More Aprons :)

Well it's been a while but I am happy to say that I have finished 3 more of the Christmas Aprons while still managing to get a lot of WORK done. The girls were thrilled with them and I was and am thrilled that they are thrilled with them. I still have to get pictures from my sister of the boys and the rest of the girls in theirs, but all in good time. She just had her 7th baby and I'm convinced that she's Super-Mom, so it can take a while and I'll be ok with that :)

Faith, very excited to have her own apron!

She apparently was more interested in playing than showing it to the camera. 

This is Joy's apron. She's all girl so I wanted lots of flowers and pink. The flip side of the apron is khaki with a pocked of the blue floral.

I have to confess that I was a little intimidated doing this apron for Grace because she is no longer a little girl, but a young woman who cares about the things she wears. I was so excited to find this black and cream fabric! The wine was a given color as it has always been one of her favorites.

            

So, as I mentioned my sister Julia just had her 7th baby. Her name is Mercy, and HERE SHE IS!!!!

Sorry, this is from my phone so it's not the greatest picture, but she's such a little sunshine :)

Matthew is such a doting big brother :) he was sitting next to me and seemed to be a little antsy until just before he asked, when I finally realized that he wanted to hold her! He was beaming when I gave her to him.

She is so cute and looks a lot like my sister Julia when she was little.

Well, I'm going to get back to watching a movie with my friends. I'm in Pennsylvania for a few days and  went fabric shopping this morning in Lititz!! I had a very successful day and am really excited to create beautiful clothing with the fabric that I found :)

I will be going to New York City this weekend for some more fabric shopping and great food! I'm excited to go to some of the specialty warehouses and to see some friends that I haven't seen in a few years. 

Good night all!

~ Claire ~      

Sometimes cleaning out the refrigerator makes the best soup!

Cleaning out the refrigerator

Yesterday I needed to use up some veggies in the refrigerator and was feeling creative so I didn't just steam or roast them, I made some really yummy soup! It may be considered a stew based on it's consistency, bit it could the consistency could easily be changed by adding more milk and water. I think it would be good with just about any meat or poultry, and I plan to try it with white fish soon.

Basic info that might be helpful:

Serves 3-4

Takes about 35 minutes from start to finish, which makes it great for a quick dinner when you're getting home late from work!

What went it: 

- Cauliflower (2 cups - bite sized pieces)
- Brussels Sprouts (3 cups - sliced in half with the outer leaves removed)
- Flank Steak (about 1 pound - cubed into bite sized pieces)
- Beef Stock (1/2 cup)
- Asiago Cheese (1/2 cup - fresh - shredded)
- Parmesan Cheese (1/2 cup fresh - grated)
- Milk (about 3 cups)
- Cream (1 1/2 cups)
- Butter (2-3 Tablespoons)
- Garlic (1-2 cloves - crushed or minced)
- Cilantro (1 - 1 1/2 Tablespoons - fresh - chopped)
- Rosemary (1 Tablespoon - fresh - chopped)
- Pepper (1-2 teaspoons)
- Salt (1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons)
- Water (to cover)

What to do:

Pan brown the meat in a sauce pan and add the garlic when it's almost done.
Add the veggies, beef stock, salt and pepper and enough water to just cover everything. Bring to a simmer, cooking until the veggies are pierce-able, but still a little hard in the middle.
Add the rest of the ingredients and bring back to a simmer - or a boil if you're in a hurry! 

It's so tasty and fast and I had it with a mixed greens salad with Kalamata olives, fresh parmesan, alfalfa sprouts and a greek vinaigrette dressing. It may sound like a weird combination, but the flavors of the soup are so bold that it needed something that wouldn't get overpowered to go with it and it was really tasty. 

Bon Appetite!

~ Claire 

Flower Power Apron

I just couldn't resist sharing these with you! I was able to go to my Sister's last weekend and had a wonderful visit… once I got through the blizzard on the way up there.

I have been making headway on my much belated Christmas presents to my nieces and nephews and here are a few pictures of Hope with her apron. 

