The first garden post of 2012...

HI!

I'm over here at this address now www.annelisatelier.blogspot.com

Stop by and read about our first trip to the garden! :) 

Yup, it's that time of the year again! YAAAAAAY!!!

To find out more..

To find out more about my gray granny blanket and to hear the story of this guy, check out my new blog at www.annelisatelier.blogspot.com

See ya there! :)

I'm moving (blogs!)!!

So it's official, this blog is moving to this address: www.annelisatelier.blogspot.com

Come follow me there!!

My atelier is all done and looking oh-so-pretty! :)

Hope to see you there!

www.annelisatelier.blogspot.com

104 squares!

Well, I've done it! 

104 granny squares. Ends all sewn in. Looking pretty.
(note they are once again in no particular order, I think it'll take a whole day to decide on the order!)

Waiting to be sewn together.

Yup, I've decided on how I am going to put the blanket together! It's called the invisible seam or reverse mattress stitch. I found a tutorial for it and I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out!

I'm hoping that I can stick with this and get it DONE at some point in May. 5 months for a blanket, that's not so bad! I wish I could have done it faster, but ya know, I have to remind myself that there is no way I could have with aaaaaall the other things going on in life. Isn't it sad that there is never enough time for only the things you love? Stupid obligations ;) 

All I can say is boy, I'm tired! 

I think my next project is going to have to be something fast and colorful. Baby blanket? Perhaps. Flower wreath? Maybe. Granny cushions? A possibility.

Ah, thank you weekend!

Hope you enjoyed yours as well! :)

P.S. Trying to launch my "atelier" this week -- If I can get around to it and remember my password! Lol, if anyone finds my missing brain, let it know I'm looking for it!

Gray granny blanket...nearing the end?

Ah, finally to the crochet!

My granny square blanket was up to 80 squares in these pictures that I took on Easter. Later that day, I made 10 more, and get this, I sewed all the ends in the same day! Whaaaat?! I love making time for myself and my endeavors like that. And yes, I realize it's a small life I live. Lol!

So now I have a total of 90 squares... meaning only 14 more to go. 

 ...Then starts the hard part, sewing them together!

My mom and I set them all out (in no particular order) and admired them before I started snapping these pictures. 

We came to the conclusion that an 8x13 square blanket would be large enough for the throw purposes she would like it for, especially considering there will be a border around it. 

Am I really nearing the end with this project? I still have so much yarn left!

You have no idea how much I am looking forward to this weekend! 14 squares, here I come!

(I made my mama pose with the tower of squares, cute!!)

In the meantime, I am tormented by the ideas whirling around my head for next projects... So many choices, patterns, plans, colors...!!! Aargh, creativity can be burdening sometimes! 

Have you seen my crochet board or baby board on pinterest? I mention the baby board because I have pinned a million cute crochet baby things to it... and Lord knows I'm in love with baby crochet at the moment (cute, fast, colors, need I explain more?).

Well, that's all for me... Off to work for free I go (soon) and I'm just so tickled that it's almost Friday! :)
Hope you're having a nice week, thanks for stopping by!

Easter

Ah, Easter. ♥

I love spring therefore it's logical that I love Easter! I wish I had had the time and energy to decorate (crochet pastel eggs, make an Easter tree, grow some wheat grass decor, dye a million eggs), but alas, this just wasn't my year!!

I did make some really tasty food... and these narcissi torment me daily with their beauty... It's like they're yelling "take more photos, take a million more!"... is it just me who hears flowers begging to be photographed? LOL!

So here is the picture tour of my Easter... and we're off!

Appetizers were corn bread (gluten free) with boiled eggs. I tried dying them with carrot tops, but only got this light green color... I need to do more research! 

 

Lunch was lemon garlic chicken with oven roasted potatoes and carrots. Um yes, delicious! 

 

Oh! And the salad! I made a vinaigrette and tossed the salad in that. Perfect! 

My mama brought over those super cute little green hens... Love them! 

 

Dessert was this carrot cake (gluten free)... However, shortly after snapping this picture, I cut the cake up and tossed it in a bowl... 

I was a bit dumb-dumb and totally forgot the even the cake out before stacking and filling etc... I baked this in a 9x13 inch pan because I don't have a circular cake pan (wooot?!) and I just cut it in half and layer to make a 2 layered square cake. Sounds about right, right? Well, wrong when you aren't thinking things through! Argh, the cake ended up being so unstable that it was either cut it up and make a "trifle" or just chance it falling all over the floor when moving it... Trifle it was!

