Happily Sewing Along!

Well, I haven't done much for sewing on the polonaise this last week or so.  While I enjoyed  a wonderful holiday it was still quite sad!  DH days off coincided with Yule and Christmas this year, as did my girlfriends days off.  The kids were upset to say the least that this year we wouldn't be celebrating Christmas.  That we would instead be celebrating Yule, a more pagan holiday that means a lot more to me than Christmas. 

I had asked the family to not send anything for Christmas and a few of them listened.  It was such a change from the previous years.  Usually the kids gets loads of presents and by the time they are done opening gifts they are so wired and crazy, they start to have melt downs.  Most of the toys they receive get played with for about a week before they are broken or left forgotten on their bedroom floor or strew across the my house.  This year I bought 2 presents for each boy, my mom sent 2 gifts  each , and my SIL sent one combined gift for them.  The change was amazing!  They actually appreciated their gifts and we ended up  having a wonderful day SANS meltdowns.

It was sad in a way tho to end a tradition of celebrating Christmas for thge past 29 years and start a new tradition.  After supper we light the Yule Log (candles in the fire place) and we read stories to the boys of the how the gods created the earth and man, of how and why the seasons change, and the great battle between the Holly King and the Oak King.  The boys especially loved the battle!

We did celebrate Christmas in a way.  My GF and her DH had never eaten a traditional turkey supper so I made on for them....I have never eaten so much in my life...I woke up at 2 am with turkey sweats...I kid you not!

Boxing day came and the GF and her hubby left and took my DH with them.  It was a big let down having a house full of people to being on my own.  Definitely miss my friends and my family more so this season becasue of the move.

I am looking forward to the new year.....

Work work work....

For the past week I have been working on my Polonaise faithfully every day and I am pleased to show you the progress.  There are a lot of changes I plan to make on the next English gown I make, but for now I have  a  few pictures for your viewing pleasure.  I am trying to get it done for a levy on New Years Day....Here's keeping my fingers crossed.  I do have doubts tho...I am having troubles figuring out what kind of trim to use...should I self trim it, do I do gathers or pleats?  rosettes?  hmmmm...Ideas ladies?

I have also gotten a lot farther on it, but have been so busy with it I haven't taken much for pictures.  I have also done a petal shaped Bum Roll....the kids laugh cuz it makes my butt huge and anything to do with big butts makes them laugh!  BOYS!

Here come the Polonaise!

So for the better part of the day I have been draping my Zone front Polonaise.  Its coming along perfectly.  I do have concerns about draping sleeves tho, you know it's one thing I have never done! I didn't have a pattern so I did what I usually do when I don't have a pattern, I drape it on  Mrs. Swishypants, (name courtesy of AShton), my mannequin.  Here are pictures of the almost finished set of stays and the draping the bodice or the polonaise.

Front with half of the stays bound with faux suede binding.

 

The sketch of  the 1780's Polonaise

The back with en Fourreau pleats.

Close Up of marking the side seam for the front

 

Front Side Seam pinned

Front, you can see the shape of the zone. 

Transitional Stays....10, Katy and the Girls.....0!

SO yesterday I hopped onto an idea to make transitional stays into regular everyday wear.   WOW what a challenge!  Sorry I don't have much for photos...I just got too excited about doing them.  I started trying to do the ones with the gathered ups.  They should end up looking like this....

http://www.koshka-the-cat.com/1790s_stays.html

 Unfortunately, the GIRLS are WAY to big for this method and I ended up having a square boob.  I know what you are thinking...how do you end up with a square boob...it happens even though I tried different shapes and sizes I still could not get the fit properly for the girls.

Let me point out that the base, (the area that goes around the body), fit perfectly, so I have been fighting with fitting the cups for hours at this point.

The next shape I tried was this.....

http://romantichistoryclothing.blogspot.com/2009/10/1820s-1830s-corded-stays.html

With the bust gussets, (the triangular shaped thingys in the chest area).  This shape worked out a bit better, but still flatted the girls into pancakes.  I did however like the way the under boob looked in it, just not the shelf look.  If that makes sense.

