Wolf's Den

Only me. I swear.

So there I am, hanging up tshirts on the line to dry in the sun and heat, when I took a step into what was supposed to be dead leaves. Yeah. Key words- supposed to be.

Cue the sudden stinging on the back of my right thigh, then my left upper arm.

Fuckmerunning, the yellow jackets are back.

It's not a reassuring thing to look down and see nearly a dozen swarming your shorts. Nor is it fun to have a dog who thought you were playing when you were swatting at yourself and telling her to GO DOWN THE HILL, CAENA. We are not playing, go!

Yeah.

Four of them followed me into the house. They're dead now- with a vengeance. 5-7 of them stung me. Yeah they got me good.

Benedryl is on board and now I'm pissed cause I can see them swarming around the clothes I did get hung up so I can't go get the rest. Grrr. And all I have is ant spray.

$%#^%^&^&*^&*(^&#@$

I've been alternating between 2 different projects lately. One a bracelet, the other a necklace.



The first is a necklace that uses a piece by Artisan Clay, who does simply gorgeous fused glass and clay pieces, as well as elegant smoke fired beads and donuts as well.



In this piece, I'm also using a few of the square lava rock beads I picked up last year while in Michigan, picking out some of the colors in the cab itself. So far, I'm liking how it's turning out, even if I did end up ripping part of the bezel out at one point.



The second is a cuff along the lines of my Winter Blooms cuff, but in greens instead. It's taking awhile because I get bored easily. LOL. I figure a few more days and it'll be done. Possibly when we get back from New Jersey after Labor Day.

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

(A note for fellow Daring Bakers/Daring Cooks- Please leave a link to your blog when you comment, so I can visit and reciprocate. Thanks!)



I've never made, let alone had, a Baked Alaska before. Nor had anyone who came to dinner the weekend I made this Challenge. Being pressed for time that weekend, which was the same weekend my InLaws were in town, at the beginning of this month, I didn't take a whole lot of photos. Ah well.

( Onward! )

I've always been interested in homemade flavored anything- vodka, sugar, salt... So I decided to try my hand at making my own flavored sea salts. I already make a Lavender Sugar for my Meyer Lemon-Lavender Cupcakes, and try to keep some on hand for when I make them. I also sometimes make my own cordials and flavored vodka. So sea salts were the next logical step.

( Onward! )

Back in June, my Vet was moving away. She'd sold her practice and was going back to her home state. She'd been our vet for the last 10 years. She was the one who took excellent care of Dante-Inu right up to the end. She was the one who saw Caena at her first vet appointment her, and nearly every one thereafter. Dr Eick was one of a kind.



I decided to make her a going away/thanks for everything gift. I wanted her to take a bit of the Star City with her, to remind her of the good things here. So I made a Triple Star Quilted Wallhanging, using both commercial cotton print fabrics and hand dyed cotton fabrics.



The entire thing was cut out by hand, then sewn together by hand. As I was in the process of sewing blocks for my own star themed lap quilt, picking out three of the best looking blocks wasn't too hard to do. Even picking out coordinating indigo colored hand dyed fabric wasn't really that hard either. What was a bit hard was deciding how wide to make the borders and what type of backing fabric to use.



I tried to make this the BEST of my hand sewing, taking my time as I went. Still, it only took maybe a week, maybe a bit longer, to completely handsew the top and iron the seams flat. Then I needed to decide how to quilt it- after I picked out a backing fabric.



I went with a larger star print commercial cotton, to match with everything else, and did a wrap around type binding on it. I even very carefully mitered the corners nearly perfectly- something I rarely ever do. But I wanted this piece to be as perfect as I could get it.



I decided to keep the hand quilting simple. I followed the seams in an outline type stitching on each star and did a twisted ribbon stitching in the borders between the stars. It was simple but it looked good and the wallhanging really didn't need anything more than that. I debated adding a few beads, but decided it would be too much for this particular piece.



The last thing I needed to do was decide how to hang it. So I raided my stash of driftwood from the Roanoke River and hand rubbed a beeswax finish on this piece to bring out the wood's natural beauty. I did this several times, thoroughly sealing the wood. Then I took tiny nails and attached a picture hanger to the back Sewed two loops of hand dyed fabric to the top of the wallhanging and hung it up to adjust it and make sure it'd hang flat and nice.

