Cupcakes make everyone feel better

After my last pity-party post I got my stuff together. Much like when, earlier this year, I decided that I was spending waaayyy too much time playing stupid facebook games and quit all but 1 (desktop defender- love that game) cold turkey. Granted I can't just get a job like that, but I can bake.

I spent all day on Wednesday getting the house cleaned so that I could spend all day Thursday baking. I need to bake a batch of sourdough bread, a double-batch of coconut macaroons for a potluck at Mr. TEKs office, and a batch of cupcakes for my Mom's birthday.

The bread and cookies were kinda boring, and it was too cloudy for good photography in my house on Thursday. But Friday, it was sunny and beautiful as I grabbed a paring knife, a bowl of cherry filling, and whipped cream.


The recipe for the Black Forest Cupcakes is HERE. I love love love love love this recipe. The chocolate cupcakes are yummy, the cherry filling is sturdy, and everyone loves fresh whipped cream, right? But how does one get that sturdy, yummy, cherry filling into the middle of a cupcake when it has full cherries in it? Glad you asked, because I took photos of each step.

Step 1. Grab a cupcake, preferably cooled.


Step 2. Cut a circle with the knife at an angle towards the center in the top of the cupcake.


Step 3. Carefully remove the part you cut, lop off the point of the pyramidish shape, then use the point of the knife to hallow out more space in the middle of the cupcake. I used a large plate to keep the crumbs from going everywhere.


Step 4. Plop in a good amount of filling


Step 5. Place the cut-out lid back on the top of the cupcake.


Step 6. Frost, garnish, and eat!


Next time I'd better iron my backdrop--- here's the photography set up today.

I left the table away from the window because it was around 10:00 a.m. and the window is one the east side of the house, so plenty of strong sun streaming in. Duke enjoyed that part!

Feeling Low

This isn't an easy post to write. I've been avoiding it for a week now, but I need to let the past be the past, and hopefully my creative spirit will return.

Last week I was laid off from my job. This is the second layoff I've had, and it just had to come at the part of the year when companies pull back on the hiring because of the upcoming holidays. Since this has happened, I've been feeling 0 creativity. I have the time, I have the energy, I do not have the interest.  I have a baby sweater that I need to knit in the next 6 weeks or so, and I am so excited about it, because it is going to be freaking adorable. I just can't bring myself to get it out of the bag and cast on.

I can feel myself coming back slowly. Yesterday I baked an apple pie. Instead of the typical slashes to vent the top crust, I got out a cookie cutter that my Grandma and Papa bought me from King Arthur Flour. I was going to buy it for myself, but they beat me too it. That's just how Papa was.Fortunately, I took pictures.



It took the better part of a week for me to stop thinking about my former workplace, and I'm sure it will take a little longer for me to get back to where I was. I will say I hated working where I was, and I am going to use this as an opportunity to put myself in a much better position. Financially, we don't have a lot of expenses so living on unemployment for a month or two shouldn't be too bad.

I am hoping that this abundance of free time will set me up with significant blog fodder. I'm always looking on the bright side.

Happy Halloween!

Today’s a great day to debut my most recent finished object: an un-named Toy Box Monster!

Knit from Rebecca Danger’s Big Book of Monsters, it is too cute! It’s not quite finished; Mr. TEK thinks he needs a tongue, and I need to get some red felt for it. This little guy is destined for a new baby, due in March 2012. I modified the pattern quite a bit, and I’m so happy with how it knit up. I used Classic Elite Liberty Wool in Rainforest (#7893). It took 2.5 skeins. I really liked working with the yarn, though it could be kinda splitty.

My changes:

• Cast on and initial increases. I tried 3 or 4 times to get the cast on and the increases started on the bottom of the monster. It did not go well at all. It just looked messy. Instead I used a toe-up sock technique, knit up a square, then picked up stitches around the 3 edges without live stitches. From there I was able to increase to have the right number of stitches. 
• Lengthened the body. I thought the ball shape would be too small, so I made it more of a pill shape. 
• Pick-up stitches for arms and legs. I hate hate hate hate hate seaming, so instead of knitting the arms and legs and sewing them on, I decided to just pick-up stitches and knit the limbs directly to the body. For me, and my lack of finishing skills, it looks cleaner and has a smoother transition. 

The specs:
Pattern: Toy Box Monster from Rebecca Danger’s Big Book of Monsters
Yarn: Classic Elite Liberty Wool- Rainforest #7893
Needles: US5
Ravelry Link

The Monster Without a Name

The knitting is done. Forgive the crappy cell phone pic. Better photos are coming!



Why, yes, this was taken in my car.

