If life gives you lemons...

Hi, Y'all!

Time flies, I can tell you… The youngest addition to our Munich friends' family already turned 1 last Friday, and also at our end time doesn't stand still. And because of this, we tried to take things slowly at the past weekend. Friday was very busy due to my grocery shopping. Well, you might ask where the problem is? Well, I adapted our menu in a way, that I only have to do grocery shopping every three weeks, and you could imagine that the sheer amount of products calls for some elbow grease… I always wonder if the content of my shopping cart fits on the conveyor belt or not. (Bear in mind that in Germany we don't have bagging assistance like in the U.S.) And considering putting all the stuff on the belt, into the cart, then from the cart into the car and finally into my pantry, my smart watch adds up exercise minutes, I can tell you :-) Thus I just cuddled up on the couch with hubby and the dogs on Friday night, just to do some baking on Saturday. I made a lemon cake, a chocolate cake, a sponge and a double batch of burger buns for the upcoming weekends.

Sunday we wanted to BBQ originally, but the weather wasn't that supportive, and so I had to change plans. The sausages were already thawed and had to be used on short notice, and they should have been accompanied by some veggies and potatoes. So I just chopped everything up and heaped it on a pan, sprinkled it with thyme and rosemary from our garden, added some salt and pepper and drizzled some olive oil on top - but only a few drops, not Jamie Oliver-style :-) This is how it looked:

After 30 min. with 200 degrees Celsius everything was done and delicious. Quick to prepare, while in the oven you can relax and afterwards, you don't have a ton to clean - a win-win-win situation so to speak :-) That's how it looks when it's cooked:

I simply spiced up some plain yoghurt which was a perfect addition to the dish. 

Apart from that, my weekend was dedicated to lemons a lot… Our syrup was coming to an end, and I bought another three nets of lemons to stack up. First I peeled the fruit (but only the outer, yellow layer):

I added one part vinegar essence and four parts water, put a lid on the bowl and let it sit for three to four weeks. The lemon peels should be totally covered with liquid to avoid any mold, but that has never happened to me.

After the lemons soaked in the vinegar, I angled for the peels and the result is an awesome all-purpose cleaner. 

You could use it undiluted (like in that bottle here), but usually I fill it into a spray bottle, add a bit of water and a dash of dish washing liquid (about four parts cleaner to one part water). And don't be afraid - the vinegar odor evaporates immediately and leaves you with a very pleasant citrus fragrance. I sometimes even spray it onto our area rug to neutralize any bad scents. 

The left over lemon peels I don't throw out right now, instead I use them as natural potpourri and air freshener (and believe me - with two dogs you have good use for something like this…). 

Afterwards I run the lemons through the press and cook the juice into syrup. Some months ago I described that in detail. Here is yesterday's outcome:

During the cooking process the liquid develops some foam which you don't want in your syrup. Maybe you know that from making your own jam. But it's too good to throw it away, and I usually mix it into some plain yoghurt - soooo yummy! 

And as I found some potting soil in our shed, I even planted some of the lemon seeds. Usually my thumb is more brown than green, but as our potato experiment is developing surprisingly well and Sarah sent me some promising pictures of her little lemon tree, I just gave it a try.

And with this last bit, I put each and every part of my lemons to good use, because even the squeezed remnants went on the compost pile :-)

Just do it - could be good!!!

Collected Works

Hi Y'all,

Blogspot (or Google) will change their surface to make it easier to manage it on mobile devices. I am testing that right now (although on my laptop), and after a bit of a search where I can create a new post, it works somehow. But the font I usually use looks weird now, therefore, I take another.

Well, then let me collect all my treats I produced, but which didn't make it into a post due to not fitting the theme - until now.

My first making is this blueberry yoghurt cake - not overly sweet and perfect for freezing. I like that very much - thus, I can bake in advance, and if I am hit by lazy fever, I only need to thaw… Moreover, me (and my scales) prefer dry or sponge cakes over heavy cream cakes. 

In case you have to impress someone, I would definitely recommend this Nutella star. Simply cut circles from store bought puff pastry (or does anybody really make it at home???), coat it with Nutella and stack it. Then cut it like a cake but not all the way into the center, and then twist each two segments into opposite directions and bake it. This is the pretty result:  

You could do that with salty dough and pesto as well, mighty yummy! 

In principle, I like to combine the pleasant with the useful, or let's say I am not against a dish that is tasty without a ton of calories. Therefore, I try Weight Watchers recipes from time to time, but I have to admit not all things are recommendable, and you have to look very closely. But these guys here will definitely find their way into my repertoire: muffins from oats and apples, only. Add a little vanilla extract (I make mine from vanilla beans and vodka), a pinch of cinnamon and water, and that's it. Dust them with a bit of powdered sugar and enjoy! 

Did I mention my kraut pizza - you know, I'm German - I know all jokes about Krauts... :-) Anyway, I planned a one pot dish with cabbage and minced meat, but hubby detests soups and wanted pizza instead. Well, to avoid a hangry man, I made a pizza crust, left out the tomato sauce and fried the cabbage with the ground beef and sour cream. Topped it off with some grated Emmental cheese, and he dug in!

Of course this is more suitable for fall or winter times, and I am well aware that this is neither a low fat nor a low carb dish… But as always: the dose makes the poison. And for the right balance please welcome Popeye's favorite lasagna variation - vegetarian, relatively low-fat and with lots of spinach. 

