(Inside A Black Apple)

Floral Dept.

Bits of blooms around the kitchen.
Clockwise from left :

1. Thrifted vintage plates from occupied Japan. I love the big bunches of delicate flowers and the decorative edges. I don't know know the name of the motif(s), but I have found three variations so far.
2. Scratched, but all the better for it, red floral-printed tin tray.
3. Our kitchen curtains
4. Sweet little thrifted saucer. I use saucers more than anyone I know. I think we eat nearly all our snacks and treats from saucers, not to mention they are champion spoon-rests.

Thanks so much for the kind words about the new painting!
&
Happy weekend to you

Afternoon Livingroom

Why, hello & how do you do?
Happy New Year, though I know I'm a week late. I needed another week of keeping a distance from internet-life, I think. I have posts I want to compose and things I want to share, but today, just to stop in and say hello, is a sleepy photo of our living room in the mild glow of the golden afternoon.

I perched some framed bits up on the big window ledge up there. I don't know why that took me so long. Precarious perching is one of my best talents.

I've been spending a lot of time in that room lately, being useless, being useful, lining up the ephemeral plans for 2012 in my mind. Stories that need telling. Pictures of imaginary people and fairy tales and accordians and whoknowswhat that need painting. Work for some of these things is underway, the rest will get underway all in good time.

Here's hoping your year is off to a nice start!
I will return with more dispatches soon.

These Days

 

  

Lovely June has me in her clutches, and there have been lots of things (both the quiet and exciting varieties) going on around these parts.

- Most exciting, an ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of my forthcoming book project arrived at the doorstep yesterday, which is so exciting it makes my heart skip a beat.

- I'm creating all the final art for the aforementioned book right now, which is keeping all my quiet moments busy. Creating many pencil shavings.

- Realized at least half of our napkins were truly stained and dodgy, and sewed up a baker's dozen of new ones in pretty summer cottons.

- Baking a bunch. Baked Banana Bread Bittman (pictured above). It's still the perfect B.B. to me.

- I've been really lucky with new/old book finds in the past week or so (also pictured above) the prize jewel being Mermaids & Mastodons. I'm always looking for old cryptozoology/peculiar natural history books, and this one is the best I've found.

- Also been quietly keeping my first flower garden this Spring/Summer. At the risk of sounding maudlin, it's one of the best and happiest pursuits I've ever begun.

Hoping June is being good to you!

 

Blooming Branches

This time of year, Portland is full to bursting with flowering trees. All different kinds, everywhere you look. It makes going on walks into more of a bloom-bandit, scavenging activity!

Miniature, perfect blossoms.

Fluffy, feathery blooms.

Fine, delicate little buds.

The Springtime is really overwhelming me this year, and I've been bringing as many bits of it inside as possible. A neverending carousel of one or two flowers shoved in bottles and little vases, big bunches of tulips...it's so nice.

And thank you for all the kind words on the "Live Flowers" painting - I've recieved lots of inquiries about when it, and the other Alice work will be available. Right now I'm thinking the whole series of originals (including a few more yet-unshown pieces!) will be available in early-ish May.

Of course, I'll post the exact date and time here that all the Alice originals will be available for purchase, so keep an eye out.

Thanks again & Happy Tuesday to you!

Flowers in February

The Winter here is very grey and dim - this is mostly meant literally. But sometimes, with the short days and all the work that must be done indoors, the greyness can take on the metaphorical meaning, too. So for February, to help keep things a little bit more cheerful, we've been trying to keep fresh flowers around the house...

It has been so wonderful.

They're just little cheapy bouquets from the grocery store, but they make the rooms they're in so much nicer! Certainly a very wise way to spend six clams.

I like to split them up, leaving one big bunch, and then little flowers-in-bottles scattered about.

I wish there was a fancy flower-of-the-month club that you could have delivered. As I'm typing this, I'm realizing I'm sure there is such a thing, isn't there?

But truly, I'm pretty content with a humble bunch of carnations. Though I admit that I would go weak in the knees for something fancier, like these poppies or these begonias or really any of the magic flower spells they cast over at the Saipua blog (one of many good/evil things little Frankie got me hooked on.)

I used to buy flowers for my college apartment all the time. I'm not sure when or why I ever stopped?

