Recipe: Lemon Raspberry Bars With Cream Cheese Filling

September 18, 2010September 18, 2010 / lemonwoodclock / 2 Comments

This is what happens when you see someone else is having lemon raspberry cake (thanks Kaedra!!) but you don’t usually like cake AND you don’t have a recipe for anything lemon-raspberry-y.

Using a basic cookies-from-cake-mix recipe, I came up with this delicious monstrosity:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350.

Step 2: Soften 1/2 stick butter.

Step 3: Start telling your husband a story and accidentally melt the butter entirely.

Step 4: Add an egg.

Step 5: Add dry lemon cake mix. Use organic, so your dessert will be inherently better.

Step 6: Stir until you realize there is absolutely not enough liquid to moisten the dry cake mix.

Step 7: Soften another 1/2 stick of butter. Correctly this time. Feel pride.

Step 8: Decide there is STILL not enough liquid and add 1 Tbsp milk at a time until it seems right. This takes 2 Tbsp milk.

Step 9: Fold in 6oz of beautiful raspberries.

Step 10: Decide to pulverize the raspberries instead of gently folding them into the batter.

Step 11: Find a clean pan. If you don’t have one, wash only one pan. You wouldn’t want to do any extra work. Dollop batter onto the pan in heaping spoonfuls. If you have extra batter, just put it into any other cooking apparatus and be done with it.

Step 12: Bake for 9-12 min.

Step 13: In the meantime, prepare filling/icing. Combine 8 oz spreadable cream cheese, 1/4 c powdered sugar, and about 1/3 tub of leftover store-bought butter cream icing.*

*Not all butter cream icing has streaks of green in it, but you can achieve this at home by sticking a knife with already tinted icing into your nice clean icing. Just throw the rest of that tainted icing back into your cabinets and save it for a rainy day.

Step 14: Blend filling/icing ingredients until smooth.

Step 15: Note a burning smell. Confirm that your haphazardly dolloped batter is now spilling over the sides of the pan and landing on the heating element of the stove. Yum! You’re almost done!

Step 16: Realize that during baking, your batter became a cookie conglomerate.

Step 17: Decide to make a cookie-bar casserole. Chill filling/icing while cookie mass cools, then stack cookie-filling-cookie into a casserole dish.

Now, despite how horrendous this thing looks, and all the trouble I had while constructing it, it tastes really really good. Especially that filling. It taste almost like cheesecake. I will use it in the future with other desserts. Also, if I ever make this again, I am just pouring the batter into a casserole dish, baking it as cookie bars, then icing it after it cools. But you learn as you go 🙂

Dexter’s First Cooking Experience

September 10, 2010March 21, 2011 / lemonwoodclock / Leave a comment

We tried the Polenta Pizza Stackers by Cooking With My Kid. They were really yummy comfort food (think pizza grits, but better). If you’re interested, make sure you head over there for the recipe!!

I decided to brave it and let Dex help! He stood on a chair (I made certain he was supported on all sides) and helped me spread Smart Balance onto a pan. He really liked playing in that 🙂 It was awesome seeing his little finger marks all over the pan 🙂

Then I let him help me use a butter knife to slice the polenta. He thought that was the best. He chuckled the whole time 🙂 And he also broke a lot of the slices and ate them lol. Ours were way uglier than CWMK’s 🙂 We need to work on our slicing skills.

Thankfully our oven stays cool on the outside, because Dexter felt the need to monitor their progress.

See? Ours were all jagged from bad cutting and a chubby little snacker.

Dex was able to help me put a tomato sauce on two of them before he decided the most important thing he could contribute was thumb-sucking. Can you guess which two were his?

He also “helped” with the cheese by eating a chubby handful while I sprinkled.

These things looked awesome after they cooked! And they smelled great. Dexter realized when they were baking that they were pizzas. He’s so smart 🙂

Dexter gobbled these up!

I give these a 4 overall. I will certainly make them again, they were easy, pretty yummy, and Dexter really enjoyed both making and eating them. Plus, I can feel good about serving them because they’re really healthy. But I think I will play around with cheese and sauce to find the perfect flavor combo!

