Aimee

Coconut Layer Cake

Posted by Aimee on October 22, 2011 2 Comments

This coconut layer cake would probably be considered my “signature” cake. It’s most of my family’s favorite cake, and the most-requested birthday cake I make.

I volunteered to bring something to my children’s fall Homecoming fair today. I tried a few different recipes this week looking for something new and exciting to bring, but nothing seemed right. I made a fancy brownie, but they were dry. I made a pear & ginger coffee cake that was good, but it didn’t rise that well. In the end I decided to stick with what I do best. And I decided to make two; one for the bake sale and one for us.

I originally posted this recipe last march. You can see that post by clicking here or on either photo of the cake.

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They’re Finally Finished (well, almost)

Posted by Aimee on October 21, 2011 Leave a Comment

Well, they’ve taken about 3 more months to finish than I anticipated, but I can finally say that the goat house and chicken coop are (almost) complete. The only major thing left to do is cover up those ugly cement posts that are holding the buildings up. They say all good things come to those who wait. I sure hope so.

And in case you didn’t notice, I decided to stick with the grey trim on the barn red. Given a chance to do it over, I probably would have chosen either white or black trim, but I wasn’t going to change it when it was half done. I’ll learn to love it.

I collected old tractor wheels for a while a few years back, always with the intention of one day hanging them on my barn. They are old pieces to tilling or haying machines I think. If you looked often enough on eBay, you could find them in all shapes, colors and sizes. All with wonderful worn paint and full of character. My husband of course thought I was completely bonkers. Wasn’t he shocked last year when they showed up as items for sale at Restoration Hardware! The very same vintage tractor wheels I’d been collecting for a few dollars each were now in a fancy store.

I got great satisfaction today in screwing the big bolts I’d bought for the purpose into the walls and hanging my wheels, finally, on my goat house. I think they look great. I need to get more of those small rusty barn stars I hung up on the soffit so I can put them around both goat house and coop. Maybe I can do a better job of centering them over the windows, too?

The front of the goat house.

The chicken house, 'silo chicken run', and goat house — finally complete.

I added some tin signs I'd been saving for the coop.

I've bought a few vintage-style tin signs with hanging them on the coop in mind.

I guess I needed a level out there today too — I think that Fresh Eggs sign is a little askew.

I also had ready and waiting a big barn star for above the goat house and chicken coop doors.

The old coop looks so much better with it's the little facelift it got.

To add to the chicken's entertainment now that fall is settling in, I got two of these metal cage treat balls in addition to the yellow seed treat ball they already have. This one you stuff with lettuce leaves.

The yellow seed treat ball won by a landslide over the lettuce balls.

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William at the Door

Posted by Aimee on October 20, 2011 Leave a Comment

I took this photo last weekend up at Grey Lodge. My friends dog, William, running through the shot I was taking of the front door of the cottage on the property. They're lucky we didn't dognap him he's so adorable.

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Craft Tip – Cutting Foam Rubber

Posted by Aimee on October 20, 2011 1 Comment

With Halloween fast approaching, lots of people that don’t normally craft are busy trying to make their kids Halloween costumes. I’m helping India make a jellyfish costume.

I don’t think I ever read this anywhere, but figured it out by watching foam being cut at a foam factory. If you ever need to cut foam rubber, the easiest way to do it is with your electric knife. The fast-moving serrated blades cut through it like butter, giving you nice, clean edges.

If you don’t have an electric knife, maybe your neighbor does? Everyone should own an electric knife though. You don’t know how useful they are until you have one. They’re terrific for getting nice, thin slices of flank steak, and nothing beats one for your Thanksgiving turkey carving.

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Halloween Costumes Through the Years Part 2

Posted by Aimee on October 20, 2011 3 Comments

Continuing my walk down Halloween’s memory lane, we now come into the period of time when just being the mom of 3 small kids and a teenager was pretty overwhelming, so the costumes got pretty uninspired, or completely store-bought, depending on the year.

Below India is wearing the grapes that I referred to in yesterday’s post. That was Amanda’s costume when she was probably 2-1/2, but I couldn’t find a photo of her in it.

Maia the witch, Evan the chef, and India the bunch of grapes

Somewhere along the way Jim and I were bags of jellybeans, which proved a bad idea later in the evening when people were getting drunk and popping our balloons.

A truly uninspiring year. Maia the goth girl, India as Pocohantas and Evan as Luke Skywalker.

Maia the geisha girl, India the punk rocker, and Evan as Mr. Incredible. Ugh.

For some reason we recycled Maia's Geisha girl, but with more effort this year. Evan was a greaser, and India was a pirate.

I actually got this real kid's leather jacket at a consignment shop for $5, which is what drove the whole costume for Evan.

Maia made a pretty good Geisha.

India the pirate, complete with fake parrot.

Now we get into the photos of some more creative effort on my part again. This photo of India was the first year we attended my friend Justine’s annual Halloween party. It’s late in the afternoon on Halloween and she has a local hot dog truck come. It’s a great way to get the whole neighborhood together, get a quick dinner, do some socializing, and everyone takes off right from there for their trick or treating.

India was a momma pup with her box of puppies for sale. I do not have any idea what the other two were this year as I don't seem to have any photos of them???

I got into it this year. Evan was Frankenstein, Maia was a mermaid, India was a hot air balloon, Jim was the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and I was a witch.