I see this weekly treat continuing endlessly. I would say til' Spring, but I can only grow moss and ferns in my shady yard. So my grocery list will continue to be: eggs, milk, bread, flowers.

New Kitchen Curtains

I will admit, I wasn't head over heels in love with the last set of cafe curtains I made for our kitchen. It seemed like a good fit at the time, but over the last year, they just seemed so very blue in a kitchen that's all greens and pinks and whites and reds.

So when I acquired yardage of the prettiest 1930's floral kitchen-perfect print, I knew just where it would go!

I whipped these pups up in less than an hour, so please don't judge any funny hemming. Or the pots & pans in the sink (just tryin' to keep it real).

I'm nuts about them - between their cheery presence, and the nice pans and the little 30's green teacup cabinet I got for Christmas, my kitchen is feeling very spruced indeed.

*le sigh*

I hope you're having a nice week, and that the new year is treating you well!

Natural History

Slowly but surely, our living room has become our own miniature natural history museum of sorts. My biggest aquisition to date was a find at Paxton Gate, my favorite store in San Francisco.
It's this little fella here:

(My monkey lamp is looking increasingly out of place on those shelves)

I think he's a klipspringer or possibly a steenbok, definitely a small African antelope. I fell in love on the spot, so I rescued him (he was in total disrepair). We carried him all the way back to Portland with us in our little car, which was quite the spectacle. I had him restored locally and he was given a proper mount, so now he's standing up nicely and looking handsome.

At the same time as our living room gets filled with more and more specimens and illustrations and things, I'm also assembling a natural history themed present for a little gal's birthday that's coming up. I'm so excited about this big stash of Golden Guides I've squirrelled away for her:

I get so much use out of my own small collection, so I'm really excited to give her these. They're such a nice balance of not-too-dumb, but not-too-intimidating.

I also found this amazing silkworm lifecycle encased in resin at my favorite local shop, Flutter:

So that's another gem for the collection o' presents. I really hope she digs all of this...now I'm just on the  hunt for a pretty magnifying glass!

I hope your week is coming along nicely - thanks for coming along for a little science-y fun!

New Window-Dressing

Yesterday, we got new curtains in the mail (these pretty flocked ones) and put them up in the living room straight away. We had lovely deep-teal velvet curtains up, and while elegant, they were also quite dark and encouraged our slightly vampiric tendencies. 

So! We were looking for something completely different. Yellow? Check! Linen? Check! Cheery? Check!

Here is Miette, testing them out to see what a lovely backdrop they'll make for the hours he spends peering-out-of-doors:

Then I realized I hadn't shared our living room in its entirety...only bits + pieces here and there. And the light was really lovely...
So, here it is!

With the addition of the new curtains, I've really fallen in love with it. It's just as I'd like it to be - cozy, with touches of (my approximation of) a natural history museum.

I'm pretty crazy about that magazine rack. We thrifted it a few weeks back. I always thought of magazine racks as horrid and cheesy, but this one manages to be old-timey and modern in the best way.

 

I also thrifted this old metal dish-rack recently, and it now sits atop our player and perfectly holds the cds that are in heavy rotation at the moment.

  

My comics are all there in those short little shelves with my sweet monkey-lamp on top. The huge book wedged between shelves is the wildly big current Kramer's Ergot. And that blur to the right is Miette, rolling around like a crazy on the floor.

  

The roses are all in bloom here, and so we happened to have some sitting around. We don't always (or even usually) have fresh flowers sitting out, but they do make things so much nicer!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Bright White Storybook Kitchen

Here are some photos of the freshly milk-white kitchen that I promised!

The poppies are little decals I picked up at the antique store...they still worked perfectly!

 

Josiah has a little nook right through there...it's where he does Black Apple work and also where he writes.

I papered the back of the cabinets with beautiful Italian paper courtesy of Paper Source. If you can't commit to wallpaper, it's a nice consolation! And that big bread box is one of my current favorite possessions.

I also got the "Eat" letters at the antique mall, sometime last year. And I made the curtains from this wonderful vintage floral yardage I got just a few weeks ago at the antique expo!

 

I thought it would be sweet to hang a little picture inside the shelves.

