SENSE AND SENSIBILITY

I love Jane Austen and her books.

I can so easily transport myself to the era

of the books she has written.

Tonight I was just perusing the internet

when I came upon this website.

I was in heaven because the website

sells patterns for the time period.

I love to sew and seeing those patterns

makes me wish that I had been blessed

with daughters also as I've been blessed

with two wonderful sons.

So for those of you who have daughters

and love this time period,

this website is for you!

Sense and Sensibility

BLACK FOREST PAVLOVA WITH ESPRESSO CREAM

Thanks to the Cook Who Knew Nothing blog, she came up with this recipe.

It looks delicious and I can't wait to make it.

I might just make it for Valentine's Day for my husband.

Ingredients:
For the meringue.
8 egg whites
2 cups granulated raw sugar
2 tablespoons dutch cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
For the topping.
2 cups thickened (whipping) cream
2 tablespoons strong espresso coffee
680 gram (24oz) jar of morello cherries
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup dark chocolate curls *
½ cup dark chocolate shavings **
* To make chocolate curls run a potato peeler down the edge of a block of chocolate. ** To make chocolate shavings use an ordinary fine grater or a Micro-Plane.

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 425º F. Place a sheet of baking paper on two large baking tray and draw 20cm rounds.
2. Separate your eggs making utmost care not to contaminate the egg whites with any egg yolk. Any fat in the egg whites will prevent them from beating properly and will weigh them down.
3. Beat your egg whites until they are stiff and add your sugar slowly, one tablespoon at a time and beat until stiff peaks form. Turn your bowl upside down to make sure the whites are stiff enough. If not, beat another minute or so then check again.
4. Sift the cocoa powder into the raw meringue and fold through carefully ensuring you leave streaks of cocoa rather than fully incorporating it.
5. Shape the meringue into the two rounds on the baking paper/trays. Place meringues into oven and immediately turn temperature down to 120 degrees. Bake for 90 minutes then turn off oven, do not remove meringues until oven is cool.

Topping:
1. Drain the morello cherries into a colander with a bowl underneath it to catch the syrup. Give the cherries a shake to make sure the syrup drains out of them. You will want the cherries quite dry so give them a bit of time to drain.
2. Pour the cherry syrup into a saucepan and over medium heat reduce it down to a honey-like consistency (about 5-10 minutes). If you over-reduce you can add a little bit of water and whisk through to make it more liquid again. Set aside.
3. Beat the cream with the coffee until stiff peaks form. With a silicone spatula spread half of the cream over the bottom meringue, place cherries on the cream along with half of the chopped walnuts. Sprinkle half of the chocolate shavings over the meringue.
4. Place the top meringue layer over the bottom. Spread the remaining cream over it along with the cherries, nuts and chocolate shavings. Top  with the chocolate curls. Drizzle the cherry syrup over the entire pavlova.

BRIAN HAGGARD

Today Brian Haggard came and did a presentation

on crazy quilt memories.  He brought his quilts

and shared with all of us his techniques.

He shared how his grandmother was the driving force in his

life-long interest in textiles.  She lived  with his family

and taughte him the process of quilt making from a young age. 

He said that it was a family effort with his

great-grandmother, grandmother, mother, and him

in making the beautiful pieces of art.

He preserves those wonderful memories

in quilting and hand embroidery to

pay tribute to the past generations.

His quilts are absolutely beautiful!

The first book that he published.

There was a long line of ladies waiting to have their books autographed by Brian.

Brian had all of us enthralled

 

Brian helping one of the ladies the best products for what she is planning to make.

Brian and myself.  I really enjoyed his presentation.

If you are interested in seeing more of his work, click on the link below and it will take you to his blog.

Brian Haggard

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

At my house, chocolate is king!

I like chocolate but the real chocolate lover is my husband.

The darker the chocolate, the happier he is.

Many years ago, he had to travel to France because of his job.

He would always come home with a small suitcase filled with chocolate.

I would tease him and tell him the chocolate was his idol.

Since Valentine's Day is right around the corner,

I decided to share with you two recipes for making mousse.

They are very easy to make and you'll enjoy them on that

special day or any other day you want to make special.

QUICK CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Ingredients:

1 (1.5 ounce) bar milk chocolate candy bar

1 tablespoon milk 1 1/2 cups plain fat-free Greek yogurt

Directions:

1.

Put the chocolate bar into a microwave-safe bowl and add the milk. Microwave until the chocolate is soft and melted, about 30 seconds. Stir Greek yogurt into the chocolate mixture until smooth.

