Holiday Mulled Wine, White or Red?

The other day, we just so happened upon a great sale of cheap wine at Kroger’s, the wine was Gallo, in fact, 750 ml size, marked to $2.99 a bottle.  Hmmm…one idea came immediately to mind-mulled wine.  So we bought several Chardonnays and Cabernets and began our research on what sorts of things to put in them for mulling.  I consulted a number of websites with recipes and some with the historical information of how mulled wine came about to arrive at the following recipes for white and red mulled wine.  The mister has enjoyed his red variety, much less sweeter I’m assuming than mine, while I toyed around with the white.

Here is our method and recipe for a great mulled wine:

(To be made in quantities of one bottle)

First, start off with 1/3 C water in a small sauce pan

Add your mulling spices

            For red, use                                          For white, use

3 peppercorns                                      3 peppercorns

2/3 of a cinnamon stick                         1 whole cinnamon stick, broken into 3

2 whole cloves                                      3 whole cloves

3 pinches of nutmeg                              1/2 of an orange peel, dried, torn

1/3 of an orange peel, dried, torn                                 

1 bay leaf

Bring water and ingredients to a boil, stirring, boil for several minutes, abusing the hard ingredients to release their flavor

White wine mulling-start-small skillet

Remove from heat

Reduce burner to simmer, return skillet to heat, stirring for another 5 minutes or so.

Remove from heat and let cool, 5 minutes or so

Transfer contents to a separate, large skillet, adding sugar and stirring

            For red, use 1 1/2 T. sugar, for white, use 3 1/2 T. brown sugar

Apply low heat

Add contents of 1 wine bottle, stirring until all sugar is dissolved

Simmer for 10 minutes

White wine added

Taste….make any adjustments needed

Fill glasses and enjoy!

Hints:

We used tangerine peel and were perfectly satisfied

Remove the peel after adding the wine, or it can become overwhelming

Place a part of the used cinnamon stick in your glass to add flavor up to the moment you drink it!

Avoid boiling all of the alcohol out of the wine.

You can also put a dot of honey in the bottom of a glass of white mulled wine, it will melt in the warmth and disperse.

And finally, don’t waste good money or good wine with mulling intentions!

Gingerbread Houses from Scratch

Things have gone so swimmingly this year with the approaching holidays in this house, we are ready to welcome Christmas!!  So, that has given us plenty of time to get some of the "idealistic" things accomplished that we have never had the time to do in the past.  One of them on our list this year, was to make our own gingerbread houses, from scratch.

We used this recipe from epicurious, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Gingerbread-House-103229, and baked long pieces in cookie sheets at just under 1/4" thickness.  This made enough for two medium sized houses.  Baked them on wax paper (yes, I checked the box and it was fine to do) and they were easy to cut with a pizza cutter.

Now, for the record, I want to say that I measured my half of the pieces, found the total amount of space I would be able to work with, and proceeded to calculate the sizes and dimensions of  walls, the roof and the floor.  I drew a cutting diagram.  None of it was worthwhile in practice, so I worked with what I had.  The mister, on the other hand, goes in with no plan whatsoever, and creates a cute chateau.  Mine turned out like a bad 60's-70's apartment building:

It was in the reviewers comments that I found a shortcut about joining the pieces of gingerbread with caramelized sugar.  I'm glad it worked for them, but it only have me a burn, and the pieces fell apart anyway.
BUT, we had fun making and decorating them!!

Marvelous Marzipan

With the holidays comes traditions, and I’ve held on to the ones I enjoyed the most growing up, so there are several Christmas treats that always make it on to our menu.  Russian Tea Cakes, described and recipe in an earlier post, are one that must make it to the Christmas Eve table of delight in this house.  Another one that I learned to make at a young age is marzipan.  This one, however, has been more dependent through the year on availability of ingredients…it calls for almond paste.  Nope, I have never tasted a shortcut that even approached the little fruits and vegetables we would create over the hours.  The mister helps me with this endeavor these days, and I think he enjoys it.  He’s very good at the ones I am not :)  And it can bring out the kid in you, too, making marzipan is akin to edible play-dough…OK, bad analogy…very bad, but it is fun!  And if you are a fan of almonds, how can this be wrong?  I love the very smell of them, myself.

