October 2009 Archives

It's that time of year again when the stores fill with those specialty seasonal food items. Candy Corn being ubiquitous for Halloween I always have to have some. A while back I tried a candy corn and salted peanut mix and woh. It takes on a whole new flavor, almost like a Pay Day candy bar. Being my cookie obsessed self, I promptly thought "Hey this could be a cookie"!



After a few tries I had what I was looking for. I admit my first attempt was a rather spectacular failure. I had from the start been concerned with the candy corns becoming overly melted. I knew I'd want to bake them at a low temperature and I went ahead and just mixed them in the dough for the first trial batch. Oh yes, did they melt. Giant molten pools of orange-ish goo that hardened to the baking sheet and reduced the cookies into a big crumbly mess when trying to remove them, oops. However, they were still tasty cookie crumbles!

So I found the solution was to insert a couple candies into the center of each dough ball making sure they were completely covered so the dough acts as a kind of container. Then once they're removed from the oven, pressing a few candies on top so they keep that distinctive kernel shape. Success! A nice combination of salty/sweet with the candy corns making an almost nougat like middle.



Candy Corn and Peanut Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups sifted flour (140g)
  
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 cup salted peanuts
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup candy corns
  

1. Heat oven to 325°F.

2. Cream together butter, peanut butter and both sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

3. Add egg and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.

5. Add flour mixture to butter mixture stirring until blended. Stir in peanuts.

6. Form 1 inch balls of dough, inserting one or two candy corns into the center. Make sure dough completely covers the candy on all sides. Place on baking sheet and slightly flatten.

7. Bake 13 to 15 minutes.

8. Remove from oven and immediately press a few candy corns into the top of each cookie. Let cool several minutes (baking sheet should be cool enough to touch). Carefully transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

Have a Happy Halloween!

There is hardly a more fabulous accessory than a vintage style hat.



Nothing transforms an outfit like a great hat can. I think they're such fun pieces which is probably why I can't seem to stop making them. This pillbox hat is not full size, so it's more a type of cocktail hat that sits tilted on the head.



From understated to extravagantly embellished, the decorations can endlessly vary the look. Make two from one skein and adorn completely differently!
 


The pillbox shape for hats has been around literally thousands of years but was more recently made popular in the mid-20th century. This classic shape is easy to wear and won't mess up your hair.



The instant download rundown -after payment via Paypal you will be given a link to download the pattern. This link will also be emailed to you and will expire in 120 hours. For any questions about the pattern or whole download process please shoot me an email me at- jen@pieknits.com!

Pattern: Dose -  Felted Pillbox Cocktail Hat
Gauge: 12 sts and 16 rows = 4" in St st before felting
Needle sizes: Size 11 (8 mm): 16" circular (cir) and set of 4 or 5 double-pointed (dpn)
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino (100% merino wool; 223 yds [204 meters] per 100g): 00226 Black, 1 ball (approx. 1/2 for 1 hat)
Skill level: Beginner-Intermediate (working in the round with small number of sts, short rows, single crochet used)
Price: $3.75
Format: PDF instant download pattern

So it seems 6,194 ravelry projects can't be wrong. The Saartje's Bootees pattern just churns out awfully cute booties. I knit these Red Heart Ltd. Heart & Sole in Razzle Dazzle. I love finding "non-babyish" colors for baby knits. Personally I think there are too many pastels out there. These are for my new niece who should be arriving sometime today!



I would have liked to share photos of a green and thriving veggie garden this summer, alas it was not meant to be. We had the heat spike up early and long and it really stunted about everything. Wow do I have some ugly tomato plants. I'm finally getting a few from it and hoping the frost will hold off long enough to get one crop out of them. The chili peppers though, the chili peppers went crazy. They're something you can count on to take the Texas heat and with that in mind I had planted several varieties. This is my recent harvest where I left everything that could possible stay on the plant a bit longer there (this is probably 1/4 of what's out there). It's close to 2 lbs! And these aren't exactly heavy fruits.



