Oops! Apparently I've accidentally deleted all of my images. I'll see about fixing that soon.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Progress on Projects and a Recipe

January has been a busy month with a lot of small projects starting and a lot of large projects continuing or finishing up.  So I thought I'd share some of that with you.

 First off, I've managed to eke out some time to work on my corset. (last update was here) I re-cut all of my boning (reclaimed spiral steel bones from previous corsets) and replaced the tips. The only flat steels are the busk and the steels at center back on either side of the grommets.





With the boning inserted I finished my edges.  I chose not to bind them but to turn the edges inward.  It was very different but I think I like the 'edgeless' look. 

I've begun flossing this week and finally get to start putting in the grommets. Yays!



A side project that I have been wanting to start for a while is the use of food-based dyes.  I love the beautiful color that the water turns when I soak black beans so I wanted to start there.  The test had two goals: to see what color I could get and to see how durable the color was after washing.

results of dye test on bleached and unbleached muslin

 I was unhappy with how green the blueish color from the beans left the fabric so after drying from the bean-dying process I soaked the fabric samples in cranberry-pomegranate juice (i figured if it can stain the counter surely it can dye some fabric). The result was a nice pale lavender.  It's nice, but a little pale for what I wanted.  I'll do a little research and do another test sometime soon.


I also made a little progress painting the latest mini challenge: Dartan Vilmon.  It took me forever to decide on a color scheme so it's really going to be a race to the finish.  I've come up with what I think will be a neat design for the cape but my practice tests have not gone well.  I really need more freehanding practice.


Last, but certainly not least, I've done a little bit of baking.

Inspired by this post over at MADE, I decided to make my own gluten-free version of Tangerine Brownies.  They turned out super-yum so I'm sharing the recipe with you :)


GF Tangerine Brownies

Makes about 18 cupcake-size or 1 9x9 pan. i think.

Preheat oven to 350°F
(about 175°C)

Grease pan or line muffin-tin with paper bake cups

Mix together in a large bowl:
  • 200g (about 1-1/4C) gluten free flour(s) of your choice
  • 6T Cocoa powder
  • 1T xanthan gum or guar gum (if not included in gf flour blend)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 T baking powder

Mix together in a medium bowl:
  • 1 C sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or 1/4 tsp vanilla extract + 1/4 tsp orange extract)
  • 1 T ground flax seed
  • 1/3 C oil (I used 1 T melted butter, 1 T melted coconut milk solids, and the rest canola oil)
  • 1/2 C water

Let sit for about 5 min.

Slowly add liquid mixture to dry, mixing well in between additions. After it's all mixed, mix for a while longer.

Stir in half a bag of chocolate chips.

In a medium bowl whisk 2 egg whites to soft peaks. Carefully fold into batter.

Pour mixture into desired pan(s) and bake for about 20 min. Do not overbake.

Icing:
  • about 3/4 package of cream cheese (softened)
  • 3-4 T butter (softened)
  • zest of one or two tangerines
  • powdered sugar - idk i think i used about a cup? maybe?
 mix in mixer adding powdered sugar till it looks/tastes right.

when the brownies are cool ice them and eat them. if you can't wait, only ice the one you plan to eat at the time.... :P


Hope your week is going well!

2 comments:

  1. lol thanks. i'm loling bc the color is called 'snot green.' At this point there is no way I'm going to be done with him in time for this month's submission date but I'll still be sure to post pics on the blog as I get him finished.

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