To really enjoy the craft of making marzipan, you’ll need to set aside some time.  Pull out a Christmas movie, and pop that in, because this can all be done while you are plunked comfortably in front of the tv. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 (8 oz) can of Solo almond paste—not marzipan* in a can, tube or any other form

1 1/3 C powdered sugar

lemon juice (a very little bit, from the plastic lemon is most efficient)

water (in a fine mist spray bottle disperses the best in small amounts)

One med-large mixing bowl

Several smaller mixing bowls (the number depends on how many colors you want to make)

Liquid food coloring, paste is an acceptable alternative

Optional decorative aids: ground cinnamon, whole cloves, sugar for dusting

*Pre-made marzipan is exactly not what you need, it is made more for baking projects or for frosting.  Avoid this as it won’t give you the results you want (it will give you a very bitter taste though).

Step one:

Open can, scoop out all of the almond paste into a med-large mixing bowl

Step two:

Add 1 1/3 C powdered sugar

Step three:

Using washed hands, rub together mixture until it is evenly dispersed crumbs of almond paste and powdered sugar

See if you can get it to form large clumps

If you can not, give it a spray or two of water, be careful not to over wet—just enough to get the dough to form balls, repeat, alternate with 3 drops of lemon juice

*If you are kneading the marzipan, and it starts to leave a layer or film on your hands, it is too wet, and needs to be left alone to dry a bit before continuing

Step four:

Separate dough into smaller balls, depending on how many colors you wish to make

Place each smaller ball into a separate bowl, add three drops of food color to the smaller ball (to start), knead the coloring in, and check for desired results, possibly adding additional drop or two

Step five:

Time to get creative!  Make your objects, whatever they may be, we traditionally make fruits and vegetables, although this year the mister made a clever goldfish too.  You can use sugar to decorate with, or ground cinnamon and whole cloves really help to hold things together (hold leaves on, hold cherries together, etc.).  A toothpick is also very handy for making lines, divits, and well…you get the picture. 

Say, how do you like my picture of this years “crop?”

The Office--Done for Now...

Well, to be blunt, I’ve been busy, that’s why this months old update on the office project is just now being posted.  Holidays happen and many things are demanding the attention, ah well, here is the office, mostly finished.  I still have plans for two more pieces, a printer stand, and a parson chair for the light desk (for me!).  I have some rough plans for constructing the chair, but that will have to wait until January, I’m afraid.

 

Both of the desks were painstakingly and thoroughly stripped, the lighter/larger desk then received 2 coats of the golden oak stain and 2 coats of poly (3 on the top).  I later found a problem with the largest of the drawers, it was stuck, presumably due to the humidity, however, this swelling misfit did not improve with time.  I tried everything I could find on the web to solve this dilemma: beeswax and furniture polish for a smoother glide, sanding-sanding-sanding, nothing worked.  It seemed to be catching along the sides, and short of dismantling the entire drawer and reassembling it somewhat smaller, I was lost.  Then, upon further study, I saw that some of the problem actually lay in the back of the drawer, where the backing is taller than the sides.  Some quick jigsaw action took an inch and  a half off.  This, coupled with some frictionless tape I ordered to line the tracks with, has helped a great deal.  It now slides in and out with ease, just doesn’t close completely (I’d have to take the jigsaw to the front drawer panel to make that one fit now too, boy, humidity eh?).

 

The smaller, more brownish desk started out a virtually solid dark brown color, with no wood grain even visible.  It was very difficult to strip (and rather disgusting in its tar-like substance), and the decision was made to simply apply the coats of poly.  It would have been nearly impossible, if not outright impossible, to remove all of the stain from the wood on this desk.  It had seeped far down into the grain over the last decades.  I really like the grain that now shows, though. 

Done for now…one step at a time!

Hot-Hot-Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Hot-Hot-Spiced Pumpkin Soup

This is a fall favorite to warm you up on the inside, it's got a bit of kick to it!  It's best to make a day in advance, but there is no rule you can't eat it on the same day that you make it...I don't like rules :)

 

Ingredients:

2 cans chicken broth, not low sodium

1 can (same size) pure pumpkin

1 large potato

4 cloves garlic

1 1/2 onions

2 large jalapenos

1 1/2 t. dried thyme

1/4 t. allspice

1/2 t. black pepper

1 t. garlic powder

Method:

Steam onion, garlic and jalapenos in microwave

Cook potato until soft

Food process potato, onion, garlic and jalapenos

Mix pumpkin and chicken broth in large pot

Whisk in other ingredients and spices

Simmer on stove, cool, refrigerate overnight

Reheat on stove, serve w/ dollop of sour cream

Traveling Companion: Granola Bars

I've tried many different recipes for granola bars, to which the mister can testify.  Many of them turned out to be too cake-like, too thick, not moist enough, or requiring far too many eggs (4 eggs, really?).  I used to eat chocolate chip granola bars for breakfast every day in high school, back when they were a quarter, with a side of Sunny D, and missed those thinner, flat, honey-oat packed bars of goodness.  Now I'm not about to tell you that I've managed to replicate that recipe, and I didn't want to, because I'm sure they were not very healthy even then, but I have a recipe that is more of a grown-up version.  They are compact, thin, emphasize oats, and so very versatile.  Did I mention quick and easy?  Well, they are that too, taking about 16 minutes to bake.