So I was left with a conundrum, I could stay with period style or I could deviate and do a more modern cup.  I have opted for a more modern cup and so far so good.  Right now I'm just trying to play on size so that the girls have enough room to fit.  THe other problem I'm faced with is the center front between the girls.  It bows out, when it should separate and help lift the girls.  I think the solution to the problem is having the busk in there, (a long wide wood or metal or plastic piece), I'll try that on another muslin to see how it works.  I also need to see how I am gonna close it.  Is it gonna lace in the back, in the front, the sides.  How is it gonna wear and how easy will it be t o get into it? 

I should also point out that the pattern for this has been draped on my mannequin.  I love draping because you get to see the effect on the body of how the fabric shapes to it.  Maybe one day I'll do a tutorial.  I much prefer draping to drafting.  I just can visualize the shapes on paper and seem to do a great deal of altering in order to get what you want.  at least with draping you have almost a finished pattern to start with.    I also learned that cotton organdy is THE BEST for doing muslins and draping patterns for garments that need stability.  It is very stable, although somewhat expensive, at about 10 bucks a meter.  But I would rather sacrifice cost for working with wobbly fabric.

A Direction is Forming....And Another...And Another!

The direction for my first designs is forming....Dresses and skirts, in light diaphanous fabrics reminiscent of the flapper.  Beading, easy silhouettes, BUT...here's the kicker.  Each one will be unique in that I will try to use reclaimed fabrics for the majority of the piece.  EIther fabrics I have already bought and are in my stash or fabric, clothing from the thrift store, AND I will try my hardest to find natural fibres.  I hate polyester!


Wow in the few hours that since I started writing this post I have moved on to other ideas, which have nothing to do with the direction of the Modista line....Sometimes my mind is crazy, and jumping form one thing to another.  It's a surprise I don't have whiplash!   I have always had a tough time finding a bra that fits and is comfortable.  I hate them, but without them I have not so nice looking waist bags, erm....boobies.  LOL!  And since I have been stuck in the past....a few centuries ago, when it comes to clothing lately.  It just dawned on me to make a set of transitional stays.  What you ask are transitional stays?  Well they are more in keeping with a natural form of the body rather than turning it into a conical silhouette that was popular in the 1700's.  They were used at the latter part of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th Century, hence the name transitional. 

1790's from Kent University

Now that looks comfy batman.  It forms to the natural shape of the body and looks like it will give the girls support without digging in all the wrong places.  The BEST part!?!?!?   No underwire!  Can you imagine this made in a pretty printed cotton or lace?  I can!

Still sewing away.

I haven't abandoned you guys....I'm still here.  Slowly the stays are coming together, I've been doing alot of zippers lately and finally have them all done and no more are supposed to come in for about a week.  So I should have plenty of time to hand sew all the eyelets.  K well maybe not ALL the eyelets.  I'm sorta getting impatient to finish it so I can see if the pattern was a gooder, (yes it's a word, and no you can't find it in the dictionary).  I plan on doing the bare minimum on eyelets so that I can try it on, then I'll finish them.  So if you don't hear from me for a while you know what I'm doing.

Cheers!

Road Trip!

I had a road trip this weekend...I did, I did! 

Unfortunately it wasn't a fun road trip.  It meant that I had to drop off my oh so fabulous husband at the airport so he could go back to his not so fabulous job in the frozen arctic tundra.  BLECH!!!    I miss him already and it's only been a few days.  On the plus side, I...got to visit....wait for it.....AN HONEST TO GOODNESS REAL LIFE FABRIC STORE!!!!

OMG I KNOW!!!!


LOL.  It was beautiful!  I nearly had a tear in my eye.  After 5 long years of living so far away from a fabric store I have one relatively close by.  I was in heaven.  I only wish I could have enjoyed it for much much longer.  Alas I could not.  We, and I mean 4 very small boys, had just traveled 3 hours to the city, so they had pent up energy and were going CRAZY!  This is not exactly the ideal way to visit a fabric store.  I managed to quickly get a couple of zippers for alterations (another BLECH), a package of pins, and a meter and a half of batiste cotton.  While my kids complained about how boring it was and layed about and wiggled on the floor or screamed from my arms. 

I'm planning on going back...in the near future...without the monsters.  Being in that store was such a horrible tease.  I need to spend hours drooling over the fabulous fabrics.  I just hope I'm not disappointed.  I'm finding lately that my expectations have gone through the roof and am finding it hard to be completely satisfied...

