Celebration! Jubilation!!

Good morning, and a very good week to us all...

Just found out that my statcounter has finally crept past the 100 mark!

Glorious, wonderful, beautiful joy!

It gives me such pleasure to see where all my lovely visitors come from each and every day, just to hang out with me in my little corner of blogland and share my crafting, baking and hobby adventures.

So this post is my way of appreciating you all, and saying a huge thank you for stopping by.

And stay with me, because things can only get better!

Weekend to-do list

I hope you all have a wonderfully, outstandingly, productive weekend in all you do!
On my to-do list for this weekend is

• Start diagonal box stitch baby blanket (crochet)
• Finish baby booties and cap set in creams and browns (crochet)
• Design baby diaper changing pad / giant tote (crochet)
• Finish folded magazine wall hanging (paper craft)
• Weave a RAW focal piece for a necklace, with matching earrings (jewelry / bead weaving)
• Bake carrot cake for a friend (baking)

Busy weekend ahead of me, I know. And sometime in the middle of all this madness, I must get a haircut...don't you just envy my crazy life?

Have a great weekend, and please get some rest, 'cos I surely won't!

Vanilla cupcake recipe

12 servings

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs

Tips:
1) For perfectly domed cakes, beat eggs and sugar until lemon yellow and frothy
2) Melt butter and cool
3) Combine all wet ingredients before adding dry ingredients
4) Gently fold in flour

To make:
1. Pour cooled butter into large mixing bowl. Add egg mixture and combine until well mixed- about 2 minutes
2. Add milk. Stir
3. Add vanilla, salt, baking powder
4. Gently fold in flour until incorporated
5. Let stand for 5 minutes
6. Pour batter into greased cupcake pans and bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.
7. Cool for 5-7 minutes before gently prising cupcakes from pan with a slim knife (or you can just flip the pan upside down like I do)

Enjoy.

I'm still trying to develop a failsafe frosting recipe for these, so as usual, please bear with me...I won't let you down!
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

Simple Oatmeal cookie recipe

I'm not good at measuring, but I've tried to contain my usual enthusiasm and tendency to bash things about in my mixing bowl to bring you this almost-standard version of an old recipe that never fails me.

Simple Oatmeal raisin cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cup white sugar

3 cups oats

1 cup raisins

3 eggs, well beaten

1tsp, baking soda

1tbsp corn starch (powdered, to make your cookies super fluffy)

1 tbsp vanilla essence

1tsp salt

1 tsp butterscotch flavour

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1/2 cup crushed peanuts (optional)

A few helpful hints:

• Soak oats in melted butter, sugar and butterscotch mix for about an hour. I do this to fake that 'malted' taste you can only achieve with brown sugar. Works every time.
• Soak raisins in egg and vanilla mixture for an hour.
• Stir both mixtures intermittently to distribute the flavour.

Preparation:

1. Put all dry ingredients in a large bowl and use a fork to mix well, i.e. baking soda, corn starch, salt and nutmeg.
2. Pour egg/raisin mixture into oat/butter mixture and stir till thoroughly combined. You'll want your eggs to bind the oatmeal or the cookies turn out very crumbly and annoying.
3. Add to dry ingredients and stir, using a large spoon or combine with your hands (which is how I did it). Don't overwork the dough, or the flour gets irritable and the whole thing starts to stretch like chewing gum. you'll hate chewing gum cookies, believe me.
4. Scoop out balls of dough and place on oiled baking pan, flattening with your palm.
5. Bake in a 350degree oven for approximately 10-12 minutes. Cookies should be lightly browned.
6. Cool for 5 minutes in the baking pan before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
7. Serve with drinks of your choice...if they last long enough for you to actually make a drink!

I am not given to precision, and I am a spontaneous baker. Which means I usually bung everything into the bowl/pan/oven and hope for the best. So if you have any issues with this recipe, please do let me know and I will make the necessary adjustments.

Enjoy...

Mad whirl of activity

This weekend was exhausting. This last weekend, I mean.

I know most people spent theirs probably sleeping, or resting, but because I am cursed with itchy fingers, I spent mine...*deep breath*...folding paper, baking cupcakes and cookies, making a sunhat and working on my never ending tablecloth!

Yes, I did do all that, and in one weekend too!

Here, see?

I got the hat pattern off Miss Knittles Knits facebook page (do go there if you'd like to try it yourself, just search for Miss Knittles as it would be unethical for me to reproduce this brilliant lady's pattern here), and tweaked it a bit to my own tastes. This is the hat about 15 minutes after I started...sitting in my lap...

One hour in, and things were starting to shape up nicely...

And, finally (modelled by my unwilling sister) the finished beauty 3 lazy hours later...

And then I had cupcakes to make ...

My sis had some manky old muesli to throw out, so I thought it would be a good idea to make oatmeal cookies...

And that's how I spent my Sunday! I'll be sharing the cupcake and cookie recipe next, so please check back for more...

P.S. Don't hold your breath on the unveiling of the tablecloth thing...it's made with black twine. Why? Just 'cos I'm sadistic like that!