Ingredients:
1/4 C margaine
1 C brown sugar, packed
1 egg
2 T honey
2 C oats
1 C flour
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 C raisins
2 T sunflower seeds (Optional)
pinch of ground cloves (Opt.)
1/2 C chopped apple (Opt.) 

To Make:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease the bottom of a rectangular cake pan
Cream the margarine and sugar
Add egg, cream with hand mixer
And honey, mix
Add baking soda, cinnamon and flour, mixing well
Add oats, raisins, mix to evenly distribute
Add other optional ingredients, be careful though, if you add the apple you will be pushing the limit of what this granola bar recipe can hold while still having enough dough to make everything stick together, you don't want to end up with a crumbly mess.
Press mixture onto the bottom of the cake pan, making sure there are no air pockets, and finishing with a level top.

Bake for 14-18 minutes, until firm but springy and a light golden brown
Cool completely in pan before slicing.

I've taken these for travel food many times, and it sure is nice to have a healthy-ish road snack, or one you can individually wrap and take with you on the plane.

Using dried apricots or other fruits is highly recommended too. 
Anyway, if you have been frustrated by not finding a good granola bar recipe that is simple and not full of unhealthy junk, I hope you will give this one a try, and enjoy!

Skip the Pizza, Make a Calzone!

You can see how much spinach shrinks inside!

Not exactly craving pizza, but up for Italian?  Try making your own calzones!  It’s really not that difficult.  If you have all of the ingredients you would for making a homemade pizza, you are good to go, I’ll show you how—

What you’ll need:

• 1 short can of tomato sauce (about 5-6 oz. in the store for ~ 30-40cents ea)-season this how you like it, or have it straight

• 2 cups finely shredded mozzarella cheese

• olive oil, for brushing

• Stuffing ingredients!  (Ex.: raw spinach, sautéed mushrooms, onion, garlic, black olives, pepperoni, etc. etc.  I pre-saute anything that might take a while to get a to a cooked state, BECAUSE this is only going to be in the oven for about 20 minutes.  Avoid extra juicy items like tomatoes)

1. Make two thin pizza crusts*(see below)
2. Shape them with two long sides (parallel) and two convex sides (fanning out)
3. Place the crusts on baking sheets
4. Add your stuffing ingredients, cheese, sauce and any herbs/seasoning from the halfway mark out to one side, KEEP clear about 1” along the edges
5. Gently bring the empty side over the filled side to meet
6. Fold the bottom edge over the top edge (gives you about  1/2” lip) and use a fork to press and secure the lip
7. Use your fingers or gently brush a small amount of olive oil over the top, sides and lip of the crust
8. Bake at 425 for approximately 20-25 minutes, calzone is done when the crust feels solid and has turned just slightly golden brown

Slice open with a pizza cutter and enjoy!

Thin Pizza Crust Recipe/calzone crust recipe

 This is a wonderful recipe, I’ve been using it for years, it goes together quickly with a hand mixer, and tastes great, but most importantly, it cooks likes it’s supposed to.

Ingredients (for 2 crusts)

2 C flour + extra for rolling

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/4 C margarine

3/4 C milk

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl

Cut in margarine (with a hand mixer to save time)

Add milk, mix

Divide into two halves and roll out until very thin, about 12-16 inches in diameter

For calzone, shape and proceed

For pizza crust, brush edges lightly with olive oil and pre-bake for 5-8 minutes at 450 degrees, then add toppings and bake for 15 minutes

Me Oh My that Pecan Pie!

I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t like pecan pie.  Granted, after living in several regions of the US, I’ve heard different versions of the pronunciation of “pecan,” but everyone knows that it refers to the best southern nut you’ll find.  In this house, the perfect pecan pie begins in fall, when the trees drop their nuts.  Then it’s time to get crackin!  The very best nuts, are the fresh ones that fall in your own yard, and are cracked by your own hard work.  They taste unbelievable!

Why can't I get a good picture of this pie, it's actually beautiful!?