We just had it yesterday, due to the fact that it is done rather quickly, easy to make, and all ingredients are very suitable for stockpiling (in case you use frozen spinach and canned tomatoes). Preparation is really simple: just thaw the spinach in a pan and heat it together with the tomatoes. Add a packet of fat-reduced cream cheese and spice it up with nutmeg, onions, garlic and so on). Then stack the lasagna sheets and the filling alternately into the casserole. Minimalists end with a few teaspoons of cream cheese as last layer, but in my opinion a healthy dose of shredded cheese can do no harm! And as the filling is already cooked, it only takes 20 minutes in the oven, and it's finished.

Let's close with something sweet:

A cherry pie! Very simple with a (vegan) sponge base, which I made in advance and put in the freezer some time ago. I had a glass of cherries in my pantry but no red glaze. Instead I used some vanilla pudding powder (in Germany we seldom use the instant Jello pudding powder which only has to be whisked into some liquid; we stick to Dr. Oetker's pudding powder that has to be cooked on the stove). I substituted the necessary milk with the cherry juice, and it turned out really well. I knew that trick from an apple pie recipe, where you replace the milk by cider or white wine - I truly recommend trying that!

In theory I could - when all of the food went the path of everything earthly - now write something about a home made toilet cleaner, but I will save that for a separate post :-)

Enjoy your second half of the week and watch out for the second wave!!!

Nothing is as constant as change

But what, if it doesn't???

Hi, Y'all!

You might have enjoyed the silence last week. And although I was on staycation, I was deeply engaged in something, I wanted to show you only when finished :-)

But let's start at the beginning: You might remember the high-collared blouse I wanted to sew - I told about it in my new years DIY plans. I even had chosen a pattern which I only had to buy and print. And then along came Polly.... aka Corona. And with it the order to work from home. No problem, in case you've got a printer - which I don't. And taking the risk to drive to the office to print it there, was no option at all. Of course I could buy the paper pattern and have it shipped to me, but once I decided to start my project, I didn't want to wait any longer.

Therefore, change of plan: No ready-made pattern but develop one on my own. Luckily there is a video tutorial on how to sew that blouse, where I could have a good look at all the pattern parts. Besides, I decided to do a mock-up version which I usually don't. But this special collar form called for a test. Well, then I dragged an old bed sheet out of my closet, which normally serves as tablecloth for our party buffet table. Unfortunately the fabric bears some nasty stains (red wine, gravy - you name it). But that didn't bother me, as I only wanted it to transfer my pattern onto fabric and to test and try some amendments to the pattern.

Then I grabbed a well-fitting blouse and traced it's pattern onto some leftover gift wrapping paper. I could copy the front and back as well as the sleeves pretty much without change. The cuffs I drew free-handed, and then I constructed the collar with matching lining. Afterwards I cut it out of the sheet and sewed it together - though the cuffs without lining, without interfacing for the collar and without serging the seams. And quelle surprise - it worked out pretty well and needed only minor amendments.

So I could dare to work with the original fabric and - without praising myself too much - I really liked it.  

To proudly present it to my hubby I slipped it on, and much to my dismay I had to realize that it sticks to my body like glue due to electrostatic charge. Bummer! I was really disappointed, because I liked the fabric so much. Of course I knew that this was an artificial fiber (I guess acrylic of some kind), but I had only positive experience with these kind of fabrics so far, and I definitely didn't see that coming.

Which options did I have? 

• I could sew a lining, but then I would lose the flowiness and daintiness of the garment.
• Cotton underwear - been there, done that, didn't work.
• I would never wear a tight fitting top which left me with only one other option: shirring. I could sew a shirred blouse which is more or less fitted, but comfy because of the elastic thread. Yeah, could work, but to be honest: I would only wear it if I magically lost 10 kg. I don't expect that to happen in the near future; thus I took the blouse as it was and put it away in my fabric stash. Maybe I can use it as lining for pant pockets or a pouch :( 

Which left me with my mock-up...

After the first anger was gone, I returned to my mock-up. I cleaned up all seams and made double-faced cuffs - very neat, but alas, the stains were still there. To get rid of them, I soaked the blouse in stain remover for a whole night.

When it was dry, the stains became lighter, but they were still visible and I might have to cut them to fully remove them :-) Sure I could dye the top - there are tutorials galore how to dye fabric with natural colors such as curcuma, beetroot or black tea. But a) I liked the white, b) such projects tend to go wrong and c) I had no guarantee that the stains would be invisible after dyeing. Way too much uncertainties for my liking - I didn't want to risk another change of plan...

So I decided to simply cover them. First idea: decorative stitching as I did on the baby bonnet. Well.... Second idea: appliqués, although not so neat, but with fringed seams like you know it from Alabama Chanin designs. Yessssss, that might work!

First try with normal sewing thread stitched in spirals: 

But then I changed it to concentric circles instead of spirals with mercerised cotton thread:

I really, really like it! At the moment, I only placed the appliquès where I wanted to cover stains, but I might add a few more. On the other hand, there is only a thin line between nicely done and overdone, so I tend to leave it as is.

Summary: I love it when a plan comes together. And when it doesn't, you have to change it, until it does :-)

Have fun making - and realizing - plans!!! 

Second Attempt on Handlettering

Hi, y'all,

The weather is awesome, I am on staycation and waiting for all good things to happen. Today I say hello in few words only but with lots of pictures - isn't it nice? I tried some other handlettering designs: some are on a good way, mostly you can see that I am still an absolute beginner, but all are some kind of funny - at least I hope so. And if someone has trouble with reading or writing - please don't take it personally!!!

(reality is just one unicorn ride apart)

(please hand me that thing next to the gizmo where the dingus is placed…)

Stay safe and healthy!