cookies.

i made some sugar cookies today with a pal.

it was fun, even though half of the dough ended up on the floor.

old fashioned sugar cookies

Makes about 20 (3 1/2-inch) cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened

2 large eggs

Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside.

Put sugars and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 30 seconds. Add butter; mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. (go back to the store because you forgot eggs.) Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice. (drop half on the floor, use measuring cup to figure out how much was lost. and determine how much flour you need to cut.) Reduce speed; gradually add flour mixture, and mix until just combined.

Scoop dough using a 2-inch ice cream scoop (or just man up and use your hands); space cookies 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten cookies slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle tops with sanding sugar, then lightly brush with a wet pastry brush; sprinkle with more sanding sugar.(or just skip all that extra stuff)

Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes (more like 10-12 minutes). Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in (a snowman tupperware container) an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

srsly, even though we made quite a mess, these cookies were tasty.

will it ever stop raining???

-----------------------------------

little - je veux des violons

<3

knitxcore.

cookies!

so, despite it being like 85 degrees outside today, i opted to bake some decidedly autumnal cookies.

i bought maple extract to make these maple walnut cookies months ago, and then completely forgot about it.  i was thumbing through "how to be a domestic goddess" and came across the recipe this afternoon and finally remembered it was in the back of the spice cabinet.

we're already in love with these cake-y lil' gems!

i don't want to post the recipe, and get sued or something.  you should probably just pick up the book anyway (even if it's only for the super tasty snickerdoodle recipe).

________________________________________

Hello Saferide - Get Sick Soon

<3

knitxcore.

C is for Cupcakes!

I like to make a special treat every Valentine's Day. I usually bake sugar cookies and toss some royal icing on them, but this year I wanted to go just a step further. I bought this Martha Stewart cupcake kit at Macy's, and then searched all of my cookbooks for the perfect recipe. After looking through all of them and the creepy box of recipes from the seventies my mom gave me, I decided Martha could once again save the day. I went to MarthaStewart.com and there on the first page was exactly what I needed, not only was there a recipe but a video for those of us with little kitchen confidence.

---recipe---

Billy's Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes (Makes about 30 cupcakes)

1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Billy's Vanilla Buttercream
Colored Sprinkles, for decorating, optional
Alternate frosting: Billy's Chocolate Buttercream

Directions
-Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.

-In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

-Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full (I used about 2 tablespoons). Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

-Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake (I used the buttercream icing recipe above, and Wilton's Color Gel in Pink). Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.



I know my pictures suck tonight, but it happens. It's been rainy and dark.

BTW... I finally have my crown!!!!!!! I forgot to let you all know. It's weird chewing on both sides now. I keep biting my cheek. lol.

<3

knitxcore.

No Knead Bread!

Since I finally have fancy dutch ovens, I took a stab at the no-knead bread everyone's been gabbing about. It's seriously the easiest recipe ever, it just takes some time for the bread to rise. I skipped the cornmeal step (don't do that), and that lovely loaf above was stuck to the pan in a bad way. Don't worry, we still ate it. It was just a bitch to get the lil' klingons off of the pan when cleaning time rolled around.

I read about it on the NotMartha blog awhile ago, and found a ton of links with different recipes. Ultimately, I used the most popular one from the NYTimes:

Recipe: No-Knead Bread
Published: November 8, 2006

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

Easypeasy, right??? The only thing I did differently was switch the all-purpose flour to whole wheat (well, that and the cornmeal thing). Honestly, if it hadn't stuck I would have felt like a master chef. I guess I could try again on Sunday?

In true KnitXcorE style, I have a NoKneadBread video:




thanx for all the well wishes BTW!!!! i'm feeling a lil' better today :-)
<3
knitxcore.

spt+fo.

I've decided to combine Self Portrait Thursday with my most recent FO, Foliage from Knitty.com.
I finished this hat sorta late (late in my house means after 11pm, lol) last night, and didn't have the energy to take any "good" FO pics, sorry. This lil guy is going to be wrapped up and put with the X-mas pile, eventually.



Pattern Particulars

Pattern Source:Foliage From Knitty.com
Needles: Susan Bates Size 9 16" pink metal circular, Addi Natura Size 8 16" circular
Materials: Rio De Plata Wool Multi
Time: About 5 hours
loved: the pattern!!! i had a bad experience once with a top-down hat and swore i'd never do one again. Foliage has renewed my faith. hated: knitting lace, I have the attention span of a walnut.
mods: The Rio was a weird weight, so the worsted pattern wouldn't cut it. I used Size 9 needles and did 2 and 1/2 lace pattern repeats with 6 rows of ribbing before the BO. It fits kinda slouchy, exactly how i wanted.

I'm super duper excited right now! I have possibly the coolest cake ever, in the oven. I was going to wait to show you my finished cake but you need to go buy this pan, NOW! (while it's on sale for $14.99) Martha Stewart is a genius!!!

Martha Stewart Igloo Cake Mold - Macys.com



I'll take pictures of mine when it's finished, and give you all the gritty details.

<3
knitxcore.

C is for cookie....

that's good enough for me.




These lovlies are from a recipe in the Martha Stewart Halloween Magazine. They're pretty easy to make, and quite delectable. I usually make heavy, iced, shortening cookies shaped like bats on Halloween but I decided to give these a shot (I'll probably make the other ones anyway). There are tons of cute lil' decorating ideas and recipes throughout the issue, and a pretty awesome use of white cotton candy.




