Casner Family Blog

So… it has taken several days for me to transition from most thoughts being with my brother-in-laws family to my own… Sending Hannah out the door with lunch money and the correct number of gifts was a good step. I had greater things in mind for her wonderful teacher (and other loved ones) but I have had to just let some of my expectations go.  The moment I would think about getting the fabric cut and sewn along with everything else… I would freeze. And now I just have a bunch of fabric spread out around my sewing machine.

One plan I had to let go was to give my kids classes treat bags with extra cookies. Well that did not happen, but I do have a printable I designed, so if you would like to use it, please do. They are four inches wide, and when folded in half, two inches tall. They fit the standard treat bags I had purchased at wal-mart or target. (I printed mine out with a sturdy card stock that will run through my printer, normal printer paper would work fine as well.)

Treat bag printables.

Also, I found some fun little projects at Felt and Thistle.

And something I really thought was cool at The Small Object.

And a couple of photos…

Whoopie pies were made a few weeks ago. Liz had a really good time helping me. Again, the recipe is from “Baked“.

First, I am going to make a shameless plug for one of my favorite cook books, “Apples for Jam” by Tessa Kiros. There are more then 400 pages in this book with hundreds of recipes and many, many beautiful photographs. And not only are there hundreds of recipes, but almost everyone I have tried, we have liked. And one cake that I have made more then any other is the vanilla cake. I don’t really love cake. I mean, I like cake when I am in the mood, but if I am going to have cake, I would choose pound cake or a really good german chocolate cake. This cake leans toward being more like a pound cake. However it is still round and quicker then a pound cake.

Vanilla cake

2 1/4 sticks butter, softened

1 c. plus 1 tablespoon sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/4 c. all-purpose, unbleached flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c. milk (or half and half)

Frosting:

7 tablespoons butter, softened

1 2/3 c. confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 9 1/2 in. springform cake pan.

2. Beat the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add  in the vanilla and then sift in the flour and baking powder. Beat well adding milk (or half and half), a little at a time.  The batter will be thick and creamy.

3. Scrape into cake pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer poked into the center of the cake comes out clean.

4. Cool and then frost. If you want a double layer I would make an extra batch of frosting. You may end up with extra, but I’m sure you could find some other purpose for it.

*I usually don’t even bother to slice through and make a double layer cake. I just frost the cake after it has cooled.

5. Frosting: Beat the butter and slowly add the confectioners’ sugar. Add the vanilla and then 3 tablespoons of milk, slowly adding in the remaining tablespoon if needed.

Cuts into 10-12 slices.

*I am still having issues with my side bar and categories. I really, really hope to get it fixed this week. Sorry for the inconvenience, especially if looking for other recipes. Thank you Matheau for helping me with my sidebar-you are the best!

well, technically, I did not bake the marshmallows… but you get the idea.

Denyse Schmidt’s Promenade Market Tote. The pattern for free over here. I added a lining which makes it a bit more sturdy, but did make the tote a bit smaller. I’m still not sure if that was the best idea or not. I do like the tote though.

Luke’s costume. I used one of Heather Ross’s shirt patterns from Weekend Sewing for making his shirt. For his belt all I did was measure fabric and fold like I would a really thick strap. Then instead of sewing the ends together, I added 1 in. elastic at the ends so it would fit once it was over his hips. The pants were basically a pajama pants pattern.

I think that is my constant thought… get one thing caught up, then move on to something else I’m behind with… right now… gearing up for bills and invoicing-never a fun thought- and Lizzie’s forever quilt (that is a bit better then bills ;)).

I did try a few other recipes last week. 2 of which are from Baked. very high on my list of recommendations.

-the last from our garden

-Sweet Rose Farm’s booth at the Fort Scott Farmer’s Market.

