Red Velvet Cake

As I mentioned in my last post, Musings, yesterday I intended to make a Red Velvet Cake using beet powder instead of food coloring.
I had planned on doing this for a while, and a friend had given me a pack of beet powder that she happened upon, so I finally had the opportunity, and the occassion, to make the cake yesterday.
AND IT WORKED!

Food dye allergies are quite common, with sensitivity to red food dye being the most common. I know, and pity, some people who are not capable of eating jello, nibs, or red smarties because of their allergies, and I know that carries over for most Red Velvet Cakes. And let's face it, the more natural you get, the better it gets for you.

Enter beet powder.

I've used beets in baking before, much like how you would use grated carrot in a carrot cake. They of course add some color to whatever you're making, and a nice earthy flavor, but they aren't overwhelming by any means. Beet powder has a more mild flavor, essentially being roasted beets that are dried and ground up, but it still has the same coloring properties. The recipe I used was a simple google-and-choose-the-best-picture recipe. I did look at a couple other recipes, and some got pretty 'inventive' about their interpretation of what a red velvet cake really is. For those of you who are unaware, a red velvet cake traditionally is a buttermilk-based devil's food cake (which typically means lots of baking soda to get the red-chocolate color), and half a container of red food dye. Some of the recipes I saw were based off of a cream cheese sponge cake and had no chocolate, just beet powder. Not exactly the same thing...

There are some tricks to making sure beet powder will work. Apparently you need to be careful about the overall acidity of your batter, or the color will turn out purpley-brown instead of red. So baking soda is basically a no-go. Without soda as a leavening agent, the next best way to get a cake to rise is the volume mixing method. Essentially, you beat eggs to high volume and fold everything together to get it to rise. That's the method this recipe used. (Note: this link is to an online document, not a webpage per say)

Well, I set about making the cake and made one mistake right off the bat: I broke a yolk and some fell into my egg whites. That, my friends, is why you should use an egg separator instead of trying to be a hero. The result of that tiny little gaffe was that my eggs never hit the stiff peak stage that the recipe called for, and that affected the overall rise of my cake. Mine by no means looked like the picture on the link, however I can see how it could potentially get close.

If you've never looked into beet root powder before, you can buy some online from wholesalers, or check out this link on amazon for 1 pound for $13.95.

The taste of my finished cake was surprisingly normal! There's a very faint hint of the beet powder, but it goes nicely with the chocolate. The cake is a bit more eggy than a traditional devil's food, but that's not to say it's a bad thing. I only had a bit of cream cheese (silly me), so I help the cake together with the cream cheese frosting, and then I made a chocolate-coffee icing for the top. Yum!

One more note about the recipe: typically when you are making a cake, it's wise to not oil the sides of your pan so the cake rises better, however, because of the high egg content, and the fact that as big as your batter gets is basically as big as your cake will get, I'd recommend a very light layer of oil on the sides. It was a bit of a trick to get it out of the pans at the end.

Give it a try - you won't be disappointed!

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)

Musings

It's been FOREVER! I've been such a lazy bum!
Actually, what I've really been is a busy bum. It's been hard for me to fit in everything in the past month and that's lead to less time for me to do fun things like crafts, baking, or even planning to do crafts and baking.
But today, despite the fact that I have a load of cleaning and bookkeeping and furniture moving today, I'm taking a break. Why? Because it's my birthday!

It's an interesting birthday this year. Usually I'd have a birthday dinner with my parents, or at very least cake with Matt's family, but since my parents are away this week, and his parents are busy, we've got no real plans. In fact, my birthday dinner with my parents won't be for another week, and the cake date with his family hasn't even been set yet. So tonight we're kicking around the house, having time as our own small family, and moving a piano. But that's okay, because the piano's for me!

As I mentioned, my time has been so full of other duties that I haven't had time for pretties and parties, but now that I've slowed down for the day I'm thinking it would be fun to bake something. I hit up Pinterest for the first time in a while and I saw abunch of cute ideas for Hallowe'en (I know - forever away.) and now I want to make costumes. And I've still yet to finish my nightstands by modge podging sheet music on top (I'm trying to find the music still!) I'm sure I could fill my whole day up with doing useless pretty things! OH, and I've also got jewellery to make! I'd made up a whole bunch of those bird nest necklaces and I ended up selling a handful of them, and now I've ordered in some bronzed wire that will make a more rustic looking nest. Those ones I plan to sell for a bit more.