I don't know what's wrong with that etsy link, it worked for some and not others. You can get to the shop by just typing in knitxcore.etsy.com, if the link is still messed up. I hope to get some more things listed soon.

Cookie Monster absolutely approves of Martha's cookies.

<3

knitcore.

If I knew you were coming, I'd have baked a cake.

FlintKnits showed me how to make an awesome photo mosaic.

Let's go clockwise from the top left.

Elizabeth Zimmermann's Ganomy Hat from the Knitter's Almanac: I'm going to try to do each of her monthly projects, in order, to have Christmas gifts ready when the time comes. The Ganomy Hat is one of June's patterns and a bunch of cool kids have already made them. I'm pretty much playing catch up.

Strawberry Cake: This comes to us from MarthaStewart.com. Lately, I have become obsessed with her website and consult it before I do pretty much anything. Why stress out about how to do something, if someone else has already done it perfectly? You can trust me that this cake is as simple as throwing strawberries in store bought cake mix and layering it all with fresh whipped cream, or you can go straight to the source.

Speaking of food, has anyone seen the Hungry Planet book and photo essay? It's amazing to see what people are eating, how much they spend, and how much it varies from culture to culture. Lupinbunny suggests that we should start a Hungry Planet Meme, where everyone takes a picture of what they buy in their weekly grocery shopping. No cheating! Be honest and have fun, we are not here to judge. I'll do mine the next time I go shopping. I can't wait to see what everyone does with this.

Seven Skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in Lettuce: This is the beginning of my Seamless Hybrid. I bought it from Misocrafty's Amazing De-stash. Hopefully, I'll get around to swatching it up this week, so I can start doing my math. Rodger from Over Abundance will be knitting his Seamless Hybrid at the same time, so when we're finished you'll get to see how 2 different knitters interpret the design.

me: i like trees.

<3

knitxcore.

I'm Crazy for the Hogs!

I can't stop making hedgehogs! It's time for an intervention I think.

Pattern Particulars

Needles: Clover Takumi Size US 10.5

Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted in Wild Oak and some weird cotton I had in my stash.

Time: Approx. 2 hours (most of it was spent pulling through loops of yarn for hair)

Loved: How quickly the yarn felted and the new animal eyes I bought at JoAnn's.

Hated: nothing.

I ran into JoAnn's tonight to pick up a few things I needed to continue working on Dave's Valentines gift. In addition to what I needed, I found official looking eyes for my hedgehog and future sock monkeys. I also picked up the new addition of ADORN. There is a lot of cute stuff in this one. Shrinky Dink Jewelry and ruffled flowers made from grosgrain ribbon are my to do list. There is also a pretty exciting contest from the people @ Velcro. All you have to do is use their *new* Fabric Fusion Iron-On velcro in a project and you could win $500, a Rowenta Professional Focus Iron and a 1-year subscription to ADORN. I'm kind of excited and I want to send something in.

Our dinner tonight was the biggest fluke ever!!! I was making an easy-peasy recipe I've made a few times and I only changed one thing. It was a baked chicken and rice dish, and we only had black rice in the house. We bought it one day because it looked exciting. IT WAS NOT EXCITING! It turned into a strange gelatinous sludge in the casserole dish and it had a very strange flavor. In order to make up for my kitchen blunder, I made Lumberjack's Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from "I Like You" by Amy Sedaris. They are so tasty even my new hedgehog treid to steal a few. When I first got this book I thought that the recipes were jokes. I've tried three or four and all of them have been AMAZING! Amy Sedaris is a goddess!

I wanted to take a second and talk about something important. I'm not sure if you guys know what the AIDS Lifecycle is or how you could do anything to help. Here is the info from the website: "(It) will take place June 3-9, 2007, as cyclists and volunteers will travel 545 miles through beautiful California from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
(It) is the official cycling event of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.
(It) is about HIV/AIDS and raising money to help the beneficiaries continue to provide the critical services and education needed to meet the growing needs of our community.

(It) increases awareness and knowledge about HIV/AIDS among participants, their donors and the general public,addresses the widespread misperception that HIV and AIDS are no longer a problem -- in fact more people are living with HIV & AIDS today than ever before, which means a much greater need for services....

(It) provides a reminder that the rate of HIV infection is increasing, particularly in communities of color and in individuals under the age of 25. In California alone there are more than 55,000 people living with AIDS, and another 125,000 living with HIV, many unaware of their infection....

(It) requires each cyclist to raise a minimum of $2,500. Each cyclist is assigned to a personal "Cycle Buddy" for assistance with training, fundraising, and emotional & practical support from the moment they register through the event's completion."

The last part is the one I would like to address with you all. One of my dear blog friends will be participating in this ride and they need help from our blogging community. I'm not asking for a miracle, or for someone to donate a zillion dollars. I know we all need yarn money.

Ms. Brooklynne Michelle is the AMAZING host of "The Mosh Knit", my absolute favorite knitting podcast. She has been knitting for almost 12 years and always has great advice on new yarns, patterns and music. A lot of people listen to her podcast but, unfortunately she has only raised $175! The money she raises will still be donated to AIDS research but, I'd really like to see her go all the way and make a huge difference, and to do that she needs our help. You can donate, check out her progress or stop by and offer her support @ The Punk Pedaler.

I'm sleepy and I think this qualifies as my longest post ever! So, Goodnight! Don't let the bedbugs bite! Sweet Dreams!