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January 27, 2016

…the most difficult thing I’ve ever done…

…in my whole entire life was 22 years ago.0zachI was blessed my folks let us stay with them for a week so my mom could help me care for him 0zach1(while she was helping my dad grade papers, evidently Smile)It was such a relief to not have to worry about fixing breakfast, dinner & lunches for my husband & dog. All I had to concern myself with was staring at & feeding my sweet boy.0zachman(Oh, that & fretting about my poor tailbone that the OB said was not brokenHA!) 0zach2

Love you, Zachman!

January 21, 2016

German Chocolate Breakfast Scrolls

EJ-GCscrollsI love idiosyncracies of the English language across the various countries that use it. Several years back I sent in cinnamon rolls with the hubs to a men’s prayer group. An Aussie gentleman could not stop proclaiming how delicious the “cinnamon scrolls” were… So now at our house, whenever I serve bread that has been seasoned, rolled up, sliced & baked – they are designated “scrolls.”
My grandmother’s favorite cake was German Chocolate. I believe that is the only cake she requested a repeat from me. Anyhow, I decided that would be my inspiration for this month’s Improv Challenge: Pastry/Bread Dough & Chocolate 
Having determined my flavor profile, I needed a vehicle to implement it. I went with bread dough, because Grandma was a prolific baker.EJ-GermChocSCROLLS (1)The difficulty with utilizing chocolate in yeasted dough is that it is prone to inhibit the rising process. In order to try to circumvent that I was inspired to use a recipe I’d tried years ago which has pudding as a base for the dough. EJ-GermChocSCROLLS (2)It worked! I had no issues with rise…EJ-GermChocSCROLL4And the filled scrolls rose well, too…EJ-GermChocSCROLLS (7)I sampled the fresh-baked rolls – so good! EJ-GermChocSCROLLS (8)
Alas, the fellas in this house proclaimed the tops were too plain, please add a glaze, or something…EJ-GermChocSCROLLS (10)
What a dilemna! I thought the scrolls too pretty to cover. But in the end I made a dark chocolate glaze, which turned out too difficult to drizzle so I had to spread it over the warm rolls.EJ-GermanChocolateScrolls
And here are more Pastry/Bread Dough & Chocolate recipes from my friends:

Poor lil’ neglected blog…

20160109_145717Life has swooshed by in such a blur, lately. I don’t find as much time to sit at my PC composing posts – but I am still making stuff. Right now I’m working on 3 major quilt UFOs in between “urgent” little projects such as this latest completed work:DSCN3555My sis got married a couple weeks ago. I made her “brooch bouquet” and the groom’s “broochonniere20160109_162954But this is not your average brooch bouquet, because Beth was not your average bride… Her baubles came from various stops along her life journey:DSCN3544a flag from Russia, a Georgian cross from her time spent in the vicinity of the Caucasus20160111_100038a locket from our grandmother (complete with pictures inside), rhinestone earrings from our other grandma…
The pieces were unified by affixing them to kanzashi flowers. But first I had to twist miles & miles of jewelry & florist wire. (I borrowed the hubs’ drill to save my fatigued hands!)20151230_113351You might notice an elk pin which was pilfered from belonged to the groom. The blue lights that were tucked amongst the blooms (& illuminated when the bride first walked up the aisle) were also in honor of his favorite color. DSCN3557
There are many more stories, but that is for another time… Winking smile
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