While I still don't know all that I plan to accomplish today (obviously), I think it would be fun if I posted some of the thoughts that are roaming through my head - they range from tips to musings, and hopefully you'll find them inspiring!

1. Have you ever tried shaving pumpkins instead of carving them? It involves shaving down the shell until light can shine through partially. You can do alot of neat things with shading, and more intricate designs because you don't have to worry as much about connecting lines and having pieces fall out. I like this Spiderman Pumpkin and this Volkswagon Pumpkin!
2. Incidentally, who says you need to use pumpkins? Pineapples, mandarin oranges and watermelons can all be used in creative ways! And pineapples and mandarin oranges are in season closer to winter, too!
3. I'm hoping to make a red velvet cake today, but instead of using red food coloring, I'm going to try making it with beet powder! It's a natural dye, I've got a bit on hand, and I'm going to see how the color holds up against the chocolate in a devil's food cake!
4. I think I need a custom seal. Like, a wax one. Apparently you can carve one out of a dowel and then drip some red wax on your envelope and stamp it in. Worth trying, no? Wouldn't it be cool to have your own formal seal?
5. I've still got some of that stone ground flour that I need to make a muffin recipe with. I've got an original recipe for Pumpkin, Apricot, Date muffins, but I'm wondering if I should make up a whole new one? Maybe an apple one?
6. Some of the crafts that I've seen lately (everything from halloween costumes and wedding decor to nail art and jewellery) require feathers. Here's a hint: before you go to Michaels or to a florist to shell out big money for a peacock or ostrich feather, try visiting a sporting store. Fly fishers use feathers in their fly tying and you can find a variety of colorful feathers for a very reasonable price at somewhere like Bass Pro Shop, Cabela's, or even Canadian Tire.
7. Looking for more cheap crafting supplies? Ebay. Especially things like beads and wire, you can find a variety of supplies for dirt cheap, and with free shipping. I made my Chan Luu imitation bracelet for about $5 (I paid about $10 for the supplies, but I have enough of everything to make a second triple-wrap bracelet). My bird nest necklace wire was $6 for A LOT (it'll probably work out to 10 cents per piece), and you can find some varieties of genuine semi-precious stones for wholesale pricing. Just watch the shipping - Lots of places from Hong Kong will do free shipping, but closer places can charge an arm and a leg.
8. I'm getting calling cards printed soon. I've been meaning to for a while, and now that I have some birthday money I might use a bit for that. I'm involved in a number of unrelated projects, businesses and volunteer efforts where I give out my information a lot. I've got recipe cards that I use as business cards for my Pampered Chef stuff, but it would be nice if I had one card, mostly with personal info on it, that I could write a note on the back of, about why that person was talking with me. They'd be handy!
9. I'm planning a surprise party for someone this year and I want to make it a theme party - but I've been toying with the idea of a secret theme, that only people who are familiar with the references will know it's actually a theme. What do you think? It'll be a very mixed group, so I'm having troubles thinking of one theme that would work across the board.
10. What do you buy a couple that are both mature and have lived on their own for over a decade? We're going to a wedding this winter for just such a couple and I think we're going to pool resources with a few other couples to buy them something big and fantastic - but what?
11. I'm a little torn about what to do with the rest of my birthday money. I've been meaning to get a few more Sophie Conran for Portmeirion pieces (I need new kitchen canisters and Matt likes the contrasting blue dinner set) but there's also this Metal cuff imprinted with text from Jane Austen's Persuasion, with the line, "You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope." in larger letters overtop. It's $40 + shipping from the UK, and I've wanted it since I saw it last year, but I've never really thought about ordering it until now. It's gorgeous! Who knows, maybe I'll get enough money for both?
12. I need to get me some Toms. You know about Toms, right? Most of the world does. They specialize in canvas shoes, and have branched out in their style quite a bit, but the big deal is that for every pair you buy, they donate one pair to kids in need. Awesome, hey? I'm getting mine from Adrenaline Clothing and Boardsports.

well, a dozen will have to be enough, because my battery is dying. I promise I'll try to post more! Until then, check out all the links I put in through this post!

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)

Chan Luu Bracelet

What's a girl to do when the world is filled with pretty, expensive jewellery but she doesn't have a money tree in her backyard?

Make it.

I have never been one for making jewellery. Back at summer camps when all the girls would make bracelets from strands of string in their craft class, I was taking a class on starting fires. I was a tomboy in a lot of ways and my aversion to making dainty string bracelets was definitely one of those ways.
However, things have changed a fair bit in the years between. Don't get me wrong, I still like burning things, but I also have embraced the concept of looking good while lighting things on fire.

