Saturday, February 24, 2007

Vegan Cupcakes

Cupcake Recipe:
This awesome recipe comes from Vegan Cupcakes. Everyone (vegans and non-vegans alike) thought they were great. I think my best compliment was from my mom who asked somewhat suspiciously "Are you sure these are really vegan?"

makes 12 cupcakes
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside a few minutes to get good and curdled. (Note: I did this but never really got a "good" curdle" - the cupcakes still turned out well though).
3. Beat together the soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla in a large bowl. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until no large lumps remain. (Note: I hate sifting, so I sifted about 1 a cup of the flour, got impatient and then dumped it all in to mix - again the cupcakes still turned out well!).
4. Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and back for 20 to 22 minutes till done. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting Recipe:
1 cup vegetable shortening (like crisco)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons water
1 pound of confectioners' sugar (approximately 4 cups)

Cream shortening, flavoring and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend until creamy.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Divas, Cool Kids, and more


diva shirt, originally uploaded by sim-san.


So I'm already behind on updating this blog but for good reason :-) I've actually been pretty busy crafting and have lots of progress to report.

A while back Old Navy had a sale on plain kids t-shirts so I loaded up on them figuring that they would be perfect for embellishment. I've made several now for Monkey as well as for gifts. Other t's include "Baby Princess", "Foxy", and "Cool Kid". The rhinestones add that extra sparkle that little girls love :-).

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

ornament swap

ornaments

I made these ornaments out of felt for a handmade ornament swap. I like the way that they look folksy. I've discovered that making cute things out of felt is a pretty popular craft in Japan.

Friday, February 2, 2007

Gimme Your Stuff

Gimme Your Stuff
Clearing I'm addicted to swapping. I discovered a new swap exchange called "Gimme Your Stuff". So I signed up and here's what I think I can offer to any of my swap partners:
- scrapbooking magazines
- fabrics
- embellishments
- sewing supplies
- handmade crafts (see what I've made on my blog)
- food, cookies, candies
- I'm going to try making handmade soaps so maybe some of those too??

I'd like to receive any craft relative items native to your country or anything made by you :-) Some other ideas:

- craft magazines from your country
- fabrics
- yarns
- general craft supplies
- cute handmade things :-)
- no food! Too many allergies :-(

I'm pretty resourceful so let me know what you might be interested in from the US and I'll see what I can find :-)