A bunch of my favorite vintage aprons hang from a pretty hook I got at Anthro.

...and bird prints, the menu-chalkboard, and beautiful old japanese paper lanterns my excellent friend Mandy sent to me  a few months ago.

Well, I have had a really nice, extremely quiet weekend. I baked, went on walks, slept, cooked, drew, and read almost the entirety of Jude the Obscure. 

Hilariously, and I swear this is true, I discovered only a few hours ago that the cheap (NEW) copy I bought is missing pages 288-317. I read the bottom of page 288 and the first line of 317 five times, totally confused, until I realized the problem at hand. (Did the Barnes & Noble edition think I just couldn't handle the further dire adventures?) Luckily, Project Gutenberg came to the rescue for tonight...I am neck-deep in story and completely mad for it, so I don't think I can wait to go to Powell's for a proper copy that includes such luxuries as ALL of the pages.

And even though I'm the worst at remembering to take "before" pictures, I actually dug up a photo that the lovely Lucy B. snapped for us last year so we could see the kitchen in the house (did you know we live in the Berkley's old house? It's true! I think some of their joie de vivre stuck around in the plaster). Here are the old, peanut-butter taffy cabinets...

and photographic evidence that Ryan is not only crazily gifted and wonderful, but is also a considerate person to live with who will wash their share of the dishes.

As you might've noticed, on our little "menu" blackboard up there is says "Quiche" for tonight, and the timer just rang, so I've got to fetch it out of the oven.

I hope you had a nice weekend, and happy Monday to you!

Post-Holiday Hello

Hi! Hello!

We are back (as of late last night) from our holiday-visit-gift-and-eat-athon and feeling so grateful for that 10 days of happy times. Also happy to be back at our dollhouse with a certain grey furbaby warming our respective laps! It is good to go home, and good to come home.

Here are just a few Christmastime snippets from our trip...peacefully finishing up scarves the evening before our flight with the lovely company of a huge cup of steaming-hot tea:

The perfect roasted turkey my brother Stephen made for Christmas dinner:

And the big morning with my mom's incredible tree from this year:

I'm feeling inspired and happy and my brain and sketchbook are abuzz with ideas for the coming year for me and the Black Apple.

Happy Friday, and Happy New Year to you!

A Sleepy Silhouette Room

I realized I still had not shown photos of the rest of our dollhouse! I'll get the whole thing photographed one day. Last night I was showing the collection in this simple, peaceful new bedroom to Amy, 'cause I knew she'd dig them. And then I thought: "I should really blog about these".

So.
Here is our new bedroom. And many, many silhouettes:

It's a really small room with very slanted ceilings, so it's pretty much just got the bed + nightstands in it. I think I like it that way. 

If you're wondering what the weird "bucket" thingie is on my side of the bed (the left), it's a receptacle that is meant to hold fireplace wood. I keep my books in it, so they aren't strewn about the floor so badly.

I really wanted this room to be a little less child-like than our last bedroom, so I kept it spare, but with what I like to think are grown-up goth touches. Like the goth plaster deer. The pretty Victorian ladies pillow is from this rad Etsy shop.

I wanted to do a cluster of silhouettes in this room. I can't claim that I invented this idea, because although I thought that the idea had just sprung into my mind when I started work on it, it later came back to me that I think I saw this in Blueprint (RIP). I collected all these silhouettes from thrifting and Ebay-ing. I only wanted silhouettes that seemed to be of actual people (not the decorative, idealized kind), and I have some real gems.

This shows you two of my favorites, the pipe man and the cro-magnon-browed little girl in the wooden frame to his left.

This one is my other favorite. And this one.

The New & Little Studio

Well, here I am as promised.
I've got a ton of pictures for you, so I hope you're ready for a very visual post! This room is so little that it was a bit tricky to photograph. It's so little, in fact, that I initially didn't think I'd be able to use it for a studio...Ryan had it packed to the gills with action figures + shelving and it was hard to tell if I could handle the closet-ish nature of the room.

But, we prevailed (I think!). I painted it a very light, almost imperceptible mint color which opened it up, and I've managed to finagle three functional work stations. Not too shabby!

Here we go (and remember, you can always click on a detail image to make it larger)...

That's the view if you're peering in my window.

