elliemoon

SHUTTERBUG

kai has naturally become my right-hand man around here. as the oldest, i guess thats just the way it goes. but through it all, and undeniably, he is happiest when a request for help involves using my camera. big b and i gifted him a real deal digital camera for christmas this year based on his enthusiasm. definitely the right idea. although, i question the influence my blogging has on him when i peruse his memory card and find multiple shots of his favorite toys and drawings placed in various locations and lighting. i envision future girlfriends questioning why all of his photos of her are extreme close ups of her hands stirring cream into coffee or her feet while she's putting her shoes on, or worse, just the plate of food she was about to eat. at any rate, he went on a class field trip to plimoth plantation yesterday and came home with these::

seriously, the best 100 bucks we EVER spent! i am so impressed with his eye. he had no idea what i was so excited about. we got to discussing the photographs and he went through a bit of his mentality concerning when and where and why he took certain shots and skipped others. it was amazing to me. i am amazed by him. end of story!

FOR MY LITTLE MONSTER

or one of them anyway! this next project will be for o. i found a knitting book that might just still work for two boys going on 7 and 9. with knitted playthings, this has become a challenge. it may be a stretch for kai but i think o will be sold::

this is another pattern featuring techniques i have never encountered. thank you youtube, you are a visual learners dream come true! without which, i would have spent days trying to digest magic loop knitting. so far, all appears to be going to plan. we'll see what happens in the end!

EASTER, THE SUCCESSFUL TREATS

aside from those horrible confections, all other baking went as planned for easter. i made the traditional ricotta pie and was about to start a double batch of italian cookies when i decided to go another route. grammy parziale, i'm sure, was turning in her grave at the sight of my preparing a greek delicacy for the easter dessert table::

but listen gram, you will have to forgive me my trespasses for straying from my normal reverence for all things italian. besides, big b once claimed to be greek (presumably as a ploy during our first date.....it turned out to be a farce.....a farce revealed many years and a couple of babies later). regardless, i love baklava and i hadn't made it in a long while. we used to have a very lovely and endearing greek neighbor named maria. this was when kai was still in a bouncy seat. she came over one day and let me video tape her making baklava. i would transcribe her recipe but there were no measurements of any kind! okay, okay, here's a rough idea::

maria's baklava::

1 package filo dough

2 and 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter

a soup bowl full of ground walnuts, with two fistfuls of sugar thrown in

a soup bowl full of ground pistachios, ditto for the sugar

1 and 1/2 cups of honey, or more

some sugar

12-15 whole cloves

start the syrup first. in a largish pot, mix about 1 and 1/2 cups honey, a cup or so of water and, 3/4 cups or so of sugar and the whole cloves. maria just dumped these ingredients in straight from their containers until it seemed "right". she knew about my sweet tooth, so when it came to the honey measurement she said "oh, you like lot that's it, you put how much you like" and then proceeded to dump in the entire jar of honey. i miss her. let these simmer while you are assembling the baklava. use a pastry brush to slather the pan with butter, then start adding two sheets of filo at a time with butter in between each two layer layer. after 12 or so sheets (6 layers) add a little of each kind of ground nuts, then another 2 layers of filo (4 sheets), then more nuts, then about 4-6 layers of filo. then cut. bake at 375 for about 20-25 mintues. dump on the syrup as soon as it comes out. let cool and eat.

i know, halfway through that i got a headache too. i don't blame you. did i lose you at "two layer layer"? that's where i lost myself. here's the deal, if you want to make it and need some advice just email me. its easier than i made it sound and quicker than reading my "recipe". i promise. these were pretty thin as well, only two layers of nuts and enough ingredients leftover to make a smaller pan on the side. next time i'm going to use the entire packet of filo in one pan and make some monster baklava. maybe i'll even take the time to document and produce a worthwhile recipe for all of you. if not, i'll atleast show you some pictures and again offer my moral support. 

SUGAR BOMBS

the following is documentation of a disappointing recipe::

they look pretty impressive right? well, slow down. they taste like crap. was that too harsh? i'm just being honest here. this recipe looked and sounded like the oversized buttercream eggs my grandmother used to gift us every easter when we were little. i can still taste those eggs.....super super rich for sure (a slice a day was all we were allowed), but flavorful and delicious and melt in your mouth amazing. these ones? probably comparable to gnawing on fondant. i made them yesterday with the hopes that they could accompany my easter desserts. no such luck. i left them in the fridge with the additional hopes that they might somehow improve with age. i'm dreading the inevitable tossing. at the very least, i guess i can finally say i have met a candy that i do not like. and that, my friends, is saying a lot.

LE CAKE

this one was a while in the making. very simple overall, but we had so much going on over the weekend and for her birthday in general that it seemed as though it would never come together. in the end bella decided to let me surprise her as far as the cake theme went. an excellent decision as it allowed me to go super simple and super sweet. just a cutesy little girl cake::

yet another design idea lifted from the pages of the cupcake book. i also couldn't help but add some of those ladybugs from the sunflower cupcakes. the butterflies are made with chocolate wafers. i was aiming at easy and smallish, but in the end it would have been nice to have done three tiers to allow for more of a butterfly swarm. though bella didn't mind at all, she loved it just the same::

happy birthday bell! and happy easter to all of you! hope you have a restful weekend and a lovely holiday!

 

 

THE DOLL QUILT

never have i been happier to complete a project. here it is::

there you have it, with pillows to boot! and it only took me 4 months! i really do hope that i will quilt again. i'm not completely discouraged. i think i just need a break.....a break from an 18 inch quilt.....not a good sign. luckily i have some changing pads that need to be made. back to my comfort zone!

SUNFLOWERS AND LADYBUGS

these were the cupcakes i made for bella's preschool birthday festivities. the boys are both summer babies, so this was the first time i had to prepare a celebration snack for someone to bring to school! not surprisingly, i got a bit carried away. these are another design found in my favorite cupcake book::

somewhere around midnight (at which time i was still elbow deep in frosting) i realized that these should have been used as her birthday cake. but i had already promised "fancy" cupcakes for school, so i was sunk. besides, the cakes were already made and ready to be leveled and, really, who better to appreciate these than a room full of preschoolers?

GO FLY A KITE

bella's birthday weekend was extraordinary and extended! complete with a visit with her cousins from new york, beautiful weather, and near constant activity. i'm sure she is now convinced that birthday celebrations are meant to last at least four days. i'm with her, mine's next::

somehow our first little girl isn't so little anymore. which suits her just fine. she has to keep up with her brothers after all!

FOUR YEARS AGO!

happy happy 4th birthday bella! 

4 already? seems more than a little unbelievable. stay tuned for celebration details. and have a happy saturday and sunday!

MY FUTURE AS A QUILTER IS UNCERTAIN

to say the least. i think my sewing teacher knew she was in for it when my response to: "so you still need to piece it?" was: "if that means 'sew it all together', yes, and i also still need to cut the pieces i need to sew". thank god she has patience and a drinking habit. otherwise, i'd be on my own::

but look! i'm hand sewing a binding! it may only be 18 inches square, and yes, it may be for a doll, and sure, quite possibly it won't get the play time i'm imagining.......but its a quilt and i made it. i learned the basics of quilting. done and done. the real question is, will i ever attempt it again? maybe just one more time, to make that colorwheel i've been dreaming about (somewhere my sewing teacher is shaking her head, considering an early retirement).