The Death Star Crafty Cookie Coma Craziness

About six months ago my my brother, Self-acclaimed Star Wars Freak, said he wanted a crochet Death Star Pillow for Christmas. So I started Saturday December 13th. It seemed like plenty of time, but alas, it’s now December 17th and it’s looking a little wonky. I’m a bad stitch counter I think. Here’s the one he wants, and two photos of what I’ve made.

I started making a big sphere with this pattern thanks to mspremiseconclusion.com, who did the advanced math for me which I either forgot how to do or never understood how to do. I planned to use that plus the makezine pattern and kind of put them together. Now, I’m wondering whether it’s a fail.  Do I go on with the pattern to show that I tried? Will it be funny to have a bumpy Death Star? Luckily I got him another present today, a T-shirt with Darth Vader and Storm Troopers opening presents in front of a Christmas tree.

I simultaneously baked Gluten Free Springerle and Cranberry Orange cookies for Saturday’s Annual Holiday Cookie Party. I wish I’d looked at my own Paleo Christmas Cookie Post from a couple of weeks ago.  But I wanted to make cookies without going to the store, so I made these.

The Springerles turned out great despite the substitution of Pamela’s Gluten Free Baking mix for the flour and baking soda, and the fact that I only had 3 eggs instead of four. Springerles are an old tradition in my family. An old-style German cookie made with Anise seeds and a special decorative rolling pin.

Unfortunately for the Cranberry Orange, also made with Pamela’s Baking Mix, I used Coconut Sugar instead of regular sugar. These were great fresh out of the oven, but after a few hours they got limp and soggy. Flaccid cookies–not a good thing.  Still tasted good though.

Coming home with a big box of cookies put me in a sugar coma for a couple of days. I definitely can’t eat sugar. I love baking though, and baking Christmas Cookies is a tradition for me since before I can remember. The party was fun though and I’m glad I participated. More attempts gluten-free-sugar-coma-free traditional cookies to come next year.

 

 

Cooking and Food Pornography Photography

There is some real food porn on the internet. I tell you. Sometimes I drool even. Sometimes, it’s actually too much. You know what I’m talking about; I don’t really need to tell you, huh?

After looking at all of those amazing food and cooking blogs, I thought, okay, well even if my pictures suck, there’s only one way to get better. So I’ve been getting into taking photos with my iphone camera when I cook. I checked out this nifty tutorial which got me using the “adjust” feature in the iphoto editing program. It’s pretty easy, even for a non-techie like me!

Last night I made what I’m going to call “Polenta Pizza Pie.” I used this recipe (thanks budgetbytes), added a couple of mild Italian sausages, fresh spinach instead of frozen, and a ton of basil which I had dried myself (it’s more flavorful than dried, but less flavorful than fresh). I used Dutch Goat Cheese (since I’m not eating Bovine Dairy these days).  It turned out great and FH was really happy.

My photo styling and photo editing need some work, but practice will make perfect, or at least closer to it!

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What do you think?