Happy November - Halloween wrap up

Hello! Can you believe it is November already?! This year has just flown by. I have a few pictures of the little man from Halloween as well as some of making the costume.

Back of the coat before adding the stripes.

Bat head before I added the gloss coat.

Bat tie all ready to be assembled!

Adding the stripes.

More stripes.

Making faces in the mirror with the new face paint.

Raising the pumpkins. (That's what he told me anyways)

Boo!

Also, I think I promised pumpkin pictures. So, here they are and bonus 'poison' candied apples.

We had a little pumpkin party with some friends.

Here are our two. Little man specifically requested R2-D2 on his, I chose to keep with the Nightmare Before Christmas theme on mine.

Mmm candy apples.

I'll add pictures of my own costume when I get them onto the computer.

Back to work.

Pumpkin time!

And I mean that in the actual physical pumpkins from a pumpkin patch sort of way. Not in the pumpkin flavored everything sort of way. Fortunately I've managed not to over-dose on pumpkin flavoring yet this fall so it's still ok in my book at least.

Anyways, we went to the pumpkin patch today and brought home some lovely squashes. They get to be whole for a while as we figure out what exactly we're going to carve on them. Here's last year's pumpkins if you're interested!

Silly pumpkin

Pro wheel-barrow pusher right here

We also did a corn maze this year!

I've also finally started working on the little man's costume and I must say I'm really excited about it! More to come on that once it's finished and of course pictures of the finished pumpkins too!

That's all for now.

Happy Fall!

Sweet 16th: Almond cake with pear

I made a new recipe this week!  It has been a really long time, and I am sorry for that, but you know I can't be creative in all areas all the time. Sadly.  Anyways, this recipe was inspired by something I saw on a desert menu at a little cafe in Seattle. They didn't actually have any left so I couldn't try it, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. And so, I made up my own version.  So now, let me share with you my pretty, simple little almond cake :)

To make this you'll need:

4 Tablespoons of butter (1/2 a stick) at room temp
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/3 cup almond paste
1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs at room temp
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
a pinch of cinnamon
1 pear (I used a Tosca, cause that's what I had)

In the bowl of a mixer, combine butter, shortening, almond paste, baking powder, sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Mix it for a couple minutes, it starts to get a bit sticky. Make sure to scrape down the sides a couple times.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each.

Add in a third of the flour and mix.  Then add half of the milk, mix. Another third of flour, then the rest of the milk and the rest of the flour.  You get the idea.  Mix after each addition. 
Lastly, stir in a pinch of cinnamon.

You should have a pretty thick batter.

Pour the batter into a 9 inch round baking pan that has been oiled, floured, and the bottom lined with parchment.

Spread the batter out in the pan so the top surface is reasonably flat.

Now peel, core and slice the pear into very thin pieces.  I used about half of a pear, which meant I got to eat the rest.  No complaints here.

Now lay the pear slices on top of the batter in the pan in any lovely design you choose!

Now pop the cake in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

When it is done, let it cool in the pan for a little while before digging in!  This cake is moist and dense but still fluffy, and very almondy.  It's kind of like just eating the middle part of an almond filled croissant :)

My strange child decided he didn't really like this for some weird reason, but that means more for me!  Time to break out the Wii fit again...

Anyways,  I'll leave you with a preview pic of his Halloween costume instead of a toddler approval photo.

Happy Baking!


*edit: I forgot to include the amount of flour in this post originally! Ooops! It's in there now.

And then I dyed

Hello!  As I mentioned in my last post I have been excessively busy,  but I thought I'd share a few pics of the costumes I've been working on.  First up, some things for Steamcon, which is right around the corner!

A little sneak preview of my vest.  So much more beading to do...

In progress shot of my hubby's jacket.  Faux fur cutting tutorial to come later.

Of course, with the deadline for the play I'm working on fast approaching, I've taken a brief break from the Victorian era and switched to the late 50s.  I ended up needing to do some dying of polyester so that was a fun experiment.  Dying poly is kind of like making fudge, only way less awesome. You have to stand at the stove and stir it constantly for about 45 minutes but in the end you don't get to eat it.  And you have to wear (or I think you should wear) a face mask so you don't breath it in.  No delicious chocolaty smells from the dye bath. 

