hello…my name is deedrie…and i can’t keep this fern alive

Our day started with a cup of tea and these -

The recipe is from Richard Bertinet’s Dough.  I love it because you can mix the dough weeks in advance, shape them, and then pop them into the freezer.  The night before you need them you can take out a few and let them rise overnight and they are ready to fry in the morning.

Here is the recipe for the dough.  After the first rise you shape small pieces of dough into balls.  You can leave them that shape or press the center in and stretch to create a ring.  I started making them into rings so I don’t have to worry about getting the center cooked through.  At this point, you can either let them rise for another 45 minutes (covered with a towel) and fry immediately, or you can freeze them.  Once frozen you can store them in a bag in the freezer and fry as needed.  If they are frozen, let them rise (covered with a towel) overnight.  In the morning using a large pan with an inch or so of oil, heat the oil to 350 degrees.  Fry the doughnuts a few at a time, on each side, until browned.  Remove from oil and dredge in sugar.  I usually use a blend of standard powdered sugar and non-melting powdered sugar.

happy weekend

so summer is over – at least by the looks of my schedule – the kids are back to school and the aspen trees are almost empty so fall must be lurking around

so here I sit in peace and quiet ready to get back into the swing of things

We did manage to get some great things done in August -

I mastered the granny -

This bit of charred pork was transformed in to some serious South Carolina style pulled pork

We took the kids to tour the museum I worked at while I was in college…

where I learned that aluminum is no longer in style…

this would be less of an issue if I didn’t have the same cake carrier in red in my house.

I decided that next party I throw will be a tea and scissors party

We also managed to sneak in some swimming lessons.

This…

became this…which means I’m one step closer to a workshop

and yes that pun was totally intended.

Here’s a full view of the spouse’s new quilt.

It’s made from the Happy Trails line by Benartex.  I took my cue for the design from the name and created lines from all different sized strips of fabric.  The quilted the center of the top with horizontals in various widths.  I quilted all the seams as well.

The back is also from the Happy Trails line – I used a strip each of pistols and barbed wire along with the orange plaid.

Here it is on it’s first test drive.