wigging out (am i really leaving this as the title?)

im working away at the royal -- but found a moment to reference a classic french film -- cleo from 5 -7.
here's my recreation of one of my favorite stills (of which i posted a screen shot on here long ago).


see what is happening at the royal: www.threadandbutter.blogspot.com

heart-felt

big kisses, love, and good fortune to all who check in on me through my little blog and to all whom i love so much.
(these felt fortune cookies were in the february issue of martha's "Living" magazine -- they are so cute and so easy! oh -- and, speaking of martha -- greg worked it out for us to go see a taping of the show -- it was rad! watch it on friday and maybe you will see us in the audience (even though we were hiding from the camera).

by ganache i think i've got it

here's an update from last night's baking disappointment.
i covered the animals in ganache... i'm not sure if it successfully covered up or eliminated the vegetable oil taste, (i haven't tried one yet.) but this definitely gives them more of the kind of look i was hoping for.
okay, so now i know what i need to do next time. and oh, there will be a next time.

cast menagerie

i scored this absolutely beautiful cast-iron cookie mold at a back-woods thrift store -- months ago -- and i have been trying to use it (successfully) ever since.


ugh. this has been a project.
it had some funky spots when i got it. so i scrubbed it. and then i tried to season it, and i made a test batch of cookies and they DID NOT come out of the mold -- i had to scrape them out.
so i reaseasoned it. and reaseasoned it.
and then i reaseasoned it again. (and i wasted a batch or two of cookies in the processes.)


i thought about giving up -- but look at those animals! they are fantastic! a walrus! and look at that pig, and the weird sad bison! those animals had to be worth the effort.
well, this time i've almost got it right...
the cookies came out, but 1 -- they taste like the oil i used to season the mold (vegetable oil -- yuck!) and 2 -- they don't look as good as i wanted them to.


so - there will be a next time, and i will post when that happens. when it does, i think i am going to use a chocolate dough, and i am going to press it more firmly into the mold -- to eliminate the air-bubble effect and to make the relief detail a little more apparent. oh, and i am going to use butter on the mold, instead of the oil.