GOLDEN BUTTER CRUMB CAKE 

IMPORTANT NOTE:  DO NOT PREHEAT THE OVEN

1 cup (two sticks) softened butter

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs (lightly beaten with a fork)

3/4 cup milk

Lightly grease a 9″ x 9″ x 2.5″ square baking pan.

On medium speed, mix together butter, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar until well-blended.  Add lightly-beaten eggs, vanilla and milk, and continue to mix until smooth and well-blended.  Spread batter into prepared baking pan, and prepare crumb topping.

CRUMB TOPPING

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, melted

1 3/4 cup flour

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars and cinnamon with melted butter, and stir until sugars are dissolved.  Add salt and flour and stir until blended.  Using your fingers, break topping into crumbs and sprinkle evenly onto cake batter.

Place cake in cold oven.  Set oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  (Approximately 50 minutes)  Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.  Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.

I know it sounds a bit crazy to put the cake into a cold oven, and then turn up the heat, but that’s what you need to do.  I’m sure that Alton Brown knows the complex scientific reasoning behind this, but I do not.   All I do know is that this recipe creates one delicious, velvety crumb cake.

They are predicting heavy rain and high winds for tomorrow.

I am predicting serious weight gain.

“A”

I did some internet research to figure out the best way to secure an edge to the case so that I could begin my crochet.  Basically, I found 3 techniques that looked like they’d do the trick:

1) Using a needle and crochet thread, back-stitch along the top edge:

2) again, using a needle and crochet thread, do a blanket stitch around the top edge:

3) create a chain stitch along the top edge:

Of these three possibilities, my favorite was the simple back-stitch.  I threaded size 10 crochet cotton onto the needle:

By back-stitching along the upper edge, you create a series of stitches that will accommodate the first row of your crochet pattern:

Using a size D crochet hook, I did a base row of single crochet:

The back-stitch method created a nice, smooth, finished edge:

I love the way they look all stacked together!

I used an assortment of dk-weight cottons, which aren’t quite as fine as size 10 crochet thread, but they do work up quickly.  And “quick” is what you need when you become obsessive and buy more white pillowcases than there are days in the month.

Sweet dreams!

“A”

If crocheting flowers is not your thing, try adding a purchased silk blossom…or add a few stripes and omit the flower.

To all the beautiful little girls in my life:  guess what you’re getting??

“A”

Teresa and I had joined forces a while back to try our hands at macarons, but they did NOT work out.  So… I just gave up and bowed to the “Macaron Gods” who, it has been told, place random curses on these cookies and periodically doom them to failure.  Teresa, thankfully, took a different approach and chose to fight back…hard…and got great results.

The basic macaron recipe she uses, with detailed instructions, can be found at Bravetart.  Stella is an amazing baking pro who writes with a witty, up-front, no-nonsense approach.  Honestly, everything that you need to know about baking macarons can be found there.  Teresa taught me to follow the recipe exactly, but she has found great success by bringing the measured egg whites to room temperature and letting the piped cookies sit on the parchment for 15 minutes before placing them in the oven.

See those ruffly edges around the base of each cookie?  They are referred to as “feet” and they are the true measure of macaron success.  I’ve seen photos of cookies that have loftier feet than mine but, hey, I am thrilled to have been this successful.

You can use a variety of fillings……I chose a simple almond buttercream:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 stick softened butter

1 teaspoon pure almond extract

Beat together sugar and butter, on medium speed, until light and fluffy (about 2 -3 minutes).  Add extract and beat until smooth.  Spread or pipe onto cooled cookies.

Makes enough for approx. 30 cookies.  Note:  this recipe can be halved

Macaron magic, at last.  Thank you, Teresa, (or should I say “Merci”) for not wimping out like I did, and for taking the time to be a patient teacher and loving friend.

“A”

Celia is a beautiful, little, 7 year-old girl who warmed my heart with her “ooooooh’s” and “aaaaaaah’s” when she came to my house and saw Daniel’s Communion Cookies.  (“You should have a bakery!!” she exclaimed.*)  And…she just couldn’t wait to share that she, TOO, was receiving her first holy communion on May 11!!  Of course…

It was my complete and total pleasure to make a tray of cookies for dear, sweet, Celia to celebrate her very special day.

“A”

* A bakery Celia? Really???  You say all the right things…you smart little cookie ;-)

I just love this collection of Michael Miller Lil’ Cowpokes fabric, and I welcomed the opportunity to turn it into a quilt for a special little boy who will be born in early July.

This simple pattern is found in Even More Quilts for Baby,  and it works up f-a-s-t.  I thought it was the perfect choice to feature the fun, kiddie-cowboy print and the adorable coordinates…little horseshoes on red and tiny paisleys on blue:

The back of the quilt is a solid, navy, Kona cotton, and I used Warm & White cotton crib batting in between.  I machine quilted it in a freehand, stipple pattern with invisible thread (which caused me more than a bit of grief because I kept losing my place and the thread kept breaking.  Next time, no invisible thread.)