I am so smitten with the print on the left (and of course I still love my bird children, who have now lived with me at four residences!). It was a studio warming gift to myself from Rose + Radish. Also above is an oldie but a goodie from my old studio...the red nick-nack shelf!

My Alice collection, and an amazing swan chariot.

Little bunny lamp, sitting atop the book I mentioned yesterday (the ISBN is ISBN4-07-248674-4 for those that have asked) as a matter of fact! Also, beautiful paper dolls from Ms. Amy Earles (they were a part of the Oceanic show we were both in at Suite 100.) 

This is my painting/drawing station, right next to the window. I cut down yardage of oilcloth to the dimensions of the table to make a more easily clean-up-able surface.

My sweet new sewing table, holding projects waiting to happen (and a slim little drawer for my patterns)!

This albino pigeon that stole my heart and some sweet, tiny things.

The wall with my computering-station and some etceteras (this photo was taken through a doorway from another room, that's how little the place is).

...and that's that! Goodness.

Thank you for perusing, and I'll see you soon!

The Couch of Dreams

I think lots of people have a perfect couch in mind.

I know the sweet Amanda does, and you probably do, too. In fact, I think there is a This American Life segment about a man who has been searching for the perfect couch for something like 10 or 20 years, and until he finds "the one", he's got some terrible futon. Many people know I've had a longstanding (okay, 3 years or so) love-affair with the Amelie sofa in light blue velvet from Anthro. The thing is, in real-life that sofa is actually pretty small and spindly and also seems very un-kid-friendly (you know, for the future). Sharp points and all that. And it's not even available in the blue right now, anyway. SO. I moved on.

My new love is still French-y, vintage, and dusty blue velvet, but it's larger and (seems) sturdier. Lo & behold, when I went to "visit" it today, the couch I've been saving my pennies for from Neiman Marcus online was on sale...

Friends, I totally went for it. And it was substantially less pricey than the Anthro sofa, to boot!

If your tastes run a little more vintage/traditional/romantic in the realm of furniture, I really recommend checking out what the Neiman's website has to offer. Some of it is surprisingly affordable, and most of it is really beautiful.

Happy Thursday & xoxo

Post-Easter Candybrain

I'm so glad the new banner is such a hit!
Thanks for all the sweetness, you guys!

But on to the matter at hand: Good grief, there is so. much. candy. in this apartment.
I'm going to ration it out over the next few weeks, so as to not encourage the onset of diabetes.

I hope everyone had a nice spring weekend! We had a really nice little Easter this year...on Saturday, Josiah and I paper mache'd some enormous easter eggs to hold our candy/treats for each other and yesterday, My mom and sister came over for lunch and egg-dying and a good time was had by everybody (I think!). The weather here was just beautiful...I remember so many soggy, grey Easters, and was very relieved by the crisp brightness of yesterday.

On Saturday night, we scoured the neighborhood after our jog for flowering branches to decorate the table with, and they looked so pretty! Sadly, my kitchen has one measly little window, and my photos turned out pretty awfully. The only decent photos are of my Easter pièce de résistance (which is definitely better than nothing!):

Oh, good! There is evidence of some of the pretty branches after all!

I made orange cupcakes (orange meaning containing juice and zest) with cream cheese frosting, and they were (and still are) very tasty and Easter-y.

Happy Monday!

PS: Anyone who was jonesin' for print images from the last update (The Terrarium, Button Collector, etc.) all five are now up in the shop.

 

Stitches on the wall

I really love this semi-new little cluster in my bedroom:

Most of the embroideries are from this amazing Etsy shop. She will make you a custom, beautiful little embroidered initial if you'd like, and she also has other designs that are very pretty (like the moth, cloud, and squirrel). I made the two others (and the cameo isn't embroidery at all).

Possibly my favorite quote of all time (which shouldn't come as a big surprise):

I got the oval hoop at a thrift store, and I have a few more that I'm planning on using to "frame" some fabric swatches for the studio.

Happy Friday!

Sad Roses

When we made a late, dinner-ingredient dash to the Grocery store on Sunday night, there were these Charlie Brown roses in the "sale" flower area. They were so pretty, in their tired, tattered way...so I brought them home.