Here is my favorite recipe for pecan pie, it’s basic, it’s a classic, and it never fails (to impress!).

Classic Pecan Pie

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 C sugar

1 C light corn syrup

2 T margarine, melted and cooled

1 t vanilla extract

1 1/2 C pecan halves

1 9-inch unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the beaten eggs, sugar, corn syrup, melted margarine and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and stir until well combined. (I use a whisk) Fold in pecans.

Pour mixture into the pie shell, smoothing out the top and evenly distributing the pecans.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, until pie is a deep nut brown and a knife inserted in the center of the pie comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes.

Before baking...

Recipe source: Georgia Pecan Commission.

Basic Pie Crust Recipe

Nothing fancy, but does get the job done.  If you experience trouble rolling when the dough is cold, just warm it for a few seconds in your hands, this helps with the “togetherness.” 

Ingredients:

1 C flour

1/2 t. salt

1/2 C shortening

1/8 C ice water, up to 1/4 C.

In a large bowl, combine the four and salt

Cut in shortening, or use hand mixer.

Stir in water until a ball forms.

Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight

Roll out on floured surface

Don’t overwork.

If an egg wash is desired, use

1 egg white, 1 tsp water, whisked together and brushed onto exposed parts of crust.

This is going to go great tonight with the slow-cooked pork ribs, slathered in a homemade BBQ sauce, with thick mashed potatoes, buttered green beans, and quick (maybe cheddar) biscuits on the side!

Prime Pumpkin Bread

At this time of year, pumpkin bread is a definite hit.  Bake a loaf for yourself, and give one to a kind neighbor-it may just make their day.

 

Ingredients:

1/2 C white sugar

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C margarine

1 1/2 eggs

8 oz. pure pumpkin puree

1 1/2 C flour

1/2 t each: ground cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1/4 t baking powder

1/2 C chopped nuts (pecans)

Grease and flour one 9X5 bread pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat together sugars and margarine

Add egg, beat

Add spices and salt, mix well

Add flour, baking powder and soda, mix evenly

Pour into loaf pan

Sprinkle chopped nuts on top, pressing into the dough with the palm of your hand

Bake for approximately 55 minutes, but check at 50 minutes

Yields 1 loaf, though easily doubled and freezes well when tightly wrapped.

Good with margarine or with a cream cheese frosting (Hint: add a dash of cinnamon to this frosting for a special topping).  Enjoy!

The Office: Step Two...Chair

This chair went with the desk that came with my mister, so it's been around for quite a while and in pretty good shape too.  I know he's spent many hours on that chair, and finds the grooves comfortable.  Me, I'd put a pad on it.  Well, this chair had been sitting in our office, stripped, for a year, waiting for us to decide on what color stain to aim for, and since that decision was now made, we decided to go ahead and give this chair the treatment. 
Mistake!!
Using the golden oak on this chair turned it red!  I don't mean an understated red, I mean an unmistakable red.  That simply wouldn't do.  So, thinking quickly, we tried to thin it with some paint thinner, but could see that we were putting in a lot of effort and getting uneven results.  It would have to be stripped again.  Joy.  It would probably be a little less unsavory (just a little) if we had a decent hardware store around that sold things like...curved stripping tools.  That not being the case, and hours later on a separate weekend, the chair was again stripped.  This time, however, we opted just for the poly coats.

Here is the finished product, which looks oh so good with my new desk (stay tuned for future parts):

 

I have no idea what kind of wood this chair is made out of, but if I had to guess...golden oak?

 

McCalls M6083

M6083 Misses’ Jumper

Version A, the short one, size 4 (after looking at the finished garment measurements and practicing with a measuring tape moving around my hips).

Yes, there are wrinkles on the legs because I had been driving for a while.

Alterations:

Based on other reviewers (thank you!) I added 2 inches to the front pieces 1 & 2.

And when it was all done, I decided it looked a little off, so I went ahead and bought some trim to make ties and sewed them on.  I really think it looks better this way.

Overall I’m quite pleased with the pattern, it looks cute, and I have plans to make the full length version now.  Well, sometime in the future anyway.  I think if you want a little more poof in the front waist, you'll want to add more than 2".  (Hint: for perspective, I'm 5'5").

McCall's 6568

On my quest for a great pair of kick-around fun pants, I picked up this McCall's pattern 6568 when JoAnn's was having one of their kick-ass 99-cent sales and I finally got around to trying it out.  My goal is to find a pattern I'm really happy with, and then make a covet pair of white pants.  I like the drawstring/elastic waist, as long as it's not too bunchy.  I like a good wide leg, but not a sailor pant (already have sew this in blue).  Pockets are fun, I like pockets, handy for putting things in. 

