The Life, Designs & Crafts of Marie Haigh
Life is what happens while I am busy planning my next knitting design.
I finished my 6th sewing project of the year and my 2nd Christmas gift (one can never start too early).
I cheated on this apron, since I bought the front side in a store. Full details can be viewed on my Elly Made blog.
I plan to take a break from sewing aprons even though I have 4 more ideas waiting in the wings and whip up some gadget cases. I just love quick and easy projects – at least they better be easy.
I hope you have enjoyed my Homemade Bread for Breakfast series. Dan and I have loved the results, so it is my intention to continue the series.
To expand my collection of bread recipes and to further my knowledge of how to make tasty breads, I bought the following book: Baking Artisan Pastries and Breads: Sweet and Savory Baking for Breakfast, Brunch, and Beyond.
The first recipe I tried my hand at was Orange Cranberry Scones.
Despite an incredible desire to alter the ingredients, I followed the recipe and accompanying instructions to the letter. Although the scones were fun to make thanks mostly to the rubbing technique (I might just retire my pastry blender after all),I felt that they weren’t rich enough. Scones should be made with heavy cream rather than the buttermilk or yogurt recommended; the whole point is that they are just a richer version of a muffin.
If you are wondering why I put sprinkles on my scones, it’s because I didn’t have any course sugar. I used what I had on hand: colored sugar. Dan thought it was “adorable” that I put jimmies on our scones. Silly man.
Poor Elly started running a low-grade fever Friday night. On Saturday, she spent the vast majority of the day crying and complaining about being sick. Just when she started to recover from the fever, her eczema flared up causing her to itch like crazy.
The good news is that she is finally feeling like her old self again allotting me the time to resume my daily blog posts.
The bad news is that we’re pretty sure she is allergic to orange juice.
At least that is my hope. They are opposites on the color wheel so they should complement one another.
These balls of yarn are from Claudia’s hand painted boucle line. I’m thinking they will make a fun skirt for my sweet girl.
Now to find the time to knit it.
This week we are having an old favorite for breakfast: Baps.
The recipe is Scottish. Like most Scottish recipes I’ve come across, there are few ingredients listed but the result is rich, homemade goodness.
Elly recently shot up 2 inches. Most of her shirts had to be packed away because they could no longer cover her belly.
So, last Wednesday, Elly and I went shopping.
She needed more t-shirts, summer dresses, shorts and gardening pants. I found everything on my list at Evergreen Consignment shop in Pottstown.
I got all this for only $50.
If I had tried to buy this at a department store or boutique, I would have spent twice as much or more. With Elly growing at the rate she is, it doesn’t make sense to spend oodles on her clothes. She has to promise to wear her clothes for at least 1 year before I start buying her boutique clothing. With a little luck by the time she stops growing every few months, she’ll be old enough to sew her own boutique clothes.
Not only did I get to shirk the household duties, I got to play in the garden with my Poppet.
It was a lovely day.
I finished my 5th sewing project of the year.
It’s another apron. Except for the bias tape, it’s made completely from old clothes. Full details can be viewed on my Elly Made blog.
I already have plans to sew yet another apron. I think I’m addicted. Aprons make such a perfect gift to give. They are quick and easy sewing projects, which is a necessity with Elly running around. They are great for those who love to cook and for those who hate to cook but love to host a party, which includes just about every woman on my list.
It had been my intention to simply purchase a bag of wood chips to strew along the path in between my garden beds. However, an idea popped into my head while I was breaking up the branches from an unwanted bush. The soft needles seemed like they would make a perfect mulch substitute.
Since I had to cut the branches into smaller pieces to fit them into a compost bag anyway, it was no more effort to cut off the soft needles first.
It’s not your conventional looking mulch due to its fluffiness, but I think it will work just fine. Now to find a solution for my other pathway….
Nancy posted this recipe of a sweet white bread on her blog.
It was a recipe that had belonged to her grandmother. I love using recipes that have been passed down through the years. You know it has to be good if the next generation wants to make it.
After all this praise for old-time recipes, you might think that I would follow the recipe to a T. You would be wrong. I am firm believer that a recipe is merely a recommendation of how to cook something.
Thus, I took the liberty of swapping butter for the shortening because butter tastes better. I agree with Julie Powell of Julie & Julia when she says the following: “Is there anything better than butter? Think it over, any time you taste something that’s delicious beyond imagining and you say ‘what’s in this?’ the answer is always going to be butter. The day there is a meteorite rushing toward Earth and we have thirty days to live, I am going to spend it eating butter. Here is my final word on the subject, you can never have too much butter.”
The baking temperature listed didn’t seem right. Nancy even commented that the bread didn’t need to cook as long as instructed. I checked my favorite cookbook, Home made, and opted to go with its recommendation: 30 minutes at 375. It was right on the money.
Though the recipe stated that it yielded 4 loaves, both Nancy and I only made 3 loaves. Perhaps if you made mini loaves, then 4 could be yielded.
As anticipated, the bread was quite tasty. It was especially good toasted with jam smeared on top. Thanks Nancy!
The Life, Designs & Crafts of Marie Haigh 