I also realized that we're running short on proper vases in this house...which resulted in this arrangement:

Not too shabby, though, right?  Also, I am crazy about this book right now, which figures prominently in these coffee-table pictures.

Off to start my Tuesday in earnest!

Everything was a mess, so I made some bread.

Thank you guys so much for all the support over at Venus. It's so exciting just to be nominated with such wonderful company alongside me!

My whole apartment (bedroom, studio, etc.) is messy right now, so I'm being the slightly-bored straightening-and-cleaning-fairy. You know how all of a sudden...after a few house-guests...some willful ignoring...your home is suddenly not in the least tidy. It has exploded with clutter.  And then it's a few days to set it to rights.

This weekend was nice and quiet and was mostly the aforementioned slow cleaning and being a bit of a hobbit. And I finally read the September Vogue that weighs at least as much as Miette.

Also, on Sunday afternoon I thought that the smell of fresh bread a-baking would give a nice homey-ness back  to the place, so I rustled up the really good recipe that began as Alicia's and is now a little different (due to my experimental cooking nature). It is so easy and really, really addictive when it is finished.

Really Tasty Rosemary and Olive Oil Bread
(The foundation of which is Anne's No-Knead Bread, courtesy of Ms. Alicia Paulson)

Combine and set aside:
2 C King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour (or similar...this particular pale whole wheat is really tasty, has just a tiny bit of nuttyness and is a little more nutritious than its white counterpart)
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Tablespoon + 1 pinch Salt
2 packages of dry yeast (1/4 oz packets)
2 Tablespoons fresh Rosemary (or dried, if it's what you have access to)

Warm lightly on the stove:
1 C Water
1 C Milk
1/4 C Olive Oil

Have on hand:
1 Egg
2 C. White Whole Wheat flour
Greased loaf pan (6"x9" or 5"x8")
1-2 Tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove liquids from heat, and add egg. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients. Blend slowly (with your mixer, or your wooden spoon) and then a bit more vigorously for 3 minutes. Stir in the other 2 cups of flour with your good ol' trusty spoon. Cover with a cloth and let rise about 50 minutes (it should be about doubled). Stir down and then spoon into greased loaf pan.

Bake for about 35 minutes, and then test with a knife or skewer for done-ness. It may take another 5-10 minutes if you're using a 5"x8" loaf pan. Take care to not overcook, it should be lovely and golden all around. Brush/spread top with a dollop or two of softened butter, and you should have a crust resembling this:

Let it cool for at least 30 minutes (but preferably a bit more) before turning it out. Let cool a bit more, whilst cutting slivers absent-mindedly for yourself to snack on. After it's mostly cooled, unless you have enough people to devour the whole loaf right away, cut off some slices for yourself and those deserving, and wrap it in foil (It's very moist and soft and wonderful, but seems to get a hardness/staleness creeping in very quickly).

If you're feeling peckish, you can make yourself some tasty (but crumbly) chicken and/or tomato sandwiches for lunch the next day:

Happy Monday, Applets!

Hi there! I'm here.

Sorry for taking a wee, un-announced break there, and for worrying anyone that I worried.

I'm here!
I'm fine.

I've been getting work done, but also keeping it a little quiet at the Black Apple cottage.

A little of this...

(Enjoying Amy's book, which is every iota as wonderful as everybody says)

A little of that...

(munching on banana bread)

And a just a little of this, too:

PS: Thank you so much for the great update Tuesday!
There are a few original pieces in the shop at the moment, so take a gander if you're interested, as it doesn't happen too often.

PPS: I'm not getting about half of my comments via email...and I don't know why. I'll investigate, but in the meantime, it's probably best to email directly if you have an important question.

Lotsa dolls and lotsa books

Redhead: "I TOLD you it wasn't a good idea for all of us to try to squeeze into this cardigan!"
Blondie: "But I was hoping it would bring us all closer together."
Ms. Black-hair: (Rolls eyes) "Oh, what does it matter. We're going off to different homes soon anyway."
Pinkie: "Don't be so cynical."

A batch of new, pretty, personality-filled Sophie dolls for the shop update tomorrow! Remember, it's 2:00 Eastern time (I think I said EST, but we all know I'm just a forgetful Fran and it's actually EDT).

