Small Pleasures

Isn't it funny how the small pleasures in life seem to be so short-lived?
My husband and I both had dentist's appointments this morning, and I brought along my hand stitiching to keep me busy.  Naturally, I finished in the dentist's chair before he did and headed out to the car to wait for him, but I was hesitant to pull out my stitching hoop, because I was sure he'd be done any minute.  I waited and waited....still no show....Heck with it, I'm going to get started.  So, there I am sitting in a nice warm sunbeam, slurping on my jamocha shake from Arby's and stitching away happily....Ahhh ~ what a simple joy!

But, as you can expect, it only lasted about 5 minutes and he was out!  *sigh*  Oh well, it was fun while it lasted....guess I should've pulled it out sooner, huh!  :)

I've really been having fun with these little dresses and the now-friendly serger!

It's a fairly simple pattern, but those little sleeves are a bit trying!  Super cute, but also super buggers!!

They're so tiny that it's hard to get them onto the open arm of my sewing machine!

I'm making size 1 here, and I can't imagine what making the smaller size would be like!  I'm going to be making the larger sizes later, so it's nice to get the difficult stuff done first!

Ever notice that when you do lots and lots of something you get really good at it?  Sometimes that first one or two turns out just awful, but if you perservere, you really do improve your technique!  All you have to do at that point is decide if you enjoy making that particular thing over and over again!

I spent most of yesterday cutting them out and even hit the fabric store today after my dentist visit and picked up a few more pieces of fabric that I think will be cute, in addition to some ric-rac and buttons.  These are gonna be so much fun to make!

I'm planning to list them in my Etsy shop once I get several of them completed.

Thank you for the well-wishes for my potential baking endeavors!  I'm still waiting to hear back from the chef!  I've had several requests for the recipe for my coconut cake so I thought I'd share it here.  I received this recipe from my boss's wife back around 1995 or so, and have always come back to it as a "keeper" recipe.  Unfortunately, when I went to make it last week, the recipe card was nowhere to be found!  It must've disappeared into the black hole that also contains my recipes for Swedish Pancakes and Chicken Creole - two of my favorites that I just can't seem to duplicate or find online.  So, I tried looking online and successfully found this one!

Coconut Sour Cream Cake


· 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
· 1 teaspoon almond extract
· 2 cups sour cream
· 1 3/4 cups white sugar
· 1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
· 2 cups flaked coconut – I like to use two of the frozen packets

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 9-inch pans. Prepare cake mix as directed by manufacturer, adding almond extract. Bake according to instructions on package. When cake is cool, remove from pans and cut in half, horizontally (use heavy duty thread for this - it works like a dream!)  If you feel real ambitious, spread the batter into three pans and split those, giving you 6 layers!

2. To make the filling, mix together the sour cream and sugar in a medium sized bowl. Stir in 1-1/2 cups of the coconut. Reserve 1 cup of this mixture and spread the rest between the cooled cake layers. Fold whipped topping into the remaining filling and frost the outside of the cake. Sprinkle the remaining coconut over the top of the frosted cake. (I have always wondered how they get stuff like coconut, sprinkles, etc. onto the sides of the cake without making a terrible mess - anyone have the answer to this mystery - please share!)

3. Refrigerate from 1 to 3 days before serving.

LOW FAT TIP:  You can use applesauce in place of the oil in the cake mix and also fat free sour cream and fat free cool whip for the filling and frosting to cut some calories and fat and the cake will still turn out super!

We're out of dessert in the house (bummer) and I promised my daughter that the next dessert I make would be one she liked (she's not too keen on coconut).  She asked for something with peanut butter in it.  Well, I love peanut butter and even more so peanut butter and chocolate!  I dug thru my ever-growing and always-messy stack of recipes and found one I haven't tried yet, but it fits the bill perfectly!  Chocolate Peanut-Butter Torte!  Sounds, fancy, huh!  Looks fancy, too, but I think I can manage.

I don't have the special baking pan recommended by Pampered Chef, but I'm going to try it with something else.  Remember what I said earlier about how the first time you try something new it doesn't always turn out right?...of course, we have no problem eating "mistakes" in this house!  Stay tuned....  :)
 

I hope you take time to enjoy a small pleasure or two this week!