Podcast 29

January 12, 2010 at 12:15 pm (Podcast)

Listen to Podcast 29

Christmas Card Holder

Knitterly things I made for Christmas gifts

Girl pattern – Calorimetry

Boy pattern – Regular hats and Koolhaas

Felted ballet flats

Bella mittens

Garter stitch scarf with shall pin I bought on etsy from Portugal!!!

Karin’s Gansey Scarf – a Ravelry link (yes, I know the date is wrong…stupidcameraIneveruse)

Herbivore (b-day right after Christmas) – yes, it’s being blocked.

Neighborly gifts

Candied walnuts

1 cup packed brown sugar

6 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 1/2 cups walnut halves

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine brown sugar, milk, grated orange peel, salt and cinnamon in large saucepan.  Stir to combine.  Cook over low heat until candy thermometer registers 236 degrees Fahrenheit.  Remove from heat and add the nuts and vanilla.  Stir mixture until it begins to look grainy.  Turn out onto wax paper and separate nuts to cool entirely.  Will keep in covered containers in refrigerator, but don’t freeze.

White chocolate bark (from the Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten)

• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 16 ounces very good white chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup medium-diced apricots

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using a pencil, draw an 8 by 10-inch rectangle on a piece of parchment paper placed on a sheet pan. Turn the parchment paper over so the pencil mark doesn’t get into the chocolate.

Place the walnuts in 1 layer on another sheet pan and bake for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool and then chop roughly into large pieces.

Place 3/4 of the chocolate in a glass bowl and place it in the microwave on high power for 30 seconds. (Don’t trust your microwave timer – time it with your watch.) Stir with a rubber spatula. Put it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds and stir again. Continue to heat and stir every 30 seconds until the chocolate is just melted. Immediately, add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it’s completely smooth. (If you need to heat it a little more, place it in the microwave for another 15 seconds at a time.)

Pour the melted chocolate onto the parchment paper and spread it lightly into the drawn rectangle. Sprinkle the top evenly with the cooled walnuts, the cranberries and apricots. Set aside for at least 2 hours until firm, or refrigerate for 20 minutes. Cut the bark in 16 pieces and serve at room temperature.

Other stuff

Thanks podcast listener Errin!  for her chocolate and pin cushion kits! (here on etsy)

Flora’s hats – made from my handspun yarns!

The future basketball area – you need a LOT of imagination.

Quilt sleeve site suggestion

Finished family quilt

Where I go weekly: Baby Center

Look at these hot maternity clothes!

Fun Christmas music – Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, Police Stopped My Car (a parody of Feliz Navidad)

I’m taking a weaving class!

Sister’s Quilter’s Affair registration is ready!

Arlene Sachitano has a new book out Quilt As You Go!  She’ll be at the Pine Needle January 15 & 16 signing!

My oversock 😦

Random fun pictures

Saw this barn on a road to McMinnville – maybe I’ll paint it!

Flora at Christmas

Our first family snowman (actually a snowwoman, because her name is “Eileen”) – so maybe we didn’t rake in time, and the snowman is covered with our yard leaves!  Who are you to judge?  No, I’m not sensitive!