Animal Zipper Pouch

Just wanted to share a little zipper pouch I made this weekend. My friend wanted a handmade gift for a friend who just had a baby and thought a pouch for holding creams, extra clothes or small toys would be great. The handle has snaps on it so it can be attached to the stroller, car seat or whatever Mommy needs to attach it to!

It's rainy and cold again here in Zurich and I look forward to seeing the sunshine again in a few days....

Have a good start to the week!
J x

Upcycled T-Shirt Dress for Miss A

When Miss A found an old shirt that my friend no longer wanted and thought I would like for making things with, she put it on over her clothes and said "I want it!"  I have to admit it looked cute on her with the exception that the sleeve holes hung almost to her waist... So, we "up-cycled" it by adding some lace trim along the bottom, a little ruffling along the top of the chest and made it a bit more A-line by taking in the sides so the sleeve holes were not so big. Add a pretty ribbon and fabric flower around the waist and voilà - a new spring and summer dress!  Think we might be making more of these this summer...

Have a great weekend!
J xx

Spring Tea Party with Orange Pound Cake

Spring flowers in Zurich

I love Spring - seeing the trees and flowers come back to life after a long, cold winter; the bright colors of purple, white and yellow from the snowbells and crocus popping up through the brown ground and knowing that even if we do get another cold spell, it won't last for long!

To celebrate the warm temps this week, we decided to have a little tea party with our neighbors. I found a recipe in one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks by Jeanne Lemlin ("Quick, Simple and Main-Course Vegetarian Meals") for Old-Fashioned Pound Cake. We made one of the variations with orange flavoring in it and they turned out delicious (recipe below)! These cakes freeze well, too, so you can make one ahead of time and pull out when you have unexpected guests on a sunny afternoon. Don't forget to sprinkle with some citrus sugar from this post. Serve with cold sparkling water with frozen blueberries thrown in at the last minute - they add a bit of flavor to the water and help keep it cold!

Orange Pound Cake with fresh blueberries

Old-fashioned Pound Cake

1 cup (210gr) butter, softened

2 cups sugar

5 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (see Variations)

2 cups cake flour (see Note)

½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 F (160 C). Butter and flour a bundt cake pan or line a bread pan with baking paper (I used mini baking cups for my recipe). In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until smooth, using electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat until light. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract and rind (if variation made).

Add flour and salt and beat until batter is very smooth. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely before serving.

Note: If you don’t have cake flour, combine ¼ cup cornstarch with 1 ¾ cups white flour.

Variations:

Lemon Pound Cake: use 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, plus grated rind from one lemon

Orange Pound Cake: use ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, plus grated rind from one orange

Almond Pound Cake: use ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon almond extract

Happy St Patrick's Day!

J xx

Birthday bliss

Happy Monday to you all!

My birthday was last week and I have to say that it truly was one of the best birthdays I have had in quite some time! I think I enjoyed it so much because at the heart of it I knew that this year would be a year for doing all the things I love to do - cooking, stamping, sewing, spending time with family and friends and taking time to enjoy life!

We celebrated with good friends by eating Wacky cake that Miss A helped me bake topped with fresh berries and freshly whipped cream (you can find the recipe below) . I love this cake recipe as it is SOOOOOO easy to make and tastes SOOOOOO good!

The next day was a coffee and cake morning with friends. I made homemade cinnamon rolls for the first time ever and they were delicious! As you can see, we made quite a dent in them, however, I did manage to save some for Miss A and Mr Z for their dessert after lunch.  Recipe came from Fraulein Klein website (unfortunately it is in German...) and was much simpler than I thought to make. Of course I had to decorate both cake and rolls with a little bunting banner made from wrapping paper and twine :-)! Tis the little things that make it all extra special!

Wacky Cake Recipe

(serves 8-9 people)

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Place dry ingredients in baking dish and mix with a fork or spoon until completely blended and uniform in color (no visible streaks of white).

Pour on water, vanilla, oil and vinegar and stir until completely blended.

