Blogging, Baking and Bangles

I've been getting so many compliments on my blog which is surprising and really fun! I had no idea people would actually ENJOY reading it. I thought it'd just be a nice way to share with folks what I'm up to. Again - a fast way to catch people up when we don't always have time to chat or see one another. And I really think I need an outlet for writing (one of the reasons I love yelp!) But I'm getting email after IM with people excited about it. Woohoo!! And yes, I suppose I do channel Martha Stewart! LOL! "Eat my dust Martha!"

While at the grocery store last Friday and knowing I wanted to make the cream wafers, I was trying to remember what that "not usually in cookies" ingredient was and bought some sour cream. Fortunately I had some heavy cream at home (the ingredient the recipe really needed) but here I was with a cup of sour cream - something I don't use often unless cooking Mexican food or baked potatoes. So when Sunday morning dawned it seemed only appropriate to make Mom's sour cream coffee cake or as Amy calls it "crack cake"! Thankfully my hunt for a 1/2 sized angel food pan FINALLY proved fruitful last year and I'm now able to make a 1/2 recipe - much more appropriate for 2 people. This coffee cake is another one of Mom's comfort foods. All those weekends we spent in Tahoe when we were young - she almost always served this as part of our "hearty" breakfast (with eggs and juice), before we'd all hit the slopes. It's absolutely delicious - moist and sweet and cakey and cinnamony. I'm certain the sour cream is what makes it so soft and moist.

Still tired of the stockinette after stockinette on the vest - I tried my hand at another small project and this one was even BETTER than the Hello Kitty washcloth 'cuz it was SO fast! It only took maybe a couple hours! I made See Mi Knit's Knit Bangle bracelet. When dropping off BAGS upon BAGS of clothing at Goodwill on Sunday I stopped inside to find some cheap bangle bracelets - to use for this project. I was shocked that the UGLY bangles were still $6 each! I suppose, still cheaper than at Target full price so I bought a couple. I didn't have any yarn thinner than a worsted so I used some leftover gray and just made up this simple cable pattern. [Size 3 needles with my worsted yarn resulted in a gauge of 12 sts=2 inches] The bangle was about 2 1/4" around but I knew I wanted to stretch the fabric instead of have it fit just right. It turned out SO cute! I really like it! It's maybe not quite my style but I know a few friends who'd likely love one! ;) Better consult my calendar of birthdays...