The kids were all excited to see her apron having seen a few of the ones that the other kids received. She had a birthday recently and it was a little embarrassing for me as one or two of her siblings said it was a birthday present…

 

She was (and IS) SO CUTE!! She has such kissable cheeks that only become more precious when she flashes one of her Billion Dollar Smiles. (Yes, I know that the saying is "Million", but I'm a little partial).

~ Claire 

Christmas in February!

Oh, what a day this has been! I managed to sleep in an extra two hours, rushed to get everything done that I needed to and had the pleasant surprise of finding my wonderful sister at home when I returned. One of my errands was to the fabric store (a favorite for me) where at the register it was discovered that the wonderful lady who had cut my fabric for me had accidentally hit the "0" instead of the "." key! This consequently brought the logged yardage of one fabric to 105yds instead of 1.5yds. We had enjoyed a pleasant conversation and it was not until I was at the register that the mistake was realized as I knew that my total was to be MUCH less that the $1189.43 that initially rung up. We all had a good laugh at it and I went on my merry way, after, of course, the problem was fixed ;)

Speaking of "merry", my Christmas presents to my nephews and nieces this year were… a bit elaborate and I cannot yet claim to have finished more than half. Point aside however I made/am making aprons and backpacks for all 13 of my wonderful relatives! This charming apron is the one I made for my 4 year old niece Hope. It will probably take her a good 4 years to grow into it enough that we can let the hem down (I have pictured it here before the hem was taken up to get the full effect), but that was part of the plan, that they will be able to wear them for years to come. I used 100% cotton for everything, and (much to my sister's delight I am sure) pre-washed everything so that there will be no shrinking or bleeding of the fabrics into one another. 

I used a light canvas material for the backing to give it more stability and the strap, or strings, run through  tubes that I sewed in along the arm holes so that it is fully adjustable. ( Maybe I should have given my sister a large crochet hook for when they are pulled too far… ) 

For the pocket I used a double layer of matching material and trimmed it with ribbed ribbon and buttons.

I also did the same for the flower embellishment on the chest.

I will be spending the weekend with them and can't wait to see her beautiful face light up when she opens it! 

I have 5 others completed and one of these days I might put up pictures of all of them. Two of my nephews are Michigan State fans so I made them Spartan's aprons!!

---

An update on my Summer Sunshine clothing. I am happy to announce that I have nearly finished the first piece and have a few more that are ready to jump from my sketch book to Dorcas! Now, for those of you who are wondering "Who is Dorcas?" as I previously mentioned that I do not name my sewing machines, Dorcas is my Dress-Maker's "Doll" and she was a gift from my parents several years ago when I was sewing for the first wedding that I did. She is pictured above in the first photo.

Blessings, 

Claire

Need a Chocolate fix…

One of my favorite desserts is Pots de Creme (pronounced Po de Cremé). It's quick and delicious, and a great way to wow guests without a lot of fuss. 

This recipe makes 4 servings and you will need:

2/3 cup Whole Milk

1 Egg

2 Tbsp Sugar

A pinch of Salt

1 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

2 Tbsp of Chambord, Frangelico, or your favorite liqueur 

(this is optional and I've made it without many times)

Topping

1 cup Whipping Cream

2 Tbsp Sugar

Bring the milk to a boil in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Once I put the milk on I add the egg, sugar, salt, chocolate and liqueur to a blender and mix on low until combined, but don't worry about the chocolate chunks since they will be melted by the milk. Pour the boiling milk in a slow stream into the blender and blend until smooth or about 1 minute. Pour the "soup" into whatever you are going to serve it in (i.e demitasse cups, small tea cups or custard bowls, etc) and put them in the refrigerator covered for about 2 hours or until you are ready to serve them. 

Topping

Using a high speed, beat the cream until soft peaks start to form then add the sugar a little at a time. Put a dollop or so on each serving just before you serve it. I also use fresh fruit, especially raspberries if I use the Chambord. 

Enjoy

Claire

Oh happy day!!

