A Finished Garment, A Cake, and A Mixer

TA DAA!

This is pattern number 2017 from Onion. I used the jersey fabric that I bought from Gorgeous Fabrics quite a while ago. I'm really happy with it, I do have to sew the hem still, but it's not really a high priority at the moment. The only thing is that I do have to wear a tank top underneath, because the fabric is a teensy bit sheer. But really, that's not too big of a deal either, it just means that I can be a bit warmer when I wear the dress. I wrote a review over at Pattern Review, so if you are interested in making the dress, I would definitely take a look at all of the reviews for the pattern. I decided to wear the dress last night to my Medical Terminology class over a pair of skinny jeans and I thought that it was pretty cute.

In other news...

I baked that cake from Martha Stewart Living again. My mom requested it for Thanksgiving. This one came out even better! Well, looking better anyways... I bought a silicone baking set from my very favorite store, and it came with a round cake pan which made the cake fit nicely onto my mom's Depression Era cake plate.


Isn't it yummy looking? I only had one piece, I'm really not a sweets type of person... Ha ha, how ironic isn't it?

I also found my new favorite beverage at Starbucks, the Passion Tea Lemonade. Wow, can I say dee-lish! And so refreshing too.

I made my own PTL at home, because well, we have a lemon tree that won't stop making lemons! Let's just say that my family has been making lots of lemonade lately. I steeped a bag of Passion Tea in it and added a bit of sugar. Wonderful!


And the last bit of exciting news! I received this....


...in the mail today! Tee hee! I'm soo giddy with excitement, I cannot wait to use it! Now to figure out what to make first... I'll report back later on this.

Spicy Cake

That's right. I made a spice cake. A Molasses-Spice Cake to be exact. The recipe is from Martha Stewart Living. I'm not quite sure what issue it is, seeing as how every time I get an issue I tear it apart...

The cake took me about 5 hours to make, but It seems like it was well worth it. I really can't tell though until I eat it, or someone does.

I changed some things in it, as usual. I used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose and I used pumpkin cream cheese for the frosting instead of regular cream cheese.

It was fun to make and smells wonderful. I think it may be a bit too sweet for me though... I really don't like sweets that much. There's the cake that's full of light brown sugar, the cream cheese frosting with confectioner's sugar and then the glaze, made of light brown sugar again. Geeze!

I did learn a few new things while making the cake today. How to grate such things as lemon and ginger so that you aren't stuck trying to collect what's stuck on the grater. My aunt told me that you just layer some plastic wrap over the grater and scrape your ginger or lemon zest, or what you will off of the plastic. Brilliant!

I also found out that you do need to peel your ginger before you grate it... Good to know.

Oh and one more thing. Sometimes it is good to use a mixer when the recipe calls for one. Cream cheese is a bit too stiff for my puny little arms!

Christmas Is Coming!

Yes, I had to say it... I saw the first Christmas commercial today. It was for Dell computers. I was kind of irked. I love Christmas and the holiday season, but I think that the corporations and consumerism are really taking it too far... We're totally skipping Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and this is definitely one of my favorite holidays. I don't need to have tons of ads thrown in my face telling me to buy this and that for whoever. But I guess I just may be different, I pretty much plan out what I'm buying/making for everyone that I gift to.

And this brings me to my first Christmas gift project... I decided to knit Urchin for my older sister. She is quite a bit older than myself and has a vintage/eclectic style going. She's also an artist. I just hope she likes it, she seems to be kind of picky sometimes... I'm knitting it with Lion Brand Homespun so it's easy to wash and take care of.

Right now it looks like a big blob, I hope it ends up looking better...

And as I mentioned in my previous blog post, I am going to make the slippers from Sew Stylish Gifts to Make. I still haven't received the leather, I hope it comes soon...

Now I just have to brainstorm about gifts for my other loved ones... My honey thinks he's getting a roll cage for his '68 Mustang. I'm not so sure about that... Maybe next year.