"what do you mean you don't have linen?"

"oh its a summer fabric so we put it away in the winter"

What about those people who want to purchase linen in the winter...like me for example.  Hmmmmmm.

Eyelets, eyelets and more eyelets.

Alas, dear readers I have been remiss in doing much sewing on my stays.  I have however started the hand bound eyelets and a few problems have popped up.  One, I forgot I was gonna line the stays before I started the eyelets, (really how could I forget, DOH moment), and 2 Well I guess it was only one problem BUT in my defense it felt like a BIG one!  LOL! only 40 or so left to do.

Front side

Back side....a little bit messy but that's unavoidable.

I also acquired some beautiful light weight linen from a new friend of mine....Lets call her "The Partner in Crime", PIC for short.  She had it in a huge stash of fabric which I was drooling over.  I plan on making it into a chemise for under the stays.  I also found a pretty cotton lace that I will use to edge the neckline and the sleeve hems.  I think it can pass for a needle lace. 

Linen

Thar be Petticoats Glore.

Okay well not that many petticoats but one at least.  I had a wonderful day of sewing yesterday and made a cotton petticoat since I was unable to work on the stays.  It turned out perfect.  It was an exercise in winging it!  LOL. I used sources from Jessamyn's Regency Costuming Page for the measurements and Koshka the Cat for the technique.  Thank you Ladies!

Front

Box pleat in the center front and Knife pleats towards the side

I was originally going to make a chemise but after washing the cotton organdy and pressing it, I realized that the stiffness of the fabric was not sue to the sizing, but due to the weave.  So, unfortunately it is not gonna work.  It will however work great for the bottom flounce on the petticoat, so that is my agenda for the day.  As well as, putting the rest of the channels in the stays, boning it, and sewing the grommets by hand.  I won't be doing the binding until I have done a final fitting.  No sense in doing it all and then finding out they don't fit.  Although at this point i think I can live if they don't fit perfectly....we'll see!

I will also make a new bumroll, as the one I made for my Bustle dress won't work, it's extends to far out the back and doesn't wrap around the hips.  I may or may not make Pocket hoops.  I'm still not sure if the polonaise requires them.  Around the 1780's Panniers went out of style for day time dress, but were still used for court functions.  Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

18th c Stays

So I've done lots and lots of research into the making of a set of 18th c stays and although the concept of them seems really easy, the execution is not.  I'm on the 4th set and getting frustrated.  I'm frustrated cuz I can make a modern day corset that fits the body beautifully, but am having difficulty achieving the silhouette of the 18th c.  Hopefully with a completely new pattern and new boning it should work out. 

I can't show you the beginning of the 1st and 2nd set of stays since I started making them about 6 months ago and have since gotten rid of them.  They were mock ups anyways just to see about fit.  I finally thought that after the 2nd mock up that I had the fit right.  I was getting so frustrated and then DH pointed out a small detail as to why i was getting a cylindrical shape instead of the conical shape I wanted.  So I altered the pattern to his suggestions.  Sometimes someone who has very little knowledge of sewing, but a very analytical mind can see the flaws you don't, which is why I ask him for he;p sometimes.  :D  I was so excited!  I had found a solution and as soon as we were somewhat settled in in NS I dug out my pattern and fabric and got to work.

Unfortunately the excitement was short lived and when I put on my almost finished stays, they still gave me a cylindrical shape.  AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!  So irritated that all that time was spent on sewing a completely useless set of stays I thought I would start fresh.

These are the 3rd pair and as you can see the shape it would create is the wrong one.

So I started searching again and came across Fushia's 18th c Dress Project blog and she had a link to a free stays pattern through Ralph Pink's Site, which the link didn't work for here or me so she had another link http://www.fashion-gorgeois.com/pattern-cutting/corsets Which takes you back to the Ralph Pink site but somehow works.  Just download the file and there yah go.  5 free patterns.

So since I had no printer to print out the pattern I did however have stabilizer for embroidery which can be used as a sort of tracing paper.  So I enlarged the pattern in Adobe on the computer and traced it.  Genius I know!  lol.

This pattern is considerably different that the one I drafted.  I thought I was somehow cheating by using a pattern I hadn't drafted, but I can see where I went wrong in my previous attempts.  Besides It doesn't matter how you got there as long as you achieve your goal in the end, (with in reason)  lol.  So I swallowed my conscience and continued.