The next day I boxed it up, wrapped in tissue, with a card taped to the top and took it down to the vet office. I asked one of the vet techs to make sure Dr Eick received it the next day at the open house/farewell party as we were heading out of town early that morning and wouldn't be able to attend. She said she would.

So did she receive it? I have no idea. Did she like it? Again, no idea. I think it's a good sign that I haven't gotten any calls about it though. So I guess when I take Caena in for her 6 month check up next month, I'll have to ask if she did get it. I hope so. And I hope it reminds her a little of Roanoke.

We love french fries. The crispier on the outside and softer on the inside, the better. So I decided to try my hand at making my own rather than spending the money on storebought all the time.
Turns out, homemade french fries are rather easy to do, and just take a bit of prep beforehand.



You need several good sized russet potatoes, and a mandoline with a french fry blade if you have one. Otherwise, you could hand slice the potatoes and make your own, in approx. 1/4" thick/wide strips for regular french fries and 1/4" thick, 1/2" wide for steak fries type.

We like the 'rustic'- ness of leaving the skins on and I did so with these as well. Rinse your cut fries in cool water or cut them into a bowl of cool water if using a mandoline. This removes a lot of excess starch that can form on the outside and lets the outside crisp up better, while the inside stays soft. It also keeps them from clumping up when you add them to the hot oil. Drain thoroughly and even par dry if you want.



In a deep saucepan if doing only a few servings, or a large stock pot, pour in enough cooking oil of your choice to a depth of at least 3", if not more. Then heat the oil to 250 degrees or slightly above. It may take a few minutes to get to 250, but watch it carefully. You don't want it to get too hot and start to burn/smoke, depending on what you use. (I used veggie oil for this as I was using such a large amount that my standard olive oil would have been a waste really).



When the temp reaches 250 degrees, carefully add your fries, a few at a time. Be careful not to crowd the pan. You want them to be able to float freely in the oil. When the bubbling starts to visibly slow and the fries are starting to float, remove them to papertowels to drain. They should be relatively limp by now, but not fully cooked.



Raise the heat on your oil until the temp reads 350 degrees. This is your second frying temp. This will crisp up the outside of the french fries while the inside stays soft. Remember to watch carefully. You should never leave heated oil unattended. It can get a lot hotter very quickly.



When the oil reaches 350 degrees, carefully, and slowly add back in the french fries. Try not to splatter yourself and again, only a few at a time so as not to crowd the pan. The fries will turn a golden brown fairly quickly and start to float again. Remove them as quickly as you can to ensure they don't get too browned or burn and drain thoroughly on papertowels again.



While your french fries are still hot, liberally season them to taste. That way, whatever spices you use will stick to the fries. I use Roger's Kickin' Chicken Spice myself. It adds just enough spice to the fries and is really, REALLY delicious on just about everything. Toss your fries to coat and serve while still warm/hot.



There really is nothing quite like homemade french fries. These beat commercial or fast food fries hands down any day. They really don't even need the bit of ketchup I used on the plate either. They were tasty all on their own.


Lightly crisp outside, and soft inside. Delicious!



Homemade French Fries

6-7 medium/large russet potatoes, peeled if you want
cooking oil, enough for 3+" in a pan, depending on size
seasonings to taste


Cut, slice the potatoes into 1/4" strips. Rinse in cool water, drain and pat dry. In a deep saucepan or large stock pot, heat oil to 250 degrees. Slowly add a few fries at a time. Cook 2-3 minutes or until fries start to float and are fairly limp. Remove and drain on papertowels. Heat oil to 350 degrees. Add fries back into oil, again a few at a time. Cook 2-3 minutes or until golden brown and starting to float. Remove immediately to papertowels to drain. Season liberally with seasoning of your choice. Toss to coat.

Serve hot. Serves 4-5 depending on size of potatoes.

Newly listed on Etsy are 12 Scrap Fabric Grab Bags. These grab bags rangew from 2 ounces to 4 ounces+ in total fabric weight. Nearly all contain some hand dyed fabrics, as well as commercial fabrics. All fabrics are cotton or muslin type fabrics.



