Punkin Jars!

Every so often, you need to get your hands dirty and create something.  I don't feel like I've had much opportunity for that lately.  But in the interest of the upcoming Halloween, I needed to make some decorations.  Naturally my eye fell on some empty mason and pickle jars...and then my orange craft paint.

A black sharpie for some faces...

And some battery operated tea lights...

 Instant punkins!! :)

Kona Bliss...a Swing and a Miss!

The past few weeks have been a crazy hectic mess around here, with two injured dogs, and out of town work trips.  Work took me back to Hawaii this week, and though I didn't get much free time, the sun, sand and scenery inspired me to get back into the kitchen and try to create a taste of that warmth.

My favorite part of going to Hawaii - apart from the sun - is the coffee.  I absolutely LOVE Kona coffee.  So I dreamt up these little gems.  Mocha cupcakes with macadamia nuts and coconut, topped with a mocha frosting and toasted coconut.

These were a total dream, so I kind of "winged it".  I started with some high-quality dark chocolate and butter, melted together.

I whipped together the eggs and sugar, then folded in the flour and cocoa.

Before folding in the melted chocolate and butter, I add a little instant coffee, to incorporate that coffee flavor.  (Side note: I LOVE these Via packets!  I travel quite a bit for work, and these little gems have saved me from bad truck-stop-style coffee on more than a few occasions.)  I then added some coconut and macadamia nuts.

I opted for a denser type cake base, to support the macadamia nuts and coconut. As they cooled, I whipped together a mocha buttercream.

The flavor on these is unbelievable.  I'm really happy with the flavor combo, but I still give these a B-.  In retrospect I would have gone with a lighter cake base and chopped the macadamia nuts even smaller.  But I would certainly make these again, adjusting as noted!

Fruits To Go!

Where does the time go?!  I seem to be asking myself that question every day, sometimes multiple times.  Each day seems to be busier than the last, yet I feel like I'm accomplishing less....

This time of year is always very hectic and busy at work, and generally has me on the road quite a bit.  This year is no exception.  I've been back east twice, and have at least 1 trip to Hawaii (don't worry, it's all work and in Honolulu, which is like Seattle, only humid) in the next couple of weeks, along with a probable trip to Tampa.  I actually really enjoy traveling, even if it is for work.  The downside is the rest of my life slips. My yard is a disaster, with weeds and downed branches taking over.  Inside is even worse.  Tonight I swept a small army of dog hair puppies.  And don't get me started on the dust and muddy paw prints.  That's life with 3 dogs - dirt, dirt and more dirt.  Oh.  And hair. LOT'S of hair....

I'm also back in school full time, working on a Marketing degree. I'm not sure why.  I don't feel like I have the time, but somehow I'm making it work.  Somehow.

But all of these things leave little extra time for "me".  And yes, I'm currently living alone, minus the 3 dogs, which would cause many to say "all your time is YOU time".  What I mean is me time doing things I WANT to be doing.  You know...blogging, baking, canning, crafting, etc. When you have so many projects going at once, it's a little hard to justify standing in front of your stove stirring jam and apple sauce for a few hours.  But it's what I ENJOY, so I'm trying to make the time as best I can.

So that's why Sunday found me once again neglecting my dirty floors, piles of laundry and TWO unpacked suitcases.  Instead I pulled out my handy Singer sewing machine and collection of vintage flour sack towels I picked up from the Picket Fence.  

Awhile back I posted about making reusable produce bags from flour sack towels.  All they needed was the cotton twine drawstring and they'd be done.  It's taken weeks, but I FINALLY got them finished.  I made a few plain white bags in a smaller size (1 flour sack cut in half makes 2 bags) and a few of the vintage printed ones I turned into larger produce bags (simply cut or fold towel in half).  I opted to cut these vintage towels and re-stitch, to ensure the adorable screenprint images were right side up.

These were really simple to make.  Literally fold or cut in half, stitch a straight seam, fold over the top about 1/2" and hem.  String with cotton twine, tie, and voila!  Washable, re-usable, breathable, and adorable, produce bags!

Though they took me less than an hour to complete, it felt oh-so-good to finally do something I really wanted to.  Sometimes the simple act of creating something is the best balm for a frazzled soul.  We should all practice the act of creativity, in whatever form suits us, more often. :)

Bee Happy, Visit the Quil Fair!

