Brownies and the Bachelor

Oh, the Bachelor! What in the world is going on with this season? Has there ever been a woman as abrasive and sickening as Courtney? It makes me ill to think that there are women out there who really believe that using mind (and body) games and manipulation to "win" a man is acceptable! It shows so little respect for men and her extreme arrogance...it's painful.

"I wonder if he's ever gone skinny-dipping with a model before?"  

"Winning!"

My two favorites are Casey B. and Emily, they are genuine and smart and very 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get.' It must be maddening to have to live 24 hours a day in a small space with Courtney and her obnoxious facial expressions. Even though I see Emily digging her own grave every time she bashes Courtney to Ben, I can sympathize with her and it would be tough not to try to take the whole thing into your own hands. Frustrating! And Ben, get a haircut, man!

Source

Luckily for me, yesterday afternoon, I was craving brownies and made a yummy batch so I had one (or five) to sweeten the whole Bachelor experience. These are "The Brownies of My Dreams." I ruled out a lot of recipes before I found them and believe you me, I have a pretty specific set of guidelines. I don't like crisp edges, chewiness, icing, filling or cake-like texture. I love dense, dark chocolately, not too sweet, European style brownies. Nuts and chocolate chips are fine in the right proportions.  After trying many recipes and reading many more, I've determined the things you need to look for in a good brownie recipe (if you have the same brownie needs as myself, of course).

-Not too much flour. If the recipe calls for a ratio of more than 1 cup of flour to
5-7 oz. chocolate, then it's going to be cakey. Cakey = not good.
-Lots of chocolate. Calls for melted chocolate, not just cocoa powder.
-Calls for eggs but NOT baking powder or soda. Powder or soda makes them too fluffy and cake-like.
-Calls for butter, not oil.

Here they are!

I cut them small because I like my chocolate bite-sized and often.

The Brownies of My Dreams:
1 stick of butter
2 T. of strong, brewed coffee (Is there any other kind, really?)
6-7 oz. of bittersweet or semi-sweet baking chocolate or a combination 
2 T. cocoa powder
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggs
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350, grease a piece of parchment paper (or foil) to line an 8x8 baking pan.

Melt butter and chocolate in a small saucepan, add cocoa powder, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Continue stirring over low heat until sugar mostly dissolved. Remove from heat.

Lightly beat 3 eggs in a separate small bowl or cup, slowly add about a cup of the hot chocolate mixture into the eggs stirring constantly, then add eggs back into the saucepan, still stirring. (This is called tempering the eggs and it's a really important step, nobody likes scrambled egg curls in their brownies.) Add salt then whisk in flour a little at a time until smooth. If you want nuts or chocolate chips, stir them in now.

Pour a bit of batter onto the parchment (helps weigh it down while you fold corners like wrapping a package so that you'll end up with a nice square edge). Add the rest of the batter. The good thing about baking with parchment is you can just lift the whole pan of brownies out and onto a cutting board after they cool. It would be great for cakes and things too!

I used foil because I'm out of parchment, but parchment is best.

Bake 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick or fork comes out with crumbs stuck to it. If the stick comes out clean, then they are overdone.

Delightful, delectable, brownies of my dreams...I think I'll have one now.

A few ways to tell for sure that you are in NOLA

1) Trees are blooming and budding and it is January.

2) It's 65-75 degrees outside and it is January.

3) It's 65 degrees outside in January, you and your family are dressed in short sleeves, but the locals are wearing turtleneck sweaters, tights, and wool coats.

4) Because it's a beautiful 70 degreese outside, you decide to grill out. When you stop at a convenience store for charcoal, they tell you they only sell it in the summer.

5) You go to a church potluck and approximately half the dishes contain seafood.

6) The fact that half the dishes at a church potluck contain seafood doesn't surprise you or send you screaming "FOOD POISONING" in the other direction, you proceed to eat it and pronounce it delicious.

7) You can run around the corner for beignets. (Or, as I like to call them, "Beign-YAYS!")

8) A wondrous thing called Praline Bacon exists here and is available to delight your tastebuds. (GO TO Elizabeth's)

9) You see signs for drive-through daiquiris. (You just can't put the straw in the cup until you arrive at your destination.)

10) The only thing that outnumbers the lifesize, blow-up football players in front yards are the number of friendly people you meet everywhere!

Little Man Letterman Sweater Tutorial

My blog has a new home. Click on over to see the tutorial for this great little cardigan!