Well, the long and short of it is, the jury is mostly still out on these...I don't think it's "THE" pattern for the white pants to come.  But, hopefully they will have use around the house anyway.  What do you think?

 

See how awkwardly high the pockets are?  Yeah, I was too lazy to go back and fix that.  If you read my review, you'd understand why...too many alterations on what should have been a quick and easy sew.

Maybe if the legs were a little less tapered at the bottom?

 

 

"Russian" Tea Cakes-My favorite cookie

This is a special day here on the blog.  I’m going to share with you my favorite cookie recipe in the world.  Russian Tea Cakes.  This is a recipe I’ve grown up with, and it always has a place on our Christmas Eve table.  I wish I could claim that it is an old family recipe, brought back from the old country, or even that it was my own stellar invention.  It’s not.  It is actually a recipe by Betty…Betty Crocker that is.  Here is the link to the official site:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/russian-tea-cakes/3af8664b-6c3e-4022-b686-cd961521e59b

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

3/4 cup finely chopped nuts

1/4 teaspoon salt

Powdered sugar

1 Heat oven to 400ºF.

2 Mix butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and the vanilla in large bowl. Stir in flour, nuts and salt until dough holds together.

3 Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

 

4 Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Remove from cookie sheet

Here’s where I vary a little bit…

5 Take them off the cookie sheet immediately, and roll them in powdered sugar.  Set aside to cool.

6 When completely cooled, roll again in powdered sugar.

*I use a food processor to grind pecans to a fine chop and they blend into the balls very evenly. 

Otherwise, this recipe is Perfect!

The Office: Step One, Bookcases

Build bookcases.  Have you ever endeavored to do this?  If so, you were ahead of me!  There were many things to consider along the way, but I'm proud to say that my very first venture into sizable furniture making was probably a success:  

First decision, how big?  I liked the look of bookcases with sides that there 12” or so, to make a deeper shelf, so that took care of the width of the side pieces and shelves.  Height?  Oh, heck, 7 feet look good.  And pretty much anywhere we may live in the future would have ceiling space to accommodate that.  And how wide?  Well, not too wide to make them unstable, but not too narrow because I really want them to hold a lot…I settled on 32” long shelves.  More on why later…

Second decision, how to attach shelves?  I didn’t want to see a bunch of nail or screw heads dotting the sides, so I opted for under-the-shelf brackets.  Although I didn’t find much info on how much weight they could bear, I picked one inch brackets for the front (2/shelf) and two inch brackets for the back (2/shelf).  OK, but how many shelves will there be?

Third decision, shelf spacing, and consequently, number?  I thought it might be nice to mix it up with shelves spaced between 14”-12”, and laid out a plan for the bottom 2 shelves to be 14” and the remainder be about 12”, allowing for a 3 ½” base, because I didn’t want the bottom shelf sitting on the floor.  This worked out to be 7 shelves per bookcase.

Forth decision, what wood?  Being budget minded, as I am, here’s what ultimately happened.  I drove an hour to a real lumber yard.   Technically, my mister drove me an hour to the lumber yard as he has a truck.  Yes, yes, I live in a small town with nothing to offer.  Home Depot was a ray of light to me.  And, even better, I could find the wood (and the prices) online from home.  Heck, if I trusted them to be nearly as discerning as I, they would have picked out the wood for me and set it aside, which was not going to happen, of course.  But, they did have a good enough supply of common pine boards, 1”X12”X8’ and X10’ and X12’ as well.  This is where having math skills comes in…

8 feet = 96inches, divided by my shelf length of 32”= exactly 3 shelves could be cut from each 8’ board.  Nice, eh?  More on that later too…

So, since I’m destined to build 2 bookcases, exactly alike, I would need:

4-8 foot boards for the sides

 5-8 foot boards for the shelves

But that would leave me with one shelf extra, and I thought, that would be wasteful, so I complicated things by instead getting:

2-10 foot boards, cut for 2 sides, plus one shelf each

2-8 foot boards, cut for 2 sides

4-8 foot boards, cut in thirds, for three shelves each

Fifth decision, decoration and backing?  Some 7’ (perfect, no cutting) fluted 2-inch wide strips caught our attention, as well as some oblong corner pieces, so the idea was to put the fluted strips up the front sides, and the corner pieces on each of the four corners.  The backing was decided up on by 1)looks, 2)price, 3)thickness.  I settled on subflooring, 1/4" thick with a nice layer of wood pressed onto the top.  These were also cut for us (2 cuts) by the great folk at Home Depot.  They have a very cool machine for this.

