Stripey Cardigan

Knit up this quick stripey cardigan for baby Alex using leftover scrap yarn.  These three colors, also used for Alex's vest and about a thousand other projects, seem to be never ending.  I am actually done with the blue, but more orange and green still remain.

Used the Little Coffee Bean sweater pattern, knit in the 12 months size, but with short sleeves. I added in a double stripe of blue a couple times to keep it exciting.  I cannot tell you how many additional ends that meant weaving in, but it was worth it.

Jeni's Salted Caramel Ice Cream: Meh

Hmm... while this ice cream looks kinda awesome, it was unfortunately, meh.  The recipe receives the thumbs up from neither Tim nor I.

I have successfully made salted butter caramel ice cream before and loved the recipe (from my fav, David Lebovitz), and yet I found myself tempted to try this recipe for salted caramel ice cream that I stumbled upon on The Bitten Word.  The methodology differs from the Lebovitz way in that it does not acquire its thickness from an eggy custard, but from an intriguing combination of cream cheese, corn starch and corn syrup.  Plus the internet is full of raves about Jeni's ice cream, a popular ice cream shop in Ohio and Tennessee.

It wasn't very hard to pull together, but we just plain did not like the results.  Too bitter (maybe I prefer the larger amount of sugar called for in the Lebovitz recipe?), too weirdly cheesecakey from the cream cheese (it's hard to believe that "cheesecakey" could be a bad thing, but here it is), strangely sour (maybe from boiling the milk?).  Sad...

We tried to jazz it up with some caramel sauce (Simply Recipes' version), but to no avail.  Oh well... live, learn, stick to the tried-and-true basics when it comes to ice cream.

Coconut Energy Bars

I keep seeing all of these copycat energy bar recipes floating around the internet lately... many different variations on the same theme: 

nuts + dried fruit (usually dates) + extra flavorings x a quick zip in the food processor = 

raw energy bars similar to Larabars

I thought these might be a good grab-and-go breakfast option for me and Tim.  We've been exercising in the mornings before he heads to work and I start my work-from-home routine, but since we're not very good at getting up early, there's not a lot of time in between for a sit down breakfast of any sort.

I decided to use this recipe for chocolate and coconut flavored energy bars.  Unfortunately, it was a bit of a bust and required much troubleshooting to achieve the ultimate product.  The recipe calls for dates (Medjool, but I used Deglet Noor, which perhaps was part of the problem), nuts (almonds and walnuts), dried unsweetened coconut and cocoa powder.   The ratios (dry to wet) seemed to be off for me, though, as my final product was much too dry and very crumbly:

I had to almost double the amount of dates in order to get a sticky enough consistency to form the bars.  Plus a couple tablespoons of honey, just in case:

In the end, we liked them ok, but we want to try one of the other recipes for a different flavor combination.  I think I was hoping for a little more chocolate flavor myself.  I'll definitely give it another try.  Perhaps chocolate chip?  Or peanut butter chocolate?

Toddler Overalls

Ug, these came out cute, huh?  Little adjustable overalls for Zoe...

Made using this downloadable pattern (Jody Baby Overalls) from I Think Sew.  The pattern was pretty easy to follow.  I had to wrap my brain around the waistband construction a little bit- inserting elastic in just the back part and attaching the pants took some thinking, but it came out well in the end.  I made just one change: rather than install loops on the front bib to which you knot the straps, I made buttonholes and then sewed 3 sets of buttons onto the straps to make them adjustable.  Hopefully it works!

I used some cute grey, flowered quilting cotton from Joann Fabrics. I had ordered it online when it was on sale and when I got it, I found it to be a little bit heavier/stiffer than I would have liked, but it was perfect for overalls, which need a sturdier fabric.

Baby Bloomers

I saw this new free pattern for baby bloomers from See Kate Sew last week and knew I had to give it a try.  With one pattern piece and only 1/4 yard of fabric required, why not?

I used some beautiful Amy Butler fabric that I had leftover from these Big Butt Baby pants I made for Zoe a few months ago.  Maybe Zoe and Baby Dos can wear matching outfits? 

Also, a pair made from the leftover scraps from my '60s looking Grainline Tiny Pocket Tank:

They're pretty cute on their own, but even cuter on a baby, so be sure to check out the action pics on the original blog post at See Kate Sew.

Adventures in Challah Stuffing

One half batch of my favorite challah dough... two loaves of challah stuffed with various delicious ingredients... two explosions in my oven.

First:  almond stuffed challah.

I got the idea after impulsively buying a bag of almond meal (finely ground almonds).  I thought that maybe I could make a filling for the challah that was reminiscent of the sugary almond paste that they put in those buttery, delicious almond croissants.

I made the filling according to this recipe and wrapped it into my usual no-knead challah dough.  Apparently I didn't wrap it tight enough, though, because after a few minutes in the oven it looked like the explosion you see below:

Luckily, all of that sweet, toasted almond shrapnel was pretty tasty, and a good amount of the filling stayed in the bread, creating a subtle swirl of almondy goodness throughout:

Second: spiced apple stuffed challah.

This one was to use up some Malang apples I had sitting in the fridge... I wanted to follow this recipe from What Jew Wanna Eat because I found her blog title and premise to be really hilarious, but I worried that the raw apples wouldn't cook sufficiently inside the bread and I wanted to make sure the spice flavors came through... so instead I sauteed 2 large peeled and diced apples in a teeny bit of butter, a couple dashes of cinnamon, a sprinkle each of cardamom and nutmeg, and about a tablespoon of honey.  Then I wrapped them up in the remaining challah dough, braided it and stuck it in the oven, at which point, you probably guessed, it exploded.

This one didn't have as much leakage as the almond challah, but was still bursting (literally) with apple pieces.  Tasted pretty damn good, though.

The next day it was a little soggy from the moisture of the apples, but a quick warming in the oven took care of that.

Gathered Top

I recently made a wearable muslin version of Butterick B5356, a pattern I got back in the States over Christmas.  I thought it looked comfy and flowy, good for Jakarta's sweaty weather. Used some crazy bright green fabric from the Real Martha that makes me feel like I should be sipping an iced tea on the lanai with the Golden Girls... in a good way.

 

It came out pretty cute, although the neckline is a bit conservative.  I think it would look nice with an embroidered yoke, kinda like a Mexican peasant top, or a lace or sheer yoke like the sample on the Butterick website:

I rolled the dice and made one size smaller than the pattern suggested for my measurements, as it seemed like the pattern had a lot of ease.  It worked out well- I think I would have been swimming in the larger size.