Vogue 7997

Working on those knit patterns that have plagued me for ages. This one was very easy, just as it suggested on the cover. It can be dressed up or down which is what I like about it. And of course, its comfy!!

I have a few comments on the directions: the elastic chart suggested an amount more than the entire length of the collar, and equal the waist sides. Hmmm, how or why would I cut a piece of elastic longer than the fabric to which I will be gathering in?? Hmmm, so I decided to cut collar sides by barely laying the elastic in the casing and gently pulling it and cutting where it fell. This was still too much (as only really detected when completely done), but so was the amount they were suggesting. So, take your best shot at how you would like to wear the top. I will say that the side collar which I almost ….almost cut the elastic in half the amount, I would next time not be so enthusiastic. (It said 11 inches and I cut 6. Next time I would cut it to about 8-9″ but definitely not 11 since that is two inches either side of top and bottom!???)

V 7997 work

I will be making more tops from this pattern (sleeveless next), just to get the hang of knit fabrics, and the style is really nice. Looks great on any body! Enjoy this comfy top and be guaranteed a lovely kiss!

Cheers,

Kathleen

Butterick 5497

I had to get over my fear of knits and picked up some knit fabric at a garage sale (of all places) and thought it the perfect opportunity to crank out some fun tops. My goal this year is to start making ……most…..of my clothes. Yeah, what am I thinking?? Well, I’m thinking my clothes will be more comfy, last longer than three washings, better fitted (and looking me thinks) and walkin my talkin! If you know what I mean.

B5497

This pattern is very easy.  Even if you are terrified of knits like I …was. Getting that ball point needle (or jersey needle) is a plus. Having a serger is yet another plus. And I don’t think I would work with knits without one. Really the serger is an ideal knit friend.

Butterick 5497

When sewing straight seems I still didn’t like that I could see the wobbly threads if I pulled the fabric ever so slightly but it did get better. Also, if you pull the fabric as you sew it on the sewing machine, your 5/8″ seam will be more than a 5/8″ seam when you release. So I sewed the straight seams ever slightly smaller than a 5/8″ seam so that when the fabric was not pulled and laid flat, the seam was then 5/8″. Making sense? If not, sew a few on some sample fabric and get the hang of it.

Butterick 5497 work

Rule number one: Do measure yourself and the places on the patterns where you are to make adjustments so that the hips, bust, and necklines line up on you perfectly. You will not be disappointed taking the small amount of time in doing this. (Forgive if I am preaching to the choir here)

Back 5497

Rule number two: Serge all sides of all pieces. This should work for most pattern pieces unless you know you’re going to be trimming something down. Which I thought I would serge both seams later……so better to have them done just like I read to do!

This is one comfortable little top. Shouldn’t take you more than about 4-5 hours start to finish. I didn’t exactly time myself, and it took about three months since I had cut it out, moved the studio, FOUND this pattern again and finished it up. Will time better this year so that we all have an idea on time frames for garments. Whew.

Side 5497

Knit fabric…..what’s so scary?

Happy Sewing.

Cheers,

Kathleen

Banana Bread Loaf

You can never go wrong with banana bread and I bet it is one of Starbucks best sellers. It’s quick and easy and I try to make any sweet dessert a bit healthier. Hence I have begun adding flax seeds and pumpkin seeds whenever it seems like a good fit. It tastes fabulous with the seeds in it. Normally I would add walnuts, but the seeds are more subtle and really compliment the tender and humble banana. My new addition from here on out.

This recipe calls for 1/2 cup of sour cream and it has to be the magic ingredient for its delicious and moist texture. I got this recipe from Eat Yourself Skinny Blog: (http://www.eat-yourself-skinny.com/2012/01/grandmas-banana-bread.html)

Great for tea time, breakfast or dessert. Bananas…….always a good thing. And hey, there is nothing sexy about photographing Banana bread. Period.  So while I know I have a lot to learn in photographing my recipes……I bet even Leibovitz has much luck with banana bread! But trust me, it’s delicious. No really!

Here’s all you do:

BANANA BREAD WITH SOUR CREAM

Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix together Flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl and set aside. In a medium to large mixing bowl mix together softened butter and sugar until well combined.  Then add in eggs and mix well.  Next add in vanilla, sour cream and mashed bananas then, while the mixer is on, slowly add the flour mixture until completely combined, scraping the sides and the bottom.

Meanwhile, grease your loaf pan and lightly flour so that your bread won’t stick.  If using one 9×5 loaf pan, bake bread for about one hour.  If using two smaller loaf pans, bake bread for about 45 minutes. Mine cooked for an hour to perfection!

Serve with friends and good cheer!

Bon Appétit!

Champagne Salad

Don’t know why I have never made Champagne Vinaigrette before, but that is certainly going to change in 2012. Wow, wow what took me so long. I guess I just really didn’t think alcohol….salad……alcohol?…in a salad dressing? So I just never really went down that road. But then of course I realized…….I read that wrong. It wasn’t Champagne……it was champagne vinegar. Uh-oh. Well, guess what?  I had some Champagne on hand and thought it sounded Great! It is not something you can taste (the alcohol), but it is such a vibrant and fresh tasting dressing. Pow! (wonder what the vinegar version tastes like?) And it was a BIG HIT! I made a simple salad of romaine lettuce, cranberries, bleu cheese and candied walnuts and topped it off with this zippy, incredible dressing! Don’t miss out. Save a 1/4 cup of your next bottle of Champagne and treat yourself. Or you can make it with Champagne vinegar and maybe not dance through dinner! But do give it a try with the real deal. I got this recipe from  epicurious.com.

