Inspired by Madeline, we made Rachael Ray’s Bacon-Bit Burgers and Oven Home Fries last weekend. The only modification we made was omitting the steak-sauce covered onions from the top of the burger. Both recipes were delicious and are definitely keepers!
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Blues/Purples, 1 skein
Pattern: My generic 56 stitch top-down sock with slip stitch heel
Needles: US # 1 / 32” Addi Turbos for Magic Loop
Thoughts: As I have said before, I love Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn! Really nice stuff. This skein was originally intended for a pair of fingerless mitts, but I stalled on the project and ended up frogging it. I feel like I’ve knit a lot of blue socks, though. Don’t these look an awful lot like a couple of other pairs I’ve knit? I think I’m a little sick of blue right now…so the next pair will be in bright summer colors!
…then I highly recommend trying the Green Tea Sweets recipe so kindly provided by Kelli of Amai Tea and Bake House!
I heard of Amai’s tea cookies through the blog world quite awhile ago, and I actually purchased a box for my mother-in-law as a gift. But I personally never ate them before. So when I came across the recipe link on Julie’s blog, I was thrilled. I found the matcha (powdered green tea) easily at my local Japanese market, but Kelli provides an online source if you can’t buy it in your area. I couldn’t find a 2″ leaf cookie cutter that I liked on the Internet, so I settled for a 2.5″ heart cutter. The recipe is really easy and when I was combining the ingredients, the scent of the matcha reminded me of green tea ice-cream. The cookies have just the right amount of sweetness, too. This one is definitely, definitely a keeper!!! Thank you for sharing, Kelli!
A couple of weeks ago, Madeline posted about Rachel Ray’s Korean Flank Steak Recipe, and I bookmarked it immediately. I’m glad I did because it was very easy and super delicious (a perfect combo, in my book)! We followed Madeline’s modifications exactly, except that we cooked the meat for 8-9 minutes on the Foreman Grill because we prefer our meat well done.
For dessert, I made lemon bars using this recipe posted by Ruth. Hubby loved these lemon bars, so this recipe is definitely a keeper! I’ve posted the recipe below, which includes both Ruth’s modications to the original recipe along with my notes in brackets.
Crust:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in flour, blending thoroughly. Spread mixture evenly over bottom of 13×9 pan (thoroughly greased or lined with parchment paper and greased). [I used parchment paper with cooking spray (Pam with Flour), but the Pam made a soggy mess. Next time I will try parchment paper only without greasing.] Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Filling:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon zest [I used all the zest of 1 lemon, which was more like 2 tsp.]
6 Tbsp. lemon juice [3 lemons provided more than enough juice]
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup flour
powdered sugar (for dusting)
Beat eggs until light. Add sugar a little at a time until mixture is lemon colored. Add lemon peel, lemon juice, baking powder, and flour. Beat until smooth and well combined. Pour lemon mixture over crust and return to oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until topping is pale golden. [I baked it for 20 minutes, and next time I might try a few more minutes.] Test for doneness. While warm, sift powdered sugar over the top. [Be careful not to sift too much powdered sugar on top like I did!]
I love using tried-and-true recipes from blog friends. Thanks for sharing, Madeline and Ruth!
While flipping through the June issue of Martha Stewart Living, this simple tote bag project caught my eye:
I went through my stash and found the necessary supplies. I would have preferred a darker colored bias tape, but the pink was all I had.
I made several modifications:
–lined all pieces, including the pockets and the handles
–added heavyweight interfacing to the tote front and back
–used extra-wide double fold bias tape
–added a magnetic snap closure
–made my own handles because they weren’t included in the pattern
–encased all edges of the handles in bias tape because I didn’t want to see any raw edges
–sewed the handles 3.5” in from the sides of the bag (instead of 4”)
Although lining all of the pieces means a bit more work, I think it’s worth the extra effort because the finished product looks more polished. For me, the hardest part was binding the front and back together with the bias tape because I am really bad at sewing bias tape around curved edges. In fact, my first attempt was so horrible that I ripped it out entirely. It was bad – there were bunched up spots at the curved corners and spots where I missed the bias tape entirely on the back side. The second attempt, while far from perfect, was at least acceptable to me. The funny thing is that the second time, I didn’t even pin down the bias tape before sewing – I just winged it and it turned out better! There was no way I could have done it with regular width bias tape, so I’m glad I had the extra-wide stuff on hand.
