Hazelnut Pain au Chocolat....Yum

Okay, so I came across this recipe in one of my many excursions around the internet (several months ago). I decided to finally try it out. I figured it was fairly risk-free. How can you go wrong with hazelnut an chocolate, right? These are definitely winners. My family fell immediately in love... The bread is light and fluffy, fragrant with hazelnut flavor, and the chocolate is the perfect touch. They are a wonderful treat without being incredibly sweet. And with a substantial amount of whole wheat flour, they're nutritious, too. Right?

The recipe is here http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/hazelnut-pain-au-chocolat-recipe. I used a Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate candy bar, rather than the semisweet pain au chocolate sticks sold here: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/semisweet-pain-au-chocolat-sticks-8-oz. Mostly I just wanted to save money since it was a new recipe experiment. Also, since it's August in Texas, the temperatures are a bit prohibitive to mail order chocolate... I couldn't find coarse ground sugar, so I used some sugar cubes I crushed up with a rolling pin. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly, grinding my own whole wheat pastry flour just before whipping them up. Delicious! Tasty treats and the whole house smells heavenly. The chocolate will eventually firm up a bit, but can quickly be softened up with a few seconds in the microwave.
These will not last more than an afternoon, I promise.

There's Nothing Like Fresh Homemade Bread...

Whoa! It's been a loooong time since I posted anything. Time to get back on track... My family loves homemade breads, and especially "symphony of crackle"--aka French bread (credits to the Disney movie Ratatouille). I regularly make it to serve with pasta dishes or soups; it goes together quickly and compliments most meals. Sometimes, though, I like to make bread with lots of flavor. While I'm savoring the whole grain goodness and thinking how nutritious it is (and what a great mom I am to feed this to my family), my kids are telling me that while it's really yummy, they like the basic French bread the most.

I recently came across this tantalizing recipe and decided to try it out. Amazing! So much flavor and texture! This is a perfect bread to serve with a light salad on one of these hot summer days.

I used the recipe found here http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/granary-style-loaf-recipe with some minor alterations. First, I added about two tablespoons of honey, I used malt powder, rather than extract, and I added about 1/2 cup of Harvest Grains Blend. Just before the loaves were ready to place in the oven, I brushed the tops with a cornstarch wash, cut a cross hatch pattern on the surfaces, and sprinkled a few pinches of malted wheat flakes over the tops.Also, I shaped the loaves into rounds and placed them on parchment lined cookie pans, rather than using loaf pans.  Mmmm. The fragrance as the bread baked was wonderful; as soon as the loaves cooled we sliced one up and spread it with maple butter and horked it down. I often make maple butter instead of honey butter. I just whip the butter with pure maple syrup instead of honey. It won't incorporate as much maple syrup as it would honey, as the syrup is a little thinner. It's a really nice flavor and for those with small children, safer than raw honey.

Have a wonderful day!

My Patriotic Mantle is finally coming together!

And here is my star combined with  my America (2 x 4) block and my letter blocks (4 x 4). This is one part of my patriotic mantle, the rest is yet to come, soon.

I Love Stars!

I really wanted a large 3-d star to set on my mantle. All of the tin stars were too small or too large or too pricey. All of the paper mache stars were too small. Hmmm. I could make my own, right?  That's the best way to get one just the size I want, for the price (practically free) I want... Soooo, I gathered up some empty cereal boxes, glue, masking tape, scissors, and made a star. Well, first I made a pattern. I used this tutorial: http://rubberstamping.about.com/od/projects/ss/Paper_Star.htm . It wasn't exactly the easiest method, but I made it work. I enlarged the pattern, so my finished star would be about 16" point-to-point. The pattern needs to be a little bit larger than the desired finished size, because it adjusts a bit when the points are pushed up/out to make it 3-d.

Anyway, using my new pattern, I cut 5 points from my cereal boxes, folding along the fold lines and gluing where indicated in the instructions, turning the printed side to the inside. I used strips of masking tape to hold them in place while the glue dried. I also used it to reinforce the joints and seams after the glue was dry. I planned to cover the star anyway, so the tape was not going to show. When the glue had dried, I covered the outside with a layer of vinyl spackling. An easy shortcut here, is to mix some regular acrylic craft paint into the spackling before it is applied. This cuts out the painting step. After the star dried, I antiqued it with a dark brown glaze and wiped off the excess. A coat of sealer and it was done. I just wrapped a strip of patriotic fabric tied a bow, but I am already planning to replace it with different ribbon and embellishments for other seasons, so I can use it year-round.

Cardboard form.

Honestly, it would be a lot easier to buy one ready-made. Since I couldn't find what I wanted, this is a great solution, but it was a little more work than I would normally do for a simple cardboard doodad.
The other upside is that is didn't cost anything, because I already had all the supplies on hand...overall, it's a winner!

Covered with spackling.

One more patriotic banner!

I like to dress up my fireplace with banners for holidays, but I didn't have one for July 4th. I got busy with my papers and vintage postcard prints and came up with this. I layered card stock with background paper, my prints, and then added assorted embellishments. I used some similar elements on each panel to unify the arrangement, but each one is different. The chipboard flourishes are covered with variegated metal leaf for a little shine and interest.

I have my own collection of vintage postcards but some great sources for free are:

http://www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/
http://www.vintageimages.org/index.php/
http://antiqueimages.blogspot.com/
http://alteredartifacts.blogspot.com/ 

Some sites that have great images for a reasonable price are:

http://www.thevintageworkshop.com/store/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AlteredArtifacts?ref=em  

Most of these sites also have great ideas for using these images, too. Take a few minutes and browse...

Here are close-ups of each panel (left click to enlarge):

 

Let Freedom Ring!

I love to see our flag and I love to show my love for our country, so I gathered ideas from several sources and put together this wreath for our front door. I usually opt for oval shaped wreaths rather than a traditional round one--so this is not a distorted photo, the wreath really is longer than it is wide! It's about 26" long by 16" wide. The flag has been aged and is actually a bit darker than the picture reflects. I used burlap ribbon to wrap around the wreath and make a bow. I added an aged version of the Declaration of Independence printed on old yellowed rice paper, a red berry wreath, and a tin star. Final touches were to arrange the flag so it drapes and add the little canvas banner under the bow. I sprayed it all with several coats of outdoor clear varnish to help protect it from the elements. Happy Flag Day and Independence Day!

Whole door view.

Patriotic 2 x 4 Fun

    I'm thinking ahead to the upcoming Fourth of July Festivities and I realized that I need a few more accents for my mantle. I'm starting with this. It was quick and fun to throw together with my stash of wood, fabric and odds 'n ends! Start with a 2 x 4 and some paint, a little sandpaper, and a torn homespun fabric bow. Finish with some cinnamon sticks, leaves, berries and rusty stars. How simple is that? It's about 7" square, so it's a nice filler for the mantle layout I'm working on. I started with an idea from here: http://www.brownpaper--packages.com/2010/08/flag-blocks.html (thanks Kierste). I wanted mine a little more even to fit together better, so I trimmed the blocks I used for the star and glued the pieces I cut off between the two blue blocks. Now it is closer to even and square and the same thickness top to bottom. The blocks don't shift at all when  moving and the fabric covers the seam and filler between the blue blocks, so it looks like one big block. I like it. If a more primitive look is your thing, go with the brown paper packages model!