something sweet for mama

I'm not much of a cook.  I'm not bad at baking (recipes are my friends).  Every now and then I divulge into something really interesting (recipe in hand, of course).  A few years back we rocked some home made marshmallows, and about a year ago I tried this recipe for salted caramels.  It's from thekitchn, which is a brilliant appendage of apartment therapy and has such wonderful recipes.  Mmm, so good.  So when I was having a baking-date with a friend (like a play-date, but it makes us fat) I knew I had a few cans of thick cream in the cupboard and I decided to show off. Once again, the recipe turned out, and so this time, I tried the little suggestion at the bottom of the page...enrobe in chocolate.

Mmmmm.

Basically, to any who have any enjoyment in cooking and are willing to follow a recipe, try this.  It's simple enough (although, not kid-friendly; too much stove-top work) and oh, so, good.  For the chocolate I just melted some in a bowl over a boiling pot of water and used toothpick to get 'em good and covered.  And naturally I used a little of my fancy-schmancy salt for garnish.  Naturally.

Oh, and a little shout out to parchment paper baking cups.  Man, they make life easier (you can see the crinkly edges on my chocolates from where they went straight from the chocolate to the cups).  My only other suggestion is that when boiling the caramel down to the right firmness, err on the side of soft.

Mmm, so yummy!

Ta-daaa! (photo-heavy, which I kind of like)

So starting in reverse order of projects actually accomplished (silly, I know), my brother-in-law's baby is currently in the process of being born! Right now! Very exciting! Unfortunately, this is the baby for whom I've been knitting that blanket forever, and still haven't finished it, but I guess I have a little extra motivation to kick it in to knitting-gear and get it done.

Also, I have started a quilt. Actually, I've gotten a fair amount accomplished (not considering the actual quilting which will have to soon take place). I don't have any backing for it, so it's on hold.
My friend and I finally got together for some sewing, but only finished our aprons, and never got around to the hats. However, soon. Here's Bugaboo helping me with some cooking. We made Salted Caramels from this recipe here, and so I did most of the cooking (it being up on the stove) and he enjoyed a snack in his new apron.

We have finally broken dirt in the ol' garden, planting peas and some onions. I'm weathering my tomatoes so they can go in next week too. I'm getting excited, but I think I'll miss the lush forest growing on my windowsill. Perhaps a herb garden, something which greatly intimidates me, will have to be in order.

And lastly before I get to my fancy-schmancy BIG news, I made up some Mother's Day cards! We normally give our Moms and Grandmoms a call, but I was feeling we could do a little better than that, so here they are! They've all been sent out and I hope they get there (the other side of the country) on time. Well, we're normally late, so no one would mind, or be surprised, if they are a little bit belated. As you can see, some are more audacious and some are quite muted, but I figured that would suit my Mom, Mother in-laws and all our grammies respectively.

And of course we had to include a picture or two in each!

And now, are you ready? I finished my shirt! For the Spring Top Sewalong 2011! Done! Well, no, I need one more button, but if it comes down to the grind, I have one that's not quite the right shade of yellow. Maybe I can go hunting tonight...

Well, it's a glorious glamorous day, and my little Bugaboo needs to be woken up from his nap. I'll have the official super fancy posed-to-the-max shot of my shirt later, so I look forward to posting it too!

Tadaaa!