I also wanted to have a base and decorative top on these cases, and with my new toy…a jib saw…this was entirely possible.  This would fill in the space between the floor and the bottom shelf (3 ½ inches) and shorten the amount of usable frontage space on the top shelf, where I chose an arc design.  I used scraps from the backing to create these pieces.

Sixth decision, what color to stain them?  With pine, the mister, a very experienced painter formerly, I was advised strongly to use a prestain conditioner, which Minwax was handy with making.  The color…hmmm.  Tough choice.  We wanted to go lighter, much lighter in the office, but I have an aversion to blonde wood.  We settled on Minwax golden pecan, got it home, stirred it up, and quickly saw that this was going to be far, far too dark.  Sneaky…I returned it to Walmart, and exchanged it for our runner up-an even lighter, golden oak.  This was our winner.  Nice, light, but not blonde, just enough gold, but not reddish.  Two coats, went on easy, covered nicely.

Seventh decision, what finish to give them?  After discussion, we decided a semi gloss poly would do.  Also two coats.  Great finish, not too shiny, but enough to give it some durability.  Also by Minwax.

The assembly…

Unfortunately, 4 of my shelf boards were too long, those that were cut off the ends of the 8 foot boards, by about a half inch.  Luckily I was able to correct that with the jig saw.

Once I picked the “good” side of each board, I began by drilling and screwing the brackets into place on the shelves, placing the outer of the bracket edge 1” from the outer edge of the shelf, on the ends, two per end, each shelf. 

Then I drilled and screwed the brackets into one long side of the case, flipped it over (with the shelves almost dangling for a moment) on top of the second side, and drilled and screwed the brackets into this side as well.

*Tip, measure and mark your spaces not with a pen or pencil, but with painters tape to leave no mark.  This is also a good way to determine how tall you want your cases or what shelf spacing you prefer-just use a door frame or wall to get a picture of how it would look.

Flip the case over so that it was face down, and nailed on the backing along each shelf and along the sides.

Flip the case again, laying on its back this time, and applied the struts for the base and top, nailed into the bottom of the bottom shelf and the top shelf.  Remember to stain the top shelf strut, as it will show when you look up. 

Apply the cut sections of the base and the decorative top with wood glue securely along the struts.  Use small nails in the corners (these will be hidden by the fluting) to stabilize.  Glue the facing-those 7’ fluted strips onto the front, using wire nails to secure them every so often.

Glue the corner pieces on.

Wait for glue to cure.

Step back and admire your work!

At least, this is how I did it.  Admittedly, I haven’t put anything in them yet, that will be tomorrow.  Wish me luck!

Fall Jacket

I was in a Walmart somewhere, and found this great brushed brown sort of faux suede fabric, and bought 2 yards with sewing a fall jacket in mind.  I had picked up this pattern months earlier, and together they sat and sat over the hot summer months.  A cold snap in the weather made me break out the pattern and figure it out.  It was too confusing, so I put it aside.  Then I took another crack at it.  And realized that I was a yard short on the fabric needed for the design I wanted to make.  Shoot.  No way to get more of this fabric-it was very near the end of the bolt as it was, where ever it was.  So, that’s when I decided to accent certain pieces, the collar, the cuffs and the pocket flaps with some wide corduroy of green.  I really like brown and green together.  I read the reviews that others had posted on this pattern, picked my size and cut out the many, many pieces.  Sewing it up took me the better part of a week or so, working on it when time permitted.  Here is my end product:

Whoops!  Forgot to fix my collar before setting the timer for this shot!

Other changes I made (other than the contrasting color), were taking the back in by about an inch on both sides of the piece, using snaps instead of buttons (my buttons I had bought were black, and that would have made a third color, and given it a clownish look in my mind), and leaving out the welts.  This last one was a mistake, the instructions for putting them in didn’t seem to be in the sections I was following, so I went back and added them at the end, hand tacking them to the sleeves at the seams.

It was my first attempt at lining anything, and not too big of a deal, really, even with the confusing (at times) directions.  Overall, I didn’t think it was easy to sew, nor was it really difficult either.  My machine choked and threw a fit now and then, to add to the drama.  The biggest bummers about this piece is that the sleeves are still short, although I did pin and try, and I’m not pleased with the bottom seam, it’s lumpy.  I guess these two things make me just “like” my jacket, and that is disappointing after putting so much time and work into it.  I hope it grows on me, it had such potential.  

