Crocheting a Chameleon for a guy at work

There is a guy kid at work who has a colorful chameleon on his desktop at work.  When I came across a picture of a crocheted one online I decided I just had to make one for him for his desk.  I found some clearance Red Heart stripes yarn on clearance at Walmart for $1 a skein and then went home to get the pattern and it wouldn't let me pay or purchase it.  I emailed the seller twice, no response, so kind of gave up on the whole idea.  months went by and I decided to check one more time and it worked!  Yay!  I had been staring at the yarn and feeling bummed out because it's not something I would normally use for a project.  Anyway I started it last week, bumped it ahead of my other multiple projects and got it made for him.  The pattern is called Pascal the Chameleon and I believe it was on Ravelry if you are interested. 

Old fashioned Goulash

I have been thinking about comfort foods from the growing up years and decided to make some goulash today.  It actually takes a little time to make, more than when I get home from work and have maybe 30 minutes to make something for supper, so since this is my day off I decided it would be perfect.  Plus it's been a rainy day and that's also a plus for cooking.

Here's how I put it together:

Old Fashioned Goulash:

1 pound hamburger
1 smaller onion
1 large garlic clove minced
1-1/2 cups water
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes
1-1/2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 Tablespoon dried Italian herb seasoning
1 large Bay leaf
1/2 Tablespoon seasoned salt
1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni

1.  Cook and stir the hamburger in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat (no salt added), breaking it up as it cooks until the meat is no longer pink and browned.  drain off extra fat.  Stir in the finely chopped onion and the garlic.  Cook and stir the mixture until the onions are translucent.
2.  Add water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, soy sauce, Italian seasoning, bay leaf and seasoned salt into the hamburger mixture and bring to a boil.  reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3.  Stir in macaroni and simmer over low heat until the pasta is tender, about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat, discard bay leaf and serve. double  if making for a larger crowd.

Another banner for outside my work cube-Summer Sailboat

I started this banner last year and decided I was sick of it laying around unfinished, so finally got it layered and quilted.  I did get the binding on it, but took it to work and finished hand sewing it down and then hung it up right away, so never did get a completely finished picture yet.  Anyway, I am going to post this one until I get one of the binding sewn down!  It's called Summer Sailing.  Looks nice and summery outside my cube.

Lillian's Lemon and Blueberry cake

My Director at work has a daughter named Lillian who loves to bake.  She, in fact, made a whole beautiful display of baked goods, cakes, bars, etc on pedestals for her own graduation party that looked like a caterer did it.  One of the cakes she made was this Lemon and Blueberry cake.  All of the cakes looked delicious, but she made it again recently and her mom shared the recipe for everyone.  I, of course, had to give it a try today.  This would be such a wonderful special occasion cake for anyone!  It's like a light sponge cake with the perfect lemon flavor, not overpowering, yet it's there and then throw in the blueberries with the light cream cheese frosting between the 3 layers and covering it and you have an absolutely gorgeous, delicious dessert.  I had to document it on here so I don't lose the recipe.  The creator was Sally's Baking Addiction.

Ingredients:

Cake

• 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 and 1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature1
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups (345g) sifted all-purpose flour, (spoon & leveled)2
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk3
• zest + juice of 3 medium lemons4
• 1 and 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh (258g) or frozen (do not thaw-- 275g)
  