 And this is the result so far....I ran outta boning so I am waiting for new stuff to arrive.  Hopefully *fingers crossed, this new set will fit.

And I can get on with the fun stuff of making the polonaise.  Although I still have a new bumroll, a chemise, and a couple of petticoats to make first.  After all you can't have a proper fitting garment unless you have the foundation first.

Just a Note:  I admire the other wonderful women who have made 18th c clothing and have the determination to do it all or mostly by hand. I however am impatient and am not a big fan of hand sewing, so I will endeavor to sew as much of the dress by machine as I can...Just saying.  ;)  lol

THE Wedding.

A week or so ago we went back to BC for a wedding.  Boy was that fun! Can you hear the sarcasm?  Well the wedding itself was fun, the bride and groom sure threw one heck of a party!  It was the events leading up to the wedding that were crazy!

We had been in the new house for about a month when we had to go back to BC.  It was an expensive trip that honestly we could have done without, but since we gave our word we made it happen.   There's no doubt we could have used the 4000 elsewhere, but we had made commitments, Willow had asked me to make her wedding cake and DH was a groomsman in the bridal party.

So Since DH was working in The Fort, we got to drive to Qtown, whereas I had the pleasure of flying with all for boys across the country, TWICE!  Boy was that a challenge.  Its amazing how many people think you are a super hero for doing that and while I appreciate the sentiment, it's still a very irritating venture.  One that had to be done whether it was alone or with help.

The Kids were so excited to fly...their first time on a plane, (and their last with me for a very long time, lol).  Security in the airport was a gong show.  I thought going through security by myself was crazy....try travelling with kids.  They search and test everything!   Like I, a mother travelling with 4 children, is gonna highjack the plane and crash it....I have enough to contend with without adding to the pile.

The Baby ended up getting an ear infection from the trip and even though he was sick he was a pretty easy traveller.  I on the other hand lost a boarding pass after going through security and left my wallet on a plane.  Thankfully it was the last one and they managed to find it and put it in lost an found for me.  I swear I'd loose my head if it wasn't attached.  I'm forever loosing things and was very glad I didn't leave a kid behind somewhere. lol


We arrived safe and sound in Qtown, and thats when the pre wedding craziness started.  It took me 3 days to make the cake and it was pretty ambitious.  I thought for sure I would get to visit with the DH, since I hadn't seen him in a while, but alas, cake had to come first.  To the disappointment of both of us, (to top it of I was having that girly thing we have every month, LIKE COME ON!!! lol)  The first day we made a run to Prince to get some cake supplies, 200 bucks later, we arrive back to moms an I started the roses all hand mae and all edible.  It took me two days to make 20 roses.  Then here was the cake, the icing, the edible hand painted lace, then putting it all together.  THEN I found out that it all had to be done by the 30th, when I had originally been told the wedding was on the 31st.  So frustrating.  But the cake turned out fabulous an I assume everyone enjoyed it.

I sorta left before they did the cake cutting....I couldn't bear to see it cut into and boy was I glad I didn't stay!  You know the part when the bride and groom feed each other cake and someone ends up smooshing it into the others face....well this turned into an all out food fight.  WITH THE CAKE!!!!  That I spent 3 days FREAKING MAKING!!!!  I was not impressed.  But of course I had to laugh and smile and say thats funny BLAH BLAH FREAKING BLAH, all the while I wanna cry.  All that work demolished!  I'm pretty sure nobody ate the cake and if I knew it was gonna be like that I would not have spent all that time making sure it was edible and pretty.  I felt like it was a complete waste of my time, the 4 grand it took to fly us there and a slap in the face.  I will never waste my time and energy in stressing out over something like that again.  I can understand having to cut the cake and eat it...it's inevitable, BUT A food fight!  COME ON!!!!

Finally!  Its feels to good to let that out.  It's been pent up inside since the wedding.

The Start of Something Fabulous!

Well we are finally moved into our new house...sans most of the furniture, so we are sitting on an air mattress that deflates constantly.  But we do have beds and a dining room table and chairs soooo i do have an area to sew. Even if its somewhat makeshift.

