TWD Revisited: Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake

So TWD is over, we baked it all. Well I was pretty lax about participating the two months (but for good reason). But the good news is we're still going to be baking TWD will start baking our way through Baking with Julia beginning February 7th. In the meantime I'm still baking, although I've had some issues that normally I would not have but for some reason my baking attention span has been lessened causing some kitchen misshaps. First was when I made the Low and Lush Chocolate Cheesecake (page 243 of the Dorie book). I made an ENTIRE CHEESECAKE and left out the sugar. Oh the humanity. Next I made the Peanuttiest Blondies (page 119 ) and managed to underbake them so the outside was perfect looking but the inside was gooey and not totally baked. Sigh. 

Finally, I did manage to bake the Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake (page 286) without screwing it up. For some reason I thought I missed baking it when it was originally made during TWD, but then I looked in my archives and I did bake it in June 2010. Anyway, it was still very good. This time I used an actual loaf pan and raspberry jam instead of cherry.

I look forward to baking through the new book, I think it's going to be a little challenging, there are a lot more recipes with more techniques I'm not familiar with, but it should be a fun learning opportunity.

Finished knits & in-process knit

Here are a few things I finished up before the end of the year but didn't get a chance to photograph until now. 

Heirloom Baby Blanket, knit in Madelinetosh Vintage - colorway "Happiness"

I knit this blanket in September for my friend's baby girl and liked the pattern so much I decided to knit one for my own someday-baby stash. This version is a little larger because I used worsted weight instead of DK and the skeins were a little different color-wise but it still turned out really nicely.

Pebble Baby Vest, knit in Madelinetosh DK - colorway "Forestry"

I knit this up super quickly but it took me ages to sew the buttons on (lazy). I've knit this before too but the first time I messed up the sizing and it was more dress-like than vest-like. But this time it turned out pretty well. This is also for my someday-baby stash. The picture doesn't accurately show the color, it's a beautiful dark green/blue and the buttons are yellow/pale green.

Leaves Long Beanie (from Weekend Hats), knit in Madelinetosh Vintage - colorway "Silver Fox"

Again, a really quick knit (a weekend maybe?) and it was my first time finally managing to work from a chart without writing the instructions out, yay me. I was a little worried a slouchy hat would look weird with my haircut but I think it's looks fine.

And now for the in-process knit...

Jetty Sweater, knit in Quince & Co. Lark - colorway "Storm"

I originally bought this yarn to knit the Castle Pullover (same designer) and I even started knitting it. However I felt like the Jetty sweater might be a little more flattering on me instead. It's gone pretty quickly and I love the cable details. I might have started my decreases/increases a little past the point they needed to be so I have to decide if I want to fix it or keep it. Ugh.

Orange you glad it's January

January is a fresh start, a clean slate, a new page in the notebook; there are so many possibilities for this year. I bought our new wall calender in October, it's from Rifle Paper Co. and I love all the illustrations in it. Since January's illustration was citrus, it inspired me to bake something with citrus. Plus I've been snacking on clementines like crazy lately. 

I thought cupcakes might be fun and I found this recipe for Orange Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. I used some cheery-looking liners I bought at Joanne's a while back. I really liked the cupcakes, they were appropriately orange enough and the cream cheese frosting was delicious.