Cooking With My Kid & Preschooler Meal Planning

September 9, 2010 / lemonwoodclock / 3 Comments

I found an awesome website today (actually, I found several great sites…) and I’m so excited about it! It’s called Cooking With My Kid and the author has created tons of healthy kid-friendly recipes that she makes with her son. Now I can’t wait til Dex is able to help me out in the kitchen!

A few recipes I plan to try this week include:

Broccoli and Cheese Stromboli (This looks incredible)

Baked Spinach and Rice

Naan Pizza (Dex LOVES pizza! Any time he sees a pizza box or hears us carelessly use the word he starts shouting and crying for pizza. He says “pee”, but we know what he means lol. Plus, I really like the idea of single serving pizza for our lunch so we don’t have crazy amounts of greasy pizza taunting me for days.)

Warm Tortellini and Pesto Chicken Salad

Breadless BLT’s (Maple turkey bacon??? YUM!)

Polenta Pizza Stackers (I’m really excited to try pre-made polenta!)

And then I REALLY want to try the Peanut Butter Quesadillas. They include peanut butter, apple slices, and honey. But our pediatrician really wanted us to wait til Dex was 3 before introducing peanut butter. Maybe I can get away with it sometime by making a regular cheese quesadilla for him.

On a similar note, we’ve been nearly out of groceries for… hmm… a couple weeks? We’ve just been getting what we need as we need it and eating out way too much. It’s really difficult to take Dexter grocery shopping and Alex is too busy to do the shopping or to watch Dexter so I can go.

But after a few weeks of eating crap I’m going to bite the bullet and take Dex out tomorrow. It’s amazing what having a child does to your conscience. I can’t feel good about just feeding him whatever, so I’m going to do whatever I can to get good food for him.

Up until now, I’ve often eaten separately from Dex, giving him whatever mostly healthy thing I can scrounge up while I eat… well… whatever else I can scrounge up 🙂 But now I’m going to take on the mindset of preschool meal-planning. When I worked for daycares and preschools, the meals are set in advance and include all the healthy things kids need and the teachers eat the same thing. It will be healthy for both of us! Here is a link to some dietary guidelines for preschoolers, and a website for toddler meal plans I want to check out.

How do you ensure your child gets the nutrients they need? Do you model healthy eating, or do you find this to be very difficult? Any favorite (and super easy!) kid-friendly recipes?

Men’s Shirt Refashion (In Progress)

August 29, 2010 / lemonwoodclock / 1 Comment

I’ve wanted to modify a man’s button-up shirt for forever, but I was too intimidated. I’ve been learning a lot about drafting my own patterns, and so I decided to finally tackle the project.

It’s been both fun and frustrating. It’s kind of like playing mad scientist 🙂 I have all the parts to cobble together, and the possibilities are endless. It’s great! But there’s a lot of trial and error involved, and I’ve had to take out quite a few seams. One downside of shirting is that it’s not very forgiving of needle holes. I’m hoping when I’m all done they won’t be extremely noticeable.

So far I’ve cut down the body of the shirt and fitted it with darts and seams and I’ve created gathered sleeves.

Right now, those sleeves and that neckline look like the prairie-style dresses my mom made in the early 90’s, and homie don’t play that. (Sorry, mom!)

I plan to V the neck a little and top it with a mandarin collar. Then I’m probably going to try my hand at some ruffles. I think they will be raw edge ruffles. I’m using the existing cuffs from the original shirt. they’re wrist size, so they’re too small to completely close around my upper arms (boo.) The cuffs will just stay open on the outsides and be for decorative purposes. The sleeves will have to be a little tighter to accommodate those cuffs. And I’m shortening them because I tried the cuffs below my elbows and it was too irritating.

I’m pretty happy with how the back turned out. I created a seam down half the back to fit it better, leaving a little gather at the waist. I like the way the existing yoke looks, but it has some gathers the feel weird. Next time, if I notice the original shirt has those, I will take it apart. But I’d gotten too far into the process to stress about that.

The sides will have splits at the bottom for comfort and ease of movement. I hope I enjoy wearing this shirt! I hope to have it done by the end of this week, but it’s been slow-going. I just work on it til I get too annoyed and I pick it back up when I wish I had a new shirt 🙂

Impulsive Sewing Project: Design-It-Yourself Tunic

July 21, 2010March 21, 2011 / lemonwoodclock / 2 Comments

I’ve been getting antsy to take a break from my (many…many…MANY) current projects in order to make something cute and comfy for myself. I decided at about 9pm tonight to start something! That usually leads to disaster, but so far, it’s going great!