Little Man Letterman Sweater

"Bring-Me-Some-Spring" Reversible Coat

I've been completely fascinated by this season of Project Run and Play, the things that these ladies are whipping out week after week is amazing! They have such great ideas and even better, they are able to execute them! This week is outerwear and since I had snagged the perfect fabric (I've been eyeing it for weeks and waiting for a sale. Finally got it for $3.99 a yard! Yes!) I decided to go ahead and sew it up so that I could "Sew Along."

I'm so happy with how it turned out. I call it the "Bring-Me-Some-Spring" Reversible Coat, because while it might still be a little sober, dark and gray outside, the bright colors and sunny, blue skies of spring are just around the corner...

(Get it?  Reversible coat... ;)

I love this lightweight, gray suiting fabric! It is soft and sturdy, warm but not bulky(bulky is bad for the ol' carseat) and machine washable. I saw it on the shelves in the fall and thought it was perfect for a boy coat. The line of bright blue is still playful enough for little guys and the dashed white line gives it a 'ticking' stripe feel. Both sides of the jacket have welt pockets (with a fun, contrasting color inside).

The fall and winter side has corduroy covered buttons. The underside of the collar is bright blue and because this coat is size 2/3 the sleeves are a little long but P will be able to wear it all through next year-I like the cuffs and pop of color that they add.

The spring side is a soft, baby wale corduroy in what I refer to as eye-popping blue. The buttons are flaming red stitched on with sunny yellow thread. I love the colors and I think P will wear this a lot during the cool spring months when we are all craving warm weather but it's still too cold for warm weather clothes.

Shoo, catching this guy in one place was a chore! I kept standing him where I wanted then sprinting away to snap a few photos then repeating the whole process again. It's worth it!

I used the 2-in-1 Reversible Coat pattern from Figuerosa and LePage's book Sewing for Boys but I added welt pockets to both sides. It's a really great pattern with lots of room for adapting to your own taste and style. I kept it pretty simple to reduce bulk and because I like simple clothes for boys!

Peter Pan Hat PDF

My blog has a new home! Visit to get my free Peter Pan Hat PDF!

Fabric Covered Buttons

I love adding fabric covered buttons to my projects. They can always go sweet and girly or funky and modern, but they're also great for boys since masculine trims and decorations are so limited. Buttons can add that little something extra and still be boyish. They're a great way to give new life to an old garment, adding them to a coat or cardigan is an easy upgrade and can give that sort of "vintagey/Anthropologie" feel that I'm crazy about (notice next time you go shopping how many really nice garments have fabric covered buttons).

I always use the Dritz brand, half-ball cover buttons, these are 3/4" size ($2.99 for 4). They are really easy to assemble without any tools and are very sturdy and secure after assembly, but you do have the option of prying off the backing if you make a mistake or need to change fabrics. The ones that require a tool cannot be undone. These can be thrown in the washer and dryer and come in many different sizes.

Purchase your buttons, when you open it up you'll find an equal number of curved front pieces and flat back pieces. Raid the scrap bag and cut rounds just a little larger on all sides than the button. (There is a template and some brief instructions on the back of the Dritz box.). One thing that I always do is sandwich a small circle of interfacing approximately the same size as the button between the button and fabric. The metal is so shiny that after stretching the fabric around the cover, it can still reflect through-even if it's not sheer. This takes away from the quality, something akin to wearing a flimsy dress without a slip. :)

Next use your thumbs to pull the fabric up and over the edges of the cover, catching it on the spikes. Once it is relatively smooth and evenly distributed, grab the button backing and pop it on. Easy peasy...

And with rewarding results!

What is happening here?!

A few weeks ago I had a sweet little baby boy. He was mischievious and into everything, but relatively unaware of his misdemeanors.

Now, I am seeing a new side of this little man. Those of you with bigger children will be laughing at me and saying "Duh." I was surprised the first time he looked me in the face and deliberately did what he was instructed not to do. I was even more surprised when, after I took away a household item that he had decided was a fun toy, he screamed and tried to hit me. I've always known he had a little heart in need of grace (just like myself), but I had just never seen it so clearly.

I definitely didn't see it in 2010! Look at that face!

So...I consulted a few parenting books and decided on time out for his particular age and level of understanding. Happiest Toddler On the Block reccommends starting out by simply taking your child to another room (away from the situation at hand), leaving them there and walking out-using the "kind ignoring" technique. Then gradually you start a timer and persist in putting the child back into time out when he or she gets up. I have to tell you, P seemed to find this absolutely delightful. I knew the system wasn't working when every time-out session ended in fits of giggles and with P peeking through a crack in the door where I was watching to make sure he didn't get into anything.