On the positive, my dying experiment totally worked!

Before: purple, After: blue

I needed to seriously tone down this fabric so the dress wouldn't stick out from the other costumes like a sore thumb.  I'm calling that a success!

In other dying news,  I much prefer tea dying.

Before, plain old white. 

This dye bath does smell good!  Even if it is just the cheep stuff.

Let it soak.

Muuuuch better!

Anywho,  The Brick and The Rose (the show I'm doing costumes for) opens next week so after that it is back to the meticulous hand details of the Victorian clothes.  And then full costume shots!  And Halloween! 

Speaking of Halloween,  what should I carve on my pumpkin this year? Here's what I did last year.

Sweet 16th: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Its that time of year when pumpkin enters the kitchen in full force!  

This is something I've been wanting to try for a few months and I must say they were worth the wait.  While I don't include the recipe here, these would be wicked good with a little cream cheese frosting on the top!

So here we go!  I modified this recipe from a cinnamon roll recipe in this cookbook (everything I've tried from this book has been excellent!).


For the rolls you need:

1 1/3 cups lukewarm milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 packets of active yeast
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 egg
8 cups flour


For the filling:

1 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon allspice
about 1 cup packed brown sugar
butter


Start with the dough.  Put the milk, yeast, cardamom, melted butter and egg in a mixer with a dough hook attachment and mix.  Add the pumpkin and mix again. 

With the mixer on, add in the flour slowly until it is all incorporated.  It will be stiff.  (I broke a spatula in it...)

Transfer the dough to a bowl and cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for an hour.

pre-rising

post-rising

 

 

While the dough is proofing,  mix together the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice for the filling and set aside.

After the hour is up,  punch down the dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface.  Roll the dough out to about 12 x 30 inches or so.  It should be about 1/4 inch thick.  This can be tricky as the dough is pretty springy and will want to bounce back in. 

Spread butter on the surface of the dough and then sprinkle the spice mixture and the brown sugar over the entire surface. 

Roll it up starting from one of the longer sides, then cut at angles roughly 2 1/2 inches apart.

Transfer the buns to parchment lined baking sheets with quite a bit of space between the buns.  (They grow a lot more!) 

this is before the second rise

Cover them with a clean towel again and let rise in a warm place for another 30 minutes to an hour.  They should be almost doubled in size.

after the second rise

Bake the buns at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool before frosting or just eat them warm!

These are so very toddler approved but I didn't manage to get any pictures of the little man eating one :(

 So instead here is a different adorable picture! (or two)

Happy baking!

Butternut Squash Soup!

I love butternut squash,  especially as soup. 

Want my super delicious recipe?  


I thought so :)



You need:

1 butternut squash
veggie oil
1 sweet onion
2 or 3 cloves garlic
4 cups chicken or veggie broth
cinnamon
nutmeg
cloves
ginger
cardamom
cayenne pepper
black pepper
brown sugar


The first step is to peel and chop up the squash.  This is the most challenging part and takes a bit of muscle.  (Don't forget to scoop out the seeds!)

Next, heat up 1 to 2 Tablespoons oil on medium heat.  Chop up the onions and cook for about 3 minutes. 

Mince the garlic and measure out about  1/4 teaspoon each of the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom cayenne and black peppers. 

 Add the garlic and spices to the onions and stir in.  Cook for another minute or so.  Add in all of the squash and the broth.

Bring it to a boil, then lower to a simmer and let cook covered for 20 minutes until the squash is nice and soft.

This next part you could do a couple of ways:  I use a hand-held mixer in the pot to cream everything up until its really smooth.  You could also transfer small batches at a time to a blender to puree everything.

Either way,  add in about 5 Tablespoons of brown sugar and blend it in.

Add more of the other spices to taste if you wish.  I usually end up adding more cayenne since I love the spicyness!

Dish up and eat up!  I like to serve mine with honey wheat toast to dip in the soup.