Here’s all you do:

• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons dijon Mustard
• 1/4 cup champagne vinegar (oooops;-)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 or 3 dashes hot sauce (definitely 3)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together all the ingredients.  Pour over a lovely salad………then wait for applause! No really!

Bon Appétit

Fancy Bundt tips

I wanted to make something special for the gals and couldn’t decide whether my favorite Almond cake or the Sour Cream Coffee Cake from Lisa Dupar’s were my 2011 favorite cakes. I decided on the bundt just because it would be visually a bit more elegant for the ladies but I think I used the wrong bundt pan and wanted to share. I had, for about a year after buying this fancy bundt pan, not had much success with getting the cakes out of this fancy pan. But with a tiny bit of perseverance, it paid off. Except not exactly for this recipe. It looked lovely, but the cake is so dense and moist that the cake was too big for this pan and didn’t cook as evenly or as effectively. The filling became too thick and hard packed. And this is one DELICIOUS cake, so it’s always safer to find the right pan. Who wants to throw out all that work and good ingredients!

So, a simple plain ol bundt cake pan is the perfect pan for this cake. Although it looked lovely, it was not as smooth. And my tips for getting it to turn out so effortlessly with all those lovely ridges is to oil and flour every single crevice to make sure it lifts right out and keeps that nice design.

Here’s Lisa’s recipe:

Pecan Sour Cream Coffee Cake by Lisa Dupar

2 3/4 cups of sugar

16 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 eggs

2 cups sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups chopped pecans

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350˚. In the bowl of a standing kitchen mixer with whip attachment, at medium speed, cream together the sugar and the butter. Slowly add the eggs one at a time, scraping the bottom of the bowl. Add the sour cream and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry mixture to the egg-sour cream mixture and mix until just combined. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, pecans and cinnamon.

Grease and flour a standard Bundt pan. Alternate pouring in the batter, the cinnamon nut mixture, and then the batter starting and ending with the batter. Bake one hour. (Mine 55 minutes) Turn out onto rack to cool.

When cake is completely cooled, dust with powdered sugar.

Wanted to also thank all of my wonderful customers and guests of 2011 for making it such an amazing and fantastic year! Thanks for all of your support and may your 2012 be magical.

All for now bakers!

Bon Appétit!

Potato Parmesan Pesto Soup

We all know what a soup fan I am and this is one of those soups that is pure comfort. It was so much better than I expected because potato soup …..is well…….some of my old versions anyway tended to get gluey or just way too much potato-y-starchy. This has just the right amount of stock, potato, milk/cream and that dash of pesto sends it to another category. I have finally found my favorite Potato Soup! I got this Potato Parmesan soup recipe from Tasty Kitchen! Thanks ever so much.

Tis the season for warmth and hearty dishes. This dish is a delight on its own but I am thinking some home made rolls would be the perfect match. Stay tuned.

Here’s all you do:

Potato Parmesan Soup with Pesto

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 whole medium shallot, diced
1 whole large garlic clove, minced
5 whole medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (I like tiny bits of skin on, gives nice flecks…..just sayin!)
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pesto

Directions:
In a medium stockpot, drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil and heat to medium. When warm, add shallot and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add potatoes, stock, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree soup to desired texture. Add milk and bring back to a low boil. (My potatoes took longer than 15 minutes, so it really heated up and hence I didn’t add the milk until I turned off the heat. For other reasons)  Turn off heat and remove bay leaf. Stir in grated Parmesan.  If you use a blender rather than an immersion blender, make sure soup is cool before blending it to prevent a kitchen explosion. Taste soup at this point and add salt and pepper to taste (the soup should be plenty salty from the Parmesan cheese). (Kath here: Since you are only using 1/2 cup cheese I personally found that it definitely needed salt;-))  If you don’t serve immediately, reheat soup before serving.

Place a large dollop (about 1 tablespoon or more) of pesto into each serving bowl and swirl into the soup. Delightful! Really the nice surprise and a change from the usual dollop of sour cream.

Toast to good friends and enjoy the New Year with shared yummy dishes!

Bon Appétit!

Baileys Cheesecake

Once upon a time in a land far, far away……I lived in Sydney, …….Australia (is there any other??) where I discovered this lovely cheesecake. It was so popular I actually sold it to restaurants. It’s been years since I have made this lovely dessert. But the recipe kept jumping out at me when I was moving boxes this week. I had many copies tucked into a cookbook type notebook of mine and every time I turned around lately, there was the typed out recipe. (Yes, Typed out as in non electric, register type keys, align and insert paper and turn knob.) Ok, you get it. On with the story.

