A Creative Life
There are times when one must exercise certain skills in order to maintain the level of proficiency one has, or in this case, someone requested cookies & cream something for a breakfast meeting we’re having. Baking is a skill wherein I’m still learning the rules as there are still so many things to explore. I know enough though to make some changes to recipes to get the desired results or flavors. Desserts can be cloyingly sweet, and I wanted to avoid this with the whoopie pies.
The cake recipe comes from The Cake Bible – Rose Leve Berenbaum. This is one of two cake books purchased in the 1990’s, that shifted the way I bake taking something of a slower approach. At the time the difference in viscosity of the cake batter blew my mind because until then cake batter was runny. Today’s recipe, devils food cake, is a riff on the All American butter cake, using an unsweetened cocoa & hot water emulsion as the chocolate. I tend to keep jumbo eggs around so had to mind the liquid content. The cocoa gets mixed partly with the butter/flour/sugar mix and partly with the eggs before everything is incorporated.
As with quilt making one of the biggest shifts is slowing down and taking the time to allow things to mix well before putting the batter into the pans, or in this case, dishing it out in a cookie like fashion.
For the frosting I used Ermine Frosting – i am baker, which is this smooth, creamy, almost light frosting that eating with a spoon would be inside the realm of possibility. As the request was for cookies & cream I got the store brand chocolate sandwich cookies and smashed them to bits before adding them into the frosting.
Quilting came into my life a little more than 30 years ago. I’m still smitten, although there have been periods of time when quilting seemed utterly impossible because whatever was happening in daily life demanded all my attention. If I could adequately explain to you what this feels like the release would be sweet and the “writers block” overcome in one fell swoop. Over the last couple of years I’ve been writing a lot as both a creative outlet and part of the study to become a spiritual director.
In my stash there was a gorgeous piece of fabric that made my heart go pitter pat. The idea presented itself and here I am stitching.
The part I’m working on right now is the sun’s rays. There’s an idea for a tree and a mountain and perhaps a river. As I watched this seemingly random image come into focus I make the connection from first grade to now. I’ve been drawing this image in some way since I was six. Each variation is different and this one is wildly different and I’m here for it.
In this bit I’m using two different colors of Superior Threads MicroQuilter through one needle. Yes, you did read that correctly. Two threads through one needle is something I’ve played with since the machine quilting skills started coming together. This is a fascinating adventure as there is a lot of serendipity in color and feel that happens.
Serendipity happens in the stitching motifs as the form under the needle. While I have an idea, I don’t know fully what this will look like when it’s finished.
Before I head off to finish cleaning up the kitchen, I wanted to remind you of the Embroidery Extravaganza on Creative Spark July 17. Details on the link.
What are your other creative exercises and practices?
Happy Creating,
Teri