Next Project: The Office

The idea came to me one day, I think it was in the morning, our "office" slash "spare bedroom" slash "where everything else goes" room is in need of help.  Lots of it.  It's not a room that I really spend time in, or have reason to.  My "office" is all over the place: the dining room table, the living room, the kitchen side counter, all the places that I stash my important stuff, stuff that needs attending to, in places where it shouldn't be.  My computer lives on the table, so it never looks very nice in that area either.  Organization is important to me, don't get me wrong, and I have my method by golly.  It doesn't matter that no one else gets it!  But it does grow tiresome. 

Couple that with the fact that the rest of our rooms seem to have purpose, a healthy theme to them, a great use and togetherness of the pieces in it.  This is all missing from the office.  One day, I voiced my opinion that our bookcases looked so very sad, the mis-matched, sagging, shelves overladen with heavy books and bowing terribly inspired me to say something along the lines of...we should build bookcases!  A set-that matches! 

Well, we really was me, and I got myself into a bit of a pickle in terms of underestimating how much work goes into that sort of thing.  For me, who has never made something that big, from scratch, it would be quite an undertaking.  I realized this when I went to draw up a plan.
How tall?
How wide?
How many shelves?
How deep?
Can you find that wood?  Here?  Within an hour's drive?
How will this be supported?
Who will cut the wood?
And on, and on.

But then, it gets to be an even grander scheme.

You would think I had learned my lesson, after opening my mouth and getting myself into something I knew nothing about, but no, no no.  I go even further.
Wouldn't it be nice if I had my own desk?  In the office?
So the hunt was on for a new desk as well.  When I say "new" I mean new to me, by the way.

A consensus was made on the ideal wood color: lighter.  
Then arose the idea...lets make all of the office furniture that color.
Ladies and gentlemen, get your chemicals ready for a stripping party.  And don't forget the gloves.

Here is a checklist of all the items we agreed to makeover:
The mister's desk
The desk chair
The rocking chair
Frames?

Along with acquiring a desk, which will most likely need to be refinished.

And these bookcases, that I need to build.

Nice, eh?  When am I going to learn to keep my mouth closed?

I'll post on the progress of this office "makeover" endeavor.  For your amusement and mine!

Maxi Dress M6559

This was a quick little endeavor, or, at least it should have been had my machine not decided to take a half day long hiccup.  Anyway, it's a very fast dress to put together with only two pattern pieces. 

Changes I made:
Used strips of fabric to create binding for neckline and arm holes.
Cut off 6 inches in length (way to long for me, 5'5")
I cut a size 8, but tapered the upper to waist area to a size 6.
My hem was turned twice then sewed at the bottom.

Overall, I think the dress would be more functional for me if I had made it in the shorter version, but I've never owned a maxi dress, and this is a complete novelty for me!  It has nice flow, and I can eat a big meal in it without showing that I did (hahaha).  The only thing I need to remember is to take smaller, much smaller, steps than I ordinarily do, because there is a confining sense to the stride.

Pattern review for McCalls M6559

Honey Drenched Cake

I love honey!  Honey has been proclaimed beneficial in so many ways, it keeps for a very long time, and is a great substitute for sugar...they say.  I don't care what they say.  I love honey!  It tastes like nothing else, a kind of perfection all on it's own, and sometimes I get such a strong craving for it, you'll find me giving crackers a nice stripe of it and eating them over the counter. 

So, I have had this idea in my head, I want to make a honey-flavored cake.  Sounds simple, right?  Of course it is, but when it came to finding the right recipe out there...ugh, that is what took me so long.  But, I've found a good one now, that makes a fine honey drenched sponge cake in one decadent layer.  Oh...it's good!!!

The website that provided the recipe is:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/tea-scented-sponge-cake-with-a-honey-tea-glaze-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

• 3 tea bags
• 1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons boiling water
• 3/4 cup flour
• 4 eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, in all
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup whipped cream
• 1 mint sprig
• Powdered sugar

Directions

"Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the boiling water with the 3 tea bags and let steep for 20 minutes.  Strain, reserve and let cool. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan. In a mixing bowl combine the egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar and whisk until thick and pale in color. Stir in 1 1/2 teaspoon of the tea concentrate, and the vanilla. Beat the egg whites and salt with an electric mixer until they form soft peaks. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and continue beating for 20- 30 seconds. Incorporate 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg mixture. Then add 1/4 of the flour mixture, fold it in. Repeat the process, folding in the whites and flour until the last batch of flour is incorporated. Then fold in the melted butter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 30 minutes. Allow the cake to cool slightly before unmolding. Make the glaze: In a small sauce pan, combine the honey, cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of the tea concentrate. Slowly begin heating this mixture to completely mix, stirring frequently. Set aside Remove the cake from the oven and turn onto a platter. Using a pastry brush, baste the entire surface of the cake . Use all of the glaze. Allow to sit 20 minutes. Cut into 8 wedges. Garnish each wedge with a dollop of whipped cream, a mint sprig, and powdered sugar."

