A Virtual Visit

Dear Chookyblue,

I’m so excited about your virtual visit and I thought you might like to see what’s in store for you when you come to ThimbleannaLand.  First off, this will be your room — you’ve probably seen it here before.  There’s an extra bed if you’d like to bring someone along with you.

This is the view out of your bedroom window.  That little patch of snow melted today, but I’ve heard we might get more snow this week.  We’re still a good month away from getting leaves on those trees.  If you were to come in the summer, you wouldn’t be able to see through those naked trees.

I’ve put out a few patterns and books from your fellow Aussies so you’ll feel right at home.

After you get settled in, I’ll take you on a little tour of our town.  We’re known as a city of churches and visitors often comment on the large numbers of spires in our downtown.  (Sorry for the wonky angle, it was the only way to get all those spires in from my vantage point.)

We’re a pretty tame town, but there are a few fun things to see — like a pretty new minor league baseball field, a children’s zoo (complete with Australian Adventure LOL), a botanical garden (which I thought would be fun for you to visit to see the contrast between your flowers and ours) and our fun little local indie cinema.  They show all the cool pics, many of which were nominated for Oscars this year.

After we blitz our town, we’ll surely have to spend a day in Shipshewana.  They have quilt shops and you’ll be able to get a little local Amish flavor.

After we finish all that visiting and shopping, we’ll need a day to rest, maybe stitch a little and chat and watch a few old movies.  We can hang out here in the dungeon.  (It’s a little hard to tell, but there’s a rip in that sofa cushion that I’ll try to repair before you arrive.  One too many high school boys used that poor sofa as a ladder to sneak them in and out of those windows.  SadlyFortunately those days are over.)

And after all of that, it will be time for you to move on to your next blogger visit.  I’m thrilled that you’re going to let me travel with you for the European part of your adventure.

My bags are packed and waiting for you by the back door!

Safe Travels!
XOXO,
Anna

Gift Books

Yak! Where is the week going? We’ve been swamped at work this week, and it’s flying by! Tomorrow will be the third day of being stuck in and all day meeting. I can’t say it’s particularly fun, either — I’m sure everyone thinks I’m sleeping ’cause I close my eyes to try to soothe the head.ache. Ouch!

Not much new to report here. I spent ALL weekend working on the wedding quilt. I made great progress until I put the borders on and then decided that I don’t like the inner border.  TheManoftheHouse is watching tv and unpicking it as we speak. I decided re-doing it would be a lot easier than complaining about how I hate that border until the day I die.  It’s a little set-back, but well worth it.

So, in lieu of anything exciting sewing-wise, I’ll show you the books I bought with my annual Amazon Christmas gift certificate that my in-laws gave me this year.

Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs, Itty-Bitty Toys, Giada’s Family Dinners, Chic Knits for Stylish Babies, Felt Wee Folk and A Passion for Ice Cream. It’s a great pile of books this time, and I’ve had fun reading through them in the last few weeks.

I’m particularly excited about two of them. Chic Knits for Stylish Babies, for one. Look at these cute little pants with zippers in them!

And this little dress! They’ll make really fun baby gifts.

And A Passion for Ice Cream. Oh My. My, Oh My, Oh My! I gained 5 pounds just looking at this book. How on earth could I resist this book, with recipes like Brown Sugar Ice Cream Chocolate Roulade,

Chocolate Banana Baked Alaskas,

or Warm Blueberry Filo Stacks?

Some of the criticism of this book says that the recipes are too detailed. No pain, no gain! They all look fantastic to me!

So, a few book recommendations in case you have some money burning a hole in your pocket and you’re looking for a little crafty inspiration.  I’m off to make some Poppyseed Bread to take to work tomorrow in hopes of taming the headaches.  I hope you’re having a good week!

XOXO,
Anna

Brownies

Man…can you believe we’re at the end of February already?  Pretty amazing.  I see a lot of people writing about how sick they are of winter and they just want to see spring.  Not me.  I Love the snow.  I love being holed up at home working on projects.  Fortunately for me, winter is hanging on around here — we’ve had snow flurries all day.  Just like I like it.  I’ve been holed up working on the monogram quilt.  I’m making good progress, but I can’t show you ’cause SweetiePie has informed me that she doesn’t want to see it again until it’s done.  She wants to be surprised.  I would have loved to completely surprise her, but I had to have her opinion on a few things, to be sure that I didn’t take a wrong turn.

Anyway, I wish you lived next door.  I’d invite you to trudge through the snow for some tea and brownies.

(Hey - wanna see my Wizard of Oz tea set?  There was an occasional little boy tea party when the boys were little, but it’s been sitting around neglected since then.)

When I was little, my very favorite treat from the bakery was a brownie with icing on it.  Then, it seems that brownies with icing fell out of favor, or something, because they were harder to find.  For years, I searched for a recipe similar to those bakery brownies, but couldn’t really find one.  When the boys were growing up, I would try a new recipe and then fall back to the old faithful brownie mixes.  It’s really hard to beat a good brownie mix — they’re nice and fudgey, just like I like them.

But a year or two ago, I found a recipe that I really like.  Fudgey, with nuts and with a good, chocolaty frosting.  I’ll give you the recipe while you’re here having tea with me, ’cause that’s what we do — we swap recipes.