-Luke, Alli and Lizzie’s work

Another round of five senses friday (hosted by Abby)

taste: coffee with cream and raw sugar

smell: coffee, chocolate and peanut butter (I’m thinking too much coffee.)

sight: legos, laundry, new bowls, the same quilt blocks waiting to be sewn together, new library books, another loose tooth

hear: lots of memory cards being turned over and “it’s not fair”, “my G5 is going to the Genius Dr. today-for free!” (very good thing), counting by 7’s and 8’s…., “do you want to see my play?”

feel: yarn picked up and put down again, sweet potatoes (from our garden) and artichokes (from Sweet Rose Farm), school books

Saturday was a wonderful day to celebrate three sweet girls birthdays. We had lots of family and cupcakes -oreo cheesecake, brown sugar pound cakes and chocolate with swiss meringue frosting. None of those recipes today, however, I am going to give you a different recipe that we really love.

Lemon sandwich cake (from Apples for Jam)

1/2 lb. plus 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2/4 c. heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

filling:
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
2 tsp. confectioners sugar
1/2 c. greek style yogurt

1 c. fresh raspberries, blackberries or strawberries

Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter and flour 12 X 4 in. loaf pan.
Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Sift in the flour and baking powder, then add the lemon zest and juice, cream and vanilla. Whisk well until the batter is smooth.

Spoon into loaf pan, bake for 1 hour and 10 min., or until a skewer poked into the center comes out clean. If the top looks like it is getting too dark, cover with aluminum foil. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely in the pan.

For the filling whip together the cream and sugar until there are peaks, fold the yogurt through. Cut the cake in 1/4 in. slices and make sandwiches with the 2 slices of cake, the filling and the fruit.

Enjoy!

(Randomness) And the butterfly-well, they love the zinnias and cosmos and we have had lots of fun watching them and checking out what their names are the last few weeks.

My favorite season of the year is Autumn. Time for gingerbread, cappuccino and making woolens… and today is perfect – overcast, a bit of a chill in the air, but only cool enough to need a sweater…Today, I really need to be putting up more tomatoes, starting pie crusts and I still need to knit the second halves of several projects… but I will try to think about that on a less beautiful day.   

 

 

 

Lizzie’s first day of preschool.  

 

    

One of Allison’s amazing chalk drawings! 

 

  

    

Some fabric for one of the birthday girls arrived in the mail. 

 

The day started with typical Tuesday happenings. A few books being read about some of our favorite bears and turtles. Lizzie and I made sugar cookies, we started some school work, lots of stories and ideas dreamed up, and then after lunch, to change things up a bit, we walked Lizzie to preschool for the first time. It was her first day and she loved it.  She shared her cookies, learned, played and then came home for more typical Tuesday happenings. The only thing she missed out on at home? Well, the same old school for the older kids and nap for her. I think she really liked the change.     

     

 

 

 

  

 

We ended up without a football(at least American football) for Lizzie’s cake, but we did find some other cake decorations to use. For the cake and frosting, I used recipes from Apples For Jam. I absolutely love this cookbook, from main courses to desserts – it rocks. The weekend goes so fast, I can hardly believe it is Monday evening. The good thing is bedrooms are clean, the garden is cleaned up and watered, dishes are done, and bread is ready to go in the oven. Yes, I said bread!! Hannah is going to have a sandwich with her lunch tomorrow and I am making some bread.  I am probably more excited then she is. 

 

Here is Matheau with the kids and my sample hat from the pattern from Brooklyn Tweed. Not much knitting done this weekend, but I did a bit of stitching for a birthday girl. I have several sewing projects/birthday gifts to complete before the end of this month…   

The morning didn’t get off to the greatest start, Luke tried his new gluten-free cereal and didn’t like it. So for another morning, I make far more breakfasts then I care too. I still had dishes from the evening before and more dishes is something I never enjoy.  So after they were all done, and after everyones stomachs were full from breakfast, I made macaroons.  So before school, we went out for a picnic in the shade to test the macaroons. A wonderful new start to our day.

  

The macaroons recipe is from “The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper”  

  

I wasn’t the only one with a camera, when Allison and Lizzie joined us out side, they had both made their own out of blocks and would take turns taking photos.  

    

We only have a few sunflowers. I had forgotten we did an experiment with seeds early this spring, we never watered them once the seeds were outside. I think next year I need to make sure we tend them a bit better, they are stunning to look at.