Friday, January 30, 2009

Pie Update

Candace here again.

Last night around 10:30, I'm wondering why my pie still looks pasty as my skin in wintertime. After consulting a friend, she makes me aware of my idiocy -- 175 was CELSIUS. Talk about embarassing. Anyway, threw it back in for about 20 more minutes at the correct temperature and turn out with a beautiful crust. Awesome.

Tried it this morning. I have to say, a lot of things went reasonably well with this pie. The crust was super good, the filling was excellent. However, those freakin' lemon slices are evil. The pith is still a bit bitter and with the sheer amont of lemon and lime pieces packed into this pie, it really could make you sick, or at least that's how I felt. My intensely citrus loving friends were all about it, but as of 8:29 AM, pie reception at the Teacher's Breakfast is not well right now. Hmm. Sadness.

Pictures to come this evening.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

First Post!

Hello, Blogverse!

So begins the great expedition that is our craft blog -- "our" being Candace, Kim, and Niki, three people who create yarn goods, and are obsessed with yarn and crafts (naturally), bad reality TV and fluffy animals. We could theoretically add potatoes to that list, but it's actually me (Candace) with the weird potato fixation.

Obviously, Candace here. I'm sure everyone will get their turn to blog away later, but since I create, I get to go first! Kim and I decided that everything we create, whether it be food or a knitted tidbit gets to go on here, so luckily for me, I already have a number of things to share. The first is a knitty -- handwarmers! I adapted from this pattern, and actually ended up knitting flat, since I'm still struggling with DPN's. Crowning moment? When I figured out how to set aside stitches on either end of my flat surface (four stitches on either end) to make the thumb. Now I have friends that want some too!



This was my first time working with duplicate stitches so it turned out sort of ghetto, for real. Like the nerd that I am, I tried to work a treble clef and bass clef on my RH and LH, respectively. Let me also tell you about how that REALLY DIDN'T WORK. So instead, I have the LH note and RH note! Granted, you can't tell until you put them together because RH note is done with a little more skill.

Meanwhile, I have this great pie baking away in the oven (yes, at 9:36 in the evening. I am highly aware of my own insanity). Google Ohio Shaker Lemon Pie! Exciting. Anyway, I tweaked as usual. I have two lemons and two limes, 3 cups of sugar...this pie is really bad for the health nut! The sheer number of eggs and butter would have someone like my mother wincing. Anyway, after candying the limes and lemons for a whole day, this is what the innards of the pie look like.

Delightful? Oh yes. It's still in the oven, baking away at 175 degrees. That's so low my oven doesn't even have a marking for it. However, it's not really...going anywhere yet. The crust hasn't turned even slightly golden. Hrrr. I have to say, it's the best made pie crust ever (really, pate brisee) -- just from the texture! I'll have to update this weekend after the teacher breakfast to tell you how everyone liked it and how it ACTUALLY turned out!