cleaning up and reorganizing

I came from a family where there are piles.  As we get older, the piles seem to get smaller but there are piles.  I decided I needed to tackle my work table and organize it.  A lot of the organizing is actually going to be cutting quilt squares!  Not very creative but needed.  I have many fabric scraps that need to be dealt with.  I have pictures that need to be hung too.  But no idea where I should put them. 

This is also not addressing the fiber pile.  It is huge!  One step at a time.

It is not going to be a very creative week but I hope it will be productive!

for the Pirate King

I made a sweater for the Small Mister.  It  started out as all the ends of balls of yarn but I had to add other colors.  The front is almost entirely made of yarn I have spun and it is very soft.

My gut says the Pirate King Malarkey is never going to wear it.  He always shakes his head a very hard no when I ask if he wants me to make him something.  This is with  the vehement words.  I hope that it ends up in a thrift store and some child falls in love with it.

feeling lazy

The infused tequilas I made were enjoyed greatly.  The habanero never needs to happen again.  The coffee so far either.  We have not found the right combinations to go with it.  Everything else, definitely.  But it takes one to three weeks to infuse tequila and when the work day ends in the response "Say it's not so!," waiting is hard. 

I started making simple syrups in some of our favorite combinations of infused tequila.  Ginger and blackberry is awfully good.  Blackberry and mint is wonderful too.  Ginger and grapefruit, hmmmm. . .

The simple syrups all start with 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water.  The blackberry and ginger uses 12 -16 ounces of blackberry and a piece of ginger the size of a large fist.  The blackberry and mint use the same amount of blackberry and two large handfuls of mint from the garden.  I have not gotten too the ginger and grapefruit syrup yet because grapefruit are not in season here yet.  In season grapefruit convinced me I like grapefruit.

Then, a portion of tequila, an equal portion of infused simple syrup.  Both of those poured over ice and enough soda water or fizzy wine to fill the last of the glass if you wish.  Need to wait less then an hour instead of three weeks.  Life is good.

You could also make sodas with each of those.  Flavored simple syrup, ice, and enough soda water to fill the glass.  Use enough flavored simple syrup so the soda is to your taste.  I find everyone is very different.

It has been an interesting week!

"free" dress

The last A-line dress I made was an Italian wool.  I bought enough for the dress if it had been a 45 inch width but because it was wider, I actually got another dress out of it.  I have been wanting to make an old pattern and I had enough. 

A sheath dress.  It is lovely. Nothing very fancy.  And it can go anywhere with just a different pair of shoes.

I have bought two more pieces of wool that will probably allow me to do the same.  I am actually very excited.  I used to wear these types of dresses all the time.  Over six years ago.

It makes me smile.

vanilla rolls

My head is still very loopy.  It is rather quiet at work right now so it is probably all good.  I am waiting for 700 G of data to come back from archive so I may play with it.  But as I wait, I had some time to wonder the web.  I saw a recipe for Swedish vanilla rolls that looked quite interesting.  It is the basic Swedish cinnamon roll but without the cardamom and cinnamon.  Vanilla instead.  And we do like vanilla around here.

I had started bread this morning and looked at the ingredient list.  With a few modifications, I was there.  They turned out well.  Maybe not as vanilla as I thought but I was experimenting.  I could always figure out how to add more vanilla somehow!

vanilla rolls

sourdough starter

1 cup flour

3/4 cup water

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

10 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

5 cups flour

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla

The night before, mix starter, flour, and water in a large bowl.  Cover and let sit overnight in a warm spot until bubbly.  In the morning, remove a couple tablespoons of starter for the next time.

To the starter, add the butter, milk, sugar, and two cups of flour.  Mix well but do not worry about butter lumps.  Cover and let get bubbly.  It will look like pancake batter.

When bubbly, uncover and mix in the salt.  Mix in two more cups of flour.  You may have a soft dough that is not too sticky.  If too wet, add a bit more flour.  Dump out of the bowl on a clean counter that has been dusted with flour.  Knead until smooth.  Put back in the bowl and cover.  Let rise until double.

Mix the 2 tablespoons butter with 1/2 cup sugar.

When the bread dough is double, turn out onto  a counter and roll out into a large rectangle.  Smear with butter.  I actually used closer to a 1/4 cup then 1/2.  Spread the vanilla mixture on it.

Roll up on the long edge.  Cut into about two inch logs.  Each log, cut three slits in but do not cut all the way through.  Move the log to a baking sheet covered with a silpat and splay out each section.  Do this to each smalll cylinder.  Cover and let rise until puffy.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Uncover and bake for 20 minutes.

Yumminess!  These were actually part of dinner.  The other part of dinner was a shared pumpkin pie.  Life is pretty good today.