So, last week I bought a time-out booster seat. It stays in the corner of our office with a kitchen timer beside it and I am commencing to faithfully administer time-outs. This discipline thing is one of those child rearing issues you don't think about when you are "oohing" and "ahhing" over soft, miniscule baby clothes at baby showers...unless it's a shower like the one we threw for C a few months ago. The guests went around and gave a piece of baby advice as C opened her gifts. It was funny and sweet and informational all at the same time.

"Enjoy every moment, they grow up too fast."

"Write down those little things they say and do because you won't remember it later."

"Don't feed your baby Vienna sausages at public events like piano recitals" (Thanks for that one, Ashley)

...all true and all great suggestions.

One I remember clearly was from C's Mom, she said:

"Someone has got to be in charge, it had better be you."

Amen, Mrs. H!

Constructing a Welt Pocket

I used a new technique yesterday and I am so excited! I have all kinds of ideas brewing on what to do with these clever little pockets and I can't wait to share it with you so that you can plaster welt pockets onto everything too!

Welt Pockets in 10 Steps:

1) Decide how wide you want the opening of your pocket. (The one pictured is 4 1/2" for cold, little toddler paws.) Mark the length and position on the right side of your pattern piece and back this area with fusible interfacing.  The large rectangle marked around the pocket opening represents the interfaced area.

2) Cut welt and pocket pieces. (one welt and one pocket per welt pocket)
Welt:
Cut a strip that is 1/2" longer on each end than the pocket opening (a little extra is fine, you can trim later before tucking in the raw ends) and twice the width that you want for the finished welt. Back this with fusible interfacing, fold it in half longways with wrong sides together and press (it's important that the long raw edges match perfectly).
Pocket Pouch:
This piece is shaped roughly like a kidney bean for this type of pocket placement but it would be a rectangle if you were adding welt pockets to the back of shorts or pants. The pocket needs to be 1/4" wider on each side than the pocket opening (the center crease pictured above is the area you need to measure, the length is up to you-deep pockets, shallow pockets, medium pockets, you choose!) Fold the pocket piece right sides together and press.

3) Match long raw edges of welt piece along pocket opening line. Pin in place. Lay pocket, right side down over the welt, matching pocket opening line and the pocket crease. Pin in place.  (concave portion of the kidney bean/pocket pouch should be facing down)

4) Now use chalk or disappearing ink to mark stitching lines, 1/4" from the crease on each side and 1/4" from the pocket edges on each end. Stitch along marked line.

6) Press pocket to each side, creasing along seams (this will help when you turn the pocket to the inside).

6) Unfold. Inside the stitched rectangle, mark a straight line up the center and short diagonals from each corner. Carefully snip through all thicknesses along these lines, not cutting stitches.

7) Turn pocket and short raw pocket ends to the inside. With right sides together, match raw edges and sew pocket closed, sewing as close to the welt as possible without sewing through it. If the garment is unlined, finish pocket edges with zig-zag stitch or serger.

8) Now trim welt ends to 1/2" past pocket opening and tuck raw ends inside. I used the end of a writing pen to help do this.

9) Fold welt down and pin in place. Repeat on the other end.

10) Topstitch along each welt end. That's it! I did four of these babies in about half an hour, no sweat and very rewarding results! Use a heavy, duty needle for the topstitching!

Abundant: Think it Through Thursday (on Friday...)

My husband and I were chatting the other day about New Year's Resolutions. It's been the topic of everything from radio shows to magazine articles to blog posts to...well, you get the idea. W said he thought a New Year's resolution was kind of silly, he thinks we should have resolutions and make changes all year long. I said I agreed, but that I also think there's something motivating about a fresh start. Although it can also be an excuse to put off making changes, "Oh, yeah, I'm starting my diet TOMORROW." "AFTER New Year's I'm going to start doing the dishes."

There's a blog I follow called The Lettered Cottage, if you haven't read it you should check it out. Anyway, this week Layla posted about choosing a word for the year. Not really a "resolution" so much as an idea or an inspiration or a reminder. It seemed to me in glancing through the links over at Lettered Cottage, that most of the words that people chose were verbs relating to attitudes and outlooks on life.

Words are powerful. They can be truly hurtful or incredibly encouraging. They can tear people down or bolster their confidence. They can make a marriage stronger or destroy it. Prayer (through the work of the Holy Spirit) has power to change us, it humbles our hearts and teaches us to lean on the Father and it's a way for us to come into the presence of God and pour out our hearts in supplication for hurting or sick friends, family or strangers. Words are a gift and we need to take care not to wield them like weapons or use them to make excuses.