Fall is officially here in the PNW.  Summer dawned late this year and was fleeting.  But while it was here it was beyond glorious.  Sadly it has come to a close this week, each day growing cooler than the one before.  And today brought the drizzle.  The ever-present NW drizzle....

But before I become too immersed in my SAD lamp, 'tis the season.  FAIR SEASON!  I love love love fairs.  There is something so all-American and down-home about fairs.  And let's not forget the food.  I turn in to Homer Simpson thinking about fair food.  Mmmmm.....fried fair food goodness.

This weekend dawns one of our state's BEST fairs, the annual Quilcene Fair.  It lasts all of one day, has about 15 crafty booths, a total of maybe 3 food vendors, and a small carnival complete with ferris wheel.  Oh, and a parade!  Consisting of every fire and EMS vehicle in town (maybe 3?), the local school band and small old tractors.  It lasts about 15 minutes.  Seriously.  And I love love LOVE it.  It really is a fabulous time, and a great opportunity to see small town America in action.

Ordinarily I sell my jams at the fair, but unfortunately this year got away from me.  To sell jam in WA state requires a commercial kitchen, permits, licensing, etc.  Too much to pull together this year, and super sadly, I will be out of town for work. :(

But my good friends WILL be there!  Go visit the Picket Fence and Buzzy Bee Creations to see their fabulous wares.  And my best friend Claudia will be there too.  That gorgeous honey you see above?  Yeah, she will be selling it.  Look how cute these jars are:

Ever since I was 5, I've wanted to have bees.  That dream came to a crashing halt after my first bee sting, when we learned I was deathly allergic. :(  So now I live my bee dreams through Claudia and her husband's hive.  Last summer I watched from afar, epi-pen in hand, as they caught a swarm of bees.  And now, you can taste the bees' happy work.  Stop by the fair and grab a jar of the golden goodness.  I can barely contain my Winnie the Pooh tendencies and not drink it straight from the jar.

The fair is Saturday the 17th, starting with the parade at 10:00 am.  Go check out the craft booths, the car show, and all of the wonderful events the volunteers worked so hard to bring together for your enjoyment.  And take some pictures for me! :)

Summer's End

I awoke this morning to a chilly PNW morning, topping in at a whopping 45 degrees.  I've noticed the trees starting to change and mornings starting to darken.  I'm not ready for summer to be over.  It barely started here in the Northwest...

Last weekend's wedding was a beautiful, magical affair.  It was a ton of work, but every minute was so much fun. I'm unbelievably sad it's all over.  This was the perfect match of creativity with the decorations and dessert making, along with my organizational skills and planning and details and checklists.  While I'm not a Type A, I'm probably an A-, or at least a solid B+.  I love this kind of stuff and feel blessed a large portion of my "real" job has some aspects of these things.  I love being creative, but software and technology isn't exactly the same as weddings and special events...

Unfortunately the day of the wedding was so chaotic I didn't get any pictures of the venue (I know, I suck), but the bride and groom's fab photographer will be sharing photos which I will be sure to link to.  And my friend Claud took some snapshots I plan on stealing from her as well. :)  You won't believe the wonderful array of appetizers she put together for the event.  Delish!

Until I snag those photos, I'll share a few from my kitchen, taken along the way.

As you know, I love love love to bake. My style is rustic.  I'm not into "perfection", meaning, the cookie cutter type things you would find in a grocery store bakery.  I'm not all about the crazy cakes shaped into motorcycles and the perfectly shaped cookies and the too too tarts.  Can I do those things?  Sure.  But it's not REAL to me.  For me, baked goods equal hearth and home.  I want my goodies to remind people of the treats their grandmother made for them.  Given the rustic and vintagey feel of the wedding, I knew my baked goods would fit right in.  So naturally I went all out to create a fabulous dessert table, offering a little bit of something for everyone.

The bride really wanted a formal wedding cake, but in chocolate.  I fashioned together a 2-tier chocolate cake with chocolate pastry cream and a white chocolate mousselline buttercream.  This buttercream recipe uses NO powdered sugar and 2 pounds of butter, and takes 2 hours to make a single batch, but it is so dreamy, it's worth every calorie and every minute.  I cannot put into words how amazing it is.  I then decorated the cake with nasturtiums and sugar wafer butterflies, so everything was edible.  I was really happy with how it turned out.  What do you think?

I also made a Mountain Dew Groom's cake, as the groom drinks Mountain Dew like it's the nectar of the gods.  I love the acidy green color of the cake.  And according to all who ate it, they recognized the Dew, so yay for that! :)

And let's not forget the pies in jars!

