Snowless Saturday - Spring has arrived

According to the calendar, March 20 is the beginning of Spring but a day or two after, it started snowing here. After all the snow melting and the city started sweeping the streets with all the sand and dirt, the snow came back. Luckily it did not stay for a long time, it was gone the next day.  So I was thinking that the golf course will soon reopen.  Next thing you know, it started snowing again. OMG, are you kidding me?  OK, I should not complain because there are other places colder than here. Honestly, winter in Vernon is not that bad at all.  I mean, we live in the Okanagan and it is northern BC and our city is around the 50th parallel, so definitely we will have winter.  I seem to recall when I use to live in Yellowknife and our group traveled to Inuvik, Northwest Territories, we were given a certificate upon arrival at the airport. The certificate confirmed that we have crossed the 40th parallel.

Now that is even colder. Ooops, got side tracked.  This post is about Spring and Easter.  What am I sharing today are just photos of the area comparing how snow melted.  But I have a surprise for today. The quilted map of the USA is finally finished as well as the kitchen towel for my BFF.  Happy Easter to everyone.  

Testing Thursday - Name Brand versus No Name Brand

Since my bread making experience is still very new, I am learning new things each time I make something.  My latest experience is making cinnamon roll from scratch.  When my sister was visiting last October, she made this cinnamon roll that was so soft, moist and yummy.  I asked her for the recipe and she immediately told me where to look.  Of course I did not waste anytime since I was craving for something to snack for our after dinner.  It was going to take sometime so there was no lollygagging.   All the ingredients were lined up as well as all the bowls and measuring tools.  As I start to prep the yeast, I noticed that it didn't seem to bubble as it should according to the instructions. So I started a new one and this time it was doing a little.  I was a little hesitant because I was unsure of the yeast and that I might have killed it.  Anyway I did the rest of the measurement, made the dough, kneaded, etc. and placed dough in a bowl and waited.  After 45 minutes it did double the size so I was ready to add the cinnamon sugar plus pecan mixture.  I rolled the dough into a rectangular size, spread butter, the sugar mix and rolled it.  The next step was to cut and place in a tray and I make sure there were enough space in between rolls.  Now the waiting game begins.  Still a bit worried that it might not rise into the proper size. OMG, I check after the time was up and the rolls looked really good. Now it was time to bake them. It was in the oven for 25 minutes but it did not look lightly brown as I wanted it, so I left it in for a few more minutes (this was the mistake I made). It cooled for a few minutes and then I applied the glaze and it looked like a real cinnamon roll.  It was just OK as it was not as soft and moist like the one my sister made. It was good but not yummy.  The problem was not me, it was the flour that I used. It was not ROBIN HOOD, it was some no name brand.  Lesson learned. When making bread or anything with yeast, use only ROBIN HOOD.  Next week I will by trying again a different recipe but using Robin Hood and following the instructions exactly the way it is written. 

After baking waiting to be glazed.

With the glaze

Before baking.

Tracery Tuesday - Back to embroidery

When my BFF told me how she loves the embroidered kitchen towels that I gave her a couple of years ago. This made me think of getting back to embroidering again.  I started shopping for towels and cannot find them at fabric stores or other store.  Of course when I ask Jeff to find some online, he immediately found some good deals and ordered for me.  Now I have them whenever I need to do a few for gifts.  My first project will be for Rose and I already have the designs for both towels.  The next one is for my BFF's daughter who lives in Vancouver.  She is moving to a new home in September and I thought it would be a perfect house warming gifts. Here's how I start these towel projects. The completed product will be posted if I finish it by the time this date comes, if not, the date of the post will be change to accommodate for the time to complete the embroidery.

First I search for a design online.

Next is getting the towel ready, basically ironing it flat.

Tracing the design on paper in order for me to retrace it to the towel and I personalized it by adding an initial.

Now the towel is ready for my embroidery. Sometimes picking thread colors gets tricky.

I ended up finishing this first as it has less design.  The one above is a bit more detailed will be next.