The makeup was wearing off a bit in this shot, but this was my first year's witch costume.

This was a great costume. I took a store-bought mermaid's costume, but made a really fancy mermaid's tail with this awesome fabric I found. I made a veil out of fishing net that I glued seashells and sea glass onto and glued the net to a headband.

Frankenstein from the back. The head was made out of a plastic gallon milk carton. I bought a blazer from the thrift store.

These costumes are, no doubt, the cause of my complete Halloween burnout this year. I made every single costume from scratch except my own witch costume. My makeup alone took long enough.

I even offered to fly Amanda home for the weekend from College, as she would have been a perfect Glinda the Good Witch. She chose a weekend of college Halloween parties instead. Go figure.

Jim was the Cowardly Lion. It was absolutely freezing out last Halloween, and Jim was the only one that was comfortable.

Maia was a great scarecrow.

India as Dorothy complete with Toto.

Evan was the Tin Man.

And I was The Wicked Witch of the West. A role that Jim said suited me well. My friend Susan took this photo and I love the profile.

And just to show you how really old I am, here’s a photo of me and a friend when I was 20 years old at a Halloween party. I was a hooker and he was my pimp. I still laugh out loud every time I look at this photo. Look at my hair! And I still remember going to the thrift store to find his clothes and what a score it was to find those pants (they’re corduroy!) and that satin paisley shirt. Remember this was almost 30 years ago…you couldn’t wear this costume today with about being beaten up by an angry mob. I do not mean to offend anybody, it was all done in the name of fun.

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Fall in the Catskills

Posted by Aimee on October 19, 2011 Leave a Comment

While the recent hurricane had stripped the trees of their leaves prematurely this year, the fall colors on the ground were still breathtaking.

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Didn’t I Tell You?

Posted by Aimee on October 19, 2011 Leave a Comment

Did I not predict that Gracie would be the one goat to get paint on herself during the painting of the coop and barn? Here she is just with the red paint on her. By the end of the day she’d added some nice touches of grey as well. And it was oil-based stain. I had to scrub her with a paint thinner-soaked rag and then give her a bath. She just has a hint of red left to her now.

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Halloween Costumes Through the Years – Part 1

Posted by Aimee on October 19, 2011 3 Comments

As a child I have vivid memories of some of the Halloween costumes that my mom made for my sister and me. One year we were a pair of dice, one year we were giant frogs with pink balls cut in half for our big googly eyes.

Amanda amongst our carved pumpkins.

The past two years my friend and I co-chaired the haunted house part of the annual fall fundraising fair for our elementary school. We were a great creative team and had lots of fun coming up with new, creepy ideas to scare people. I have to say I was pretty happy this year to be done with that commitment though.

My friend Cyrena loved playing the Mad Scientist at our school's annual haunted house.

I’ve tried to carry on the tradition of making Halloween costumes for my kids through the years. Some years were successful and some not so much. Last year I knew what we were going to be 9 months before Halloween and was sewing months before the date. This year, for the first time, I have absolutely no interest in making a costume, trick-or-treating, or doing any of the normal Halloween festivities. I think I’m suffering from Halloween burnout. I’ve got a simple idea for Evan, Maia is going to recycle an old classic costume she wore a number of years ago, and India is making a costume from supplies I’d bought for it last year.

Amanda as an ear of corn at 1-1/2 years old.

She was a beautiful bunch of purple velvet grapes the next year, but I don’t seem to have a photo of it that I could find.

Amanda as a flower at I think probably 3-1/2 years old with her best friend Connor.

Amanda as a giant cupcake. The base was corrugated cardboard I painted white. The top was batting I spray painted and the sprinkles were spray painted pasta. The candle was a paper towel roll I painted.

We all have vivid memories of Amanda in this costume because she was walking along, fell into a pothole, and would have fallen flat on her face and probably knocked some teeth out but the costume saved her and practically bounced her back to standing!

Have you noticed the food theme going on here yet?

This piece of cake was by far the worst costume I've ever made. It was cute and all, but was so damned big that a friend had to carry the front around for her in the Halloween parade at school. I did not save this one.

Amanda as a beauty pageant contestant.

And what girl's life wouldn't be complete without the requisite 50's poodle skirt.

And then along came India, Evan & Maia and things got more complicated. Their first costumes were, by far, my favorite costumes ever. They were all, appropriately, chickens. Well, Evan was a rooster.

India, Evan, and Maia as chickens and rooster.

Evan the rooster.

Maia was a really late walker, so she had to be hauled around in a wagon in her chicken costume.I did make her a nest to sit in though.

This has remained one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.

That’s enough Halloween for one day. I’ll finish this up tomorrow with the rest of the years gone by.

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Bunny

Posted by Aimee on October 18, 2011 1 Comment

A bunny at the Frost Valley YMCA Farm.

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What I Did While ‘Unplugged’

Posted by Aimee on October 18, 2011 Leave a Comment

While being away in the Catskills this weekend with no phone or internet was great and I enjoyed being unplugged, it doesn’t change the fact that I have ADD. I am almost incapable of doing “nothing”. So, while everyone else sat around chatting, or while Lorraine was finishing the dinner preparations, (yes, I did offer to help), or while we sat around the fire that night, I sat there and worked on linoleum prints. I can still participate in conversations, but I can be productive at the same time. I love that.

I came home with a bunch of linoleums ready to be cut, but managed to get 3 finished before coming home.