There were also pumpkin and red velvet whoopie pies, chocolate salted pecan candy, and peanut butter and chocolate crispy cookies.  A little bit of everything for anyone with a sweet tooth.  And now I'm hungry! :)

Whoopsie

Well, I did it again.  I have a HORRIBLE habit of taking on more than one task at a time.  Generally, as long as they're in the same genre (baking, for instance) I'm fine.  If they cross over, usually not a good thing.

See all these beautiful apricots, fresh from the orchards of E. Washington?

I received some fab produce yesterday and thought, "Hmm....I know I'm making a 3-layer 2 tier wedding cake AND baking 4 dozen red velvet and pumpkin spice whoopie pies AND finishing another batch of blueberry pies in a jar AND making cream cheese frosting AND another batch of chocolate pastry cream....but SURELY I can handle one batch of apricot slow-cooker butter!"

Yeah, not so much.  I awoke at 4am to the smell of burning sugar, and for the life of me couldn't understand why.  I figured it was my sleep-sensors telling me I was a baking fool yesterday.  Then about 7am I hopped out of bed and scampered to the kitchen, remembering far, far too late my apricot butter.  Whoopsie.  This is what it looks like after cooking away in a slow cooker for 18 hours:

Happy Friday ya'll! :)

Canning Porn & Dueling Banjos

Today I'm bringing you a little bit of canning porn.  Oh that's right.  Wait till you check out these babies!

As my friend's wedding approaches in mere days (check back later for all the pictures!), I took a break this afternoon from the baking and planning.  I had fruits and veggies to put up!

I was the very lucky recipient of a large delivery of organic produce, straight from a local grower, courtesy of my thoughtful brother.  No way could I let it go to waste.  So first up, salsa.  Ole!

Onions with the dirt still on them!

Gorgeous red, yellow and orange heirloom tomatoes.  In love!

I could live on salsa alone.  It's my all time favorite.  This particular batch has a variety of heirloom and sweet yellow tomatoes.  I'm not sure what particular type of peppers, as I just grabbed a couple from the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket.  But given the burning of my hands while cutting them, I'm guessing it will give off some nice heat.  Ordinarily I would provide you with my recipe, but in this case, the USDA would probably hunt me down.  Cause here's the thing: I HATE the USDA-approved recipes.  For me, I want some chunk and crunch in my salsa.  So I kind of just wing it, botulism be damned.  I don't really cook my salsa, other than a slight warming to bring out the tomato juice.  I figure the time the jars spend in the water bath is cooking enough.  And in the end, it's a nice consistency.  I also don't add sugar, and very little vinegar.  Like I said, the USDA wouldn't care for me sharing the details.  But hey.  They got that whole Pork cooking temperature thing wrong, so I'm going with my gut on this one.  And for what its worth, no one has gotten sick or died yet. ;)

Check out this green pepper.  It's the size of a baby's head!

Next up, pickles.  But first I needed to find the perfect pickling music.  I strongly believe that life is better lived with a soundtrack.  Even if it's just in your head.  I also think that dogs make the best dancing partners, so make of that what you will.  Pickles.  I've never made pickles before.  That was my mom's stinky job growing up.  But I have to say, pickles scream banjo to me.  So on went the Avett Brothers, and let the pickling begin.  (I'm pretty sure my neighbors think I'm nuts, but I'm comfortable with that).

I had a bunch of little pickling cucumbers, as well as some english variety.  I'm not sure if you can pickle an english cucumber, but I'm giving it a try.  I sliced them, and cut the pickling cukes into spears.  And since I had some fresh dill, I threw that into the jars as well.

Since I've never made pickles before, I opted for the Mrs. Wages Kosher Dill mix.  Mixed with water and vinegar, boil and add to the jars.  Side note: pickles stink up the house like nothin' else.  There is just no way to make boiled dill and vinegar smell good.

Check out my pickles!

10 jars of salsa and 12 jars of pickles.  Not too shabby for an afternoon "break"!

Shameless plug time.  My good friend Becky over at Buzzy Bee Creations makes the most amazingly cute little kid clothes.  And aprons.  And if you're a disaster in the kitchen like I am (seriously, I'm a little baking Pig Pen in here), you need an apron.  And why wear one of those ugly boring ones, when you can get a super cute apron you wouldn't mind answering the door while wearing?  I have at least 4 from Becky, and my cleaners thank her.  See:

Cute AND practical!  Love it.  :)