A couple years ago I was lamenting my lack of great jewellery. I had a few key pieces that I loved wearing, but I was getting into event planning, at which time my motto was, "A long as you look like you know what you're doing, people will believe you." My plan was to buy a skin-tight, hotter-than-heck red dress to wear to some fundraisers I was helping to put on, and to wear bold statement pieces to every meeting I attended ('power' jewellery, if you will). The issue was, I didn't have any bold statement pieces. I had some rustic looking necklaces that I had picked up from the west coast (my tastes still rest frequently in the more boy-ish look), I had some earrings from Italy that a friend brought home for me, and I had a few costume jewellery rings that I got as hand-me-downs from my Grandma when I was in middle school. None of those really scream, "Look at me! Look at me!"

Slowly I started adding to my collection through jewellery parties that friends have hosted; Stella and Dot and Lia Sophia now make up a fair chunk of my jewellery repertoire. I've learned that if I'm going to spend any money on jewellery, I might as well save my pennies and buy a couple pieces that I really love, rather than a few cheaper pieces that will wear out or cease to thrill me in a short time. But in all of my searching for some gorgeous pieces, I have come across some things that struck me as far too expensive considering I could very well make them myself.
If you saw my last post you'll know that I have been making bird nest necklaces from wire and beads. I got the wire from the Dollar Store for dirt cheap and I've been using spare beads leftover from other projects. I've seen these adorable little wire nests on Etsy for anywhere from $5 - $40 (and up, but those ones tend to have more expensive materials). How much did it cost to make them myself? I'd have to guess about 10 cents. And that's being generous. Oh, and my Dad thought they were cute so he took some into his work to sell for me and now I've had to make more because I'm going to run out. (I'm selling them for $5 to $8 each - not a bad profit margin).

But as I alluded to in my previous post, the big thing I've been excited about making is a Chan Luu inspired wrap bracelet. I've got ugly wrists and man-hands, which means that dainty little bracelets make me feel butch. But since I've discovered the world of wrap bracelets, I'm absolutely sold. I've bought two in the last month from Stella and Dot (their Luna and their Pyramid Double Wrap bracelets, neither of which I would recommend attempting to make yourself), but when I saw a picture of this gorgeous Chan Luu bracelet I knew instantly that this was something I wouldn't have to buy.
Now granted, I'm sure Chan Luu's have something of product differentiation - their materials are probably very high end, their method is probably flawless, their name is a lot catchier than mine... but I personally don't see that the difference in the end product is worth the $195 difference between how much it cost me to make one, and how much it would cost to buy one.

I ordered 4 strands of turquoise beads online, and 10 m of brown leather cord, for a total of about $9 (free shipping, too!). I made a triple wrap bracelet (instead of 5 loops) last night, which I did while Matt's dad was over for a visit, and the end result is that I only used, at most, a third of my beads and even less of my cord.

The bracelet?

Pretty nice, don't you think? It's a poor quality picture, but I must confess, I'm thrilled about the outcome. So, for about $3, and an evening of work, I've got myself a Chan Luu inspired triple wrap bracelet.

The technique was pretty simple, too. Anchor the leather cord on a button or large bead that will be used to fasten the bracelet (I used a nut - classy, hey?) The beads are actually held on with a separate string, or, in my case, fishing line. Lay the center of a very long strand of fishing line under the cord. Wrap each end around the cord and thread the ends through the bead (the ends of the line should go in opposite ends of the bead. Pull the line through until it is tight around the bead, push the bead to the top of the cord. Now, make sure the fishing line strands are on top of the cord. Wrap each strand around the cord until the line lays under the cord. Thread a bead again, with the ends of the line entering on opposite ends of the bead. Continue down for as long as you'd like it to be. Remember to make sure the line is on top of the cord after each bead, and that it's wrapped around and under the cord before each bead. To finish, I just knotted the fishing line after double wrapping the last bead, and then I tied three spaced out running knots on the cord - one at the base of the beads, one at the end of the length, and one in between the two. That's all!

I wonder what I should make next...

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)

Bird's Nest Wire Pendant

I am pleased, and very much relieved, to say that my youngest son does not have pneumonia.
Which, incidentally, is not something you want your 1 year old to get.

After three weeks of coughing (first croup, then a chest infection), and an apparent lack of improvement after a full round of antibiotics, we took the little guy in for more testing and the outcome was that the xrays of his chest were clear, it's likely just bronchial inflammation still, and he should have it cleared out over the next few days.

