eee PC, and he gave me the Canon 50mm f1.4 lens I’d been craving. On Christmas Day he had one more gift for me–Easton Press’ beautiful collection of Jane Austen novels.

We’ve been collecting Easton Press books for a few years (I get one every month as part of the 100 Greatest Novels collection) but have been wanting a uniform set to balance out the library. These are so beautiful! I’ve already read Northanger Abbey since receiving the set. They came at a perfect time as I need to reread Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility for class. Do I really need to buy a paperback copy or will I not look completely ridiculous carrying these into class?

My friends and family know me well–I got three much-needed aprons for Christmas! My mom picked up this one at Anthropologie; I love that I was wearing the perfect outfit to match it that day!

My mom also sent along something I desperately needed–pajama pants and house shoes. Can you believe I didn’t own a pair of either?

Joseph decided it was time I own a grown-up watch, and a Movado at that. My old leather Fossil watch finally broke in September, and I planned on replacing it with a very similar leather Fossil watch. I was completely surprised when Joseph gave me this for my anniversary! I never would have picked it out myself, but it’s absolutely perfect for me.

In person it really glimmers and shines, and the pink is the perfect hue, almost a bit gold. And yes–those are diamonds!