this is something i've been promising for a while!
i finally have the cottage fabric up on spoonflower. here's a sample snap i took an age ago - the original is dingier, and i had the pattern repeat the wrong size. i've fixed that now - so it's good to go!
this is the original i started with:
i'm so excited! after i get about fifteen other on-the-go projects done, i am totally going to start quilting. any day now. really.
well this was a nice surprise!
beautiful weather on the weekend. rooting around the shelves by the back door, i found this old pot of mini-daffs which i'd tucked out of the way last spring. i used to always chop the leaves off and set the bulbs to dry, and then throw out the dessicated husks a year later when i accepted defeat, but this time i decided to leave the tops on, as suggested by ontario today's ed lawrence.
look lovely, don't they?
but when you peer inside...
and trim away the dead stuff... voila!
so i took my similarly decrepit front porch planter...
and planted.
of course, on the radio they just said we'd have snow on wednesday, but what's springtime for if not hopefulness?
it's a secretary from duck soup!
and i actually have a pattern which is similar... actually, it's an evadress pattern for a pair of dresses, and i think the sleeves of one plus the bow of the other might be it.
lots of other gorgeous dresses in duck soup:
but realistically i am more likely to dress like the secretary than the dancer/spy (check out those bias sequins)! or, the ever wonderful margaret dumont.
am i the only one who doesn't like downton abbey?
admittedly, i've only seen the first three episodes. maybe something amazing happens, the writing gets better, the characters become interesting. i know it is a soap opera, not "high art" in any sense of the phrase, so perhaps my expectations were simply too high.
it is interesting, however, as an object lesson in the brits' fascination with class, their love-hate relationship with the underpinnings of their culture, half self-congratulating, half self-flagellating. the earl of grantham is a greedy snob who married only for money. but he's a likable chap who did the right thing by falling in love with his rich wife after a while. he's helping the poor by giving them a job polishing his cufflinks. what a lovely man. or not.
the entire premise is one peer's excuses masquerading as apologia.
it's also interesting to see how the show panders to modern sensibilities. i was marvelling at how downton presented the hunt with such glorious imagery, considering the protests which have met the hunt in recent years, when lord grantham (the nice earl! look how nice he is to his valet!) mentioned the family that doesn't tolerate hunting on their grounds. hat tip, 21st century values.
the writers are apparently aware of how unrealistic much of the dialogue is, in that they occasionally call themselves out in the script. it's a classic, over-used technique - you can't accuse me of fill-in-the-blank if i accuse myself first! well, actually yes you can be accused of phony dialogue when his lordship et famille sit down to the dinner table to discuss a chambermaid's purchase of a typewriter. it simply would not have happened in 1912. and having the dowager countess point out the incongruity doesn't excuse it. their words sound wrong, and their voices sound wrong. the whole show rings so false i sprained a muscle rolling my eyes.
it is pretty to look at, though. the lovely decor and dresses and gardens are simply wonderful, although they do of course fall prey to the impulse to modernise a few things to match contemporary fashions (the eyebrows, the young turk's flowing hair). if i watch another episode, it will be with the sound off. while re-reading hoare's biography of stephen tennant.
i think part of the problem is having watched it too soon after watching brideshead revisited, a much more accurate and affecting piece of television, even thirty years later. julian fellowes is no evelyn waugh.
we used to make these when i was a kid - vanilla cupcakes with butter frosting, decorated with flowers made of mini fruit-flavoured marshmallows cut in half. kiddo did all of the putting-cupcake-papers-in-the-tin, some of the stirring, most of the marshmallow-cutting, and a few of the flowers.
the recipe, of course, is from the much-beloved cake and cooky cookbook.
on saturday meanwhile, i baked this yummy mocha cake for dinner with my in-laws. was very glad to be invited there for dinner, as i'd just found this mocha cake recipe i wanted to try, but the kiddo and i already had plans to make the cupcakes, and i was having trouble justifying making that much cake.
it's all as good as gone though! mocha cake got gobbled up at dinner, cupcakes have been delivered to the neighbours and some are set aside for my coworkers tomorrow. easy come, easy go.
i was lounging in the bay window reading, and thinking "i ought to be wearing lounging pyjamas and my bed jacket" and thinking "don't be ridiculous, changing into bedclothes in the afternoon is absurd" and thinking "i do need lounging pyjamas though" when finally i got up to do a quick search. i bought some linen/cotton on sale a little while ago, with elegant summer pyjamas in mind, but a pattern is needed.
imagine my delight to find this: a promise of a free pattern for lounging pyjamas!
and after snooping around the blog, the pattern itself! the pdf pattern is for the pyjama top only, but that's no worries, pyjama bottoms are easy enough.
i will undoubtedly be having a look round that blog for other patterns, too. oh happy day!
well, that was an adventure!
in pursuit of some sweet cheddar tarts i remember having years ago at a bakery that no longer makes them, i stumbled across ensaymada - a filipino sweet cheesey bun. different creature, but boy they sounded good.
at some point i was talking to a friend - who is filipino - who was reminiscing about filipino food, and i mentioned my desire to try ensaymadas, and she said, let's make them! so, after a certain amount of scheduling silliness, we set a date. today.
we had our recipe. it would take a lot of time - two rises - so i said i'd get started before she got here. no worries.
actually, yes worries.
one of the ingredients was powdered milk, which i didn't have. um. i used some cream instead.
next, there was the matter of flour. the recipe only asked for 1 1/4 cups of flour. didn't seem nearly enough, but what do i know? maybe that's why they're so soft and rich? maybe it would come together during that first rise?
nope. soup it was, and soup in remained. i searched online, and found other recipes, with much more flour for the same amount of liquid - 3 cups, 4 cups, as much as 6 1/2 cups! eek.
my friend arrived. i told her the story. we thought a minute, and then just added more flour, keeping track of how much we added. as it turns out, we used three whole cups! i've heard of typos, but that is crazy.
the directions left a lot to be desired too, so i rewrote them entirely in order to be able to follow them.
but! after all that! so very yummy, so very good. rich, tender, cheesey, sugary goodness. so very, very good.
and so: here is the recipe, corrected and working! whee!
ensaymada
dough:
1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup hot water
1 tbs honey
1 1/2 tbs yeast
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded cheese
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soft butter
topping:
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup sugar (approx)
1/2 cup shredded cheese
dough:
combine cream and hot water in a large bowl, stir in honey till dissolved. stir in yeast.
add flour, salt, and cheese, stir to combine.
mix in eggs, melted butter, and sugar. stir well with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes.
cover and leave to double, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
punch down.
take a heaping spoonful of dough and flatten out on a floured board. spread with soft butter, and roll up jelly-roll style. roll this into a rope just long enough to tie in a knot, and place in greased 9" x 13" baking dish.
repeat with remaining dough. you should have 12 buns.
allow to double in bulk - a few hours in a warm place, or overnight in the fridge.
bake at 350 f for 20 minutes. turn out onto rack to cool.
topping:
whip butter until pale and fluffy. spread tops of buns with butter, then sprinkle sugar over and top with shredded cheese.