• 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 ounces (224g) full-fat brick style cream cheese, softened to room temperature5
• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) confectioners' sugar
• 1 - 2 Tablespoons (15-30ml) heavy cream6
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease and lightly flour three 9x2 inch cake pans with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. Make the cake: Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high until creamy - about 1 minute. Add granulated and brown sugars and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until everything is completely combined, about 2 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Set aside.
3. In a large sized bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat on low speed for 5 seconds, then add the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Remove from the mixer and stir lightly until everything is just combined. Toss the blueberries in 1 Tablespoon of flour and fold into the batter. Batter is extremely thick. Do not overmix at any point. Overmixing will lend a tough, dense textured crumb.
4. Spoon batter evenly into 3 prepared cake pans. If only using 2 cake pans, your bake time will be longer. Bake the three layers for about 21-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine took 21 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
5. Make the frosting: Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until no lumps remain, about 3 full minutes. Add confectioners' sugar, 1 Tablespoon cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add 1 more Tablespoon of cream to thin out, if desired.
6. Assemble and frost: First, using a large serrated knife, trim the tops off the cake layers to create a flat surface. Place 1 layer on your cake stand. Evenly cover the top with cream cheese frosting. Top with 2nd layer, more frosting, then the third layer. Top with frosting and spread around the sides. The recipe doesn't make a ton of frosting, just enough for a light frost. Top with blueberries or lemon garnish if desired. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before cutting or else the cake may fall apart as you cut.
7. Make ahead tip: Prepare cakes and frosting 1 day in advance. Keep cakes at room temperature, covered tightly. Refrigerate prepared frosting in an airtight container until ready to use. Frosted or unfrosted cakes may be frozen up to 2 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature if desired before serving.

Recipe Notes:

This batter will fit into a 9×13 pan. Fill 2/3 full. If there’s extra batter, you can make a few cupcakes. I’m unsure of the baking time since I only typically make it as a layer cake.

1. Room temperature eggs preferred for even distribution among batter. Simply set into a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes before using or set out when you set out your cream cheese/butter for the recipe.
2. Be very careful not to overmeasure your flour. This will result in a heavy, dense crumb. You want a precise 345g all-purpose flour. For a lighter crumb, you can use 3 + 1/4 cups (about 325g) sifted cake flour instead.
3. Please use buttermilk in this recipe. See note in post about how to make a DIY version at home.
4. 1 medium-size lemon = approximately 1 tablespoon of lemon zest = 2 to 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
5. Use brick-style cream cheese. Not cream cheese spread.
6. Heavy cream with 30% or more milk fat preferred in frosting for creamiest texture. For a less creamy texture, milk would be fine.

Fluffy Pillow Shams for Shellie's Bed

After I made my daughter, Shellie, the quilt for Christmas (previous post), she asked me to make her pillow shams, which I quickly said no to.  LOL.  Wasn't ready to take on another project quite yet and had a lot of other projects in the works.  Well, she looked online and in the stores and couldn't find what she wanted exactly, plus they were expensive, so I finally caved and made her them.  She found some yarn to use, but it isn't her first choice for color..they just didn't have the chenille bulky kind in a color she wanted to match her quilt.  First she wanted the blue in it, nothing close, then green, nothing close, and she didn't want brown because she thought it was just too much brown, so she ended up with red.  She also has some smaller throw pillows with more muted colors, so hopefully it will be nice with those and she will be happy with it all together.  It took me a while to design the size and what I was going to do for it to work out, but I think they fit well on her king pillows.  Hope you enjoy them Shellie!  Happy Birthday!

Chocolate Chip Date Cake

I know this may surprise some of you, but I was on Facebook this morning!  LOL.  I saw a posting that I decided I had to try today.  I happened to have dates in my cupboard (love date bars and so does my son so I keep them on hand).  The sister of my director from work, Susan Lightner, posted it per a request from someone, so I threw it together..didn't take long at all..and it's definitely a keeper.  One of those more old style cakes from a church cookbook that never fails.  It's much lighter than I expected and  yet moist and tasty.  It smells like heaven when you are baking it besides.  You don't even need to spend time making frosting as it's already built in, so less dishes and time before you can dive in..I added a dollop of cool whip, but real whipped cream would really take it over the top.  Here is exactly how she posted it.  I wanted to use her photo because it suits this cake so well!

and here is a picture of my finished cake!  I only added 1/4 cup of sugar on top and it was plenty to me..probably could even eliminate it if you wanted. *also Spry is shortening-there used to be a brand named that.  I used half butter and half shortening.