Freshness Friday - It's just so so good

There is nothing better than freshly baked bread.  I cannot stop bragging about this artisan bread that I found on Pinterest as it is really great and comes out the same each time.  Of course as long as you use the same type of flour.  This is what I found out recently.  When it was time for us to buy some bread flour, we saw this brand, Roger's Flour and it was pretty good priced so we bought a white and whole wheat bread flour.  After I ran out of my Robin hood white bread flour, I started using this Rogers brand.  I immediately notice the difference when I was mixing it and again the next day after it had risen.  The white bread flour that I used for my artisan bread came out almost the same as using the Robin Hood brand. But when it I used it to mix the white flour with my Robin hood multi grain flour, it seemed too dense and didn't seem to rise as much and wondered if it was a bit dry.  Anyway, we will find out when we take our first slice to see if in fact there was a difference.  There might be a better recipe when you make a multi grain artisan bread.  By the way I tried adding some seeds( poppy, sesame and sunflower) on my multi grain artisan bread.

Multi grain with variety of seeds artisan bread.

Just plain white artisan bread and still coming out perfect each time.

Windy Wednesday - Not a good day for

It was a beautiful sunny day and we decided to go for a little drive last weekend and since it was such a clear sky, we could see from a distance a very colorful hot air balloon.  Obviously, it was not a very windy day, otherwise that balloon wouldn't not be up in the air.  Each time I see a hot air balloon it reminds me of my one and only time I had the opportunity to be in one.  It was a gift from a good friend of mine for my 40th birthday - a champagne hot air balloon for two.  For most of my family and friends they know that I am petrified of height. So why am doing this?  Well, it's one of those things you always wanted to do but afraid to.  But the opportunity was there and for those ones whose had the experience, they said, you have got to go.  I was living in Ottawa, Ontario then and it happened the middle of autumn. The leaves were changing and it was gorgeous.  The process is that they would call you early in the morning (if you choose the morning one) and let you know, if it is a go or not, this is after you pick the date.  We got the call that morning and was advised that it was a NO go due to the weather being overly windy.  I immediately thought it was a sign that I should not be doing this. So we scheduled for another day and this time, they called and it was a good morning to do it.  Well, it was scary but I would have never exchange the experience because it was truly amazing.  After you land, the champagne is waiting for you and a certificate.

That's pretty high, right

This is the part that they are almost getting ready to land.

See how neat it would be inside that basket.

Me Monday - I deserve it

When it comes to wanting something new, I would normally weigh all the pros and cons prior to buying it.  A few days ago, I mentioned to my hubby that it would nice to have a new ironing board cover.  The reason for this is that I have noticed that my iron was getting some sticky stuff on the bottom plate (the part that actually touches what you are ironing).  After Jeff cleaned it, it was doing it again.  That is when I realized that there are some hot glue residue that although very tiny, it was still causing some sticky stuff when iron is hot.  So Jeff suggested that I should replace the cover because it will keep happening.  If I remember it correctly, I have not changed the cover since my MIL gave me this ironing board shortly after I moved to San Jose.  I love this board because it is very sturdy and the padding is thick and it is a full size board.  The next time we went out shopping, I stopped by at Walmart and Jeff found a really nice and very simple ironing board cover.  He said, I deserve a new one because of the amount of ironing I do, both for sewing and for our clothes.  Jeff also helped me put the new cover back after I added some extra velcro to keep the cover snug.  If you remember from previous post, Jeff always says, "it does not take much to keep me happy".  

Shamrock Saturday - Happy St. Patrick's

For the month of March, I replaced my garden flag with the St. Patrick's theme.  I only realized that I did not have anything for this month.  Shortly after Christmas, I decided to make one using all the leftover fabrics that I have and found some shamrock that we use to decorate our twig tree.  When we lived in San Jose, my MIL would make corned beef and cabbage and have green beer.  Usually her daughter from LA would also spend a few days with her.  This year we probably won't do anything and we probably won't check out any of the local bars.  So my flag outside is the most Happy St. Patrick's Day that I could do.  And to all my Irish friends, here's my favorite Irish blessing.