colette beignet skirt

I finally made another Colette pattern, this lovely high-waisted skirt called beignet. I had some sizing problems again, had to take it in a bit. Other than that, I really enjoyed making it. I took the pattern's suggestion to make bound buttonholes, with the help of this great tutorial. The fabric is Heather Ross for Kokka, I believe. It is a lightweight canvas, which is a little stiff but works ok for this pattern. The sweet vintage buttons I found at Soutache suit the skirt well, I think. Might make another in a smaller size and a lighter fabric a well.

finished triangle quilt

I finally finished my first full-size quilt, hooray! I made a whole bunch of bias-tape with the black fabric in order to bind the edges. It took forever, but I think it's worth it to have the fabric match. I'm going to do some more sewing, including another Colette pattern - this time the Beignet skirt. I love the high waist.

cocoa brownies with browned butter and walnuts

From this month's Bon Appetit. So good! Here is the recipe. The browned butter was a nice addition, but I had to be careful not to burn it.

oliver + s pattern: sunday brunch

I have two 2-year-old nieces, one on each side, so for Christmas they each got a "Sunday Brunch" outfit (in different colors). I should have taken more pictures of the skirt and jacket before I gave them away, but as usual, I was frantically scrambling to finish all my holiday projects. The skirt has pockets and the jacket has a bias-tape lining on the inside that matches the skirt. The fabrics I used were lightweight courduroys, which I think worked well for the pattern. I really enjoyed making these and will definitely try an Oliver + S pattern again, since I seem to have so many little people in my life right now.

peanut butter cookies

Jon requested peanut butter cookies... Coincidentally they are my favorite. I love allrecipes, I've found some good ones, like this. I rolled the cookies in sugar prior to baking, as per the instructions, but I think if I had some turbinado sugar they would have been even prettier.

hearty breakfasts

I love breakfast, especially anything with eggs. Here are some nice ones I've enjoyed recently. From the top, the veggie skillet at Cozy Corner (Thanks Allison for turning me on to the wonders of the skillet!), duck confit hash and eggs at Marigold Kitchen in Madison, and baked eggs with oil preserved tomato, cured tuna roe, and creme fraiche at Blue Duck Tavern in DC. Finally, Jon and I love to eat at Lula here in Chicago, where they always have a delicious farmer's market hash with eggs on the brunch menu. It's always different, using whatever veggies are in season. So, anyway, I decided to make my own with what I had on hand: sweet potatoes, onion, brussel sprouts and delicious Cedar Valley bacon. (And, of course, a poached egg!)

lemon curd

I had so many egg yolks left over from all those marshmallows that I decided to make a big batch of lemon curd. I used the same recipe for the lemon cake filling I made for my mom's birthday. I froze most of it, but some I had on one of the delicious Wolferman's English muffins (they are gigantic!) we got for Christmas. I felt like I was eating a big ol' slab of cake for breakfast.