A touch of spring

 

Our Japanese Quince bushes are in full flower and I just had to share this touch of spring — ruby-throated hummingbirds love the blossoms on this bush – they should be arriving soon. Sadly they are too quick for my camera!

Hopefully the squirrels will leave the fruit alone this year since there’s nothing quite like Quince jelly!

Designer Resources added – Sizing for Children

In our ongoing migration to our new Impeccable Knits label, the Designer Resources on this blog now include an expansive section on Children’s Sizing (formerly posted on our Cranberry Ocean Knits blog). Just point to Designer Resources tab and the sub-page link will show.

Welcome – so glad you followed our move :)

The only major change you’ll see at the moment is that the address has been changed to impeccableknits.wordpress.com from purplesagedesigns.wordpress.com — so please do be sure to update your bookmarks if you’ve found us through the old site.

Lots of goodies in store in the new year as all of our patterns — even the free ones — will be given a new face

Thanks for following along!

The Rabbit wins!

What could be cuter?

Except when he/she’s munching on our beans??

The continuing butterfly saga

No Tiger Swallowtails today — I think it’s a little too cool, but I did find this little fella sitting on the lilacs. Wonder what he/she is?

Spring is here indeed!

Tiger Swallowtail butterfly in lilacs

This afternoon as I glanced out the upstairs bedroom window I knew that spring had arrived for sure!

The lilacs are in full bloom and the Tiger Swallowtails are back

What a beautiful sight to see.

It’s International Women’s Day

Although I have many thoughts regarding where we’ve come from and where we are today, my words are nothing compared to this  — The Yarn Harlot (Stephanie Pearl-McPhee)’s post for today… she said it so perfectly I will just reflect on hers — in awe.

Lamp in the Snow

Lamp in the Snow

Just thought I’d share this totally accidental reflection picture — the snow came with the Nor’easter storm on Jan 12 – 13, 2011.

I wanted to take a picture of the snow lying on the stone-walled patio just outside our garden doors. I didn’t notice the reflection until the pic was downloaded — thought it was kinda cool!

Looks like the squirrels and rabbits are setting up house!

 

Waffles with Blueberry Sauce and Whipped Cream

Waffles with Blueberry Sauce and Whipped Cream

The holidays are all about food, aren’t they. So I thought I’d share another festive favourite from our house

I obtained our waffle iron about 20 years ago with points from Zellers – it’s been the best!

Here are the recipes:

Waffles

2 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 c milk
2 eggs
2 Tbsp oil

Plug in the waffle iron so it’s hot when the batter is ready.

Mix dry ingredients together. In a large cup measure (4 c) or medium size bowl whisk the milk, eggs and oil together for about 1 minute, until ingredients are well mixed and slightly frothy.

With the whisk, gently blend the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring just until all ingredients are incorporated. Depending on the amount of moisture in the flour, I let the batter sit on the counter a few minutes to thicken. Our 7″ round waffle maker takes 2/3 c of batter and needs 3 1/2 minutes to bake each waffle. Makes 5 waffles 7″ in diameter.

Blueberry Sauce (cooked)

2 c blueberries (frozen and thawed or fresh)
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 c water
3/4 c cranberry or orange juice
2 Tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp orange zest (optional)
1/2 tsp salt (optional)

Place blueberries in a medium sauce pan. Stir in sugar. In a small bowl mix water, juice, cornstarch and zest and salt, if using. Stir mixture until cornstarch is dissolved. Stir cornstarch mixture into blueberry mixture in pan and place on medium heat. Bring to a boil stirring often to make sure the cornstarch stays suspended in the mixture. Boil for 1 minute. Take off heat and cool slightly to serve. Makes about 2 cups.

Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cookies

Time for some holiday fun! I thought I’d share my best-ever gingerbread cookie recipe with you. It’s been a family favourite for many, many years. The original that my recipe is based on was a recipe published in The Heritage Collection of Home Tested Recipes compiled by Chatelaine (1968). Poor sad booklet has the cover taped on now and you can tell which pages contain our favourites!

Enjoy!

Old Fashioned Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup butter
1/2 cup lard or shortening
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup molasses
4 – 4 1/2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
(optional: 1 teaspoon cloves — I’m not a fan so I always omit this)

1. Cream the butter, lard and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Add molasses and beat well. (= creamed mixture)
2. Into a separate bowl, sift the flour together with the baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon (and cloves, if using). (= dry ingredients)
3. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture until thoroughly combined. The mixture will be stiff. (I use the lowest speed on my stand mixer with the dough hooks.)
4. If dough is too soft to roll out, refrigerate for 1 – 2 hours. Roll dough 1/4″ thick and cut out with cookie cutters. [Alternatively, pinch off pieces of dough roll into approximately 1" balls and on, cookie sheet, flatten to 1/4" with tines of a fork.] Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (or greased).

Bake at 325F for 10 – 12 minutes.

Gingerbread People attacking the oranges