I have had several emails asking for recipes, so here they are!

Layered Ginger Pan Cake with Espresso Cream

10 gingersnap cookies ( a few more to crumble)

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup whole milk

3 eggs

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups heavy cream

9 oz semi sweet choc. chips

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

1 tsp instant espresso

Mascarpone Cheese

Using the blend grind up about 10 the ginger snaps. Pour into bowl and set aside. Blend 10 more gingersnaps, add flour, milks, eggs, cocoa powder and salt, blend until smooth. Melt 3 TBSP butter, add to blender mixture, blend until combined. 

Heat skillet. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup and poured it in the a nonstick pan coated with very little butter. Spread the batter evenly over the bottom of the pan, when bubbles appear, flip, leave for 30 secs, take out of pan. It makes 9 pancakes this way. 

I layed the pancakes out to cool. 

In small sauce pan heat 3/4 cup heavy cream and the remaining 3 TBSP butter over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, add choc chips. Let sit for about 3 minutes, stir to make sure it’s smooth. Once it’s smooth I let it cool to room temperature and then stick it in the fridge for about 15 min. 

For the Espresso cream, 

Whip 1 1/4 cups heavy cream with powdered sugar. Add espresso. I also add one packet of sweet and low, it helps the cream to stay “stiff”, add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, more if you like it really creamy.  Whip until stiff peaks. 

Take chocolate out of fridge.

To assemble lay down a pancake, smooth on espresso cream, sprinkle with the blended gingersnaps you set aside, repeat until all layers are assembled.  Smooth chocolate over entire cake. I made this the night before, I let it sit in the fridge over night, the day of dinner I let it come to room temperature.

It is DELICIOUS!

I believe I got this recipe from Rachel Rays Magazine.. I think I did, not sure.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Ok here is the crock pot recipe I used, I found this one online. 

It calls for 4 1/2 cups broth, I used 2-2 1/2 and that was PLENTY

Now that I am sitting down to write this post I realize, I forgot to take a picture of the turkey!! Oh no! Bummer. It turned out really good too even though I was cooking it upside down for the first two hours. Seriously I did. I was in the shower getting ready for dinner and it hit me. I raced out of the shower screaming at Jason “I’ve got to flip the turkey!” Let me tell you, it was a sight to see. 

I have a few cuts, I stabbed my thumb with a steak knife and cut my hand open on a metal can. But it was worth it. Dinner turned out wonderful and my parents really had a great time. Everyone was so stuffed we more like rolled out of our chairs hahaha. 

The night before.

The Night before

Centerpeice

Dinner time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

mmmmm Raspberries and Champaign!

Desserts!

My Favorite, ginger pancakes with mascarpone cheese and espresso filling with chocolate frosting mmmmmmmmmm!

Yep, that huge slice was ALLLLLL mine! 

We had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed cooking dinner, it was the first year I did everything from scratch. I also tried a new recipe “crock pot stuffing” it was delicious! 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. 

xoxo

I still not feeling 100% but I think I will live. Yesterday I did all my running. I got the grocery shopping done, returned a pair of pants, and stopped by the craft store. 

Today I have to finish decorating the house, I have christmas decorations everywhere. I have to finish stamping the cloth napkins, tidy up my studio, bake a cake, a pie, make a pan cake cake, clear off the table, set it up, dig out my candle holders, finish the laundry, bathe the dogs, vacuum.. well you get the picture. 

Oh my… this picture looks a little frightening…

Yeah, a little frightening. 

I already have a bunt cake in the oven… I can’t believe I am baking a cake and can’t eat it until tomorrow.. How wrong is that!

And then to finish stamping my napkins….

I was hoping that if I got everything done in time I could go see Twilight. I have been waiting for this movie to come out since, well they announced it. I don’t think I will make it. I might try to go on Sunday. It is worth the wait I am sure. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday. I am off to do some more baking…. hmm I wonder if I could just take a bite and fill in the hole with frosting! heheh

xoxo

Tuesday evening I started feeling a bit under the weather. I am sure it is just the time of year. I took yesterday and relaxed all day. Whew, it has been a very long while since I have done that. Ok maybe I didn’t take all day. I did come into my studio yesterday evening a put a bag together, but only after I had rested almost all day, I swear! 

While I was resting on the couch I started working on this cross stitch that I just received in the mail. I love victorian things. Absolutely LOVE them, and I haven’t cross stitched in hmm a very long time. When I saw this I knew I just had to get it. 

Here is what it will look like when I am finished

I just love the little kitties and the candles burning in the windows and the wrought iron fence and the light pole too, ok I just love it. 

Here is what mine looks like so far…

I know.. I have a long ways to go. Those are the center windows that are almost done. After a while I started going cross eyed! hahah. I was so tired and had been staring at the canvas all day. I decided to stretch my legs and sneak into my studio. I was under careful watch by Jason and he had Kyla on patrol….

She told on me!

I just wanted to try out this new pattern..

I am not liking it. It needs some major adjustments. It wouldn’t be fun if it was thaaaat easy right?

I have been planning Thanksgiving dinner for this Saturday. We are having dinner early with my Mom because Jason and I are traveling over the mountain to have dinner with my Grandmother. It will be just the 3 of us. She is a kick, she still walks to work every day, she loves scrabble and hates me helping in the kitchen. She thinks I mess up her good cooking, I think she just doesn’t want me to show her up hahaha. 