I have been think into the throes of remodeling, stripping wallpaper, patching holes, and painting and even though that is an on going process, I am feeling the need to sew for some fun.  Yup thats me, adding yet another thing to do onto my big list...LOL!

Before we moved, I wanted to make a 1890's bustle dress, just to see if I could do it.  Along the way it has changed into a 1770's or so polonaise.  I am almost finished sewing the bustle crinoline which can be modified based on the different shapes of the bustle. Since we lived in a place with no fabric stores and little access to sewing supplies I had to improvise and found that plastic zip ties are the best alternative to boning.  You can get lengths of 1 to 4 feet at 1/4 inch wide in packages of 10 for only about 6 bucks at the hardware store.  Fabulous and economical alternative.

I have also started on a ruffled petticoat to go over the crinoline because ti drives me absolutely insane when I see someone else's costume and you can see the bones of the crinoline showing through.  To me that is tacky and ugly.  You spent all that time making a beautiful re-creation dress and didn't make a petticoat to hide the bones.  Why? So  I am making one out of cotton sheeting, (remember lack of fabric stores), and its turning out fabulous.  It gives my bustle a soft feel to it. 

I have also finally  drafted and after multiple fittings and muslin mock ups have made the stays for the polonaise.  I just have to make it to the fabric store and pick out my lining fabric.  I was going to be using a cotton but have since changed my mind and am gonna be using a vintage cream colored duchess satin silk that I had leftover from an obi I took apart.

My goal is to have this completed by the summertime 2011 and I'm hoping that by blogging the progress you guys will keep me on track and working at it.  I will gather my supplies and start taking pictures of what I have already done and post them in the next few days. 

The Day the Snow Came.

Well, it's September 16th and we are having our first snow storm of the season....I am excited and dismayed.  One because our wonderful summer has officially ended and two...ITS THAT MUCH CLOSER TO YULE/CHRISTMAS!!!!  YIPPEE!!!  My 3rd youngest, Max told me that its Christmas time now, gotta get the tree up! Hmmmmm....I think its a bit early.

Before Mother Nature decided there had been enough summer, Max had also asked me to make him some "Fresh Cookies".  Of course how can you say no to the cutest little guy ever!  I made 2 types of cookies today...one Banana Oatmeal Cookies, which are so yummy and a great alternative to banana bread; and two Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies, a recipe I had never tried before.  Here it is:

Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar1/4 tsp salt

1 cup margerine
2 tsp vanilla
sesame seeds
preserves (jam) any flavor
1 egg




1. Cream butter and sugar together, add egg and vanilla and stir, add salt and flour and incorporate.
2.  Form into balls and roll in sesame seeds, place on cookie sheet
3.  Make thumbprint in the center of each cookie, and fill with 1/4 tsp of jam
4.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, let cool for a few minutes and the remove from pan.

 

I did a few things to cut corners and save time.  First, I put the sesame seeds in a plastic bag so i could shake them to coat them in the seeds and Second, I used a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon.  It was small enough to fit in the little indentation and gave me the right amount of strawberry jam.  I also made these cookies with my own strawberry jam that I canned last season.

I think this is a great basic recipe....I am imagining lemon curd, raspberry jam, chocolate, double chocolate, apple, mango....the possibilities would and can be endless. They look fabulous and taste soooo  YUMMY!  They literally melt in your mouth!

Enjoy!

Kate

13 Days and Counting....

13 days to go and I am doing house stuff...fun and exciting eh?  Still have lots to pack but the bedroom is off limits during the day as DH is sleeping.  Stupid night shift so I am left to pack the rest of the house, which is pretty much done I think.  I can't really pack any of the things that I am currently using: blankets, clothes, towels, toys, utensils etc.  So I have been sorting and trashing and making bread.....

Count Down to Nova Scotia...14 days

Wow...so I started planning a garage sale last week and a few of my friends decided to jump on board.  So today when I woke up at 7:30 am, I was very disappointed...It was RAINING!   Great!  Now I have a house full of junk in boxes that I can't get rid of.

So I made my morning coffee and visited with hubby for a bit and the rain stopped.....so I got my friends together and convinced them that we could do it and the rain wouldn't bother us.

We had a good day.  Lots of lookers and few buyers. I wish it was the other way around tho since we can't take a whole lot of stuff with us.  I'd rather make some pin money rather that leave it behind to collect dust.

