Lindy Leaf Skirt

I finally used my favorite fabric! Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane fabric in Pink Lindy Leaf. This skirt took me about 4 1/2 hours to make. I am so excited that it turned out like it did! I think it looks great!

I used a tutorial I discovered through one of my favorite blogs, homemade ginger. The tutorial from MADE was excellent. So easy to follow. And I loved the simplicity of this skirt. I didn't take a lot of pictures because I just wanted to get the skirt finished. 

I had to use two large pieces of fabric (mine each measured 32" by 18") because I didn't have enough fabric to wrap around my waste twice. The tutorial is for a little girl skirt but you can adapt it for an adult skirt. It would be way faster to make a child's skirt because you wouldn't have to first sew two pieces of fabric together. I also think next time I will only wrap the fabric 1 1/2 times around because my skirt ended up being very full.

Measuring and making the waistband.

Sorry for the lack of pictures! In this photo I am just finishing the hem on the bottom of the skirt- the last step!

And here it is!!!!!! I think it turned out so dang cute! I am pretty stinkin' proud!!!

I am very thankful for the tutorial from MADE. You should check out her blog, she has some GREAT tutorials!

Garage Sale Finds + Farmers Market!

So I mentioned that last Sunday I biked 10 1/2 miles looking for fun stuff at garage sales. Here's what I found (most of them at an estate sale on the top of a huge hill- agh!).

Mini muffin tin, 2 old milk bottles, a rug and the antique mirror (which is in another post). I already put one milk bottle to good use holding some flowers that Niall bought for me just because. :)

Niall and I also went to our local Farmers Market yesterday after I told him they had pie there. He was very excited, but they were all out of pie, so we bought carrots instead!

Niall put his on his salad, but I ate mine plain. So yummy.

I'm in the process of making a simple skirt out of my favorite material Nicey Jane Pink Lindy Leaf, so look for that later! :)

Summer Fun and Food

So the weather is being a bit bipolar around here, but here's what our summer has looked like so far.

Guacamole Bruschetta (from this website)

4th of July at the river

YUMMY Cinnamon Raisin Bread from a great food blog A Chow Life. Sorry for the nasty hair, we don't have air conditioning and it was very hot (especially with baking!).

A little crispy, but delicious none the less.

Going to big brother's to hang out with him and his super cute prego wifey. :)

Zucchini Quiche (another one from A Chow Life).

Super excited for his new road bike!!!

Kitchen re-organize

Funfetti Rainbow Chip Cookies. I really wanted to play with food coloring, and with this Stars and Stripes Cake Mix for only $1, I couldn't resist!

Very American!

Niall's new bike!

Cool caterpillar we found at the lake!

My "garden" this year: Geraniums, African daisies, oregano, and tarragon.

Handsome hubby.

Getting ready for a road race! (Excuse the shirt, bachelorette party inside joke!).

Phoebe and I after our first road race of the season!

Picking raspberries out in the country.

That's a lot of berries!!!

At a wedding, woo hoo!

Beautiful landscape. I love Greenbluff.

Macaroon Madness!

So. I have ALWAYS wanted to try to make Parisian Macaroons. Well, I did. And let me tell you- they are WAY over-rated. Not eating them, just making them. The ingredients include Almond Flour- which is hard to find and very pricey! I paid $9 for just a few cups of it (and that was at Walmart, people). Anyway, so here was my entire day devoted to making Macaroons... I've included my recipe at the end for those of you brave enough to try what I did.

First I burnt the almond flour. Some recipes do not call for baking it, but mine did. It still worked though. Also, I sifted this stupid almond flour twice and each time it took at least 20 minutes. Agh!

After reading many recipes online and buying a macaroon book (which I returned), I came up with a basic recipe for the shell and the filling. And here's a lot of the other ingredients as well.

 

More ingredients/supplies.

My batter/shells mixture came out an ugly brown color. It was supposed to be a vibrant purple but the almond flour has a yellowish tinge and turned it this color instead. Oh yay!

Watching for a "skin" to form.

PROOF that I used my new stand mixer my sweet mother-in-law bought for me! I love this thing!

So far so good! Except for the color, of course.

Now it's time to pipe the filling!

Is that... a macaroon?!

Oh yes. You would look this nasty after an exhausting day of baking too! And that is my first time trying a macaroon so I had to document it.

Now they look like real macaroons!

So if anyone wants to know what recipe I used (God help you if you do), here it is:


Janae's Purple Vanilla Macaroons:
DAY BEFORE: Prepare 2 egg whites- let sit overnight
DAY OF:
For the Purple Shells:
-Preheat oven to 300 degrees
-In blender: Grind 1/2 cup ground almonds (or almond flour) and 3/4 cup powdered sugar.
-Strain almond-sugar mixture over baking sheet; cook for 5-7 minutes then let cool
-In mixing bowl: Beat eggs with electric mixer into snowy peaks. When stiff peaks form, gradually add 1 1/2 Tablespoons superfine sugar- beat CONSTANTLY. Add food coloring. Stop mixing. Strain almond-sugar mixture over egg whites/ fold in with spatula.
-Fill pastry bag- pipe 4.5cm circles onto parchment paper-lines baking sheet
-Let stand for at least one hour until crust forms
-Cook for 10-12 minutes at 300 degrees
-Let shells cool
-Pour trickle of water between parchment paper and pan
-Remove shells

For the Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercreme:
-2 large egg whites
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/2 cup softened butter (cut in pieces)
-1 tsp vanilla extract

-Boil water in large pot
-Whisk together egg whites and sugar in small pot
-Put small pot in large slightly boiling pot
-Whisk mixture until 150 degrees F
-Remove from heat
-Whip mixture in stand mixer until white and fluffy
-Whip until cool (about 10 minutes)
-Add butter slowly- piece by piece
-Whip 3 more minutes
-Whip until not soupy/grainy (it takes awhile but it WILL come together!)
-Add vanilla and food coloring