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GHIRARDELLI CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Ingredients:

10 ounces Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips 2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup coffee, hot 4 eggs, room temperature 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

1.	Whip the cream to form light peaks. Set aside in the refrigerator. Melt the chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl set over barely simmering water. Meanwhile, whip the eggs with the sugar until very fluffy and thick, about 10 minutes.
2.	Stir the hot coffee into the melted chocolate chips. The mixture will start to thicken, so work quickly. Quickly stir in the beaten eggs, then fold in the whipped cream. Pour or spoon mixture into cups or bowls, and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

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 These recipes and many others can be found at All Recipes.  

ENJOY!!!!!!!

BATIKS AND BEYOND

The above quilt is from a book titled Batiks and Beyond.

This is the project that I'm working on.

The quilt is going to be king size.

It takes 64 blocks.  Thirty-two are already done.

My goal is to get it all pieced during the month of February.

I have not decided yet whether I will quilt it

or have someone quilt it for me.  

When I get to that point, I'll decide then.

These are the fabrics that I have chosen for this quilt.

I can't wait to see how it will look once it's all pieced!

WINTER'S DAY QUILT

On Super Bowl Sunday, I participated on making a quilt that

would be cut and pieced all in one day.

Kris, from Quiltbug, designed the quilt.

I have participated in the past to events like

these that she has held every New Year's Day.

Her directions were easy to follow.

It took me two days to finish my quilt

because I was battling a fever and just not feeling well.

She still has the directions on her website for free until February 16th.

After that, it will be a paid pattern.

Here's the link to the pattern:

Quiltbug

MUSINGS FROM THE KITTY

Good morning everyone!  My name is Brumhilda and I live

with my "parents", Jorge and Irene.

I'm taking advantage that my mom is not on the computer

and I want to share a little bit about me.

Now you may ask why is my name Brumhilda.

My name originally was Cleo.  My original owner gave me that name.

I had a sister whose name was Peek a Boo.  She only had one eye.

The sad part of my life is that my first mom had to give me and my sister up.

She could no longer take care of us anymore.

The good thing is that she took us to a pet rescue center

so that a new family could adopt me and my sister.

My second mom, Irene, came to Pet Smart in Muncie

looking for a new cat.  There were lots of cats and kittens there.

I could tell that she loves animals just by the way she was talking to them.

I really wanted her to pick me but she kept going back to the kittens.

They were really playing up the "cute" card.

She finally came to my cage and I just started purring.

Boy did she like that.  I knew that was the only way I could win her over.

She read the card that had all the information about me.

She asked the nice lady if she could hold me.

Once I was in her arms, I just hugged her and purred my heart away.

I WON HER OVER!!!!!!

As my new mom was filling out the necessary papers to take me home,

she shared with the lady  her sad story.

You see, my mom and dad had previously two cats.  

The first one was called Emma.  She was a gift from her best friend.

She lived with them for three years and loved her family very much.

The sad part was that the day before her oldest son left for

Afghanistan, she disappeared.  Their son saw her that night

with a mouse in her mouth.  I think she brought that

gift for him to take with him.  They suspect some bad animal killed her.

My poor parents were so sad for several days.

First, their son leaves to serve his country and their kitty disappears!

Her best friend gave her another kitten.

From what I have heard, she was also a good cat.

Her name was Ellie.  Just like Emma, she disappeared

on my mom's birthday.  My poor mom.  :(

My parents decided that it hurt too much to have another cat.

But I guess I was meant to be because she picked me!

I had found a new family!

Life with my new family has been wonderful. 

There is a dog named Dotty here that we get along.

She really likes to play.  I wasn't sure at first, but now we do play together.

My parents did have one scare with me.

Some bad animal attacked me.

Thankfully, I was able to escape and come home.

My mom took me to the doctor and they fixed me all up.

My parents decided that I was no longer going to be outside.

So they took me back to the doctor and he took all of my front claws out.

I guess my parents didn't like the fact that I was scratching up

their furniture - sofa, chairs, rugs.

Here I am helping my mom with her devotions.

This is my favorite pose.  I just plop myself on the ground

and purr and my parents just rub my tummy.

I usually try to get comfortable on my dad's lap,

but this time I was not able to.  I usually succeed

even when he has his laptop.

All that work in trying to get on my dad's lap got me tired.

Catching my 40 winks.

What can I say, but don't you think I'm cute?

I'm hoping my mom doesn't get upset that I used her laptop.

Maybe I will be able to use her laptop and just

share with you my thoughts.