Bake for 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Completely cool on wire rack. Top with powdered sugar, freshly whipped cream or your favorite frosting recipe!

For cupcakes – this recipe makes 12 standard cupcakes; bake for 22 minutes.

Have a terrific week and I'll be seeing you again soon!
J xx

My workspace...revamped!

Hello everyone!

I'm a happy camper as today is my birthday and I've had a super day - lounging with my latte and new Living at Home magazine in the morning, baking mini Wacky cakes with Miss A during her lunch break and organizing my new shelf that I got for my birthday (a little present "from" the hubby and kids, of course)!

I have so much stuff and am forever forgetting where I put things in my workspace - in the drawers or boxes or tins or, or, or... So, when I saw this old shelf at one of my favorite stores in Zurich (Garten Eden), I couldn't resist it. It has the perfect sized slots for holding all my ink pads, cards and tags ready for stamping, ribbons and twine, buttons and brads, and a few fun little tidbits as well. Every time I walk in the office now, I smile and think "wow, that's mine!".

Next on the agenda will be to get rid of the mostly unused couch/sofabed that takes up a whole wall and get a bigger table for sewing :-)! That will be my project for April as I hope to be rid of the couch at the end of March. Here's a few more photos of my current workspace just to give you an idea of where my creativity flows best!

Hope you are having a happy day too! I'll be back soon with photos and recipe of our mini Wacky cakes with fresh whipped cream and berries!!

Jxx

Only in Europe...

Only in European countries, such as Switzerland, do they have one to two weeks off school in February for ski holidays.  Mr Z and Miss A had the past two weeks off and we have enjoyed this week in Klosters, a ski resort in the canton of Graubunden in Eastern Switzerland.  We couldn't have asked for better weather for the three days that we skiied  - 2 days of clear blue skies and great snow conditions. I could never get bored of looking at some of the incredible views of the Alps on days where the sun is shining and snowpeaks are glistening in the distance. It was fabulous and tiring at the same time (especially for legs not used to skiing!)! Unfortunately we have to leave tomorrow and head back to reality...

Here are a few photos from our week on the slopes.

 

Hope you've had a great week too!
Jxx

Awake and Asleep Dolly

Dolly with her PJs and very own carry bag

I borrowed a book from my friend call "Mit Nadel und Faden" ("Made by Me" in English) produced by DK and written by Jane Bull. It has all kinds of handmade things for little girls who like to sew. I guess I am still a little girl in spite of my age as I found quite a few little projects in it to make while I've been stuck inside the house trying to recover from a horrible ear infection where I feel like I have those noise-reduction headphones on my head all the time - good for reducing the noise of bickering kids, bad for everything else!

Anyway, Miss A was so funny as we were looking through this book together and made a comment something along the lines of this, "Oh, I really like that. You can make it for me for Easter or maybe Valentine's day and I will forget about it by then and be really surprised!". Only a five year old would think like this! I just love it!  So, while she was at school, sleeping or playing with Daddy, I made the little doll pattern from the book. I remember as a child, I had a Little Red Riding Hood doll where one side was little red riding hood, the other side was Grandma and under her skirt was the Big Bad Wolf - I loved it! All three characters in one doll - what more could a girl ask for?!?!? This doll reminds me of the one I had as a girl and I hope Miss A enjoys it.

Dolly awake and ready to go out!

Dolly asleep in her PJs!

One side of her head has her awake and the other has her sleeping so you can play with the one that you like. The bow on her head is attached with a baby safety pin so it can be moved to the appropriate side and the clothes are all easy to get on an off (jacket is also attached only with a safety pin with a flower button on it. The floral skirt fabric was from one of Miss A's shirts that was too small but too adorable to throw out. The set is very light and Dolly has her own little bag so this will be great for traveling with. I'm thinking we will be making some more clothes for her, but that will be with the help of Miss A and her little sewing machine!!

Dolly's very own bag

Dolly going into her bag for a nice trip!

Have a good weekend and stay warm!!
Jx