Poor baby.

While it's not pneumonia, for which we are very grateful, he still is feeling crummy. Which means I can't leave the room without him screaming at me.
Joy.

So once we got home from the doctor's office and the medical imaging office, we had a pretty laid back day (given that I couldn't even go change laundry loads or do dishes).

To fill my time, I did a wee bit of crafting!

On Pinterest a few weeks ago I saw a gorgeous Chan Luu triple wrap, leather-strapped, beaded bracelet. Unfortunately, I don't have a couple hundred dollars to buy such a beautiful thing. I do, however, have Pinterest. And Pinterest has tutorials for nearly everything (it can tell me how to make gorgeous wallart out of toilet paper rolls, so I think it can figure out how to make a bracelet).
I had the tutorial, but next I needed the materials: Enter Ebay. I found enough small turquoise beads to make two bracelets ($5 plus free shipping), and I found enough dark brown leather cord to make 5 bracelets ($4 plus free shipping).

Unfortunately, I did not make my bracelet today (I know... I got your hopes up), since I am still waiting for my leather cord, but I did get the beads last week and since I've got more than I'll need, I figured to use a few for another project: bird's nest wire pendants!

I've seen these things on Etsy, at Farmer's Markets, on Pinterest (of course), and even in high end artisian stores. The concept seems simple enough - put some beads on the wire, wrap the wire around and around, and you're done! I figured I'd give it a try.
So last week I stopped by the dollar store and I picked up some wire. I actually picked up 30 meters of wire for $1. And today I sat down and gave it a try.

Surprisingly - it was just as easy as they made it sound. The tutorial I followed basically covered everything I needed to know. My first try didn't come out perfect, but really, I never expected it to. I wrapped something funny, let the beads sink instead of keeping them raised up, and I didn't hold everything as tight as I ought to have. But still - it's cute!

The second one I made is good enough to give away. And I have a feeling that the third one I'll make will be good enough to sell.

Check out the tutorial and give it a try! You won't be disappointed!

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)

Wedding Bar

A dear friend of ours is getting married and when we heard the great news we offered to help in any way he could think of. And now, to my great delight, he has proposed a task for myself and a couple of the other girls in our church: We're going to help him make a wicked awesome Cupcake and Smores Bar!
Everyone can decorate their own cupcakes with their own frosting, and everyone can roast their own marshmallows and wedge them between a variety of cookies! Starting in September (the wedding is in December) we will begin making the cookies and cupcakes (I think we'll probably do 5 varieties of cupcakes and 4 of cookies - 200 cupcakes in total and 400 cookies total!) since we can freeze those.
I also proposed that instead of everyone using plain old boring marshmallows, that we make those too! We'll also be making the frostings and I think I'm making up coffee syrups for the shindig as well!

Here's some of the fun things I'm thinking of so far:
Jim Beam Buttercream (The groom's favorite drink!)
Chai cupcakes
Cinnamon Roll Coffee Syrup
Gingerbread cookies for the smores
Strawberry pop rock marshmallows

About that last one, does anyone know if the pop rocks will hold off from popping in marshmallow before it sets? And if it does, is there anyway to cook the marshmallows without them blowing up???

Do you have any more ideas for me?

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)

Sea Glass

Did you know you can make your own sea glass?

Apparently all you need to do is put a broken bit of glass in a container with sand and shake it! Might I add, I suspect you need to shake it quite a bit before the whole piece is smooth...

Now, I haven't tried this method, partly because it sounds like a lot of shaking, and partly because I have an aversion to breaking glass bottles (weird, I know.) But I still love the look of sea glass, and since I am woefully land-locked here in the prairies, I went a-looking for another method.

I stumbled across this one a week ago and decided to give it a try today:
You mix some white glue with some food coloring and you paint it onto glass and when it dries, it should dry transparent! Neat, hey?

Well, those are about the only instructions that were available on the tutorial I was hitting up so I blindly went in thinking, "it must be as easy as it sounds!"

Honestly, I think people in general are just a lot more talented at crafting than I am.

Round 1: My first vase started globbing, and streaking, and running, and then gumming up.
Round 2: I tried glass ornaments and it was basically the same deal - I just perfected a bit more of a long brush stroke so they turned out slightly better
Round 3: I finally realized that the paintbrush I was using was not the wisest thing in the world (a dollar store special I stole from Gabe's craft bucket), so I upgraded to a sponge brush. It took waaaaaay less time, went on much more evenly, and I didn't have to do as many touchups, which helped with the gumming problem

I let them dry, awkwardly propped on glue bottles and funnels, and then was surprised to see how the more they dried, the better they looked. Really, I had done an awful, terrible job, and they were starting to look nearly presentable!

