You can buy a lamb cake at the grocery store for about 2€ here in Austria. But then you miss all the fun of licking spatulas and all that other fun stuff. This recipe is very good...It has 40 grams of cornstarch in it, an ingredient I never see in US cake recipes. I like this cake recipe and it makes the perfect sized cake for our little family of 3...served with strawberries and whipped cream! My husband thinks it is a bit funny that I have a cake pan that I use once a year, but isn't that the fun of holiday traditions?
A funny thing about recipes over here is that the measurements are given in weight. Even butter. So, you really do need a digital kitchen scale to weigh everything out...except the butter weights are on the wrapper, just like they are in the US, but over there I believe 1/4 and 1/2 cup measurements are indicated. Or something like that.
I even made a small batch of colored buttercream frosting and my son got creative and added some decorative touches in addition to the sprinkling of powered sugar.
And yes, it takes a bit of time. And yes, it makes a bit of a mess. But we are doing something fun together and he is very proud that he makes the Easter dessert. We are making family traditions and happy memories. I have to involve him a little more in cooking because he likes it. I would rather cook together in the kitchen than have him watching endless TV (which he doesn't really do anyway, but you know what I am trying to say). Yesterday he was at a friend's house to play and he was so sad that all the kid wanted to do was take turns playing video games. For this past vacation week he went to a rock wall climbing class every day for 3 hours. He is happiest doing something!
And I am happy with my lovely bouquet of flowers! Whether you celebrate Easter or not, I hope you had a nice day!
My son and I went to a friend's house today and we made oragami bunnies! Cute, right? I am going to get some chocolate eggs for the little ones...good excuse to buy chocolate!
My friend is putting M&M's in her bigger bunny.
I didn't get my Easter cards mailed...but at least we did an Easter craft!
February's socks...believe it or not, from the same dye lot. But 1 is slightly darker than the other. Size 0 needles so took me a little bit of time. Plus, I was wonderfully busy with my visiting sister for 2 weeks.
February, when it still gets dark early at night, maybe some patches of snow or frost and a little bit of red thrown in for Valentine's Day.
No hole in the gusset. I pick up the bottom loops on either side of "the ladder". No hole every time! I will try to remember to take a photo when I am knitting my March socks.
I always use my egg to sew in the ends at the toe. Then the stitches don't pull in.
A preview of March's socks. I have the 1st sock more than 1/2 way done.
My husband's Mom is in her 90's and lives just over an hour away. She only likes to visit for 5, 10 minutes at the most. She lives in a nice Senior home, has a studio with a balcony with a view. She goes down to the dining room for meals, although the staff will bring her food up. And a nurse comes in to her room to dispense daily med.
On Sunday, we went to see her. We also combined the trip with a lunch invitation at DH'S brothers house. All in all, it was a pleasant visit and the perfect day for a drive out of the city.
The next day was slushy rainy ick. A good day to get a bit more knit on my current sock.
I hope you enjoy my pictures of the scenery. As you can see...very little snow for Austria, where the skiing season is usually pretty strong right into April.
Dale of Norway wool yarn. Knit on tiny needles. Tiny. Miles and miles of knitting around and around.
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This was a shaped Nordic Ski sweater pattern that I got out of a magazine in 2002 or 2003. Before I started this sweater, I had knit maybe a few scarfs or something super easy when I was about 12? But I saw this pattern (in the magazine it was green), and just had to have it.
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I ordered the yarn and needles on line and signed up for a beginner knitting course through the local adult ed catalog. Seriously. The poor teacher! But she taught me about going up 1 needle size for color work so it doesn't pull in and how to carry the colors along my fingers. Of course, my sweater was no where finished when the course ended. Besides the fact that I was pregnant with my son (who will be 13 in June), so I missed a few classes toward the end.
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During the class I was also knitting him a lovely baby blanket that he dearly loved for years...and later asked me to make him one bed sized since he eventually outgrew it. Ummm, No! Anyway, my sister came over a few days before he was born and helped me finish the knit border around the edge. The sweater did not get finished.
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Actually, the sweater got packed away and every once in a great while I would take it out and knit around and around on those knit rows. Finally, last February it was just a matter of finishing the 2nd sleeve and joining it altogether. So, I did.
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And after 11 years, it was finished. Quick! I had my sister take a photo of me wearing it out on her deck! Don't you love her pine tree cut outs on her railing?
Funny to see me with dark hair. I do like dying my hair darker, but the gray streaks started showing through more often. So, I had to go back to my natural lighter color. Oh well! Now my sister and I have the same color of hair and everyone knows for sure we are related. She was here in Austria visiting me a few weeks ago. We had a great visit! That's her on the left, me on the right. We are the bookends of the family (the oldest and youngest) with 5 siblings between us!