I decided to use one of my vintage sheets because it’s soft and I liked the retro print for the tunic style. (The shirt I’m making is the red one up in the left corner.)

The idea behind Design-It-Yourself Clothes is that you draft your own patterns from your measurements or from existing clothing, making changes to design new styles for your body. I’d already used the book and some internet resources to make my perfect tee pattern. I used that pattern as a guideline for this shirt.

I lined my pattern up along the centerfold, adding about an extra 2 inches to create the gathers at the waist. I also decided to use the hem of the sheet as the hem of my shirt. It won’t round up at the sides, but I really don’t know how much that matters. As you can see, it only makes about a half an inch difference.

I then marked where the placket should go. (Placket??? New to me… it’s basically where the buttons go. Google it if you want a better definition 🙂 ) I went ahead and marked this on my pattern in case I decide to make this shirt again.

This is where it gets tricky. The book gives very unclear directions for a lot of steps. They understandably assume that if you’re ready to design your own patterns, then you’ve obviously made many a placket in your day. So, there was not really an explanation for creating said placket, at least not one that I could really understand. So I felt my way through that one. I had to cut 3 different versions before I even came close. The one pictured above is wrong. It’s just the scraps from the shirt and was way too small. You need, as far as I can tell, 2 strips that are about 2 inches long than the opening and about twice the width of the opening if the front was unfolded. Here’s a really crappy drawing to illustrate. Just pretend the lines are straight and that it was not done in a hurry at 11:30 pm. The dotted lines indicate that you will fold there, or that you have cut those placket pieces on the centerfold.

Next I cut out my back using my tee pattern. This time I cut right on the fold, because I didn’t want any extra material in the back.

Then I pinned my shirt together from the outside and tried it on. That hurt a little… I guess not every pin was pointing out 🙂 But I figured if I could slip it on with pins in it, then getting it on without them would be a breeze. I forgot to take pix as I pinned it and sewed it, but here is a picture of it put together before sewing: I sewed the placket sides first, starting with the left side (if the shirt was on). This is the side with the buttons. Then I sewed the side with the button holes. I did it in this order because you’ll want the button hole side to overlap the side with buttons. Then I created the gathers by sewing across the edge and pulling the threads. Then I folded the bottom of the placket pieces under and overlapped them the way they needed to be. I pinned it all together and then top stitched the bottom. Tomorrow I will actually topstitch around the rest of the placket, but it was just necessary to get this part done. This was probably the hardest part, because it requires a lot of agility. it’s a small space and a lot of overlapping bits that want to slide around. Also, you want to make sure you have enough overlap for those buttons and button holes. I barely did, but I was afraid if I made it any tighter, the shirt would be uncomfortable.

Then I easily sewed the side seams and shoulder seams. This is where I decided to stop, because all that’s left are the sleeves and the collar. I want to think about what sleeves I want. I’m leaning toward a loose 3 quarter length with slight gathers at the shoulders, but I’m also really tempted to do sleeveless.

Here’s the shirt on my duct tape double: There’s a lot of extra room around the neckline. The neckline will curve when I’m done with it, so hopefully that will take out some of that bulk. Also, I’m going to do a little work to the back which should also help. but I’m really pleased with the front view!

From the side, it’s annoyingly shapeless. But I’m very small on top and my butt sticks out. so that happens 🙁 I’m hoping that by making darts in the area indicated in red that the fit will be more flattering. It’s not bad from the back either, but once again, it could benefit from some reduction in the upper back.

At any rate, I’m very happy with how it’s turned out. Especially for a spur of the moment decision 🙂

Fruit Cobbler

July 19, 2010July 19, 2010 / lemonwoodclock / 4 Comments

I love cobblers! They’re the best comfort dessert. I typically use strawberries or cherries. Tonight, I used strawberries and peaches, because that’s what I had on hand and I was worried they might go bad.

I use my mom’s recipe, and little by little, I’m tweaking it to create exactly what I want. Here is the most recent recipe I’ve used:

Feel free to print this out for your collection! You won’t regret it 🙂 The cobbler I made tonight was still a little on the sweet side, and I believe that was because my fruit was so ripe. In the future, I’ll probably back the sugar down a little. But it was still incredible. Strawberry and peach was a nice combo! Also, I didn’t have any vanilla ice cream on hand, but I recently discovered that it goes great on this cobbler!