Hmmmm ……Didn’t I just put you back into your place? And yet I would find another copy staring me in the face. Hmmm, note from the universe…… this must be the dessert I should make for Christmas this year. And so I dusted off my recipe and set about to make this fabulous, easy and elegant dessert.

Here’s all you do:

CRUST:

1 package of sweet biscuits, graham or oreo cookies. I used 28 oreo cookies

1/2 cup butter + 1 Tablespoon

FILLING:

375 grams of cream cheese (I used two 8 oz packages softened)

3/4 cup sugar (If you like is super sweet, add more)

1 Tablespoon flour

3 eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

60 grams dark chocolate

1 Tablespoon instant coffee

1 Tablespoon Tia Maria or Kahlua (I used Baileys, NOT as sugary)

1 Tablespoon water (Don’t add if you are not adding coffee)

1 egg yolk (add lastly and whisk briskly before egg can cook)

CREAM:

1 Tablespoon instant coffee (left plain this time so I didn’t add)

1 teaspoon hot water (don’t add unless adding coffee)

1 cup heavy whipping cream (my personal fav)

1 Tablespoon sugar (2 Tablespoons if using Baileys or less sugary liqueur)

CRUST: Crush biscuits and add melted butter mixing well. Press on base and sides of a 8 inch spring form pan.

FILLING: Beat cream cheese until soft. Combine sugar and flour into cheese and beat well. Beat in eggs, sour cream and lemon juice. Pour half into the crust. Put roughly chopped chocolate, coffee, liqueur, water, and lightly beaten egg yolk into top of a double boiler, keep heat on medium as to not over cook. Stir until chopped chocolate melts and mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat, cool slightly.

Swirl half of chocolate mixture through cheesecake in crust. Top with other half of cheesecake mixture and swirl the rest of chocolate mix on second half. Don’t over swirl. Bake at 325˚ for about one hour. Refrigerate.

CREAM: Dissolve coffee in hot water. Put cream, coffee and sugar in bowl. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Beat until thick and top cheesecake!

Cheesecake

I sometimes sprinkle a little cocoa, finely ground coffee, cinnamon or even nutmeg (depending upon what liqueurs I choose). Dusting it makes such a simple compliment!

Enjoy and definitely put on some Jackie Evancho……perfect for the season.

Bon Appétit!

Indiana Jones and the Gate

So there I was with my back yard being almost perfect and yet……and yet…….it was missing a gate. Not just a simple little ditty of a gate, but one that was 106 inches wide. Still, I said to myself easy peasy. I can do that……..along with the crew at Lowe’s who handed me a kit to make your very own gate. Yessssssss! (I do belong to DIY’s anonymous) Mind you this was out of wood! Wood starts to get very heavy. Not just some metal fencing swinging across the yard, purely a cedar wood fence. It actually didn’t take too long to make it …..if…..If ….IF you knew all the pitfalls that that ditty of a kit can’t tell you. I know the feeling, how many patterns have been sneaky tricky!? Yeah, you know where I went and thank goodness Indiana Jones rescued my almost disaster of a simple gate.

The Fence

After making sure your posts are cemented down firmly, and squaring up the sides, and after torquing the give and take all that is left is the placing of the boards and the lock, handle and swing! Whoooo hooo! Sorry no passengers.

Finished Gate

And then there is the gravel and swing and wheel. But, when it comes to making anything, even a gate, I am all over it. Next time…….however…..I won’t have to make so many trips to Lowe’s and miss out on all the building! I am so grateful my Indiana Jones was there to make sure all creatures, big and small, are safe and sound! Whew, so good to be able to sleep well at night! Thank you ever so much Jonesy!

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Happy trails and happy tails!

NO-PEPSI

For decades we have known that soft drinks aren’t good for us. But some of us seem to unconsciously just grab for them. Especially when we’re parched!

Ingredient HEK is Human embrionic tissue of an aborted fetus cell line. All diet drinks Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Aquafina, Sierra Mist, Mug Rootbeer, Ocean Spray, Seattle’s Best, Double shot energy drinks, Frappochino, Gatorade, Lipton Tea, Propel and Sobe. You are drinking yourself. It’s hard to get your head around the concept.

Who owns Pepsi Co? Senomix……..Queen Beatrice of the Netherlands, whose father was a Nazi officer. Prince Bernhardt who created the Bilderbergs.

You know what I always say…..”CAN’T make this stuff up”

Human Dipode cell lines (approved by the US) and they are still in use today.

Like I said, couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. Just do me a favor….please STOP drinking this. Or just know I let you know what’s in it. ;-{

You can google court documents, find more information yourself, etc. But for now be safe, eat well and be careful what you drink.

Cheers!

Zucchini Cake

I was going to make a friend another batch of her favorite brownies for her birthday but something caught my eye in the fridge. I had purchased those zukes for a lovely light stirred up pasta dish. But then I remembered how sneaky putting those vegetables into our desserts make it a less guilty pleasure. So off I set to find a yummy new dessert. AND this was such a moist and pleasant surprise. You can still see the green flecks in my chocolate cake, but most of the cakes I saw online you couldn’t see them.  Maybe I didn’t grate the zucchini enough but it was a humdinger melt in your mouth cake.

Here’s all you do: