I baked 4 different things last night, and didn't take a single picture. Not even a "Lookit what I made!!" finished shot. . . And they were all completely new recipes for me.
Will you ever forgive me, Dear Internet?
I do have a pretty good excuse, as excuses go. I have a couple of weddings to attend this year (as I've mentioned previously) and the first one is coming up in, holy crap!, just over a week!! So excited!! I'm not too sure I ever want a fancy wedding of any kind, but they're sure fun to attend :) Anywho, the first bride's bachelorette is, well, tomorrow night, and it's going to be a "girls' night in" party (awesome! and quite a bit easier on the budget. . .) so I thought I'd contribute food, since 1) I'm pretty good at food, 2) there's a no-presents-please policy (ish), 3) I have a whole bunch of recipes I need to try out (damn you, Smitten Kitchen!!) and a new pile o guinea pigs to try them on is an opportunity I cannot pass up, and 4) I love playing with food and trying out new techniques! So I've been kinda busy with the whole, baking four different recipes. Plus, with the not-spending-the-lovely-long-weekend-with-the-boyfriend (as originally planned. mope mopey mope mope. but more on that later), I was rushing around Tuesday night after work so that I could see him later that evening and catch up on weekendy-goodness. So I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. So last night was a fun 5 hours of go-go-go with baking funtimes. Which was awesome, but didn't lend itself well to the whole staging-pretty-photos-for-the-blog thing. Or even the remembering-that-I-have-this-blog-thing-I-like-posting-on shamozzle. . .
But!
I have one more recipe I'm going to make (I know, I'm insane. I've come to terms with this), so I will hopefully have enough leisure this evening to take a few process shots of this one for you, Dear Internet. Will that make up for my sad blogging skills??
I think I should also post my second installment of Newfoundland photos (maybe even the 3rd through 7th. . . I think that's how many I've planned. I forget). As well as some long weekend photos too. . . I'm just avoiding the blogger photo uploader. Cause it sucks. Maybe I should look into switching from this blog provider, especially considering the problems they've been having lately (what with the blurry photos and the occasional losing people's blogs' content). Hmmmm. . . Food for thought, I guess. (pun very much intended.)
So, look out for photos in your future, Dear Internet! Lots and lots of photos. And some more photos.
In the interim, I guess I should at least let you know what I made. There were the margarita cookies, green tea shortbreads (though I didn't make them sandwich cookies cause 1) the bride-to-be has chocolate issues and 2) it's finicky dough and that's waaaaaayyyyy too much work. I'm lazy, so sue me), sundried tomato stuffed mushroom caps, and mushroom and blue cheese stuffed phyllo triangles (which puts the lie to the "I'm lazy" theory, cause phyllo, it's hard f-ing work. But sooooooooooo much fun to work with!!!!! I'll probably use spray olive oil instead of brushed-on melted butter for the phyllo next time - sooooooo buttery). All from Smitten Kitchen, of course. . . I'm so happy I've learned how to work with phyllo pastry. I've been wanting to try it for a good long while, but I've been a bit intimidated since everyone who works with it complains about it's finickiness. But maybe the brand I got is just easier to use - There was only one (yes, 1!) sheet that was annoying out of the 10 (!!) that I used in the recipe, and it was a lot more flexible than I thought it would be, so actually pretty forgiving to work with (get the President's Choice phyllo pastry - it's actually easy phyllo to work with!!). I should also mention that, since one guest at the party has onion/onion-family issues, I made the two appetizers without onions at all (thus mushrooms = insta-flavour). I added more flavour (with fresh herbs in the mushroom caps, and some dry white wine in the phyllo triangles) to help offset the loss of the alium-y goodness, and I think it actually worked out ok :)
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Also, update re dressmaking: my fabric arrived!!!! wheeee!!!! And it looks sooooo pretty. I think that my colour idea is quite cool (and will work really nicely for a summer-to-fall transition time wedding), and luckily viewing fabric swatches on the interwebs actually translated into the fabrics matching! Crazy!! Though I have to get some new lining material, since the one I'd originally chosen had run out. Pout. But I've found a couple really good options to replace it.
So I think this weekend I'll actually cut out and (maybe even??) start working on the mock-up version in cotton and play with the modifications I want to make to the pattern. The pattern's the right shape, but has a bunch of little details I want to change, which will probably be really fiddly and make me wish I'd invested in a good dress form. I have a few more things I need to get - zippers, thread, some ribbon, maybe a crinoline-type-thingy to help the skirt fall nicely, a fabric marker, etc. - but I'm really looking forward to some major playing with fabric!!! I even spent some (read: waaaaaaayyyy to much) time on reading through the pattern before bed last night and figuring out the basics of how I want to change the details, as well as finding the steps I can omit since I'll be doing a back zipper instead of a front button placket (see? very different details. . . though maybe that's technically a 'feature' of the pattern. . .).
Excitement about sewing. In a food and music blog. . . Yeah. . .
Stay tuned, Dear Internet!! Much excitement coming your way!