(Note: You can use self-rising flour instead of Bisquick or pancake mix, but it gives the cobbler a slightly gummy texture, sort of like a dumpling. A baking mix will give it a fluffier texture, which my husband prefers.)

**Thanks to Homemade By Jill for introducing me to picnik, a cool and free photo editing site. Jill has created a great step-by-step tutorial that I used to make this recipe card!

Sew, Mama, Sew! Show Us Your Stash Questionnaire

July 8, 2010 / lemonwoodclock / 1 Comment

For a lot of you, this may be a really boring blog post. It’s about thread 🙂 You’re welcome to just look at the pretty pictures and then move on. Unless, of course, you are truly interested in info about my thread 🙂

If you’d like to answer the questionnaire on your own blog for a chance to win Amy Butler and Kaffe Fassett thread, then jog on over to Sew, Mama, Sew!, one of my absolute favorite sewing sites.

How did you select colors for your personal thread collection?

I’m always drawn to bright colors. In the past, I had tons of red thread, because most of my projects were in red tones. Just recently I’ve started branching out to some gorgeous blues and greens.

Do you always match the color perfectly to your project?

Not always. I try to get close on certain projects, because I feel like the piece should stand on it’s own merit, without any distractions.

Do you ever use contrasting thread?

I use contrasting thread more recently. I used to be really afraid to, but I especially like the contrast in my baby items. I guess I feel the freedom to play a little when it comes to those things.

Do you use the same color in the bobbin as the upper thread?

I usually do, because I hate when some of the bobbin thread is visible on top in a different color. That’s a machine issue, and until I know how to always make things run better, I’d prefer not to risk it. If it’s something I’m just throwing together for myself, I don’t always worry about it.

What if a fabric has big areas of very different colors?

I still stick with the same color. I’d probably match the most dominate color, or use something deliberately contrasting, like black or white.

Do you have any tips or suggestions about choosing thread?

I don’t experiment with thread brands. I’ve never had problems with basic, inexpensive Coats & Clark. So I’m not sure my suggestions mean much 🙂 But have fun with it, and take risks sometimes. Build a small stash of basics, but add a few colors when you can!

Can you show us a picture(s) of your thread collection?

Certainly! I normally keep my thread in a photo box. I’m hoping to one day get a nice rack to keep it from tangling.

Do you ever buy thread because you fall in love with the color (without a particular project in mind)?

Rarely, because I waste enough money on fabric 🙂

Do you “invest” in thread?

No, I go cheap. There were 2 times I bought special thread: I bought some “fancy” thread in college for a project. The brand is Mettler and I got it in pink, green, and blue. The second time I bought special thread was when I made mei tais. I bought heavy-duty thread to support the weight.

What types of thread do you have? (elastic, quilting, all-purpose, wool, etc.)

Pretty much all-purpose, and a little of my heavy-duty is left.

Monster Hats, Photo Shoot Bloopers, and The Few Tips I Have

July 6, 2010March 21, 2011 / lemonwoodclock / 3 Comments

I’ve been planning to make monster hats for my Etsy shop FOREVER. But I kept putting it off. I finally got the motivation to do it, and I’m loving them! I have 5 listed in my shop so far, and almost 20 more started.

Shooting them was so hard, though. The older Dexter gets, the harder it is to photograph him. He was all over the place. Plus, even though he has been an active hat-wearer since birth, he felt it was an injustice to his soul to have to wear these hats for me. (Am I allowed to say, “I carried you for 9 months, the least you can do is let me exploit your cuteness to sell hats!!”?)

“But Mom, it’s JULY!!!!”

“Ok, I’ll be still, I just need to blow some kisses first!”

He spent most of his time running around on the far side of the room with my camera’s lens cap in his mouth.

I made the mistake of making him think we’d go outside, just to lure him closer to the natural light… drama ensued.

The best tips I can give are these:

1. Shoot when your baby is comfortable (not tired, not hungry, not wet, not too cold, not too hot…)

2. Distract, distract, distract! He chose the lens cap and my phone, and then I tried pulling out a mirror so he could check out his hats. But in the future I’m going to find some props that I won’t mind ending up in the pictures.