I was thrilled this morning to find that my new sewing machine had arrived! Making the (current) grand total of 4 machines that I will now use on a regular basis. I don't name my machines as some do, but I am happy to say that I purchased the Janome CoverPro 1000. It looks a lot like my serger, but only does cover stitches which I am thrilled with as I am starting to work with a lot more knits and my other machines just don't do quite the job that I would have liked.
I felt a little like a traitor when I ordered it at first as it is the first one that I have purchased that is not a Baby Lock and did not come from Sew Many Stitches. I learned to sew on my mother's machine when I was about ten and several years later was given one by a friend. my gifted machine lasted several years and then was sadly laid to rest… so I bought another one, a Baby Lock Pro Line 6300. A couple of years later I purchased my Baby Lock Eclipse serger, and upon my High School graduation my pride and joy, a combination sewing and embroidery machine, also by Baby Lock, the Eclipse. Now, as my sister is (I hope) reading this I should mention that she and I bought the first sewing machine and the serger jointly. Upon her moving however we swapped our portions of the machine and she was in possession of the sewing machine and I the serger but to make a long story short, and probably partly due to the fact that I do most of her sewing for her, I have her machine again and my arsenal is fully equipped to tackle more than I have time for.
Enough about the machines already though. This past monday I received a thrilling phone call. A lady in town had her own sewing shop and needed to get rid of a lot of extra material and the Lord led our paths together through a mutual friend. I have been going through the fabric, mostly upholstery, and finding many treasures. My mind has been working about a million miles a minute as I go through everything and literally see finished products from the raw material that I have in my hands.
This journey is proving to be both exciting, and a bit scary as I am working towards business deadlines and trying to finish projects that have been accumulating, some of them for a few years some only since Christmas. But I am going to my sisters this weekend so I had better finish a few of them or my nieces and nephews might take me off of Favorite Auntie status.

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

This is one of my favorite Cheesecakes! I drain and puree low-fat cottage cheese to substitute for half of the cream cheese and that is how I have written the recipe. You can use all cream cheese if you want to, but make sure you bake it at 325˚F and only for 1 hour if you do as the substitutes take longer for some reason. 

The last time I made this was for my niece's birthday party and I used chocolate graham crackers and layered the batter so that it looked like a great big Oreo or ice cream sandwich. I then topped it with fruit and whipped cream. It was really yummy!

When I am in a pinch for time getting it into the oven I set the cream cheese packages on the stove as it is warming up while I make the crust. I also strain my cottage cheese in 1/2 - 1 c. portions using a large sieve or strainer (with VERY small holes) placed over a bowl and mix it with a slotted spoon so that the excess liquid goes through, then I puree the cheese. The drained liquid is very good in smoothies or as the base for a healthier ranch dressing.

I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does!

~ Claire ~

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 350˚F

8 graham crackers (chocolate, cinnamon or regular) – crushed

1/3 c. melted butter

Mix together and press into the bottom of a 9” spring-form pan.

Place spring-form pan onto a double-layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. (You will need approximately 16 in squares.) Securely wrap foil up sides of pan.

Place spring-form pan in a large baking pan.

2 8-oz packages cream cheese (softened)

2 c. pureed cottage cheese (remove any excess liquid before pureeing).

1 ½ c. sugar

¼ Tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ c. all-purpose flour

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. semisweet chocolate chips – melted according to package instructions

2 c. white chocolate chips – melted according to package instructions

Beat cream cheese, cottage cheese, sugar, cinnamon and flour until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low until just combined. Stir in vanilla. Divide batter in half.

Melt the chocolates right before you are ready to add them to the batter and add it slowly so that you can mix it well.

Stir one of the melted chocolates into first portion and pour over crust.

Stir the other melted chocolate into remaining batter and drop by spoonfuls over first chocolate layer. 

Marble chocolate by swirling a knife or toothpick through the different colors until desired effect is achieved. 

Add about 1 in of water to the baking pan.

Bake for 75-85 min or until center is just set and top appears dull.

Remove spring form pan from water bath and cool on a wire rack for 10 min.

Carefully run knife along sides of pan to loosen edges but don’t remove sides until completely cool.

Cool one hour then refrigerate overnight.

I like to top this one with freshly whipped cream and fresh fruit.

Yield: 16 servings

Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers.