Knitting Doldrums

I have nothing on my needles. And no projects in the wings. And no ideas of what to knit next. And no money with which to purchase yarn to use on a project! This is a sad, sad day - both for me as a knitter and for you as readers!

However, lest we forget this is supposed to be a blog about baking as well as knitting, I baked this weekend! It was Mike's birthday, so I made a cake. I used a cookbook his mom had and picked out Shirley Temple's Chocolate Cake (supposedly her favorite cake, although I hear she loved maraschino cherries and this recipe was sorely lacking in that department) and a Chocolate-Peanut Butter Frosting. Unfortunately, I was cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen (Mike's dad's), and couldn't find many of the necessary measuring devices one normally uses for baking endeavors. Thus, I had to eyeball the amount of milk I was adding to the frosting, instead of measuring out an exact 3-tablespoons.

I am not generally of the camp that baking is an exact science and the measurements are precise and directions must be followed to the letter. My style is more "throw some good looking stuff into a bowl, eat a good helping of it before baking, and toss it in the oven" than precise. However, I have determined, and Mike will second this, that my eyeballed tablespoon is very much more than a measured tablespoon. And in frosting, this makes an incredible difference. It came out like batter. I was using a handheld electric mixer and I mixed and mixed and mixed. And mixed some more. It got thicker, but not by much. I put it in the refridgerator and mixed some more. Not thick, creamy, or spreadable. I added an additional cup of powdered sugar. No change.

I ended up using the frosting, quickly frosting the cake and doing the writing with store-bought writing colors, and throwing the whole thing directly into the fridge.

In the end, it came out delicious and beautiful. Mike and his dad both happen to prefer runny frosting anyway. Or so they said. We ate it before I could take any pictures. Sorry!

Just so this isn't an entirely boring and photo-less post, here's something from Craftster that I might knit, despite a general aversion to knit shirts and an particular aversion to sleeveless knits. It's gorgeous nonetheless. Now, if only I had some money for the yarn...