Pate Choux

John gave me Mastering the Art of French Cooking for Christmas. I was inspired, as was half of the population, by Julie and Julia to give it a try. At first, I thought the book was a bit intimidating, but I think it's just because there are illustrations instead of photos. It makes it seem very scientific. Once you get going, it's actually really excellent because she tells you everything, so you can't go wrong.

I made the puff shells (pate choux) stuffed with cream of quail as well as these cheese puffs (pate fromage). I love popovers, and these are similar and very satisfying. I made them back in January, and am only getting around to posting it now, so I whatever profound thoughts I had, I've forgotten. How's this: these were really cool, but make sure someone is watching the kids while you're cooking!

I am eager to try them again filled with ice cream - perhaps that will be a fun summer treat!

Romanian Cheese and Ethiopian Coffee

The first year we were married I asked John what was the best thing he'd ever eaten. He told me that when he was in Romania many years ago he had some really wonderful fried goat cheese. Thanks a lot, I thought to myself. But after a little googling and a trip to Ada's, it turned out to be a simple recipe - now our Valentine favorite. The recipe is below.

But what is in my lovely Hazel Atlas mug? African Skies fair trade coffee from Just Love, a company that uses proceeds to help an Ethiopian orphanage and families adopting not just from Ethiopia, but from anywhere in the world. If you buy from this shop, you can support our friends in their Ethiopian adoption.

Romanian Fried Goat Cheese
11 to 12 oz Goat Cheese, chilled
1 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp rosemary
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 large egg beaten
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (I always use the cornflake kind)
1/4 cup olive oil

Our cheese comes in wedges which I sliced into about 8 or 9 thick slices. Mix the garlic, rosemary and salt and pepper. Put this in a bowl, and then put the flour, egg, and bread crumbs each in their own bowl. Dip the cheese in the garlic mixture, then the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs, coating evenly with each. Chill in the refrigerator.

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. When heated, cook the goat cheese about 2 minutes per side or until a pretty golden color. It's best to eat them hot, but they reheat pretty well, too.

Handmade Olympics

Neato! My super hero flip doll is in the running for handmade item that's fun (event 7). Please vote for me!

Snow Ice Cream

Hope all of you in the southern US are enjoying the snow. We're mostly enjoying it from the window since the little ones have the sniffy noses, although we did tromp around a bit.

If you still have any clean snow in your yard, you may want to try snow ice cream. My sister blogged about this during the Christmas blizzard, and I thought I would second that. My mom made this for us when we were kids, and as I am typing this I'm wondering how a person would learn such things before the internet.

But, I digress. I don't have a formal recipe, although I found one here. I worked it out through trial and error, so here's my best guess: Collect a medium size mixing bowl full of fresh, clean snow. Add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 TBSP of vanilla, and stir. Then add milk until you have the right consistency, about 1 cup. It's best to just eat it up right away, I think.



On a side note, my camera decided to only focus on things really close for awhile, which is why all the pictures are blurry. This happened during Christmas as well. After a time, and certainly not by my efforts, it just went back to normal. Anybody know why?

Sketch-wallet Pattern

I mentioned this sketchbook wallet last August (has it been that long?) and thought it would be a good-organizy-New-Year's pattern. So here I've put together a quick tutorial for this little sketch wallet. It's a simple little pattern I fit all on one page - isn't that tidy? Click the pattern image at the bottom of the post to download it.

I got these swell moleskine books to start the year fresh. They are a standard size (5.25 x 8.25 in.) and my wallet is intended to fit with this size. Although, it could be easily adapted for a different size.

Really, I only use this when I leave the house. At home I like to keep my book free of constraints. I've made a bunch of these organizers, and each version gets simpler. I don't want my book to be too laden with supplies - it makes it feel to complicated, you know? I think a sketch book should be easy and inviting. So hopefully, this wallet will keep you supplied without weighing you down.

In the Studio Again

January is traditionally time to organize my studio, so I've done it once again. No pictures of perfectly folded fabric for you this time, but a little fun nonetheless.

This year, I'm planning to slow down a bit and enjoy myself more. Once again my studio organizing is reflecting this shift, I think, because I'm shifting a little more towards painting again. Watercolors, not oils, because I still have little ones about.

In fact, the other day, after painting awhile I was tickled to see a big blob of cadmium dark on my shirt. Paint clothes! Granted, the paint spatter was from trying to paint with a baby on my hip, but it's been ages since I've had paint clothes, so I'll take what I can get.

Handmade Olympics

I'm about a week late learning about the Handmade Olympics sponsored by rikrak. What a fun idea! Check it out. Nominations are open now, voting will be in a few weeks.

Crayons

We wilsons have been fluey all week, which is kind of a bummer since John is still on vacation, But I have to admit, life is a little easier when the girls ask to go to bed and sleep extra long.

I've been doing a little playing with crayons for an upcoming spoonflower design challenge. This one requires you to use only crayons and not edit it digitally - I know it's hard to resist, but I made it work. This is on my desktop now. Check it out in repeat here or grab it and put it on your desktop. ;)

Happy New Year!

I'm a little late with my new year's post - but I was busy having fun with my family, so I think I'm exempt.

I wanted to take a look back at the last three months, at my attempt to balance designing and art making with being a full time mom. I originally though I would end up with a list of rules or a magic slogan that would help me manage my time perfectly.You probably already know there is no such thing.

But I did look back at the year and realized I'm actually doing a lot more designing than it feels like sometimes. I designed more than 10 patterns this year, some that I really adore.

Besides that, I had a baby this year! And I have spent every single day with my two precious girls.

I'm a really lucky woman.

So my new year's resolution?
I'm going to enjoy it all. I'm not going to put as much pressure on myself to design/blog/sell so intensely. I definitely plan to make fewer patterns this year, but hopefully they will be better for it. I also plan to just enjoy being at home a little more. Make more food from scratch, sit and color with my girls more, hang out with John. Just enjoy it.

Thanks to all of you who have been so encouraging to me this year. I love hearing your thoughts in comments, seeing your turtles and snack bags, and getting emails from new friends. I wish I had better words for saying, "Thank you," but right now this is all I've got. Thank you!

How are you making the new year better?

Sharing Fun

Thanks everyone for sharing your projects in the wewilsons flickr pool! It is really exciting for me to see other people actually using my patterns. Please keep it up. I'd love to see some of those crocodiles!

Check out Art Nest. She reviewed the flip doll pattern and made this beautiful Bunny and Fox (also in the Flickr pool). And I love this sweet red polka-dot turtle by Anna. I'm glad to see other people like colorful animals!