Monday, February 1, 2010

Finished sewing project! :)


My first Regency dress!
I have decided that next time I buy a pattern for this era or any others near this era I will spend the $ and get Sense and Sensibility patterns and not get Simplicity or McCall's!
I didn't have my hair fixed for these pictures or anything and I haven't gotten any other pictures in it yet either! :) I cheated and used 3 buttons on the back. (There are some snaps also!) I did do the draw string on the top to help gather the front on the top.




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Monday, January 25, 2010

Isaiah 26: 3-4

" Thou wilt Keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the LORD forever: for the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:" ...
Isaiah 26:3-4 (KJV)

Monday, January 18, 2010

More cake pictures

Here are a few pictures of the last cake that I made. I had to play with my new cake pans that I got for a Christmas present from my sister, Hannah.
( And I felt like making a cake, since I don't have any cake decorating class until March...)
I have a lot of fun decorating the cakes.
I will confess that I didn't like how my basket looked before flowers. When it was all done I liked it. I just have to practice my basket weave! :)
I was thinking of making this cake look like a stack of presents but I wanted to do something with flowers and so this is how it turned out...










P.S. I hope this doesn't make you too hungry! :)

Friday, January 15, 2010

Lemon Curd Recipe

I couldn't find the recipe that I usually use for the Lemon Curd, so I went looking on line at allrecipes.com to see if I could find something similar and I found several. I picked out one of them to put on here. You can go to the website and look at all the helpful suggestions that others have written after making this recipe.

1 of 4 Photos

Perfect Lemon Curd

By: TAWNIE44
"Wonderfully tart, classic English lemon curd ... perfect with scones and tea."

Rating: This weblink has been rated 86 times with an average star rating of 4.7 Read Reviews (76)

Rate/Review | 3,089 people have saved this

Prep Time:
10 Min
Cook Time:
6 Min
Ready In:
16 Min

Servings (Help)

Calculate

Original Recipe Yield 1 2/3 cups

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed

Directions

  1. In a 2 quart saucepan, combine lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, eggs, and butter. Cook over medium-low heat until thick enough to hold marks from whisk, and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

A Few Recipes

I have been asked for several recipes from several people,
so I decided to put them on my blog for you all to enjoy. Here they are!

Homemade Egg Nog
1 cup cream 3 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 to 5 eggs
2teaspoons ground nutmeg or 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon nutmeg
Pure maple syrup or other sweetener to taste
1 teaspoon Guar Gum, optional*
Put all ingredients in a blender. Mix until blended. Be careful because this does foam!
Enjoy!
*Note: I use the Guar Gum to thicken this to make it more like a store bought texture. You don't have to put it in if you don't have it or if you don't mind it runnier. You also can add Rum Extract if desired. ( I don't use it personally but you can if you want to use it.)



Oatmeal Scones with Raisins or Dates

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Have ready a large ungreased baking sheet.
Whisk together thoroughly in a large bowl:

1 1/2 cups all- purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt

Stir in, using your fingers if necessary to separate the fruit:

1 1/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates *

Whisk together , then add all at once:

1 large egg 10 Tablespoons warm melted butter, no substitutes
1/3 cup milk
Mix with a rubber spatula, wooden spoon, or fork just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter will be quite sticky. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. With floured finger, pat the dough into a 8 inch round about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 to 12 wedges. If the dough is too sticky to move the wedges intact, wait 1 to 2 minutes. Using a spatula, place the wedges at least 1/2 inch apart on the baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on a rack or serve warm.
*Note: I have played around with this recipe. I have used chopped apricots,
dried cranberries or what ever other dried fruit I had when I made them. I also used frozen strawberries that were thawed and drained and put some white chocolate chips in them. You can have fun thinking up ideas and playing with different fruits with this one!

What goes with scones but Lemon Curd and Devonshire Cream!?! YUM!
Here is a recipe that I have for Devonshire Cream

Devonshire Cream
1- 3 ounce cream cheese, softened 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 to 1/3 cup whipping cream
In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add enough cream to achieve a spreading consistency.

I am going to have to go looking for my recipe for Lemon curd! :) I know it is around here some place! So I will put that up on another post. Hopefully sometime next week so you all don't have to wait to long for it!

Okay, a frosting recipe that I like to use for my base frosting when I make my cakes and that is the favorite frosting here at out house.

The Ring's Favorite Frosting

In a small sauce pan cook and stir until thickened over medium heat:
1 cup milk 5 Tablespoons all purpose flour
Cover and refrigerate until cold. ( Make sure it is cold before you put it into the next stage or it will cause the frosting to break down. It is still good but for frosting a cake it is hard to work with if you are doing a layer cake or the top and sides of a cake! If it is just a top of a cake it will work just fine.)
In a mixing bowl cream the following:
1 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, slightly softened 1/2 cup shortening
( Do not beat to much and warm the butter up!)
Add the cooled flour mixture and mix , scrape down and beat for 10 minutes on low speed.
This makes enough frosting for a 2 layer 9 inch cake.
Sorry, I am not giving you my secret ingredient that I use that the original recipe does not call for. :) I like to keep some things a secret!

I hope you all enjoy these. If you have any questions about the recipes you can ask.


Friday, December 11, 2009

A collection of pictures

Hello everyone!
I really liked the picture of the cardinal. I am not sure who took the picture.




It is snowing!!!!
Sorry to all who don't like winter time and the snow, but I like snow!
Okay, I have to be honest, I like the snow but I hate to drive in it when the roads are slushy.



The front yard with the snow.



A flower made with Fondant.


My last cake from the fall Cake decorating class. :( Bittersweet!
Some of us played with Fondant and my cake has it on it besides
some flowers made from it and the bow.




The front view of the cake.



My certificate and my cake!


Mercy(left) and Grace (right) with a huge carrot out of the garden!


Simeon with the carrot!


Here is a winter scene cake that I made today.







You have to have someone hit with a snow ball if you have a snowball fight, right?



I hope you all will have a wonderful weekend and that you all will stay warm!
Sometime I hope to get some stuff written on here. I have been reading in Matthew for my devotions and I have read a lot of different things that I have been thinking about. :)

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We do have much to be thankful for!

Below are a few pictures of 2 cakes that I decorated today.
First is the roasted turkey cake.
This time I didn't have a air brush to brush on the colors, so I had to color the frosting.
Well, melted chocolate colored one part and I colored the other part with paste coloring.
( I used 2 different frostings for this cake.)




An up close picture of the carrots, radishes and the leaves. ( Lettuce, I guess!)

Below is a cake I did that I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to try to do.
I like how it turned out.




I won't put any pictures up of the real turkey that we had today.
It was one of the turkeys that I had raised 2 years ago. He weighed 30 pounds!
Yes, I did have a hard time getting him to fit in the roasting pan!

I am trying to think of the things I am thankful for. My list is long!
Here are a few of the things;

Jesus Christ, who died that I might have eternal life ( John 3:16)
Family and friends
A warm dry house
My Bible
Life
and more!