And I'm surprised with the results, I have to admit.  I don't usually look (seriously) at recipes on the food network, although I know they are popular and have a following.  I'm not a big fan of Emeril, just because I feel that his recipes tend to use more ingredients than are really needed for the flavor you are after, and they also seem to be more complicated than they should be or need to be. 

Overall this was a good recipe, the only changes I made were to leave out whipped cream and the mint sprig (it is definitely sweet enough w/o whipped cream, and a mint sprig?  Come on.  Guess I'll just run out to the herb garden and pinch a few-not).  I substituted regular margarine for the butter, and used chamomile tea bags.  I didn't find it was necessary to heat the glaze, it seems to dissipate evenly just by stirring with a whisk.  One other tip--don't bother trying to get some of the glaze on the bottom of the cake, it will just make it stick to the plate.  It is very good refrigerated, and even better the next day. 

Yes, I recommend it!  It's good eating!

My Settee, Adventures in Refinishing & Reupholstering-COMPLETED!

So, I have been lax about posting the progress of my new settee...it's done!  Let me show you--

If you ever take on such an endeavor, my advice to you is to have plenty of patients, lots of staples, and take pictures of everything as you do it (or undo it, so you can remember how to do it again).

The first step, was to understand how the current upholstery was secured, and then removing it.

Starting from the bottom, to remove the white cambric. 

Paying attention to the corners and folds of the fabric.

As I can see from the fabric, the bottom side pieces will be the next to come off.

Next, removing the front bottom

Note the encased chord in this section...

Now we are down to the seat and the arms, so I noted the underarm section for later reassembly.

On to the seat...which is attached in the section by my hand above.

Down to the arms.

I had no idea how to make arms look like these, until I took them apart, staple by staple!

But first, a look at the underside attachment-

Now the rolled arm-piece by piece

 All off!!  Cat approves!

 Here you can see the repair that need to me made to the supports, both the lengthwise and two crosswise pieces were blown out.  Those were no big deal to replace.

 A greater challenge and pain in the rear was repairing the the right side arm.  The padding had to be carefully peeled back, the cardboard covering as well, and the struts moved back into place and secured with nails, and of course, everything put back.  But, while I was replacing the cardboard, I thought, these arms could use additional padding...hatch a plan...so I took some foam padding, made angle cuts for less noticeable start and stop points (did not want it to extend into the seat area or around the sides of the arms, mostly on top) and sized to fit the arm tops.  This I encased inside the old foam which was already pre-shaped, and stapled into place.

With all the necessary repairs made, it was time to cut new pieces, using the old ones as patterns and adding allowances were needed (arms, seat).

Once all the pieces were cut, it was time to begin re-assembling in reverse order.
Starting with the arms...

 If I am to be perfectly honest here, I'll have to admit that I first put one side on backwards, and then realized I hadn't planned the direction of my fabric very well, and took them both off, recut them, and started over.
Yep.  I did that.

Also, I had no idea how it "should" be done, but I made buttons with a kit from walmart, popping the sew through tab off the backs and inserting a nail before assembling, and then pounding (gently!) into the center of the rolled arms.  It worked!

I used my sewing machine to encase a cord for the front bottom piece, using the old one as a how-to.  It was fairly obvious, I'm glad to say.

I'm not going to bore you with the re-assembly steps, you've toughed it out through the deconstruction, so here are some pics of the finished product.

I added some decorative brads instead of the bent-nail contraption that was originally holding the lower sides in place.  I like this way much better, although I took a picture of the not-as-good side...the other one looks better.

Additional advice I can offer: mark your screw holes for the feet, otherwise you will be in rough shape with your finished product, and be poking around for them with a pin, trying to enlarge the holes with nails and such, and really wishing you had done it differently!

Overall, I love this piece, it was worth all of the effort, and the long wait to find it.  And I'm very happy that it is finished, in a respectable looking manner, i.e. all of the design is facing the same way-hahaha!

Thanks for reading, hope this can be helpful in some way for you!