3. Do your best to get natural light so you can shoot without your flash. My pictures aren’t the best, but that really brings them up several notches. Just keep in mind that if there’s not enough light, your pictures will look blurry.

4. WORK FAST! If you have a digital camera, don’t get picky. Just focus and shoot as fast as you can, because those babies are quick. You may be able to use a quarter of the pictures you take 🙂 If you’re lucky :).

In the end though, if you can get just one drooly, lovable picture of your dude, it’ll be worth it 🙂

Repurposing old tees to make baby pants

August 7, 2009November 29, 2010 / lemonwoodclock / 3 Comments

I love doing projects! I especially love doing small projects for kids. I have great ideas for things I will sew for my little girl… if I ever have one 🙂

So when I found out our baby was a boy, I hit a creative wall. I’m not about to attempt a button up shirt, and all the little romper patterns I’d seen seemed a little prissy to me (no offense to the romper-loving mommies out there, I’m just more of a skull tee and ratty jeans kind of gal).

I roamed the internet until I found a few great (and super easy) ideas for little boys. One of my favorites is a tutorial on how to make little pants from an old t-shirt. It’s a great way to scratch that creative itch while also recycling. Let’s face, it’s easier to part with your favorite shirt from 20lbs ago if a tiny person you love is going to be wiggling around it in 🙂

This pattern is so easy, you can practically do it in your sleep. It’s perfect for beginners, or for moms who love to craft, but haven’t quite gotten brave enough to tackle a time-consuming project. I do recommend that you pay enough attention to make sure the patterned side of your pieces face each other. I did not and had to spend more time ripping seams than it actually took me to sew the pants. Start to finish, you can complete a pair of pants in about 30 minutes, if you don’t mess up like i did 🙂

The first link gave me the inspiration to use tees. The second is where Rookiemoms got the idea. Handyprojects offers a slightly more complicated variation, showing how to add cute details to the pants, but I recommend referring to that site if you don’t know how to make an elastic waistband.

http://www.rookiemoms.com/make-some-easy-kids-pants/

http://handyprojects.blogspot.com/2005/04/how-to-make-easy-kids-pants.html

I did my first for practice from a western t-shirt that didn’t fit me. The second pair I made out of a stained polo my husband donated to the cause. I plan to use the leftover fabric to make matching hats or accents on onesies. In the meantime I’m on the hunt for other shirts to cut up (and trying to resist the urge to “accidentally” stain things in my husband’s closet) Happy sewing!

Life Change, Blog Change, Baby Carrier Change

July 28, 2009November 29, 2010 / lemonwoodclock / 3 Comments

So. Dexter is now 11 weeks 3 days old (well, 4 days as it’s after midnight now). Things have started settling down. We’re finally getting into a routine, a shaky one, but a routine nonetheless. I’ve been able to start venturing back into the wonderful world of art. I’ve completed one painting, a few crafts for my sister’s baby shower, and started sewing again.
My most recent obsession is making a baby carrier. I’ll post more on that later. Right now I’m using a makeshift wrap from a length of jersey knit I’d planned to use for a dress, but I can’t wear it out because I haven’t cut it and it’s quite unsightly. It comes in very handy around the house though, and Dexter really seems to love it. I can tell he feels very snuggled when he’s in it and it supports his back well so he can look around while I do things. I don’t wear him all the time, I just use it when I’d be carrying him anyway, like when he’s crying right after he wakes up and I’m rushing to fix his bottle while keeping him happy. (For more info on wraps visit Moby. I decided to use the knit I had on hand in order to see if I even liked using it before I committed to one.)

This was the first time I attempted the wrap. This piece of cloth is about 4 times too wide, so it’s much bulkier than a typical wrap would be. As you can see, Dexter seems quite cozy. And it’s very comfortable for my back, which is the single reason I started looking for a new carrier. Tip: Do not get a cheap carrier that you have not researched. I skimped and got a $15 carrier so I could take my time deciding what permanent carrier I wanted to use. Even for temporary use I believe this was a mistake. Using that carrier the few times I have has been torture. I believe strongly in protecting your back anyway you can. You only have one back, don’t take it for granted!

Lemonwood Clock

Creativity in chaos

Tips