Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Work In Progress Wednesday: December 14, 2011


Ack! Christmas is in less than two weeks! This past week I buckled down and focused on the Christmas presents I’m making. I was able to machine quilt two of them. While I had my machine set up for quilting, I also quilted a small project that I started back in March of this year.


Stats
New projects: 0
Completed projects: 0
Total projects: 16

Please excuse the short WIP Wednesday post this week. No time for writing. Must sew!

My cat Tux "helping" me sew

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Saturday Sweetness: Red Velvet Cake Balls

It’s no secret that I love cake balls. My favorite flavor is Red Velvet. They can be a fun addition to holiday baking, so I thought I would share my method of making Red Velvet Cake Balls with you. A few years ago, my mom sent me the link to the recipe on Bakerella’s blog. I made them once and was hooked. I don’t know how many times I’ve made cake balls since then, but it has been quite often.

Ingredients:
Cake mix + necessary eggs, oil and water
1 can of cream cheese frosting
1-2 bags of dark chocolate Ghirardelli chocolate chips

Directions:

1.       Make a cake. I usually use Duncan’s Red Velvet cake mix.

2.      Turn the cake into crumbs. My favorite method is using a food processor, but you can do it by hand as well.

3.      Mix in frosting. Do NOT use whipped frosting.

4.      Roll into balls. It helps to have a friend for this step. It also helps to pop them in the freezer before the next step. Overnight is best.

5.     Melt chocolate. I prefer to use a double boiler set up. I always scorch it if I use the microwave.

6.     Dip cake balls. Mine are never pretty, but they are usually eaten too quickly for anyone to notice. Pop them in the freezer again to set the chocolate.

Cake balls are a dish best served cold. You can keep them in the freezer indefinitely. That is, if you don't eat them all first.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

November 2011 in Review

November was a very busy, but productive month. I am very pleased with all that I have accomplished in the last thirty days. I got a solid head start on Christmas gifts and bags, and I also had a blast making improv blocks for Call Me Crazy and a pieced back for Blueberry Pie. The improv blocks were the most fun to make, but I love how the Christmas presents turned out. I hope that December brings lots of sewing time!

Check out Fresh Sewing Day at Lily’s Quilts for more stitching inspiration!

1. Call Me Crazy WIP 11.1.11, 2. Christmas Gift Bags WIP 11.1.11, 3. Christmas Runner 1 WIP 11.1.11, 4. Evergreen Flurry Rolled 11.6.11, 5. Blueberry Pie WIP 11.6.11, 6. Call Me Crazy WIP 11.6.11, 7. Christmas Gift Bags WIP 11.6.11, 8. Blueberry Pie WIP 11.15.11, 9. 2011 Memory Quilt WIP, 10. Call Me Crazy WIP 11.15.11, 11. Peppermint Flurry WIP 11.20.11, 12. 2012 Memory Quilt WIP 11.20.11, 13. Blueberry Pie WIP 11.20.11, 14. Color Book WIP 11.29.11, 15. Memory Quilt 2012 WIP 11.29.11, 16. Memory Quilt 2011 WIP 11.29.11

Highlights:
  • Finished two table runners Christmas gifts
  • Finished four Christmas gift bags
  • Finished the top of another table runner Christmas gift
  • Finished blocks for Call Me Crazy

Fresh Sewing Day