Xmas baking
So I've had "Post LJ entry" as an item on my "to do" list that I've been postponing for the last several days, and now that I've turned on the desktop (with two items on the "to do" list that required it) I find myself with a batch of photos ready to share and also a lengthy amount of text that needs typing in. (Which I may postpone, or at least save for a separate entry.)
So, photos!
Dizzy was also snoozing on my chest and stomach, getting up and leaving just a few minutes before I pried my phone out of my pocket to take this photo.
I need to take a bunch of knitting photos showing what I've been doing over the last month, but I have a pair of finished items pics to show off.
One back view and one palm view. I've been wearing these for the last few weeks, and I'm very happy with them. (Well, except they go far enough down the wrist to interfere with the watchband on the left hand -- but they're loose enough to go over it.) Very glad I frogged and sized up a needle.
Have I worn these yet? I think I have, once -- or were they just hanging on the drying rack because I'd given them their first washing? In any case, I put away the holiday shirts yesterday, and pulled out a number of green ones, so I'll have need of these in my wardrobe.
And there's been a lot of baking.
Gingerbread made from scratch. Left in the oven a bit too long, because I was following a recipe for a gingerbread cake and forgot to reduce the cooking time for cupcakes.
I found a recipe for mint chocolate cake that turned out to just be to make devil's food cake from a mix and add 1/4 cup of creme de menthe. I didn't have creme de menthe, so I used a teaspoon of peppermint extract and the last of my peppermint Schnapps, as well as a dollop of peppermint in the frosting. (Instant peppermint sprinkles: Take small individually wrapped candy canes and whap with hammer. A single candy cane makes enough sprinkles for a pair of cupcakes.)
While waiting for Mom to get up on Xmas morning, I made a batch of magic cookie bars (not shown) and then these sugar cookies from a mix. They turned out well enough (though flattened, I think since I used the drop cookies instructions rather than the cutout instructions) and I bought two more packages of the sugar cookie mix and several more colors of sugar to use in dusting cookies in. (I'm hoping to make another batch today.)
I found a recipe for a pink champagne cake in early December, so I bought a cheap bottle of pink champagne at Wal-Mart and on New Year's Eve at the stroke of midnight we cracked the bottle. I poured out two glasses for us (plain wine glasses, not champagne flutes, since Mom said the flutes were hard to drink from) and then measured out a cup into a sports bottle to save for the cake. (A dollop also went into the frosting, which I cheated on and bought premade. The recipe called for a bit of champagne into the frosting, so I opened the package and poured champagne on top until it reached the brim. I wound up having to burp the frosting the next day, having fizzed up while sitting in the fridge waiting for me to get around to using it.)
I didn't actually bake the cake till January 2nd -- and I started out by using the remainder of the magic cookie bar ingredients to make a second batch, as shown in the red tupperware.
The recipe also called for a tiny drop of pink food coloring. I added it, and then considered -- since I had three pans to fill, how about adding more coloring to the second, and more again to the third? So, a pink ombre cake. (You could really taste the champagne in it.)
And, right. The rabbits are outside unsupervised, I have vacuuming to do, cookies to bake, and nails to trim and shape before I can start applying layers of polish. Time to post this and clear out of the room -- hopefully to add a second entry later in the day with the rest of what I've been up to over the past week. (I also have a month's worth of mani photos, which I don't feel like bothering with today.)
Crossposted from Dreamwidth with
comments made.
So, photos!
Dizzy was also snoozing on my chest and stomach, getting up and leaving just a few minutes before I pried my phone out of my pocket to take this photo.
I need to take a bunch of knitting photos showing what I've been doing over the last month, but I have a pair of finished items pics to show off.
One back view and one palm view. I've been wearing these for the last few weeks, and I'm very happy with them. (Well, except they go far enough down the wrist to interfere with the watchband on the left hand -- but they're loose enough to go over it.) Very glad I frogged and sized up a needle.
Have I worn these yet? I think I have, once -- or were they just hanging on the drying rack because I'd given them their first washing? In any case, I put away the holiday shirts yesterday, and pulled out a number of green ones, so I'll have need of these in my wardrobe.
And there's been a lot of baking.
Gingerbread made from scratch. Left in the oven a bit too long, because I was following a recipe for a gingerbread cake and forgot to reduce the cooking time for cupcakes.
I found a recipe for mint chocolate cake that turned out to just be to make devil's food cake from a mix and add 1/4 cup of creme de menthe. I didn't have creme de menthe, so I used a teaspoon of peppermint extract and the last of my peppermint Schnapps, as well as a dollop of peppermint in the frosting. (Instant peppermint sprinkles: Take small individually wrapped candy canes and whap with hammer. A single candy cane makes enough sprinkles for a pair of cupcakes.)
While waiting for Mom to get up on Xmas morning, I made a batch of magic cookie bars (not shown) and then these sugar cookies from a mix. They turned out well enough (though flattened, I think since I used the drop cookies instructions rather than the cutout instructions) and I bought two more packages of the sugar cookie mix and several more colors of sugar to use in dusting cookies in. (I'm hoping to make another batch today.)
I found a recipe for a pink champagne cake in early December, so I bought a cheap bottle of pink champagne at Wal-Mart and on New Year's Eve at the stroke of midnight we cracked the bottle. I poured out two glasses for us (plain wine glasses, not champagne flutes, since Mom said the flutes were hard to drink from) and then measured out a cup into a sports bottle to save for the cake. (A dollop also went into the frosting, which I cheated on and bought premade. The recipe called for a bit of champagne into the frosting, so I opened the package and poured champagne on top until it reached the brim. I wound up having to burp the frosting the next day, having fizzed up while sitting in the fridge waiting for me to get around to using it.)
I didn't actually bake the cake till January 2nd -- and I started out by using the remainder of the magic cookie bar ingredients to make a second batch, as shown in the red tupperware.
The recipe also called for a tiny drop of pink food coloring. I added it, and then considered -- since I had three pans to fill, how about adding more coloring to the second, and more again to the third? So, a pink ombre cake. (You could really taste the champagne in it.)
And, right. The rabbits are outside unsupervised, I have vacuuming to do, cookies to bake, and nails to trim and shape before I can start applying layers of polish. Time to post this and clear out of the room -- hopefully to add a second entry later in the day with the rest of what I've been up to over the past week. (I also have a month's worth of mani photos, which I don't feel like bothering with today.)
Crossposted from Dreamwidth with
comments made.