Also pretty:

I could no longer resist the stack-of-books bookshelf from Design Within Reach (or as I like to think of it, "Design Mostly Way Out Of My Reach"). I thought about it a great deal, and I was so pleased when it arrived today. I really love the illusion of an enormous stack of books, while also maintaining the function of, well, actually being able to get to one's books without having to un-pile the enormous pile..

Josiah says it looks like we have some sort of magical books, and I heartily agree

More frames on more walls

We picked up a big load of stuff that was finished at the framers yesterday, and I finally finished assembling the big wall o' art in the living room that I've had in the works. I couldn't be more pleased...

Beautiful photo from Light Leaks, an Adrian Tomine print, and a vintage furniture drawing in colored pencil that I really love.

An amazingly funny and lovely naive-ish vintage oil painting, tiny Nara print, and a  little drawing-on-napkin by my Sarah which I've dragged with me from place to place for the last 4 years.

A great vintage skate label (blown up and printed by the folks at Blab!), a little black fox print by John Golden, and this incredibly beautiful Ray Ceasar print (my all-time favorite image of his) with a frame that seems made for it.

...and a water-damaged, but very beloved, print by big-eye artist "Lee" (my favorite of the big-eye crowd, FYI), a beautiful John Clark piece, and a wee little tom-cat portrait by Sarah Hogren.

Also waiting for us at the framers is this VERY BELOVED BY ALL WHO LIVE HERE Tara Mcpherson poster for the Atlanta Comics Expo that my sweet peas Devlin and Robert scored for me:

I moved the Seonna Hong print that was there to the kitchen. That poster looks so great with the pink couch!

Whew. Sorry the photos aren't the best, the light in there is pretty crummy. 

How many times have I used Happy Friday as a post title?

This would've been the third time, it appears. I need to come up with some new title-material, clearly!

Just a little note to say just that, well, "Happy Friday", that is...and let you know that I've got a few new postcard packs a-brewin', the first one being comprised of these cuties:

It's just been added to the shoppe as we speak!
The other new pack is a new sort of sampler pack, which I'll show off in the next few days.

Josiah's amazingly lovely mum and sister came to stay with us for a few days, so in addition to packaging up orders, running errands, and scheming up new painting ideas, I  had a reason to bake cupcakes! Not that one needs a reason, at least I certainly don't...but a reason is nice...

My secret ingredient in the magnolia buttercream that I alwaysalways use, is that I include about a teaspoon of cinnamon. It's just barely noticable and it takes a little bit of the super-sweet edge off.

So good.

Prettying up the walls some more

Lately I've been scouring Etsy and other places for more art for the apartment. Like everyone, I'm extremely particular, so it's a tough job (especially sorting through the Etsy art category!). I feel like it (more art) is the only thing that's missing...clusters and clusters of art.

So, I've got a bunch of pieces off at the framers, and some waiting for frames that I can handle (standard sized stuff), and I'm rearranging some of the work that was already in my home into new clusters. Over the couch, we have this new constellation:

From left to right, we have the most hilarious + wonderful shadowbox from Deadbird, a pretty E from a fancy vintage font book I acquired recently, one of my pal Ashley G's  pieces(an original painting!), a framed Yoshitomo Nara postcard (it looks so flippin' good in that frame...it just kills me), this beautiful ceramic plaque with a cast of teeth emerging from the center that I bought from a local artist at her exit show this past spring, the little oval jacket drawing by me, a Seonna Hong print that always catches my eye and makes me happy, and finally, a really pretty J from the aforementioned fancy font book.
   
 

Oh! And the winners of that last little postcard contest have been emailed,they are a trio of nice gals named Ann, Lorna, and Stephanie. Thank you SO much, everyone, for playing along! I have tons of new potential books, and feel very happy to hear books that I already love so much (Lolita, Mrs. Dalloway, Geek Love, Little, Big etc. as well as many of those great children's books get some props).

I hope that the week is wrapping up nicely for everyone! Happy Thursday!

Suddenly, I found myself loving my kitchen

So, I think it's fairly well documented how much I love my apartment. It's perfect for me. Perfect. I don't intend to live in it for more than a few years, but still. It's the bee's knees. And I've been gathering more and more perfect stuff to feather the little nest with lately (lots of art for the walls, some small furniture pieces, etc.).

