So cool

I love flickr! It lets people from around the world search your photos and sometimes you get a cool email like someone wants to use your photo on their website. Today I got my first crafty related use request: a sewing website sponsored by Bernina, asked if they could use a link to my rainbow color wheel quilt as one of their weekly "Favorite Photo Gallery" bit. SO excited, cool and honored!

St. Patrick's Day Cooking

Successful foray into Irish cooking: corned beef with cabbage, carrots and potatoes - YUM and really easy. Irish soda bread - check and also easy (go Bob's Red Mill mix). And la piece de la resistance: chocolate Guinness cupcakes with Bailey-whipped cream frosting. These were very fun to make and given they were a bit of a conglomeration, I want to preserve the recipe for posterity (and there was some Guinness and Bailey's consumed during the process, so it may be a bit fuzzy!):

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes (from Good Morning America's Website):

Ingredients:
1 cup stout (Guinness)
16 tbsp. unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
11/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine the stout and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the eggs and sour cream to blend. Add the stout-butter mixture and beat just to combine. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed just until incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Bailey Whipped Cream Frosting (adapted from Mother's Cream Pie Cream Recipe - seriously the best part!):

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
1 to 2 tablespoons of Bailey's Irish Cream
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Directions:
In a large bowl/mixer with a whisk attachment, mix the cream and Bailey's until frothy. Sprinkle in the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread on cooled cupcakes or use in icing bags with decorator tips.

super craft excitedness!!

My favorite fabric designer, Sandy Gervais, has put up a free and super cute pattern at the Moda Bake Shop, and since Chrissie and I are headed to a quilt expo this weekend it will be the perfect opportunity to pick up her latest line to make the cute little stuffed owl!!!

Rainbow Cake the reveal!

Rainbow Cake!
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

Rainbow Cake!

Rainbow Cake!
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

Well, I finally broke down and made the rainbow cake. I love it and how it turned out - only next time I might need to buy some more cake pans so I can do more than 2 layers at the time - and maybe make the layers a bit smaller. The Mother's Restaurant recipe for whipped cream icing (usual topping for coconut cream pies) worked like a charm. And go Moist Deluxe cake mix - worked like a charm with the WIlton icing color set. Next up - the big reveal photo!

valentine's day

well, what started out as a potential bust (everybody sick and the best laid plans of kevin and josh torn asunder) ended up as a blast. Roller skating, breakfast at Mothers, trip to Fabric Depot (not Boersma's, but there was a sale), Teazone and the zoo. Alas, no real polar bears but another new stuffed polar bear joined the growing gang in the spare bedroom. Thank you for a wonderful valentine's day, sweetie - yet again, you outdid yourself!!

headed out

What a lovely saturday - cleaned a little, crafted a lot and now we're heading out to do some bollywood dancing. I'm seriously hoping we're not the oldest ones there - but after a few drinks it may not matter that much and the music should be good. And bonus - I'm remembering to wear the pedometer and might actually get 10K steps in one day!!!

I love weekends.

Xmas Melo

Xmas Melo
Originally uploaded by kckellner.

merry christmas everyone!