Frosted Brownies

Brownies:
1/2 cup shortening*
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 medium eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup broken pecans

In small saucepan, heat shortening, cocoa and butter until butter and shortening are completely melted. Mix well and set aside to cool.

In small mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl, beat eggs with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and mix to combine, then add cooled chocolate mixture and vanilla. Add sifted ingredients and mix well. Fold in pecans.

Pour batter into well greased 8×8 baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

Ten minutes before the brownies come out of the oven, prepare the
Frosting:

4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In small saucepan, heat the butter, milk, and cocoa until butter is melted and mixture is bubbly. Remove from heat, stir well and add powdered sugar.  Add vanilla and beat well.   If frosting is too thick to spread, add a little more milk.

Pour frosting on top of brownies while they are still hot from the oven. Cool completely in pan and then cut into 16 squares.

While you’re waiting on the brownies to cool, scrape the frosting bits from the bowl, mix with a few rogue pecans and then suck them off of the spatula.  Come on … you know you want to!

Ooops, I couldn’t wait for you to get here, so I took a bite.  Sorry.

I probably should have asked before I made you these brownies…what’s your brownie pleasure? Caky or Fudgy? Nuts or no nuts? Frosting or no frosting? Chocolate Chunks or no chocolate chunks? (If you’re a chunky, no frosting, no nuts guest, next time I’ll try to make you these yummy looking brownies that Anne just posted today!)

XOXO,
Anna

*I know that some of you are shortening-o-phobes ’cause it’s not exactly healthy.  Here’s my take on it … you’ll probably live longer than me.  But those extra years aren’t at the beginning of your life — they’re at the end.  The end, when you’re drooling and don’t know your name.  In the meantime, I enjoyed these brownies during my shortened, happy life!  ;-P
(And please don’t be mean to me and my shortened life in the comments — it’s a joke!)

The Old and the New

Thanks for all the baby gift love!  Sometimes I wish I could work on small, quick projects all the time.  I’m sure that would get boring, but they’re so great for instant gratification.  Unlike all of my UFOs — they have delayed gratification.  It’s probably much greater gratification when it finally happens, but for me, my long-term projects, sure do take a loooong time.

At the risk of causing SweetiePie to have heart failure, I’ve resurrected my most pressing loooong term project, the wedding quilt.  I started it before TheFirstChild and SweetiePie got married, but shortly after the wedding, I got sidetracked … and somehow never got back to it.  The plan is to put the newlywed monogram on the quilt and I think that’s where it took a wrong turn.  We got locked up trying to figure out what font to use for the monogram.

(That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)  Yesterday, I finally dragged my big sheet of paper to work and hooked my laptop up to a projector at lunchtime, so that I could get a big enough monogram for the quilt.  I took the picture above with my cell phone, ’cause, you know, we aren’t allowed to have cameras at work.  Uh-uh.  That’s not a camera.  It’s a phone.  Say it with me now…it’s not a camera, it’s a phone.  That’s not a picture you’re looking at, it’s a phone call.

Last night, I came home from work and started pressing and cutting.  I’m hoping I’m over the hump now and that I’ll get back to work on this quilt.  I HAVE to chip away at my UFO pile — it’s driving me nuts!

And, um, I can’t drag out a UFO and not start something new, can I?  Did you notice that Cassie is going to have a crochet-along for those adorable pillowcases that Beate at Rose Hip makes?  I’ve got some fabric and as soon as I get some thread/yarn, I’ll be ready to get started.

You should join us!  Cassie promises to walk us through these pillowcases, step-by-step, and if you don’t know how they’re made, I promise you’re going to discover a cool little surprise in the technique.  Go check out Cassie’s post, grab her button, and play along with us!

XOXO,
Anna

Girlie Baby Gifts

Well, boys and girls, I hope you’re having a good weekend!  I had an awful week at work — had to work until 9 p.m. three nights this past week, so as a reward, I took Friday afternoon off and spend some time in the dungeon.  Yipee!

SweetiePie’s sister-in-law will be having a baby girl in May and I wanted to make her a few things.  SweetiePie gave me three words to work with — pink, brown and butterflies.  I didn’t do much with the butterfly part, but I think I excelled with the pink and brown.

Two receiving blankets made with seersucker instead of flannel.  This will be an Oklahoma summer baby — and having had one of those myself, flannel seemed too warm to me.  A simple cotton worked beautifully for keeping the sun and wind off of the baby.

Three bibs.  I debated about whether the chenille should be the front or the back.

I finally went with the front — it’s sooooo soft and I thought it would be perfect for wiping the baby’s little face.

My very favorite — Mary Jane booties made from this pattern.  These will probably stay on the baby’s feet all of 15.3 seconds, but I don’t care.  They make me want to squeal from their cuteness.  There WILL be a Thimbleanna granddaughter someday to wear booties just like these.  I hope.  ;-)

Throw in some little bunny tub toys, and we have a pink and brown baby gift for a girl!

I think I love making baby gifts more than any other kind of gift.  They’re small and quick and fun!

Now, I need to go tackle a UFO.  They’re aging while I keep playing around with fun, quick little projects.  Please send self-control and perseverance my way!

XOXO,
Anna