The only room that I don't love as passionately as the rest is the kitchen, and that is due to the curse of awful "Apartment Cabinets". But suddenly, I do.
I can cope with the bad cabinets (for now). I'm really liking it. At least, this little stove-top view:

I think it's mostly due to these little greeting-letters.

...and the very hilarious vintage embroidered hand-towel (a recent thrift-find).

I don't really agree with that sentiment, but I DO find it wildly hilarious that someone believed in it strongly enough to embroider it.

In Which I Invent a Very Good Cake

Hey! Thanks for all the tee love, you guys. There are still a few left in le shop, if you'd like one!

So, I needed a cake to grace my newly acquired and long-sought-after cake stand, so I made this incredible cake this weekend, and I have just been itching to share it.
Because it's crazy-good.
And because I'm proud of it, as I (kind of) invented it. I say kind of, because I used a basic Vanilla Layer Cake Recipe from the Magnolia cookbook as the foundation. I love, LOVE chocolate-and-orange combinations. I know that lots of folks are with me on this. However, I do not love very dark chocolate (I know, I'm still waiting for my palette to grow up) with my orange-flavored confection. And I have a really hard time finding milk-chocolate + orange combinations.

Thus, I bring you...

Orange Layer Cake with Whipped Fudge Icing

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 C self-rising flour
1 2/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C milk
1/2 c Orange Juice
Grated zest from two oranges
1 Tablespoon orange extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease and lightly flour 2 9" round cake pans (I like to use the inside of the wrappers from the softened butter to grease with, after I dump the sticks into the mixing bowl). Cream the butter with your mixer on medium. Add the sugar and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and then slowly add the flour, alternating with the milk and juice. Mix well after every addition. Blend in the orange zest, and mix a bit more.

Divide the mixture between the two pans, and bake for 20-25 minutes (test with a small, sharp knife or a cake tester into the center, and, as per usual, make sure it comes out clean...otherwise, back in the oven for a few more minutes). Let the cakes cool in their pans for about 10 minutes, and then remove to racks. Let cool completely at room temperature (I let mine cool overnight) before frosting.

Icing Ingredients:
1/2 C heavy whipping cream
4 squares (8 oz) unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
4-5 C confectioner's sugar
3/4 C (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

Carefully melt the butter (you can cube it for easier melting) and squares of chocolate on low, stirring occasionally and watching carefully to make sure the chocolate doesn't scald. When all of the chocolate is melted, remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.

Beat the whipping cream with your mixer on high for 2 minutes, and then add a cup of your sugar. Continue to beat, and  the mixture should get lighter and fluffier. When cooled, slowly add your butter/chocolate mixture and beat on low until smooth. Cup by cup, add the remaining confectioner's sugar, until the mixture is light, thick, and a good spreading consistency. When I finished with this icing, it was verging on gross how obsessed I was with it. I was licking the mixer's beaters...the spatula...the bowl...

Place your cake on the serving plate (or cake stand) and push some small-ish pieces of tin foil or wax paper under the bottom of the cake, all around the perimeter. This will catch your icing mishaps and neaten things up! Using a knife and spoon, ice between the layers and the top and sides of the cake, adding decorative icing "swoops" to the surface with your knife if the spirit moves.

I can tell you that the spirit almost always moves me to do so. Remove scraggly "icing catcher" pieces of tin foil or wax paper from your serving apparatus and there you have it.
Cut and serve to appreciative and deserving peeps, including you!

Hooray for Grey Days

I mean "Grey day" in the best possible way, for today is the day that my wonderful custom Astrid chair finally came after quite a bit of anticipation!

Hmmm...lets get rid of those strange little arm-rest duvets...

Ah, that's better.
Miette would've had a grand ol' time batting those things around. And they're just kinda wierd looking.

I am so very excited about that darn chair. I feel like such a grown-up! In my mind a nice chair of one's own = grown-up status.

Is that sad?

Happy Friday, my sweets! I'm doing an insane amount of packaging/shipping/general workin' the black apple mail-room this evening + tomorrow. I've got crafty projects that have emerged from the mysterious piles of yesterday, so I'll show those off tomorrow...I was just too excited to wait to show you my new chair!