I decided to do a second coat to see if I couldn't cover up the earlier flaws. My other sponge brush was still wet so I got an inferior one - this made a difference, and not a good one. While an inferior sponge brush is better than a crummy paint brush, and good sponge brush is best.
Second coats go on much easier and so far they appear to be covering up all of my goofs. Time will tell I suppose, but a third (maybe even fourth?) coat may be in order.

A few tips if you attempt to try this yourself:
These will not be waterproof, nor is there really a good way to make them so. Glue is water soluble. End of story. So if you want to do a vase, only do the outside and be careful not to get it wet.
Don't try fixing globs when it's mostly dried. The globs dry surprisingly evenly, but the gumming does not. As long as there's nothing too massive, it should be fine.
For a ratio of color to glue, I did about 1 - 2 tbsp of glue and 3 - 5 drops of dye. I did three different colors: 1 blue + 2 green, 1 green + 2 blue, and 5 blue.
As you can see in the picture, I didn't feel the need to spend good money on the dye - just regular food coloring will work.
You may also notice, I didn't feel the need to spend good money on the glue either. This was a 3-pack that I bought at the dollar store for a buck. It seems to be doing the trick.
Be warned, if you are doing something that light can enter and fill (like a vase), the streaks will be more visible. But then again, you may be a better crafter than I am and entirely avoid streaks. If you doubt your abilities however, stick with something that will be entirely covered with the glue-paint wherever the light will break through.
Lastly, as I mentioned above, the glue is water soluble, so what that really means is that if you are having troubles and mess up horribly, you can wash it off and try again.
Or, you can wash it off and say, "Well that was dumb!" and find something else to do.
Either works.

You can find the original source for these here. There is a bit more information in the comments section, but I think this is all you really need to know.

Sorry that the pictures are sucky! There's no natural light at 1 a.m. (go figure!) and they aren't finished anyway! I'll post a better picture when they are good and ready!

OH! One more thing: I've seen other posts where you use modge podge and gel food coloring and then bake them, or ones that call for dish soap in the with glue and dye... truth be told, they don't look much different, and bake them or not, the color will still come off if you wash them. This is one of those cases where the easiest way possible is probably the best.

Good luck!

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)

Christmas is coming!

...Well, in a fashion...

It may be far too early to think about Christmas for some people, but I can't help it. Since we started doing almost exclusively hand-made presents for people, I need to start thinking about Christmas a few months in advance. But the amount of money that I save is well worth the extra time that I put into it.

If you have any amount of creativity, at all, there is a whole world of ideas out there to get you started in the home-made gift realm. Some of my first home-made gifts were simple bath products: bath bombs and salts. I found the instructions at MarthaStewart.com and it took a mere afternoon to put them together. While these were nice for my sister and Matt's sisters, they didn't quite cover over my whole list. I moved on to pillows and then I settled into food. For the past couple years my presents have primarily been sugar syrups and canned goods (two years ago I made sweet pepper jelly and this past year I made thai chili sauce, mango chutney, crabapple jelly and raspberry jam), but this year I think I'm going to break away from the food category a bit. But that's why I have Pinterest.

From handmade jewellery tutorials, to coasters (here or here), lots of things with chalkboard paint (this or this), or even transfering pictures onto wood, you can find a tonne of ideas.

If you would prefer to go the food route (which is great for neighbour gifts, btw) again, a little bit of creativity goes a long way. Instead of giving people cookies, give them cookie dough that they can store in their freezer and pull-out after the Christmas goodie rush has ended. Give them jars of jelly or savory sauces that they can open through the year. Dry mixes for cakes, soups, breads or cookies are always welcome, and if you feel particularly adventurous, try making a dry tea blend.

If your talents lie in the realm of sewing, consider throws, pillows, dogbeds or baby clothes. If you are a crocheter, maybe make some reusable produce bags. If you are handy with tools, how about a bookcase dollhouse for your niece, or an upcycled bench or ottoman?

Once you get into wall-hangings the flood gates really open up!
DIY Letter Transfer
Crayon Art

Fabric hangings
Door Mat wall art

What will you make this Christmas?

Mrs. VanderLeek ;)