Maple Angel Food Cake

I realize this is cliche, but seriously...this cake is so good.  You will never buy a packaged Angel Food Cake, or a box mix ever, ever, ever again.  It's fluffy, and perfect, and fun to make...whipping up 12 egg whites is fun, right?   Of course it is.  Inexplicably fun.

And honestly, it isn't my recipe.  It's Betty's.  I just changed it a bit by adding 2 teaspoons of maple extract instead of vanilla.  Dangerous I know...totally risky...but that's me, I like to live on the wild side when it comes to flavorings.  The Tiddlywampus stirred in a teaspoon of maple into a container of whipped cream that we topped it with. And we drizzled some coffee over the top.  We have fallen in love with this cake. 

Cute Tutorial: Fabric Silhouettes

When we were children, my mother used to make silhouettes of our profiles from paper.  She would tape paper onto the wall, we would stand very, very still, and she would trace our profiles along the shadow on the wall.  

I made these cute, updated silhouettes of my children yesterday and I love how they turned out. 

You will need:

Camera

Embroidery hoop

Pellon Wonder Under 

Background fabric (I used a Moda Bliss white dot print on 2, and osnaburg for the other 2) 

Fabric in a colorful print for your silhouette

Optional - Light Fabric Transfer Paper or Embroidery floss if you would like to add a name.

Here is how I did it:

I began by taking profile pictures of my children;  I had them sit up tall, looking straight ahead (this was the hardest part of the whole project!)

Using photoshop I cropped and resized their head and shoulders to around 8 inches high by 5 inches wide. 

Print the picture and carefully cut all around the profile.  

Next, iron the Wonder Under to your colorful fabric.  It comes with detailed instructions, but basically you iron the rough side of the Wonder Under to the wrong side of the fabric.  Let it cool.

Trace the photo of your little cutie onto the Wonder Under

using a pencil.

Carefully cut along your pencil lines.  Be sure to use sharp scissors.

          Cut your background fabric 2 inches larger than your
                                     embroidery hoop.

Decide on the placement of the silhouette, I put mine right in the middle.

Now, you need to peel the paper off of the back of the Wonder Under.  This will leave a light webbing stuck to the wrong side of your fabric. This can be tricky, start from the bottom, and be patient!

Lay the silhouette down on top of the background fabric.  Place a damp cloth over top, iron, fusing the image down onto the background. 

If you'd like, embroider your child's name under the silhouette or, print the name Fabric Transfer Paper and iron it on. (be sure to set your printer to mirror image.) 

Stretch the fabric onto the embroidery hoop, and to hide the raw edges, loosely stitch by hand all around the edges.  Pull tight to gather it all up and knot it off. 

I love how the little one's pony tails turned out! And, making them in embroidery hoops is so simple and unique.  Definitely goes with the theme around here...we are always stitching away!  

:: chick cam :: day 6

  The novelty of having a large cardboard box of 30 chirping baby  
                  chickens in the basement has not worn off. 

     A large part of the the little ones day is checking, counting,  
                        holding & singing to the chicks. 

      They're getting a bit restless, quickly running out of space as  
       they are growing so fast.  We opened up a new "room" (an  
                    adjoining box) to allow them more space. 

Just waking up this morning!



:: chick cam :: day 5

:: chick cam :: day 4

  The girls have named some : Puffball, Chirper, Fluffy,

Okapeekoo.....

I don't think they can really tell the difference, but maybe they can!

Most of them are growing some feathers...

This one is Puffball. 

:: Chick Cam :: Day 3

After a day under the heat lamp, the chicks have grown stronger and are much more active.  They get scared of loud noises..."Mama! Can I hold one?????!"

They've went through almost 1 gallon of water and love to eat.  Their little legs have really straightened out and they're still fluffy and soft.  (Soon all that cute fluff will be gone and they will be scrawny, not so cute - and growing real feathers.)

The girls check on them once every couple of hours, The Tiddlywampus counts them like her grandpa counts cattle.  "Farmers always count their animals," she says proudly.

:: Chick Cam ::

"Hello, are you my mother?"

"Hi there...nice to meet you. Could you please direct me to the loo?"

Look at this beauty, I love it's little beak.

*Smooch*

The one on the right just took a big drink...glug glug glug....

*Shake yer booty*

In a huddle under the heat lamp.

"Hey Patsy, could you give me a boost into the food? Thanks."



"See you tommorrow!"

**********