All things beautiful

My latest crosstitch projects completed

Bacon, Egg and Toast Cups. - From Martha Stewart

Try cooked, crumbled sausage in place of bacon or make a vegetarian version with sauteed spinach. Dress things up with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
8 slices white or whole-wheat sandwich bread
6 slices bacon
6 large eggs
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter 6 standard muffin cups. With a rolling pin, flatten bread slices slightly and, with a 4 1/4-inch cookie cutter, cut into 8 rounds. Cut each round in half, then press 2 halves into each muffin cup, overlapping slightly and making sure bread comes up to edge of cup. Use extra bread to patch any gaps. Brush bread with remaining butter.

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium, until almost crisp, 4 minutes, flipping once. (It will continue to cook in the oven.) Lay 1 bacon slice in each bread cup and crack an egg over each. Season with salt and pepper. Bake until egg whites are just set, 20 to 25 minutes. Run a small knife around cups to loosen toasts. Serve immediately.

Cook’s Note

Standard muffin pans come in 6- or 12-cup size; if baking 6 items in a 12-cup pan, leave empty space in between. Nonstick pans are nice but not essential. Beware of very thin pans, which often lead to burning. Place pans on a baking sheet to make them easier to get in and out of the oven.

Divorce Jokes

A woman went to an attorney to ask about a divorce.
"What grounds do you have, ma'm?"
"About six acres."

"No, I don't think you quite understand. Let me rephrase the question. do you have a grudge?"
"No, just a parking space."
"I'll try again. does your husband beat you?"
"No, I always get up at least an hour before he does."
The attorney could see he was fighting a losing battle. "Madam, are you sure you want a divorce?"
"I'm not the one who wants a divorce," she said. "My husband does. He claims we don't communicate."

At inspection one morning, an officer asked a private who was thinking about no re-enlisting, "Are you married, son?"
"No, sir," he replied. "Engaged."
"There's no need to get married," the officer said, sensing an opportunity to change the private's plans for discharge. "The Marine Corps is your wife. It clothes you, feeds you, puts a roof over your head, keeps you in top physical condition and provides you with companionship. What else could you possibly want?"
"With all due respect, sir," answered the private, "a divorce!"

RAKU

Fazer raku é uma experiência que envolve os quatro elementos, terra, ar, fogo e água - todos contribuem para o resultado final.

Começa-se por modelar uma peça de barro poroso, cozendo-a a uma temperatura não muito elevada. Depois, aplica-se o vidrado na peça, e leva-se esta de novo ao forno, a uma temperatura de 800 a 1000 graus.

Atingida esta temperatura, as peças são retiradas ainda incandescentes do forno e colocadas numa atmosfera redutora - isto é, num ambiente com pouco oxigénio. Na prática, isto equivale a mergulhá-las numa substância orgânica como a serradura. É nesta altura que por vezes surge alguma chama; é necessário tapar rapidamente o recipiente da serradura, e deixa-se a peça ficar durante alguns minutos. O fumo que vai escapando neste processo é um lençol espesso, quase viscoso, amarelado e muito tóxico.

Na terceira fase do processo, a peça é retirada da serradura e rapidamente mergulhada em água.

Quando a peça já está suficientemente arrefecida para podermos pegar-lhe, é retirada da água e esfregada de maneira a retirar a serradura carbonizada que ficou agarrada.

Todas estas acções permitem criar efeitos singulares: craquelês, brilhos e texturas especiais, e que - aí reside a magia - apenas em parte são controláveis. Não é possível fazer duas peças de raku iguais, já que não se consegue ter sempre exactamente as mesmas circunstâncias. A porosidade do barro, a quantidade de vidrado e a forma como este se aplica, a temperatura do forno, a madeira de que é feita a serradura, a temperatura da peça, o contacto maior ou menor da superfície da peça com a serradura, o tempo de imersão em água - um instante a mais ou a menos, e abrem-se mais uma rachas, o verde fica mais azul, o brilho fica mais ou menos intenso. As zonas da peça onde não foi colocado vidrado ficam totalmente pretas, o que permite criar contrastes muito interessantes com o vidrado branco, sobretudo quando há craquelê

Apple Muffins

Ingredients

Directions

-		1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
-		1 1/2 cups oat bran cereal (uncooked)
-		1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
-		1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
-		1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
-		1 teaspoon cinnamon
-		1/2 teaspoon salt
-		2 eggs
-		1 cup grated apple (with skin)
-		4 tablespoons canola oil
-		1 teaspoon vanilla
-		1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins

· Preheat oven to 400ºF.

· Prepare muffin tin with liners or lightly grease each muffin cup.

· In a large bowl combine the first seven dry ingredients.

· In a separate bowl slightly beat eggs. Add oil and vanilla, stir to combine.

· Add egg mixture, grated apple and cranberries to dry ingredients. Stir together until blended well.

· Spoon into muffin cups and let sit for 5 minutes before baking.

· Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Candlewicking

This bedspread is made of candelwicking. The blocks are 40x40cm, the same heart pattern was used thu out the beadspread, I used batting as padding while doing the candlewicking, I used cotton lace on the strips to join the blocks. To complete the bedspread I used a night frill as lining.