These Grab Bags are perfect for scrap quilters, doll clothing makers, etc. The pieces range from a few inches up to nearly an entire fat quarter in size. The colors cross the entire rainbow, including some salt dyed pieces, some sunprinted pieces and a few hand painted pieces. There are muslin, commercial cotton prints, even jacquard brocade pieces.



Prices are very reasonable, ranging from $2.50 to $4.00 for the largest Grab Bag with the most hand dye in it. So stop by the Etsy shop and check them out!

Morrigan and Caena waiting for Mark to come inside.

Sometime last year, maybe longer, I don't remember exactly, when I was still somewhat active in the SCA email lists and such, a call was put out for people to help make lanyards for the then ruling King and Queen of Atlantia.



The then Queen had requested that they be made in a 'period' style, which meant Japanese braiding, aka Kumihimo. I requested a kit, as that has long been something I've wanted to learn and figured this would be the perfect time.

Well, time got away from me, and while I did receive the kit, I never got the chance to learn how to do it and send back the lanyards.

A friend and fellow beadweaver, Carol Dean Sharpe of Sand Fibers, has often included Kumihimo and other fiber braiding in her gorgeous beadworks. I've long admired her gorgeous creations, such as this one- 'The Savannah'.

I have to admit, she was really the entire reason I finally got off my butt and learned how to do this. She's inspiring, really, in beadwork, in quilting, in fiber art in general. So be sure to go check out her blog.}:)



Now, what I'm using is a simple foam wheel, numbered and notched. Something you'd teach a kid to do kumihimo on, I believe. But it works, and it makes learning so very easy. So easy, that I'm wondering why it took me so long to learn this.



The kit I was sent came with a few paper floss bobbins. I had to raid my stash for a few more. They work, and they work reasonably well for all intents and purposes. I have learned really quickly why Carol Dean was so happy the day she mentioned on Facebook about getting some 'EZ bobs' for her kumihimo. The paper bobbins weaken easily, and the threads unroll, tangle and get annoying after while.

While I think the EZ bobs would definitely be a vast improvement over the paper bobbins, what I REALLY want is the real wood 'Tama' or bobbins. Along those same lines, instead of the foam wheel, I want a real wood 'Marudai', or the loom as it were. Given how much they cost, that's going to be awhile down the road.



They also make and sell, counterweight bags too. But I figured that was something I could really adapt and create on my own. Which I did, using a small decorative bag and a few of the brass beads my dad gave me several years ago. The drawstring on the bag makes it easy to adjust the weight of the beads, which creates the tension in the braid as you create it.



To attach the end of the braid to it, I used a swivel head from my kite flying stuffs. Yes, it's also used in fishing. Hey, adapt and overcome, yes? It works, because I can unclip and clip the loop to the braid as I finish or start a new one. And it swings freely.



And I learned, tension is key. Too much, the braid gets pulled out of shape, the pattern becomes stretched and not very attractive. Too little and it's too lose, and again, not very attractive.

In my first attempt, I overcompensated in the tension. IE, I had to much weight in the bag. So while I WAS creating a kumihimo 8 strand braid, it didn't look right because it was being pulled too tightly, causing the spiral pattern to stretch and not look right. I removed half the beads from the bag, tied off that braid and started again.



10 minutes later, I knew I'd found the perfect tension for this size of string-floss, really- as the pattern became very evident and simply gorgeous to me. 12 brass beads in the bag. Perfect for this size braid. An hour later I had nearly a foot of perfect kumihimo braid and I was happy.



The problem with learning something new like this, is now I want to learn other types of braids. And I don't want to stop. I'll never be as expert at it as the real Kumihimo Japanese masters or Carol Dean, but, hey, it looks great, don't you think? }:P I think it'd be great in ArtQuilts or maybe create some beaded kumihimo for others to use in their beadwork and artquilts...

The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale.



Oh, yum.

I try to make Pierogis at least once a year, in large batches and freeze the majority of them.

They never, ever last long in our house.

I grew up eating pierogi. But the ones I ate as a child, were always storebought. So when I found a recipe years ago, I adapted it to make it my own and have made them that way ever since. This Challenge was a great revisitation of a childhood eat and a reason to stock the freezer.}:P

( Onward! )