The blog will probably be reborn!

Tossing around the idea of a food blog.  I won't start it though until I have thoroughly investigated all info on blogging successfully.  I will also be writing several entries to have prepared for when I can't cook or bake thanks to classes.  Hopefully, I'll learn a lot about web design this semester so that I can design my own site as well.  Being chained to blogger sucks.

Fastnacht Day

Today goes by a few different names:  Fastnacht Day, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, and Pączki Day.  In honor of it being Fastnacht Day, I made traditional fastnachts.  Sadly, they don't taste anything like a doughnut or even a potato doughnut... they taste like funnel cake, and pretty bad funnel cake at that.  You can find the recipe here, if you're curious about it.

Even if they didn't turn out quite how I had planned, it was still quite a bit of fun making them.  I was even able to get my brother involved and had him hovering over the deep fryer, vigilantly monitoring the frying process.

To accompany the fastnachts, I whipped up a couple modern day pastries with some yarn.  The pattern for these doughnuts can be found over at lionbrand.com.

Celebrating the Chinese New Year

Today marks the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rabbit.  I decided to celebrate by making two amigurumi- a kokeshi cat and rabbit!  The cat was directly from a pattern, but the rabbit was an adaptation made especially for the new year.  I'm still playing around with her hair.  The first "wig" I put on her looked terrible.  This one isn't too bad- it's very wild and earthy looking.  We'll see if I ever come up with the perfect hairdo!

However, the Vietnamese do not celebrate this year as the Year of the Rabbit.  For them, it is the Year of the Cat.  Good news for our kokeshi cat- He won't feel left out!

Kokeshi Cat Pattern available here.

A blanket of snow

Winter has been troublesome again this year- lots of snow and even some very cold temperatures.  It feels like back home in my tiny rural town in Wisconsin, until I journey out in my car and get slapped by the realities of traffic and oversized, crowded shopping malls.  Regardless, I still find hints of idealic country nestled between the hustle and bustle.  I stopped and snapped this scenic little picture on the way home yesterday (irritating more than a few other drivers I'm sure).

And what better way to stay cozy and warm in winter than to curl up with a warm blanket?  I made this one as a Christmas gift, and it's the first blanket I've crocheted.  It turned out fairly well for my first large project.  In fact, the afghan was quite popular in the house and there were several hints at keeping it.  However, I didn't think that "the dog ate it" or "it has a big hole in it" were very believable so it was gifted as intended.  The blanket is currently exercising its warming skills in Wisconsin.