Monday, March 28, 2016

Spring Time Dessert























Hi there,
Strawberry shortcake screams spring

For a quick treat on an average day, we pick up a Sara Lee All Butter Pound Cake with some Cool Whip and fresh strawberries. But when the occasion calls for an extra special variety, I make a buttermilk pound cake from scratch. This recipe was shared with me in Wyoming back in the 70's, but I know it has southern roots.

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Buttermilk Pound Cake
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
½ tsp soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

With a mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift together dry ingredients. Add alternately with buttermilk to the mixer, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix well.

Bake in a buttered and floured tube pan (or bundt pan) at 350 degrees for one hour. Top will be crusty when done. 

Cool at least 10 minutes before removing from pan.
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Top a slice of cake with fresh strawberries and whipped topping. I make my own by mixing with a whipping attachment a pint of heavy whipping cream with approx a ½ cup powdered sugar. That makes a nice bowl full. 

Going to the extra effort of the homemade cake and whipped cream is a nice way to say I Love You to the family you serve it to, don't you think?!  

xoxo Tammy 

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Temptations

Hi there,
What can I say, those emails get me every time. The ones with all the new sample projects, made in the most beautiful colors of high quality yarn! You know, the ones from Purl Soho in The Big AppleEat.Sleep.Knit. in Smyrna, Georgia, and the Churchmouse Yarns & Teas newsletter sent from Bainbridge Island, Washington. There are others: Cowgirl Yarn in Laramie, Wyoming (which I would love to visit!), Personal Threads Boutique in Omaha, Nebraska, and especially my LYS, The Needlecraft Center in Davidson, North Carolina.

Good great BEST pal Sharon and I decided to assemble a two-person knit-a-long after seeing the beautiful Malabrigo Merino Worsted yarn featured in the recent email from The Yarnery located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Look at these colors and tell me you wouldn't be tempted! (There were 80 colors to chose from.)

Source: The Yarnery email, 3-3-16




































My first inclination would be the Water Green, however it was sold out. Left to my own devices, I next would have chosen Rattan. But thank goodness Sharon got involved and chose Kaleidos for me. It looks like a basketful of dyed Easter eggs.














She selected the gorgeous Milonga for herself.



















The project is the Inclination Cowl, a one-skein accessory for spring, free with the yarn purchase. They threw in a couple of surprise yummy chocolate pieces!

Our goal is to stop, drop, and knit, leaving behind all other works in progress until we have completion.



















I'll keep you posted on that commitment, and perhaps I can persuade Sharon to allow me to share a photo of her wearing her finished KAL. We both may overshare our KAL progress on Instagram if you want to follow along: @tamknots and @abbysitznmomanitz.

XOXO from North Carolina!



















xoxo Tammy