Sometimes I hate how busy I am

I took a photo yesterday for wordless wednesday. Then I didn't have time to actually post it. Hopefully I can post it tonight... better late than never, right?

It’s FALL!

I love and dread the fall. The colors and temperature is wonderful. The hint of winter in the air as fall fades just sucks. I hate driving in snow so much that it makes me hate and dread the winter. There are parts of winter weather that I love… thick socks, mittens, hats, scarves, slippers… watching it snow when I don’t have anywhere to go… hot tea, hot cocoa, baking bread and cakes and the warmth from the oven keeping me warm. I could go on, but I won’t. I’ll just say that I wish early fall could last forever. Just as I was congratulating myself for keeping up on the blog, I completely fell off the wagon. But that’s okay, I’m okay. So let’s start with my vacation week!

CAMPING! We started a week of vacation with camping on Lake Michigan. It was only two nights, so we figured it would be fun and not too much work. It was really nice. We brought books and a Frisbee (which I promptly and accidentally threw in the lake) and had to go buy some camp chairs from Meijer. We watched the sunset over the lake and sat on the beach the next day. We explored, and I knit a little. The last night it rained… and rained… and rained… we ended up taking the tent down in the rain. Thankfully the tent was well designed and was easy to take down.


CONCERT! Almost as soon as we got home on Monday (we had time for a nap and dinner) we left to drive to the Palace of Auburn Hills for the Foo Fighters! They always put on an awesome show, and this time was no exception. We were rocked for 3 hours! I even managed to get a decent shot with my camera phone. I ran it through lightbox, a free android app, for the post processing. e

CYCLING! Good and bad, we did a lot of cycling over our vacation, but Thursday I fell off my bike. I still have the scrapes, but they don’t hurt all the time anymore. We were at our local state park, and we were going fast, about 15 mph. I was coming around a curve and one of my tires must have fallen off the path, which put me off balance and I fell. Luckily, I was wearing long sleeves and pants. My shirt ripped, but my pants didn’t. I had some scrapes/road rash on my left elbow and knee, a huge bruise on my right calf, and a smaller bruise on my right ankle. I think my bike was scraped a little, but I think it was mostly on one of the pedals. Mr. TEK came back and checked it over, so I didn’t see it. The worst part was the simple muscle soreness in the days after. So not only did I fall off my bike, the following Saturday, just 3 days later, we rode in the Tour d’Troit bike ride. We totaled 26 miles for the outing- the ride was 22 miles through some nice and not-so-nice parts of Detroit, plus we did an optional 2 miles on Belle Isle and there were another 2 miles to and from the parking lot. I didn’t take my camera, as I was still sore and uncomfortable. The worst part was that every time I hit a bump it jarred my injured elbow. It was still fun though!

The other major thing we did over the week was complete Mr. TEK’s bookcases. He started building a set of three bookcases for our house last year, but had to stop working on them last summer because of his illness. We did the stain and the polyurethane, and on Sunday got the cases moved into the house and our books out of the storage tubs we had to put them in. We have two in the bedroom and one in the computer room. They look FANTASTIC!

Next time: banana bread, books, and a knitting wip

And don't forget Duke. He is not amused by my photography.

It’s almost time for vacation

Next week Mr. TEK and I have a vacation week! Over the weekend we will be doing some camping, then we’ll have the rest of the week to relax and recharge. I need this. I need this so bad I can taste it.

Today, Wednesday, September 14 is the one year anniversary of my Papa’s death. It is going to be a very difficult day for me and my family. My Papa was an amazing man; he was a major influence on how I live my life now, as an adult. Sometime around 2000 he was diagnosed with Lung Cancer. He had half of one lung removed and radiation therapy to put him into remission. We were lucky in that the cancer never returned, but we were left with a host of other issues. In addition to the cancer, he had emphysema and COPD and finally he was unable to breathe enough to sustain his body. Yes, it’s sad, but I’d rather think about the good things. Like sitting on his back porch watching a storm roll in. Gardening and learning how to maintain a yard. I remember reading his books about birds, and watching the Red Wings on TV. There were fishing trips, swapping recipes, and knowing that if I ever had a question about anything he would probably know the answer. My grandpa is very much a missed part of my life. Thanks to him I live my life without regret.

What does it mean to live without regret? It means making the best decision that you can with the information that you have and knowing that no matter what happens you did your best. It means taking the time to visit with those most important to you. It means having integrity in your relationships, especially your relationship with yourself. It means holding yourself and other to a realistically high standard. Living without regret is not easy. There are days when anxiety would take the very heart of me and I have to embrace it, plan through it, and work harder. I have to remind myself that being happy is not easy; it’s a garden that must be tended. Right now, my garden needs to be weeded and the sad flowers need cut back, and that is how I plan to spend my week off.