I have decided to have dinner at our house, since my Mom has always prepared dinner. This time I am doing the whole thing, a nice treat for her. I am very excited. I am a list girl, so needless to say there are post its EVERYWHERE! hehehe. 

I already have the turkey thawing, but today I get the rest of the goodies. I am off to make my list. Right after I finish blog visiting

Have a wonderful day~ *hugs*

I had so much fun this weekend with Alicia’s book stitched in time, the weekend just flew by. Last night I received a very special custom order request and I thought now is as good a time as any to start soldering again. I was a little worried, but it is just like riding a bike. I finished the order and make a little something extra. I don’t know what it is about them, but I just can’t help but love skeleton keys. 

A special custom order

I used Ribbon instead of chain, just to give it a little something extra. 

I hope you are all having a wonderful Monday. 

I would like to thank each one of you for your wonderful comments. I have enjoyed reading each and every one. It has been nice meeting new people. I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you!

Drummer Roll please…..

The winner of the tea cup topiary

is…. Lisa! From spoonfullofsugargirls. Congratulations!

I finished a few items last night. Here is a custom bag that I have been working on and finally finished it last night. 

I also finished a project from Stitched in Time

It’s for my niece, I think she will like it for christmas.

Happy Saturday. 

I decided to go ahead a decorate my big christmas tree. Once I get in the mood for Christmas there is no stopping me. Usually I am very methodical about my tree, taking care with every items placement. This year I couldn’t handle that, I just did what I wanted. I put things on there that I loved and that were just… me. I love my tree this year, Jason says it’s our best tree ever. I would have to agree with him. It’s not “stuffy” and perfect which is what I love about it. 

This year I have added birds, clocks, thread spools, pictures, pocket watches, and fabric to name a few. Here are some pictures. I am sure I will add more too it as it gets closer to the Holiday. 

I also made this little felt spool tree and added in there as well.

You can see more photos of my tree here

Christmas came early for me.. look what I got in the mail yesterday!!

Alicia Paulson’s book from Posie Gets Cozy

I was sooo excited to get this in the mail. I couldn’t wait, I had to start on a project right away. I am making some banners for my nieces for christmas. 

I am making the banner with their names on it. 

I was so excited to get started I picked up my supplies on my way home last night. I cut everything out including the letters out of wax paper. I went to iron them on and realized that wax paper was not the same thing as freezer paper. Oooops. Oh well, I am heading down to the store for freezer paper right now! 

Have a great Friday!

At least it is in my living room

Last night I stopped by my Moms to see how her christmas tree decorating was going. It looked gorgeous as usual. She is so creative with using things in creative ways. While I was there she gave me quit a few decorations that she said she wouldn’t be using and would like me to have. One was a tub full of decorations, we didn’t even know what was in there. So of course when I got home I dug right in. I hadn’t planned on decorating until this coming weekend, but what I found in the box I just couldn’t ignore. 

Look at all these wonderful garland pieces and pearls… 

Here is the little tree I decorated. The base I also received from my Mom. I put some styrofoam in the bottom and stuck one of my miniature trees in there, then went to decorating it….

I love the little pearl ornaments. I found 3 in one of the boxes I received. I am going to try and make some for my big tree. We’ll see how that turns out. I also think I a going to make some little birds to hang on my tree as well. I will be posting the bird pattern and the shoe pattern very soon. I just need to figure out how in the heck to get it into pdf format hahaha. 

Don’t forget… any comment left this week enters you into the Giveaway

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

I wanted to do a little something special this month and since I have been into making topiaries lately I thought why not make another one… only this time it’s for you. 

I put together a little package for a giveaway to thank everyone for visiting my blog. I have enjoyed each and every comment and look forward to getting to know all of you. 

For this giveaway I put together a teacup topiary, a measuring tape, a gift card set a and a little dress form banner with glitter.

To be a part of the giveaway leave a comment on this post or any post this week. I will draw the winner on Saturday the 15th. 

Here is the giveaway:

Have a wonderful Monday!

I have mentioned that I have been feeling out sorts lately and yesterday wasn’t any different. I had every intention of cleaning my studio and getting back to work on some handbags…. but neither of those happened. The cleaning….. well I went the complete opposite direction. 

I decided to make a few things for around the studio. I made this little applique picture. 

I have been working on some patterns for a while. I have a whole drawer full of half drawn ideas. I pulled this one out and I actually made something haha. I need to make some adjustments to the tail though, it is a bit hard to turn when you only have 1/2 and inch. 

Then I decided to make a miniature victorian boot stocking christmas ornament. This pattern was a lot easier. I am going to put both of these up on here so you can make them too!

I have supplies to make several more. Some will have lace at the top, others will have fur. I have trimmings and rhinestones galore. I think they will look adorable on the tree. 

I made something else yesterday that I have not made in hmmm over a year. I have been a vegetarian on and off for a long while now. When I am in my “off” mode I usually only eat chicken and very rarely too. Last night I made stew… beef stew. It was delicious. I am not a vegetarian because I think eating meat is gross, I understand that it is a part of life. I just think in whole we consume way more than we need to. In moderation it is perfectly fine. Annnnyway. Here is what I made.. the sour cream in the center is actually olive oil, sour cream and horseradish to give you a little zing. 

You can find the recipe here… although I only used about 1/16th of the olive oil, half the butter, omitted the orange, cloves and mushrooms but it was still delicious. 

Have a wonderful day!