One of my favorite books in the world is Rachel Jankovic's, Loving the Little Years. If you are a Mama raising babies and toddlers it is an absolute must-read! There's a section in this book where Rachel writes about having a one year old, a two year old and newborn twins all at the same time (gives me some perspective with my single 19 month old). She describes the craziness and how incredibly hard it was. She goes on to say that during this time (changing diapers for 4 and nursing 2), she caught herself using the word "overwhelmed" several times a day-in answer to questions about how she was doing and also to herself. I'm sure that no one observing her life would have called her nuts or selfish for feeling "overwhelmed," but Rachel said she realized that in a way she was throwing herself a pity party. She decided to cut that word out of her vocabulary, to dive into this hectic life that God had given her and tackle the work cheerfully. She replaced a negative word in her life with something positive and she said that there was a palpable change for the better in their household after her change of attitude.

We all do this with words. "I'm just worn out" or "I'm so stressed right now." These may be the truest words ever spoken, but maybe they shouldn't be spoken. Maybe take out these negative words and replace them with something positive. I know this is something I need to do on a daily basis. When my husband walks in and asks how my day was I often say "It was a LONG day." The unspoken insinuation being that it was very full of unpleasantness, too much to handle and I had to do lots of things I didn't want to do and the toddler ran me ragged (or didn't take a nap or shredded a whole roll of toilet paper or learned to climb on the dining room table or dropped an electric razor in the toilet...the list is endless). I'm going to start thinking of my days as "abundant" instead of burdened and long. I am abundantly blessed with work, abundantly blessed with friends and family and an awesome 19 month old and the best, kindest husband in the world.

I don't mean that I'm going to (or that I think anyone should) adopt a weird, sappy, sweet demeanor that just ignores hard, unpleasant, real-life stuff, but an attitude that says "I'm not going to dwell on the bad, I'm going to appreciate and revel in what I have." Imagine how great it would be if in 2012, everytime you start to say, "I'm so stressed, " you say "I am so blessed" or you think "I'm so annoyed" but instead you say "I'm overjoyed." It might seem a bit over-the-top at first, particularly if you start speaking in rhymes, but it could be a good reminder to chalk up all the many reasons you have to be thankful and give some perspective on the one or two that you may have to be legitimately stressed, annoyed or overwhelmed about.

Have an abundant year, everybody!

"Hey, Mr. Knickerbocker!"

Thankfully, Barney has no place in this house, but when I started working on these knickers for Baby P, I remembered the song from when my sister (now 19) was a toddler and loved Barney and Baby Bop. She even had a Barney birthday party once. She caught a glimpse of the big, purple monstrosity and ran, terrified and shrieking, in the opposite direction...that's a good childhood memory. Anyway...

I made P some knickers. I don't know whether to call him "Squirmy" or "Bagger Vance." This little man is hard to catch in one place. He went from angelic to taking off his shoes to riding horsey on the arm of the couch in 2.5 seconds.

The back of these little shorts are pleated and have a strap and buckle to make the waist adjustable. Sort of a paper bag waist, boy style. They definitely have a 1920's or 30's schoolboy feel.

Here's P turning his pockets out, searching in vain for a rock he found on the playground. 

Got it! Yes!

Instead of using elastic around the legs, I did (backwards) box pleats in the middle front and back of the cuff. They're still comfy and with enough ease to do some climbing. I left them a tad on the long side so he can wear them into the spring...although it feels like spring year round here in NOLA. I like the idea of mixing a more modern, casual top with the knickers on bottom.

 This pic doesn't even show the shorts (I did not make the shirt or sweater), but I just couldn't resist those long, long eyelashes! Jealous, Maybelline?1

Blue suckers are 'da bomb" (dot) blogspot (dot) com! 

Oh, this great day is about to get even better!

Wonder of wonders, a train went by. P ran up to the sidewalk and plopped down on the ground to point and say "Oooohhh" and clap.

Bye, bye!

Pattern Review: Burda 9990

Burda 9990

Size A (2, 3 4,  5, 6, 7, 8)

Boys pant (three length options) and vest.



Description and My Experience:

I've been needing a good, basic pants pattern for a while. You know, one with pockets, button/zip fly, belt loops, cuffs- all those little details that add interest and an alternative to elastic for boys pants and shorts! These are really simple, classic looking pants and shorts. You could do them in lightweight fabrics for spring and summer or heavier for fall and winter. It would also be pretty simple to make them flat front although I like a little added volume.

