Little Green Riding Hood

Finally took a moment to snap a couple pictures of Josie's green hoodie that I finished a while back. I had a little trouble with the seaming, and I am not crazy about the shape. The overall effect is pleasing, though, and I love the color.

Apple Butter Cake

Today, I made a very decedent, buttery pear cake using the Seattle Times recipe for Apple Butter Cake.
As you can see, Josie was on my back in the backpack licking the mixer blade while I got the cake in the oven, and managed to coat herself, the backpack, as well as my neck and hair in batter.

on the needles

On my needles currently, the cutest little project ever. Here is the ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fionas-top
I love it! Maybe I can get it done for Easter and my little one can wear it with the adorable white patent leather shoes my mom got her.

Eggplant Parm

Oh my... this was GOOD. Mario Batali's recipe off the food network, and fair bit of work, but so delicious and satisfying!

Vegetable Flecked Bread

Recipe adapted from the "Enchanted Broccoli Forest": Vegetable Flecked bread
1. The sponge: 2 T dry yeast, 1.5 C warm water, drop of molasses. Mix and set for 5 minutes.
2. Add: 2 C white flour, 2 C whole wheat flour. Mix, cover and set in a warm place for 30-60 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, mix 2 C mashed, cooked squash, 1 C cooked grated golden beets, 3 T molasses, 0.25 C melted butter, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 0.5 tsp cloves.
4. Add the squash mix to the risen sponge. Add flour 1 Cup at a time, alternating between white and wheat, as you mix the dough. When it gets hard to mix, begin kneading. Knead for 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. You may need 6-8 cups additional flour in this step. Place covered in a BIG oiled bowl and let rise in a warm spot for an hour or until doubled in size.
5. Punch down the dough and knead a little bit more. Shape into loaves and put in/on greased pans. I made one bread loaf plus 18 large dinner rolls. I make dinner rolls by dividing each portion into three parts and rolling each into a ball, then putting the 3 balls into a muffin pan socket. Cover dough with damp towel and let rise for an hour or until doubled again.
6. Bake at 350 - 375 until done. Loaves take about 40 minutes, rolls about 20.

French Onion Soup

From this....

To THIS! Yum!

Spanakopita

Today I attempted the Greek recipe Spanakopita. It was delicious, had TONS of nutritious spinach in it. The recipe said it was easy to make... but I found the filo dough really difficult to work with! It kept tearing and flaking, and it took me forever to layer things up. Josie was a big help, of course.