14 days left till we leave on our journey across Canada, this time with the whole family.  I'm excited to have Brad see the house in person for the very first time and I hope (fingers crossed) he's gonna love it as much as I do!  Only time will tell....

Blessed Be
Kate

Photo:Ashley D. Crouse Photography, Ashley D. Crouse on Deviant Art

Easy Peasy Breakfast Latkes

I have found THE BEST breakfast food ever!  The Latke!  I stole the base recipe from here!  Thank you Amy for posting it.  This is my version, and my picky eaters loved it too...


Easy Peasy Breakfast Latkes

2 medium potatoes, shredded and excess liquid drained off
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 pieces of deli black forest ham, cut into small pieces
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup bread crumbs
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 tsp onion powder
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp margerine

Preheat pan on medium heat, add oil and margerine to pan.  Meanwhile mix everything together in a bowl.  Form into round flat cakes and cook until brown on both sides. 

Better Late than Never!

WOW!   So I would like to take this time to apologize for seriously lacking in my writings....It has been one wicked busy Summer....We bought a house in Nova Scotia, so I had to drive across country by myself for the closing; My husband and I FINALLY went on our honeymoon, (took us 5 years); and we had a six week vacation!

 We bought my Dream House....Its huge!  It is a 6 bedroom, 5 1/2 bath, 3000 sq Heritage DREAM!!!!!  There's only one problem....Its across Canada, AWAY from my family.  My husband and I originally are from BC, so this is a huge, HUGE move.  At the end of June I took a road trip across Canada with my oldest son, and it was amazing!  Before I left I got lots of comments of disbelief that I was gonna do it.  A neighbour told me he would never let his wife do that, I thought that was strange that he should be the one to "let " her do it.  But that's another topic for another day.  I did it anyways, 12 to 14 hour days driving with the company of a 7 year old.  We took the seats out of the back of the van and slept on an air mattress at truck stops and camp grounds.  We made it in 5 days.  Boy was I happy to stop driving, but so happy to be at my new house.

We closed the deal on the house, the roofers started the new roof, and Helga (my new blue crowbar), Cole and I ripped out the rotten deck and the horrible carpet and tile the previous owners had put in the kitchen.  Who puts carpet in a kitchen, especially when the rest of the house has old wide plank flooring?!?!?!? After the a few weeks of bliss, we had to leave...and drove back across Canada again.

We got back home, stayed for all of 2 days and then we were off again, this time the whole crew and drove to BC for the start of our summer holidays.

The Taste of Comfort

So you all have that feeling...you have those days when you wish that you could have a home cooked meal like your mom used to make.  I was having one of those days today.  I was craving my moms swiss steak,at least i think it's called swiss steak, the one thats smothered in gravy and you can cut it with a fork.  YUP that's the one! 

Here's my version....

any cheap cut of beef cut into steaks

can of diced tomatoes
1 green pepper, cubed

1 onion, cubed

2 beef boulion pkgs

1 cup water
1 pkg of gravy mix, any kind.  I used pork because it was in my cupboard
salt and pepper to taste

Heat up the skillet to med-high and spray pan with oil.  Sear the meat on both sides and then add the remaining ingredients.  Turn down to low and simmer, covered for 2 to 3 hours. 

If you want you can also throw the pot in the oven for 2 to 3 hours at 350 degrees.

I serve it with either potatoes or rice to soak up the delicous gravy!

The Cake Project Part 3....

WOW!  So have I ever been lazy at writing in my blog! 

Well I did finially get the Louis Vuitton cake finished and it turned out fantastic!  It took a couple of hours to hand paint the pattern and form the accessories, but it turned out better than I expected!  I have another commission for the same cake for another lady for the end of the month.

The Cake Project part 2

So I ended up eating almost the whole practice cake, (how many calories is that?), and thought i wonder if how it would taste if I made it chocolate? 

OMFG!!!!!!!  It's HEAVEN!  It's (almost) ORGAZMIC!  Yup! If I could marry a chocolate cake....THIS would be it!

So the changes I made were to take out 1/2 cup of flour and replace it with 1/2 cup Hershey's Cocoa.  I had to add a handful of sugar to it tho.  So I think I will scale back the cocoa to 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup of white sugar.

