Are you?

I've finally started!

It took me three days to finish cutting all my fabric. I completed my first block! Isn't it darling?

Today is the first day in my blog-everyday-in-January venture that I am completely blank. It probably doesn't help that I don't post my blogs til around 11:00pm.

Today I visited my friend in Dayton, NV; therefore, I did not sew, and I did not cook. Well, actually I did make some Chicken Cacciatore tonight, but I didn't take pictures, and I'm feeling too lazy to copy down the recipe.

To distract from my crappy blogging, here's one of my favorite youtube videos: the dramatic squirrel (chipmunk? guinea pig?).


It makes me laugh!

Here he is again, but this time with a lightsaber!


Hee hee hee!

I love Photoshop!

Click on it. Do it.

My new "big" project

Here's the new quilt on which I have finally started. As I got all my fabrics out (and went to the fabric store to finish buying all the fabrics I needed), I realized I have been working toward this project for over a year now. Dave actually bought me a bunch of these fabrics LAST Christmas.

Quilting is just such a lifelong passion, ya know? *happy sigh*

So here's the quilt I'm making - from my favorite quilting book, "Big Book of Scrap Quilts." (Quilters are so clever... with names and such)

EXCEPT!!! I'm using blue, not red. I've always wanted to make a blue quilt... probably b/c I don't really decorate with blue or anything... yet I'm strangely drawn to the blue fabric section at most fabric stores.

I now have to change these fabrics into the above quilt:


Woo Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I'm tired.

Tomorrow I'll have a wonderful sewing blog. Promise.

But now I'm tired.

We just finished watching Scent of a Woman. I love that movie. Dave has never seen it, so I got it for us on Netflix. He loves it too now.

How about a joke?

Q. What did Mrs. Bullet say to Mr. Bullet?


A. "We're going to have a BB!"

P.S. This is in no way my clever way of informing the world of any important news Dave and I might have, so don't let your imaginations run wild.

Give Me S'more Cake

Tonight I tried a recipe from my Taste of Home magazine - Give Me S'more Cake. They had this big feature last month on the winning cakes from a contest they held. It was pretty cool b/c they provided these nice cut-outs for eight different cakes! I was excited to try this one b/c I love s'mores with all my heart. Side note: As a child, I was always resentful that my family never went camping. As an adult I realized I hate camping (almost as much as I hate hikes), but S'mores almost, ALMOST make camping worth it!

That's why I was so disappointed with this cake. I am a huge cake lover. Some may call me a Cake Eater. This cake turned out beautifully... but tasted so...

bleh.
Completely un-camping-fantasy-like. Boring! It was so so-so, I actually stopped eating my slice! I thought to myself, "Why even keep eating it? Empty calories, Leslie! Empty calories!"

Dave, on the other hand, loved it. He had two slices. This news is big news because one would not call Dave a Cake Eater. He admitted it did not taste like S'mores, but he liked it nonetheless.

Anyway... since Dave liked it, maybe other people will like it. Here's the recipe:

Give Me S'more cake
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
2-3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tsp baking powder
1 can (12-0z) evaporated milk

Marshmallow frosting:
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips, divided

Line two 9-in round baking pans with waxed paper and grease the paper; set aside. In a large bowl, cream the shortening, butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. combine cracker crumbs and baking powder; add to the creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition.

Transfer to prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes (I found it took a good 28 minutes to fully bake) or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

In a large heavy saucepan, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar over low heat. With a hand mixer, beat on low speed for 1 minute. Continue beating on low over low heat until frosting reaches 160 degrees, about 8-10 minutes (uh... I just stopped after about 4 minutes). Pour into a large bowl; add vanilla. Beat on high until stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.

Place a cake layer on a serving plate; spread with 2/3 cup frosting and sprinkle with half of chips. Top with remaining cake layer. Frost top and sides of cake; sprinkle with remaining chips.


Dave actually voted for this dessert when I gave him a choice of three desserts I could bake today. I wanted him to pick Chocolate Ginger Cookies. I think I'd be happier tonight if I'd made Chocolate Ginger Cookies. I'd feel fatter tonight if I'd made Chocolate Ginger Cookies.

We also watched Julie and Julia. It was a great movie! I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. I love, love, LOVE Meryl Streep. Dave won't let me name our future daughter Meryl. I really want to though.