donuts!

That word means different things to different people. If you ask T about donuts, he’ll think you are talking about spinning the car around in the ice and snow. It’s an event, as in, “I’m going to an empty parking lot to do donuts.” (In Nebraska, they call them cookies. Weird, huh?)

Let’s talk about the other kind of donut, though. The tasty kind. Over the weekend we were killing time while waiting to pick up a pizza. I decided to dive in to the closest thrift store while T and M hung out in the warm car. I usually do a quick loop to check fabric, yarn and craft stuff, and then breeze through kitchen and household items before heading out. This trip I found something really cool in the kitchen section: donut pans! They looked brand new and were $4 for the set. Ever since I got Jessica Seinfeld’s book, I’ve thought about making donuts, but never really took the time to investigate the molds. I snatched them up and made donuts the very next morning.

They are baked, not fried, so they are more like cake donuts. The only modification I made was to use all pumpkin puree instead of half pumpkin/half sweet potato. The first batch turned out a little small. I didn’t know how much they would rise, so I didn’t want to fill them too high. We got a bunch of little, skinny donuts. I used a lot more batter for the second batch and they turned out great. Better than great, actually. My family inhaled them. I’m surprised they left any sugar on the plate!


patchwork scarves :: wool and denim

Last summer I bought a cute little patchwork quilt that I’ve been planning to make into a tote bag. When I started deconstructing it, I realized it was made up of long, skinny rectangles. Perfect for scarves! Two scarves, actually: one backed with wool, the other backed with denim.

I think I am officially addicted to making scarves this season. If you are on my holiday gift list, you should probably expect to receive one!