Winter warmth for my niece :)

This is my niece, Zoey. 

Currently, Zoey reigns supreme in our family, as she is the only girl, AND  the youngest of the nieces & nephews. There are (5) boys that came before her, ranging in age from 21, down to 13. So not only is she the youngest, she came along 8 years after the last one. 

She's every bit of a princess, and we like it that way.

Over Thanksgiving break, we had a wardrobe malfunction, (i.e. a busted zipper)
& had to buy her a new coat. 

Now, you may not know this, but the Princess Wardrobe pretty much
has only {TWO} Color Choices.

 [Pink] or [PURPLE] 

That is pretty much it. And depending on the shade of pink or purple it can be pretty hard to match. So when Zoey asked me to make her a purple scarf and headband to match her coat, I honestly wondered if it were going to be possible. We looked at several different colors, and were about to settle for a white or pink option, when we wandered into the Yarn Store at the Old Forge Hardware Store in the Adirondacks. 

There, we found this beautiful purple color.
Oh the Gasps! Her sweet little hands flew to her face!
"Auntie KISHA" she squealed with delight - "I think it's a perfect match!"
And she was right! This Cascade Pacific, color # 37, is almost exactly the
same shade  of Purple as her brand new coat. We were thrilled!  

Now, I've never written a crochet pattern before, so unfortunately I don't have one yet to share with you. I may get it written up to share, but I can't promise as my "A" button sticks horribly on my laptop right now, and even typing this up is a little bit frustrating.

So I will share with those of you who crochet regularly that this is a super simple project. The scarf and leg warmers are (2) rows of Double Crochet, followed by a single row of puff stitches (5 YO). Then to the scarf I added (2) rows of lacy trim (basically Ch 5, sk 2 st, sl st in next st).

The flowers I just picked a tutorial off of Youtube and followed that. You can search and tons of options will come up :)

The headband whipped up FAST - & that pattern I found "HERE" at "Tangled Happy" - which is a great blog to follow by the way. The pattern was well written and super easy to follow. I see a lot of these in my Niece's future. (And mine too, with a minimal size adjustment).

So, what homemade gifts are you working on?
Linking up here!

Black Forest Cake

Sometimes I think I'm just a foodie at heart.

I don't {MEAN} for this blog to be all about food. 

I don't {INTEND} to cause mouth-watering sensations every time I post. 

It isn't on {PURPOSE} that cravings abound on a regular basis. 

I swear. 

It's really not. 

But it often turns out that way doesn't it?

Well I hope you can forgive me. Because Seriously, this is pretty good stuff. 

Saturday, my mom's friend Carol, from Long Island, is coming to visit. I haven't seen Carol in a couple years and when she comes, she usually stays with me. And Mom, is coming to come up too. We have a FULL weekend planned with lots of fun stuff - and I think we are all a little bit excited :)

Of course, this is a great reason to bake.

"Any" reason is a great reason to bake, but THIS is as good a reason as they come, don'tcha think? 

We're going to have a delish menu of Pulled Pork, Mashed taters, and salad. Chocolate cake for dessert. Black Forest cake to be exact. 

[I don't know what anyone else is going to eat]

Black Forest Cake 

Dry Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups good cocoa powder 

2 1/4 tspn baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients  

2 sticks salted butter 

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar 

3 xl eggs, cracked and whipped in a small bowl 

3 tspn vanilla

3 sq bittersweet 100% cocoa 

1/2 cup buttermilk 

3/4 cup sour cream 

3 tblspn brewed coffee 

Frosting and Filling 

16oz heavy whipping cream

15oz can cherry pie filling 

Mix all dry ingredients together with a fork until well combined. Set aside. 

Pre-heat your oven to 350 and let it heat up while you get the cake batter ready. Prepare a double boiler. Or do like I do. Balance a large glass pyrex over a 3qt sauce pan  with about an inch of simmering hot water. 

In your mixer, beat your butter for about 5-8 minutes on high until very light and fluffy.

It will be almost white in color. 

While your butter is whipping, add your cocoa squares to your pyrex bowl and carefully stir while it melts. Add the brewed coffee and mix gently while the cocoa melts.

Mix together your buttermilk and sour cream until smooth. Carefully & slowly, add to the Cocoa/Coffee mixture. *note: If its too cool, the cocoa will start to harden again so add it slowly to bring the milk/sour cream up to temperature. 

Once your cocoa mixture is smooth and melted, remove from heat.

Now, scrape down the sides of the butter in your kitchen-aid, and add white sugar. Mix to combine. Then add brown sugar and mix again to combine. Whip on high for about 3 minutes, scraping down your sides at least once. 

Once the butter and sugar are well combined, add your eggs & vanilla. Whip again for about a minute, scrape down your sides.

Now it's time to incorporate the Cocoa & Flour mixtures - using your batter hook, add to the mixer in thirds, starting with the Cocoa mixture and ending with the flour mixture. As you add each portion, mix gently to combine only. Do not over mix!

Over mixing causes your cakes to become dry, and hard.
NOT FUN 

Once the batter is fully incorporated, pour (scoop) it into your prepared pans. Using Pan Grease is a great option - or you can use your favorite way to prepare your pans. I personally use PREP, a professional grease/flour spray that works great and is available at my local bakery supply store. 

Spread out your cake mix, because it's super thick and rich, and won't spread on it's own, even when heated. Spread it out nice and smooth, and then bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Now, whip up your Heavy Cream until stiff peaks form.

Spread half of your Cherry pie filling over the center of one of your cakes, and then top with the 2nd layer of cake. Frost and decorate to your little hearts desire.

{Take a picture} 

This cake is so good, it will be gone before you can even remember you spend all that time and effort baking it :) 

you can thank me later :)

Enjoy!

Linking up here:

The ADK, Thanksgiving & Pine Cone Ornaments

We are full into the hustle and bustle of the Holiday season and I couldn't be more excited!

We've had a full four day 'vacation' and it's been absolutely wonderful. 

 

Every year we travel about 3 hrs to see my parents in their

sleepy little town of Homer NY. It's a great trip spending time with family
and enjoying the beginning of the Christmas season.

John 10:10

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may 

have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows) 

I am so blessed. I have good health, a good family, a reliable car, a warm place to sleep at night, 

more than enough food to eat (and share!), clothes on my body, a great job, and a bright, bright 

future. If God hadn't done any more than save my soul I would be grateful - but He chose to bless

me with all this much more, and I can't express how grateful I am to Him.

We arrived in Homer around 1:30 and dinner preparations were well on their way. This is my Mom, Andrea. Mom was in the kitchen getting the potatos, sweet potatos and vegetables ready. My mom is a dish queen. If there is a single dish in the house, she will hunt it down and wash it immediately. Even if there are no dishes to be found, she will find a dish, and wash it because some days it seems like her life mission.

 I might be guilty of that as well...