Necessary Chocolate

Becca's dress

In case you're wondering where I've been, I've been sewing.

Tomorrow, my family will be blessed to have another little girl sealed to us. When I say us, I mean my cousins. But when you're an only child, extended family takes on a whole new meaning.

My cousin Jen and her husband recently adopted a little girl, and tomorrow there will be a special temple ceremony where she'll become part of the family forever. The occasion demands a little white dress, and I was lucky enough to make it. (Jen was also kind enough to let me make her brother's outfit a few years ago when it was his turn.)

I swear that I ironed the dress before photographing it. Really.

Welcome to the family, Becca!

The skirt is so sheer that it needed a slip. It would have been much fancier than this, but my class got a little too demanding last week. Instead, I sewed a skirt to an undershirt and called it good.

This was one project where I didn't try for perfection. I just tried for love. That machine-sewn madeira hem isn't great, but it's pretty enough. In daylight, there are about four different whites between all of the fabrics. Let's not mention the part of the bodice lining that was slashed when trimming a seam, and just give thanks for fraycheck...  I'm not trying to point out the flaws. I'm just happy that I was able to let go and enjoy making it, even if it wasn't going to be perfect.

Because Becca will outshine any dress.

 

Details: The pattern is the bodice dress from Collars Etc., chosen because I love the little sleeves - not too puffed, just sweet; sheer swiss batiste from bessiemary; hemstitched/striped batiste from my stash; and Kaufman's silk radiance cotton/silk blend from fabric.com for the sash and binding.

The kind women from the delphi heirloom sewing forum helped immensely on this project. One sent me a scan of an embroidery pattern that inspired the scallops and roses; another posted a tutorial on madeira hems that held my hand every step.

 

Pi Day - the aftermath - and the cranberry-apple cake report

Make that key lime, buttermilk chess, cranberry-apple, and pecan-apple-caramel cheesecake (not shown). Plus leftover apple pie pops. Sheesh. Some of us still complained that there was no chocolate (mostly because we had been lobbying our boss to stop by the local pie place and pick up a chocolate pie). And thus a new office tradition is established.

The cranberry-apple cake from How Easy is That? was really good. (You can find the recipe at the publisher's website.) My cousin Marilyn chose it for the most recent assignment for the family cook-a-long. Some tried it with just apples, with lackluster results. My parents tried it with cherries and apples; again, not so good. The tart oomph of the cranberries seems to be the perfect flavor to balance out the orange-flavored crust.

To be completely truthful, I don't care for fruit. So I didn't dig right into this cake/pie/cobbler. But I did sample the orangey topping with some of the cranberry juice (that's my normal habit with crisps and cobblers). Anyway, it was fabulous. One of my coworkers suggested that this cake would be the perfect Christmas morning breakfast treat.

Note that it may be difficult to find fresh cranberries this time of the year. I couldn't. Luckily, my grocery store had frozen cranberries. Based on Marilyn's experience, I thawed them completely before making the cake.

Pi Day!

Today is Pi Day! For those of you not in the know - it's 3-14, or 3.14. Get it? Pi Day?

I didn't know that, either, until Gretchen told me. A day set aside for pi/pies. Will I ignore a holiday? Umm, no. At 3:14 this afternoon, we will enjoy a pie potluck up in the conference room. This morning, for class, I joined the many who have tried pie pops.

I used Pillsbury pie dough for a nice predictable outcome (not to mention the fact that I made scratch dough for the office pie, and even I know when to say when). I did make a scratch apple filling but only because I didn't have pie filling in the pantry. They baked at 450 for about 12 minutes.

Now I'm dreaming of buttermilk chess pie and easy cranberry-apple pie (well, it's cake but it's in a pie pan so it counts) for lunch... Hope that your day is as happy!