I have Hungarian hot wax, Sweet banana pepper, Serrano, Cayenne, Bell peppers, and a mystery plant that re-sprouted from last year. There's also a few tomatoes in there (mostly cherry).
So any ideas on what to do with all these?
My go-to has been chili quesadillas (which are awesome with these) but one can only eat so much.

My lovely friend Mel, who I designed the first Devra hat for, was definitely one of the most enthusiastic recipients of a hand knit I've made. So when she requested another version in a darker color, slouchy style, with a little longer brim to switch up with her other one, I was only too happy to comply! Thus what I'm dubbing "Devra 2.5", heh.



The yarn, Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends, has come out with some new lovely colors and this one is a near black (color: Stone) which I thought lets the cables show through nicely. I did an extra repeat on my slouch version (Devra 2) to make it "extra slouchy" as she has such amazingly thick hair that the original was more "slightly loose" that full bodied. On me it looks close to a dread tam (can't really see all of it here), which I like just as much actually.



On the original design I kept the brim short as I think it's cute but also because while plastic mesh canvas (wonderful cheap stuff) works well as a brim stiffener it isn't the most shapable material on its own. It can tend to come out rather flat, which is more noticeable on a larger bill. Again I took some inspiration from my dabbling into millinery and wire reinforced the edge. It turned out simple to do. I wish I had done this for all my past hats! Take any gauge wire that's easy enough to shape and form it to the outside edge of your canvas. Then using a thread and needle whip stitch it into place. Doesn't have to be perfect, you won't see it once it's inside the knitting. Now it's easy to form into a shape that's to your liking.

Chocolate and peanut butter and brownies combined? Oh yeah I had to try this out immediately.



While this recipe does classify itself as a brownie, I'd say it straddles the line of bar cookie as well - which is only too fine in my book. It has a nice soft texture and is just lightly sweet so the combined chunks of chocolate PB cups don't overwhelm.

Chocolate-Stuffed Peanut Butter Brownies
via bettycrocker.com

• 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 36 miniature chocolate-covered peanut butter cup candies, unwrapped (from 15.6-oz bag) (I used only 20 on top)
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

1. Heat oven to 350°F (if using dark or nonstick pan, heat oven to 325°F). Grease bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with shortening or spray with cooking spray.

2. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, butter, peanut butter, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon, until well blended. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Cut 12 of the candies into fourths (about 3/4 cup). Stir cut-up candies and chocolate chips into batter. Spread in pan.

4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

5. Immediately press remaining 24 candies in brownies in 4 even rows of 6 candies each. Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.

My newest mini hat- and oh how I love it so!



My last mini top hat I had modified the Miniature Top Hat pattern to be about 3/4 scale but for this one I wanted it even smaller and less tall. I heavily modified the pattern for this and would say its closer to 1/2 the size of the original. And I wanted one in black, because well, black is awesome.






When felting pretty much all yarns produce some surface fuzz on the finished felt, some more than others. A simple trick I use to tidy them up is shaving the fabric. Yep, with just a regular old razor (I keep a cheapie one on hand for this).



You can see the difference it makes! It looks much more like commercial felt now. You can use a sweater shaver as well if you have one. I've also been studying millinery and picking up some "hat tricks" from this as well. It's common to sand the felt down (with sandpaper, same as you do wood). I plan to try this next.



For the feathers this time I tried out something I picked up in reading. I wrapped the feather cluster base in wire (millinery tie wire is what's professionally used, you could also use thread) to hold them together. Then I sewed a small metal jump ring behind the lace band and inserted the feather base through this to help it stay in place better. The burn flower I made following this nice tutorial. I had some lining I had cut out of a thrifted skirt I'm converting into an apron bustle that worked perfect for the petal material.



I sew hair clips into the underside of my hats to keep them on. It's also common to use an elastic band to be worn under the head. Unfortunately for me I have a rather shallow occipital ridge and bands like that always just slide right off, hence the hair clip route.



I adore the look of birdcage veils but couldn't decide if I'd want one all the time. I then came up with the idea for a detachable veil, perfect! I used hook & eye closures, the hook being sewn to the gathers in the veil and the eye portion being attached under the lace band. I love both looks!