Next…every cowboy dude, big and small, needs:

a COWBOY HAT!!  And, where else, but Ravelry, could I find the cutest pattern for this one?  The easy-to-follow pattern is called “Cowboy Hat and Boots” and is available for purchase from The Lovely Crow.

I can’t wait to meet the new, little buckaroo!

“A”

My exceedingly handsome nephew, Daniel, received his First Holy Communion last Sunday, and this was my contribution to his party celebration.

I am having SO much fun with my new textured rolling pins…they make the sugar-cookie-decorating process much easier for me.  Don’t get me wrong.  I still love the look, taste and feel of royal icing, but this Satin Ice white vanilla fondant is a super alternative.  It has a mild, marshmallow flavor…not at all sickening sweet…and it allows you to use the rolling pins to create a beautiful embossed look.

I mixed a bit of deep blue fondant with the white to create the color for the roses which, by the way, are just thin, flat strips of fondant rolled by hand to create each rose.  And, yes, I sprinkled the rose with disco dust…is there a 12-step program out there for disco dust addicts???

For the packaging, I used clear, flat cellophane bags that measure 4″ x 6″.  I cut the blue card stock paper to measure 4″ x 4″, which I then folded in half and stapled to the top of the cellophane bag.  I purchased the round Avery labels at Staples.  Avery has a website with lots of creative label-printing options, but I never could get the print to line up perfectly on the label…even though I had expert assistance*.

Of course, you can use your favorite sugar cookie recipe.  I am completely stuck on the one found here.

It was a beautiful party where family and friends gathered in happy celebration of Daniel’s special day.

May God bless you, Danny.

“A”

*Expert assistance provided by little a, who was so so patient with me, but I knew when to quit.

It was love at first sight…however, I gazed at it with utmost caution.  Wouldn’t it be tough to get the cooked cake out of that pan with all its sharp little angles in tact????

Not at all!!!  At least not when you grease it excessively with Wilton’s Cake Release.  This stuff creates bundt-pan magic.  The cake popped right out, looking as pretty as the pan intended.

I have a standard recipe that I use when making cakes from a box mix*.  First, I’ve become a bit of Duncan Hines snob, as I find the taste and texture of these mixes to be better than the rest…just my personal opinion.  So, I start with any flavor mix, add 3 eggs, one cup of milk, one stick of melted butter and 1 – 2 teaspoons of any extract.  For this cake, I started with a yellow cake mix and, in addition to the eggs, milk and butter, I added 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 tsp. almond extract.

The chocolate glaze recipe, which is delicious and works every time, can be found here.

I apologize, in advance, to all my other tried-and-true bundt pans for the dust they will gather.

“A”

*Someday I will experiment with “scratch” cake recipes in my quest to become a good little cake-baker but, until then, it’s Duncan Hines for me.

So, last night, I hit the bins and pulled out this collection of fabric….moons, planets and stars.  This fabric has been around for QUITE some time and, since I was totally ready to trash it, I thought I’d give it one last go and use it for my first rag quilt.

Rag quilts are so easy to make, and I found great directions here.  Mine is a wee bit different, as I did not sew a center line down each strip, and my strips were 2, 3 and 4″ (a little narrower than the tutorial instructs).  I cut and stitched the quilt in under 4 hours (that included clean-up time and a biscotti break), and I snipped all those seams the next morning.  (I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that the snipping is a huge pain in the…)  I threw it into the washer and dryer, and those washed edges made such a pretty ruffle.

And the back is almost as pretty as the front…which every quilter knows is mighty important.

  I did bind the top and the bottom, but I layered 2″ vertical strips (folded to 1″) onto the sides, then snipped those too:

The finished quilt measures approx. 40″ x 42″, and I have to say that I think it’s adorable, and a great way to give your last-chance stash a new life.

Turning trash….into treasure.

“A”

Well, however this recipe came into being, it is one hearty and delicious cookie!

It is a mixture of flour and rolled oats, and oozes with chocolate morsels, nuts* and an 8 oz. Hershey bar.  You’ll find the original recipe and “the story” here, but I made a few small changes:

1) I used 1 cup of butter and 1 cup Crisco (instead of 2 cups butter).

2) I used a food processor, instead of a blender, for the oatmeal…and I pulsed it until it was still a little coarse; not a fine powder.

3) “Lazy” got the best of me when I was trying to grate the Hershey bar.  Instead, I threw it into the food processor and it looked more like fine peas.  (quicker, and no big deal)

4)  I scooped them onto an UNgreased cookie tray with a 2″ cookie scooper, which yielded 66 super-sized cookies.

My heartfelt thanks to that famously vindictive woman who made this expensive recipe available to each and every one of us for free…even if she was fictitious.

“A”

*I chose walnuts