First Flan

Seriously, what was I thinking when I told my dinner company to name their dessert? Flan was the order, and although I have never made it, I'm thinking: it is just custard, my mother made it and she never could make a pie, it has to be easy. Wrong. Then there are about a billion recipes for it out there, and it took me forever to decide which one. Those of you who have done this before know that the first step is making the caramel sugar that goes on the bottom of the pan but eventually ends up on the top. That proved to be a problem. Batch #1 burned, and batch #2 stuck to the pan and hardened before I could spread it. For batch #3 I went to a different recipe and it boiled for a half hour before I realized it was not going to caramelize so it got thrown out. Batch #4 was back to the original recipe but using more of the ingredients. That got into the bottom of the pan. The custard part wasn't so hard and the dessert is cooling in the refrige as we speak. I am hoping that my company arrives soon because I am eyeing the liquor cabinet and definitely ready for a restorative beverage!

First Wool Project

Who would have realized how much work goes into hand appliqued wool pieces. If I had known I may not have signed up for the Sue Spargo block of the month which I am going to start right away. Last night at midnight I finished embroidering the legs and beaks on the birds. Today I passed up the day lily show because I was so anxious to sew the backing on this baby and have the project finished. Yeah! Jessi thought I should bead it, but I'm thinking it will destroy its very folksy quality. Well, it was a good learning piece and now I am aware of the pitfalls to avoid on my next project.