elliemoon

PRESS

i am so very flattered to have been featured in this months issue of cape cod magazine::

quite an honor and very very exciting!

to all the new visitors here, and my regular readers as well, please forgive any inconsistencies you may be seeing around the site. picture sizing may be off in places and other glitches may pop up. but rest assured, all will be set right shortly. something that has been in the works since late september is finally coming to fruition. a change is gonna come, you'll see!!

KNITTING FOR CLARA

one of my bestest besties wound up having her new baby two weeks early! you know what that means::

knit for your life, then plug in the sewing machine. a few desperate pleas to the universe that it all makes it into the mail by saturday wouldn't hurt either.

happy weekend!

NAME THAT CHIP

alright, i'll just tell you. they're cinnamon! i grabbed a bag of these a while back and finally decided to do some experimenting. i have a nice chewy sugar cookie recipe that i thought they might work well with::

at first i separated the dough, just incase they were a major flop, but later (after eating a couple warm from the oven) i added cinnamon chips to the plain bowl as well::

i hadn't used this sugar cookie recipe in a while and as it turns out, i had made myself a little note on it::

okay me, if you insist::

yes and yes!

this sugar cookie recipe is nice and chewy, but a little thin. if anyone has one that is chewy and more substantial, i'll take it! these will most definitely do for now though::

chewy sugar cookies, the recipe:

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3-4 tbsp buttermilk

in a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder. set aside. in a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. beat in egg and vanilla. gradually blend in dry ingredients. add enough buttermilk to moisten dough and make it soft, not wet. (add cinnamon chips now, if using) roll rounded teaspoons of dough into balls, pat down a bit while moistening tops with remaining buttermilk. sprinkle with sugar. bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes until slightly brown.

now make some cookie ice-cream sandwiches!!

THAT'S A WRAP

i finished the art yarn project. i found these great buttons that look like little crocheted flowers and they worked out perfectly. a handspun cowl, complete::

i'm going to make a knitting confession here. this is the first piece of knitting i have ever blocked! and i am definitely a convert! i now understand why die-hard knitters insist on blocking everything::

something for mama. yeah!

happy saturday and sunday!!

GOO TIME

and now for something completely different. goo::

mix two cups of cornstarch with 1 cup of water (tint water with food coloring if using)::

mixing this is interesting. the reaction starts immediately and when you try to stir it, it becomes a solid. mix it with your hands instead. you can tweak the ingredients a bit to get just the right conistency. punch it and its a solid, run your finger through it, it's a liquid. why? its a non-newtonian fluid. the science went over more than a few heads, including my own, but the cool factor everyone got::

clean up tip: you may want to line most of the house with newspaper. i skipped this step, bad idea::

all hands on deck::

when you are done, don't wash this down the drain! toss it instead, as it will clog your sink. happy science experimenting!

IT WAS A BUSY DAY

but miraculously all red, pink and chocolate drizzled things were accomplished::

i don't mind at all if its a made up holiday. i'll stand behind any event that's celebrated with chocolate, candy and extra lovin'. hope you had a great valentines day!

HAPPY LOVE DAY

hope something romantic is in your future::

i've got some last minute cookie decorating, profiterole making and salsa assembling to get accomplished today, before our valentine party tonight. off to the kitchen!

COLD COLD HEART

say "i love you" with a few drops of food coloring and a little freezer time. tinted milk ice cubes! this one is sure to put a smile on all faces this valentines day::

serve these up with french toast and they'll really be in love. mostly with the syrup and butter, but you can pretend its with your craftiness.

happy weekend!

DEADLINES, DUE DATES AND DOWNTIME

and these changing pads are only part of it::

i've completed 7 out of a 24 count goal. i guess i was banking on more downtime, but not a whole lot of that exists around here before 9pm, which is right around the time brownie a la modes start happening. those eat up a surprising chunk of time. they must be savored people, savored.

TOILET PAPER HEARTS

here's a fun and easy stamp to get you in the mood for valentines day. just grab a toilet paper or paper towel tube and do a little bending. we added an elastic to help it hold its shape::

love is in the air.....or, on the paper rather!