I think I'm gonna have to do doublr time at the gym this week!

A Shoe Whore's Dream

WOW!  How have I not known about this store before?!?!?!?  I am in complete amazement and utter awe at how incredibly delicious these boots and shoes are!!!  If these were an orgasm I'd be cumming OVER and OVER and OVER!!!!

Check out this site for more awesome shoes http://www.fluevog.com/ and the great thing is that they are avaliable in Canada!  YIPPEE!  Now to convince the hubby I need another pair of shoes....LOL!  Maybe I should just buy them and then ask for forgiveness?

photos:  http://www.fluevog.com/

The Cake Project

So a friend of mine wants to comission me to make a cake for her for a friends birthday and I accepted. I love a challenge and this is definately a challenge. I'll post the progress here.


THE CHALLENGE:

To make an eggless cake with rolled rondant in the shape of a Luis Vuitton purse AND have accessories to go with it also made outta fondant.

Oh and it has to be done by the 20th of February! You wonder "How is she gonna make a Luis Vuitton cake while taking care of 4 boys, going to the gym, keeping up the house and doing errands? Will she EVER sleep?"

Fear Not my young deciples! I, the Master of my Universe, will show you that it CAN be done!

I may go crazy a few times, but I will get it done.....LOL

Step 1: Find an eggless cake recipe that does not taste like crap! (oh I guess I forgot....Why an eggless cake? Because the lady whose birthday it is, is allergic to eggs and I don't realy like killing people. Its bad for business and friendship....VERY,VERY BAD!)

So In my quest to find the perfect and elusive eggless cake that tastes good I happened upon a few pages of recipes at http://www.allrecipes.com/.  I came across a recipe called Plain Eggless Cake. It had 91 reviews and a 4/12 of out 5 star rating. So I read through the reviews and since most of them sounded quite positive, I thought, what the hell lets try it.

So I printed off the recipe and read the ingregient list and thought orange juice? in a cake? Hmmmmm. Okay I'll roll with it. Here's the recipe....

Plain Eggless Cake

2 1/2 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 cup orange juice

1 cup melted butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees C. Grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan

2. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda together and then make a well in the center. Add condensed milk, orange juice, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix until batter is smooth. Pour into the cake pan and put in oven for 30 to 40 minutes.

In all the while that I have been making cakes I have had yet to find a scratch cake that could measure up to the box cakes in the store. The scratch ones were always either to heavy, to crumbly, to gross tasting, to labour intensive and tricky, to this, to that, etc, etc. But I can't believe how easy this was to make.

The trick in this batter, and it's such an easy trick that we learned when we made volcanoes explode, is that the acid from the orange juice mixed with the baking soda creates a chemical reaction that makes bubbles form in the batter. This is why it is so fluffy and light. OMG, How incredibly simple is that! It just astounds me!

Look at all those holes!!!!!



My next experiment is to take out say 1/3 cup of flour and replace it with cocoa powder to make a chocolate cake, but that will be for another time.

EDIT: I have made this cake a billion times now, and I have made a few changes to the recipe.  I have cut the melted butter down to 1/2 cup and increased the orange juice to 1 1/2 cups in order to have the 2 cups of liquid.  I have also substituted oil for butter successfully.

A Costuming Addicts Rant!

I am in complete and utter dismay at the fact that there is no costuming events to go to here in Fort McMurray. As a girl who loves costuming and wearing costumes, I feel that there should be. I wonder if anyone else feels the same way I do? I wonder in my mad and crazy world if I could actually pull it off and plan something. A huge Mardi Gras masked ball or Jane Austin Tea or SteamPunk soiree, not the trashy costume balls like they have at halloween in the bars with two strips of fabric barely covering a woman's boobs and butt! The return of glamour and yards and yards of lace and silk.....Marie Antoinette style! Then I could justify my obsession with making costumes.

My husband challenged me one day after watching the movie The Secret of Moonacre, to make one of the frocks the main actress wears and to wear it downtown into the stores and such. Part of me screams YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS, I"LL DO IT!!! The other part is what's the point nobody would appreciate the skill and time involved in making of it!

Here are a few pictures of some of the costumes.....Enjoy!

Photos from www.costumersguide.com/moonacre1.shtml