First Fall Baked Goods

Last weekend was the first weekend of fall. In celebration of cooler weather, trips to Apple Hill, and the holidays approaching we tried a new cookie recipe - Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies using this Ocean Spray Recipe.

Oatmeal, brown sugar, eggs, butter, white chocolate chips, flour, Craisins. 

Dry ingredients. 

Sugar, butter, oatmeal mixture. 

Adding white chocolate chips.

Adding Craisins, to complete the dough.

We used a fancy new dough scooper from Sur La Table, which allowed us to form perfect dough balls on our cookie sheet.  

We used wax paper, and baked the cookies for 11 minutes. 

These oatmeal cookies were SO delicious. They were soft, but the chips and craisins gave them a nice texture. The dough was also really fluffy, and they didn't flatten out as they baked, which is an issue we've been experiencing with our cookies lately. Because I am not a huge fan of chocolate, these cookies were sweet, but didn't over do it for me. I would definitely make these again, and hope to make them soon for friends as a fun fall treat! 

Sewing Machine Cover

My mom has been working on updating an antique sewing machine table for a while now. After painting the table and replacing the leather seat cover, the final touch needed is a sewing machine cover. 

This week, we decided to sew our own cover! My mom found these directions from Pinterest. They weren't exactly the most clear instructions, but we were able to figure out any questions we had based on my mom's previous sewing experience. The main steps to this project involved cutting the fabric, making the side panel pattern, sewing the cover, and hand stitching the decorative buttons onto the front. 

Since we've included the link to the directions, here's a quick photo strip of our project from start to finish.

My mom's sewing machine.

Pretty fabric.

Cutting the fabric.

Making the pattern for the side panels.

Pinning the side panels to the main piece of fabric.

Laying flat before sewing the side panels to the main piece.

Inside-out view of the corner stitching.

Hand sewing decorative buttons.

Cute blue buttons.  

Finished product! How adorable is my mom's sewing table now?!

Lola crossing her legs with attitude because we didn't let her help. ;-)

Besides having to interpret some of the directions on our own, sewing this cover was pretty straightforward. From start to finish we spent about two and a half hours completing the sewing machine cover. I love when our cutest projects are also some of our most useful too. This sewing machine cover will keep my mom's sewing machine clean and protected, and looks adorable with my mom's sewing table!

SF Giants Baby Blanket

Earlier this summer, my mom taught me to crochet as we completed baby blankets for Project Linus. Crocheting was so much easier than knitting and I loved how our blankets turned out. I recently found out that two of my close friends are expecting a baby and instantly knew what I wanted to make them for a gift. Although they don't plan on finding out the sex of the baby, they are both San Francisco Giants fans so I know there's a little Giants fan headed our way!

I bought yarn from Michaels - 2 black, 2 white and 2 orange. 

My mom is currently finishing up a cute zig-zag pattern crochet blanket, so I asked her to help me use that same pattern for this blanket. Because the only other blanket I crocheted was a only one simple double-crochet stitch I had a tough time getting this blanket started. This pattern has more detailed stitches and you have to keep count for consistency. I did get a little frustrated, but my mom kept reassuring me that the more I crocheted and familiarized myself with the pattern, the easier it would become. 

It took me about two hours to complete one row (above) and it was difficult to see if the pattern was accurate. But as I began the second row, I could see it coming together. I was tired, and a little frustrated still, but since Monday, I've worked on my blanket a little bit. It's becoming easier, which is a great sign! 

Here's a close up of the beginning of my second row. I think this will be a project that grows slowly and steadily, but I have until 2014 to complete this gift for the newest Giants fan we know, so I'm excited to make progress! I'll update as I work. :)

Homemade White Bread

Hello MIHM readers!! The Girls Team has been having too much fun this summer to be expert bloggers, so our apologies for the delay in posts! 

Earlier this month, we decided to make Homemade White Bread. Although neither one of us had ever baked white bread from scratch, we found a recipe from the Joy of Cooking and jumped right in.

The first step is to make the dough, and let it rise for a few hours. Mid-rising, we punched the dough down to it's original size and let it rise back up.

When the dough was ready, we placed it in two trays and baked it for 10 minutes at 450 degrees. After 10 minutes, we reduced the heat to 350 degrees and naked for 30 minutes longer. 

The bread came out of the oven a perfect golden brown color. The crust had a nice crunch, while the inside was soft and moist. We served the bread with homemade jam my mom had made the same day. It was perfection! 

Our first homemade white bread was a great success. Unfortunately we couldn't eat it fast enough and the second loaf didn't get eaten before it went bad. Next time, we know to freeze the extra bread to save for later. 

We both enjoyed making the bread, and after discovering the Kitchen Aid attachment for dough mixing, our bread world has been opened to endless opportunities!

P.S. Shout out to my motivated mom who made two batches of jam - strawberry and raspberry plum - during the day before the bread. Go mom!