Note: when looking for a recipe to use for the cake, I found this recipe from Brown Eyed Baker. She had a mishap with carrot cake and made a trifle. I stole the idea shamelessly, but in my defense, I think reading about it jinxed me!

That black stuff there is called mämmi, it's a Finnish Easter tradition. I like it with vanilla cream sauce. 

What Easter could be complete without jelly beans?!

 

Ah, Easter, wonderful! 

How I make meringue

I thought this would be a nice thing to share, since I ramble about my love for meringue all the time. Teeheee.

I realize, especially amongst my friends, that meringue is totally under-rated. That makes me sad! Therefore, to fix this misconception about meringue, here is how I do it!

The recipe I use is an adaptation of Joy the Baker's pavlova recipe. Basically, I halved it. :) 

If you want to be successful with meringue, check and double check that your bowls are NOT greasy or wet. Any speck of either and you fail! I have heard that metal or glass mixing bowls are best for this reason, but I use plastic all the time and just make sure I wash and dry them really well before I make meringue.

Also, don't bother making this if you don't have an electric mixer. I loooooove meringue in every shape and form but I would never-ever-ever-EVER make it by hand... and not just because I'm lazy! Lol!

YOU WILL NEED:

2 large egg whites (about 1/2 cup, google says 1.18294118 dl), room temperature!!
pinch of salt
pinch of cream of tartar (or use vinegar, perhaps a 1/2 Finnish tsp)


3/4 cup sugar (2 dl)
2 1/4 US tsp corn starch  (2 1/2  Finnish tsp)
about 1 tsp vanilla, depending on your taste

(food dye gel)

Note: I use granulated sugar, but in an ideal world I would use extra fine sugar. I am just too frugal to spend the extra few cents. Lol! The granulated sugar leaves the meringue a bit gritty, which doesn't bother me. If it bothers you, try Martha's method of warming the whites with the sugar over a double boiler, that is supposed to melt the sugar down. I tried it once and thought it was a hassle, but that's just me.
Also, I use vanilla sugar (yes, it's in an imitation vanilla sugar bottle), because I like vanilla sugar more. However, it has black specks which might be displeasing to some...so then just use the imitation kind! Same goes for the US folks who use vanilla extract. I have used pure vanilla extract before and it tastes delicious but gives the white meringue a tint... I've read on some other blogs that they use clear imitation vanilla extract to avoid this.

DIRECTIONS:

In a CLEAN and DRY bowl, add egg whites with a pinch of salt and cream of tartar (or vinegar). In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, corn starch and vanilla.

(before egg whites)

Start beating the egg white mixture on a low speed, increasing slowly to mid-speed. Beat until soft peaks form...Basically it was a minute or two after this...

Next start slowly adding in small increments the sugar mixture, increasing speed gradually as you go. Once all the sugar is mixed in, increase speed to max if you aren't there yet. Beat until the meringue is very stiff, like this:

It should hang like so from the whisks and you should see really well formed trails as you are beating the meringue. I think I could have gone for stiffer yet, but I am always concerned about over-doing it. This is already really thick!

Now, you can go ahead and pipe the meringue now, or make really delicious pillowy mini-pavlovas. (serve with fruit and whipped cream).

OR you can go the extra mile and divvy up the meringue into bowls, dying them with food gel and mixing VERY carefully.

I used pink and green in honor of Easter.

Then I take a plastic baggy and fit it with the large star tip, cutting off a very small end of the bag to fit. I use the plastic baggy because I don't have a piping bag and I am too lazy to wash the decorating set I have. What floats your boat, ya know. 

Then fill the baggy from the corner and gently push the air out of the top and close. Now you are ready to pipe!

I didn't get a picture of piping since I needed both hands, but to make a kind of "star drop" like in the picture, you just pipe a bit of meringue and apply more pressure as you push down and pull up quickly stopping the pressure. If you like rosettes, here is a video for that!

Then bake in a 275 F or 135ish C oven for about 30 min, taking care not to bump or open the oven. Keep an eye on it to make sure it isn't browning, if it is, turn the oven off. If all is well after 30 min, Turn the oven off and leave for several hours or even overnight to dry.

And voila! You have beautiful meringues! :)

I would really appreciate any comments if anyone makes this... I would like to hear if you thought it was/wasn't easy and if it worked out for you!

Me thinks an Easter wrap-up post shall be next... Just gotta finish uploading the pictures etc.

Thanks for reading, see ya next time!