I chose the size 2, mid-calf length short. Overall, I liked this pattern and will use it again (with my notes beside me). The instructions are a tad 'underexplained' at times and the cutting lines were a little difficult to follow.  The finishing instructions are ok (more on this in "Things You Should Know"). You need some prior knowledge to finish this garment perfectly on the inside as well as the outside.  I found the illustrations very helpful. This is a pretty simple pattern, the only challenge is the zip fly. I got this pair done (minus the hem) in the space of one nap :), about 2 1/2 hours. Not too bad!

(I left off the belt loops, changed the waist band and cuffs since I'm planning to do something interesting with these shorts...hopefully interesting and not dumb looking :)


Things You Should Know about Burda 9990:
1) You need to be at least an experienced intermediate sewist to navigate this pattern. The instructions on attaching the zipper and figuring out the self-facings are not very helpful unless you have done it before, I'd suggest finding a tutorial online somewhere (or instructions from another pattern) and using that to fill in the gaps.

2) While the finishing on the outside of the garment looks professional, the finishing instructions do leave something to be desired.
A couple of things that stuck out to me:
      -Most patterns remind you to finish the raw edges of self facings before putting
       in zippers or button holes or whatever, this one did not.
      -It would be a good idea to finish the raw edges of the pocket/hip yoke before  
      attaching the front and back pieces of the pant together at side seams. You could  
      probably get away with just pinking these, but I hate seeing a mess of raveling
      threads every time I look inside a garment.

3) When you start cutting, beware!

4) Next time, I want to add topstitching to reinforce my seams on the sides and rise (front and back). That's not included in this pattern and to topstitch the rise youwould have to change the order of the directions a bit.


If you have used this pattern! Leave your comments.

Busy...

Even though it's just Tuesday, I've had a busy week so far! I have a couple of Etsy orders to work on and I'm sewing some stuff for P. I will post more tomorrow. Here's a quick phone pic of an applique I'm doing...I love the colors...stinkin' cute.

Sunday Morning Goodness

I love restful Sunday mornings before church. No TV, no loud music, just family hanging around in the kitchen or living room, maybe reading books or playing with Baby P and talking. I like to make something yummy for breakfast, not always elaborate, just something out of the ordinary.

This morning I had a yen for Eggs Benedict.  ("I'm up to my ears in yens." Rory, Gilmore Girls Season 1) The real kind with poached eggs-something I had heretofore never attempted and real hollandaise-something I am totally wild about.

 

Let me just tell you, this breakfast was to die for and it only took about 15 minutes. No joke, the sauce is the most time consuming part and it is not bad at all! I used Julia Child's recipes for the hollandaise and the eggs. I always thought these two things were tricky, and I guess if you compare them to rice or frozen pizza, they could be considered tricky. Even so, I have not had a flop batch of sauce when following Julia's detailed instructions, and it is sooo, sooo tasty! Creamy, buttery and tangy all in one.

Hollandaise Tips: If you melt the first, large amount of butter in the microwave, you can do the sauce in one pan. (This is a small thing but it means a lot to me, I'd rather throw a small bowl in the dish washer than handwash two saucepans.) Definitely get the white pepper, it has a totally different taste than black that really compliments the creamy, butteriness. I use bottled lemon juice and I usually half Julia's recipe since there are just the three of us. I use two eggs instead of three and half the butter, it still turns out.

I do suggest halfing the recipe or you will be standing alone over the sink, eating hollandaise with a spoon because it is just too good to throw out. 

This is all merely hypothetical, you understand.

Now for the poached eggs. I was very nervous about this, especially after seeing Julie and Julia where she screams and cries over poached eggs.

While it was reminiscent of chasing a jelly fish around a pan with a spoon, it just was not that bad. I brought the water to a "gentle boil", did the vinegar, used a spoon to make sure the yolk wasn't showing, boiled for 4 minutes and they were great!

They look like weird little alien eggs sitting here in the hot, salted water (as per Julia's instructions), but they tasted great and the yolk was soft but not too runny-I like a little texture difference between my sauce and my egg yolk).

I will live to poach again!

I did the sauce first and kept it warm. While the eggs were poaching, I toasted English muffins, sauteed a little frozen spinach in a tablespoon of butter then just had to throw it all together. (muffin, a little sauce, spinach, egg, sauce, a twist of fresh ground pepper)

It does my heart good to see my baby "Hoarking Down" forkfuls of Eggs Benedict. (Yes, that's a little Ratatouille reference.)

He loved it! A great Sunday morning